Cut and Paste

Cut and paste is a production technique in which words and images are culled from various sources and combined on a master flat. The phrase is also commonly used to describe a zine's layout, describing a zine that incorporates direct physical placement of each element on the page.

Images and backgrounds are culled from many and various sources including clip art, advertisements, fliers, magazines or even the insides of security envelopes.

In it's purest form, the text of a cut and paste zine is either handwritten or created on a manual or electric typewriter, then shaped with scissors and affixed to the master with tape, glue, or paste for photocopying. Purists of the cut and paste technique use typewriters or handwritten text in order conspicuously to avoid the look of a computer-created zine.

The cut and paste technique may be used in conjunction with digital layout (computer layout) techniques for a combination of convenience and the look of a hand-assembled zine. Also, this combination is used to cover the evidence of a computer's having been involved in the creation. This is evident by the profusion of zines created on computers but set in common typewriter fonts and employing appropriated conventions of typewriting such as rows of "x" placed over words for "deletion."

Some zinesters argue that a physical cut and paste approach is the only legitimate one.

External Links

Alex Wrekk's Guide to Cut and Paste