Free Tools Aren’t a Consolation Prize

Every time someone says free tools are for beginners, I show them Sprite Fright.

A feed is designed to forget you. Paper is designed to be kept. When you hand someone a zine, you are giving them an object that will sit on a shelf for years, get lent to a friend, and turn up in a box when they move house.

Nobody owns your stapler

Every platform promises reach and then rents it back to you. A copier gives you reach at eight cents a page, and the only terms of service are the ones taped to the side of the machine.

Print nights are pay-what-you-can. The jar covers toner and paper most months, and when it doesn't, we hold a swap and sell the duplicates from the lending shelf.

Everything in this post works just as well at a library copier or a corner copy shop. You don't need a studio, just a flat table and about an hour.