Magazine Publishing Checklist

• A flatplan is a page-by-page map of the issue. Keep one current version in a shared place and update it whenever a story moves or an ad is added or dropped.
• Agree the page count with your printer before commissioning content, and ask which page counts the chosen binding allows.
• Mark spreads so designers know where images can cross the gutter, and list the covers separately if they print on a different stock.

• Book the press date early and ask the printer how long printing, finishing and delivery take for your run; plan the rest of the schedule backwards from those dates.
• Leave a buffer between the last proof round and file delivery for late corrections.
• Put the digital edition, newsletter and social posts on the same calendar so print and online releases are coordinated.
• Name one person responsible for each deadline.

• A short style guide (spelling, numbers, dates, job titles, units, capitalisation) saves time in every proof round.
• Check names, quotes, prices and dates with the original source rather than with earlier coverage.
• Keep the fact-check log with the issue files: it makes later corrections and reader queries quicker to answer.

• Ask advertisers for files in the same PDF/X version and output profile you use for editorial pages (see the print-file items below), so ads and editorial print consistently.
• Check each ad on arrival: size, bleed, embedded fonts, colour space, and whether QR codes and URLs work.
• Labelling rules for advertising and sponsored content differ between countries and media. Whatever applies to you, make it obvious to readers which pages are paid for.

• One row per asset is enough; link each row to the licence, invoice or email that grants the rights.
• Do not assume that rights cleared for print also cover a digital edition, an online archive or promotional posts. Check every channel you plan to use.
• Note expiry dates for time-limited licences and any limits on print run or audience.
• For photos of identifiable people or private property, ask the photographer or agency whether releases exist and keep copies with the log. If you are unsure whether a release is needed, ask a qualified adviser.

• A standard contributor agreement saves negotiating every piece from scratch; adapt it for commissions with unusual terms.
• State the fee, payment terms, credit line and when the contributor may reuse the work elsewhere.
• Store signed agreements with the rights log. This is practical guidance, not legal advice: have your standard agreement reviewed by a lawyer who knows publishing in your country.

• Each of the six Creative Commons licences includes the BY element, so the creator must always be credited. NC rules out commercial use, ND rules out adaptations, and SA means any adaptation you publish has to be released under the same terms. See About CC Licenses.
• If you plan to crop, retouch or combine an ND-licensed work, check first whether that would count as an adaptation.
• Creative Commons recommends crediting title, author, source and licence (TASL). In print you can write out the full URL or publish a credits page online: see Recommended practices for attribution.

• Font licences can treat desktop use, PDF embedding, web fonts and apps as separate uses with separate terms. Monotype, for example, offers desktop, webfont, app and ePub licences as separate licence types and explains that a font needs a licence covering every environment it will be used in: see its font licensing FAQ. Read the licence for each font family and record the result in the rights log.
• PDF/X and PDF/A files must have their fonts embedded (see the export and archiving items), so embedding has to be permitted for every font you use. For PDF/A-1 to PDF/A-3, the Library of Congress description of the PDF/A family adds that embedded fonts must be "legally embeddable for unlimited, universal rendering", so check the embedding terms before you make the archive copy.
• Before sending packaged layout files that include fonts to a printer or freelancer, check whether the licence allows it.

Check the elements that are easy to miss:

• headlines, standfirsts, captions, credits and pull quotes
• page numbers, running heads and the contents page against the actual pages
• cross-references such as "continued on page …"
• prices, dates, phone numbers, URLs and QR codes (open and scan every one)
• ad positions against the flatplan

Keep a corrections log so you can confirm that each marked correction was made and nothing else changed.

• The printer's specification takes precedence over general advice, because presses and papers differ.
• The output profile describes the printing condition. For example, the European Color Initiative publishes PSO Coated v3 (based on FOGRA51, premium coated paper) and PSO Uncoated v3 (based on FOGRA52, wood-free uncoated white paper) for offset printing to ISO 12647-2:2013: see ECI's offset printing standards and downloads.
• Every profile in the ICC Profile Registry is tied to a standard printing condition and to characterization data that anyone can obtain; the entries include FOGRA-based profiles and Idealliance's GRACoL2013_CRPC6.
• Use the profile the printer names in your colour settings and PDF export, and ask before substituting another.

• An image enlarged in the layout loses effective resolution; check every placed image at its final size against the printer's minimum.
• Convert RGB images to CMYK yourself, or keep them in RGB for a colour-managed PDF/X-4 workflow, whichever the printer asks for.
• Delete spot colours the job does not print, and merge duplicates that differ only in name.
• Ask the printer whether small black text should use black ink only, and which ink mix it recommends for large black areas.

• If your layout application has a preflight function, set up a profile that matches the printer's specification, so problems show up while you work rather than at export.
• Update modified links and re-check text flow after the last round of corrections.
• Look at every page at full size, and on a print at 100 %, for problems a preflight cannot catch, such as a caption under the wrong photo.

• PDF/X is a family of ISO standards (ISO 15930) for exchanging print-ready PDF files. PDF/X-1a is meant for CMYK print data, while PDF/X-4 (ISO 15930-7) supports colour-managed as well as CMYK workflows and allows transparency and layers. See the Library of Congress description of the PDF/X format family.
• According to that description, every PDF/X file must embed its fonts, contain its images, carry an output intent (an ICC profile for the intended printing condition) and use no password protection; if a bleed is defined, the bleed box must lie outside the trim box.
• Ask whether the printer wants single pages or spreads, one file per page or one file for the issue, and which marks to include.
• Open the exported PDF and check it with a PDF preflight tool against the same PDF/X version before uploading it.

