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// cut. paste. copy. repeat.

A zine collective's blog about photocopiers, glue sticks, and the scrappy little publications people staple together at midnight. How-tos, rants, and interviews from the back of the print shop.

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Field Notes

A Morning at the Community Print Room

Field Notes · · by · 1 min read · perzine, photocopy, process

A Morning at the Community Print Room

Saturday mornings at the print room are slow and quiet. We filmed a bit of it, then played a trailer over it instead.

Doors opened at six and the first person was already waiting with a folder of originals. By seven, both copiers were running, the paper cutter had a queue, and someone had put the kettle on without being asked.

We ran out of long staples at nine and toner at half past. Next time we buy double of both, which is what we said last time.

If you are reading this at the collective, the good scissors are in the drawer marked "do not take the good scissors". Please do not take the good scissors.

If something here doesn't work for you, write in. Half of our how-tos have been corrected by readers, and the corrections are always better than the original.

We keep a guest book by the door. Some people write their name, some write a poem, and one person drew the entire floor plan of the shop from memory. It is the best zine we have never printed.

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.

Author

Dev Okafor

Draws mini-comics on the bus and letters them at the kitchen table. Believes every strip deserves a staple.

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TALK Comments 10 scrawls
  1. Lou Ferreira

    The photos are great. Is that the laundromat on Elm?

    Reply
  2. Ollie Brennan

    Sharing this with the zine club at school. They are going to love it.

    Reply
  3. Marcus Yoon

    Do you trade? I have a perzine about bus drivers I think you would like.

    Reply
  4. Pip Calloway

    Do you trade? I have a perzine about bus drivers I think you would like.

    Reply
  5. Pip Calloway

    Bookmarked, printed, folded, and stapled into my notebook.

    Reply
  6. Ines Duarte

    This is exactly the push I needed. Printing issue two this weekend.

    Reply
  7. Aurelie Fontaine

    I laughed out loud at the part about the good scissors.

    Reply
  8. Ben Achterberg

    We tried this at our library print night and it worked first time.

    Reply
  9. Kit Moreno

    The bit about making the dummy first is so true. I learned that the expensive way.

    Reply
  10. Wren Castellano

    Sharing this with the zine club at school. They are going to love it.

    Reply

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