• ISO 12647-7 is the standard against which proofing systems and the proofs they produce are certified. Fogra certifies proof and print service providers on that basis: see its page on Contract Proof Creation.
• Under the Media Standard Print, Fogra only accepts a proof as a contract proof if it carries a Fogra MediaWedge V3.0 whose colour values match the reference values of the printing condition: see MediaWedge CMYK. Check that the wedge is printed on every contract proof you receive.
• On the imposition or page proof, check page order, folds, trim, images that cross the gutter, and that the latest corrections are in. Sign off in writing and keep a copy.

• The press PDF is built for the printer, not for screens. Export a second version for readers, or build the web edition from the same layout.
• Check your platform's upload requirements (file size, page size, single pages or spreads) before exporting.
• Make URLs, email addresses and contents entries clickable, and test every link after upload.
• Read the edition on a phone, a tablet and a desktop browser before you announce it.

• For web editions, the reference is the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG 2.2 is the newest published version (October 2023, updated December 2024; WCAG 3 is still an early draft), and W3C encourages using the latest version.
• For PDFs, ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1) requires all real content to be tagged in a logical reading order, figures to carry alternative text and the document language to be declared: see the Library of Congress description of PDF/UA-1.
• Informative images need a text alternative that conveys their essential information; purely decorative images get an empty one. See the W3C images tutorial.
• The European Commission's page on the European Accessibility Act lists e-books and e-commerce among the products and services it covers. If you sell or deliver digital editions in the EU, check whether and how it applies to you.

• Any serial can receive an ISSN regardless of its medium, but the online version of a print magazine is given its own number, even when both carry the same title. When you show both, label them, for example "ISSN XXXX-XXXX (Print)" and "ISSN XXXX-XXXX (Online)": see The ISSN for electronic media.
• The ISSN publisher FAQ bases its display rules on ISO 3297. In print, show the ISSN clearly on every issue with the word ISSN in front of it, ideally at the top right of the cover. Online, place it prominently on the title screen, the home page or, for PDF editions, the first page.
• Request ISSNs through your national ISSN centre, or through the ISSN International Centre if your country has none. For a print title, the same FAQ lets you apply up to three months before the first issue; an online publication receives its ISSN only after its first two issues have been released, and the FAQ also sets a minimum number of articles.
• According to ISSN, the major principles, a change of title or of medium requires a new ISSN, while a change of publisher, place of publication or frequency does not. Talk to your ISSN centre before you rename the magazine.
• For the retail barcode, GS1 builds a GTIN-13 from the prefix 977, the seven ISSN digits without the ISSN check digit, two digits for publication variants (or 00) and a new check digit: see How is an ISSN used in a GS1 barcode?. The ISSN International Centre adds that an optional 2- or 5-digit add-on, usually carrying the issue number, can follow the main code: see Identification with the GTIN 13 barcode. Ask your distributor which add-on it expects.

• PDF/X requires a title, a creation date and a modification date in the file's metadata, and from PDF/X-4 onwards that metadata must be embedded as XMP: see the Library of Congress description of the PDF/X format family. Set a meaningful document title rather than leaving the file name.
• On the web, schema.org's PublicationIssue type describes a single issue (with properties such as issueNumber) and can be connected to the Periodical and PublicationVolume it belongs to.
• Keep the issue number, date and title identical in print, in the PDF, on platform listings and on your website, so the edition is described the same way everywhere.
• What a masthead or imprint must contain depends on the press and media rules of your country; check them before the first issue.

• Reconcile the subscriber list with the print run, and order spare copies for contributors, advertisers, legal deposit and your own archive.
• Send mailing data to the mailing house over a secure channel, and only the fields it needs, in line with your privacy policy.
• Upload the digital edition in advance where the platform supports scheduled publishing, then check the live edition on each platform after release.

• Prepare cover images, a short description and a few highlights in advance so the announcement can go out on publication day.
• Tag links in newsletters and social posts so you can see which channel brings readers. Google Analytics, for example, recommends always setting utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign: see its help page on campaign URLs.
• Check the rights log before posting artwork or photos on social media.

• PDF/A (ISO 19005) exists so that a document still looks the same when it is opened years later. To that end, fonts must be embedded, encryption is not permitted and the file may not rely on external resources. See the Library of Congress description of the PDF/A family.
• Store the archive in at least two places, with the same folder structure and file names for every issue.
• Record known errors and published corrections with the issue, so a reprint or a later digital edition includes them.

Rules depend on where you publish. Examples from official pages:

• United Kingdom and Ireland: the British Library says that whoever publishes something in the UK and Ireland must give it one copy. The same page says that its legal deposit service has been disrupted since a cyber-attack in October 2023: print publications should still be sent, electronic deposit routes are currently disrupted, and it cannot yet issue receipts. See Legal deposit.
• Germany: publishers based in Germany must send two copies of physical publications to the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek free of charge; online publications are deposited as single copies, and titles published both in print and online are deposited in both formats: see the DNB collection mandate.
• United States: the Copyright Office requires two copies of each work published in the United States within three months of publication. For print serials, the same page requires owners to set up two complimentary subscriptions for the Library of Congress and to contact its Acquisitions & Deposits division first to confirm them: see Mandatory deposits.

In other countries, ask your national library.