Skip to content
hello@exwhyzed.com01206 766647

Send us your file

Use any of the four ways below. A real person checks every file for free before anything goes near a press.

How to send it

  • WeTransfer Our favouriteFree and no account needed. Add our address as the recipient.Open WeTransfer
  • DropboxUpload with our link. No Dropbox account needed.Upload
  • Google DriveShare it as ‘Anyone with the link’, then email us the link.Email the link
  • EmailAttach PDFs up to 10MB.Email us

This is the information we need to book in your job

  • Your print choices size, pages, paper, binding
  • How many copies, and the date you need them by
  • Your delivery address

Not sure it's ready? Send it anyway, we'll tell you exactly what needs fixing. Reprinting? We keep your artwork, so just tell us how many more.

Get a price
hello@exwhyzed.com01206 766647

PRINT an A5 PERFECT BOUND ART and LITERARY JOURNAL at EX WHY ZED

Posted on 15 February 2024

A5 Perfect Bound Art Journal Printing

The Winning Print Spec

A5 Books
4pp Cover onto 300gsm Uncoated
Matt Lamination to outer
162pp Text onto 115gsm Uncoated
Full colour print throughout
Trimmed, collated and perfect bound

Mental Health Journal Printing

In this showcase snippet video, we take a look at issue 4 of the superb Doll Hospital a bi-annual art and literature journal on mental health.

When you embark on your self-publishing or indie press journey a fun part is preparing artwork, designing your masthead, the title and logo of your publication. You can keep this in the same place for each issue and just change the colourway and imagery. A fixed masthead also makes every new issue quicker to set up when you come back to us for journal and magazine printing.

The double-page spreads at the start and end of the journal are a big winner. It’s a feel-good pattern when you open the cover. Being super critical, we can see here the effect of the spine hinge - 7mm is lost from the inside cover and the facing first inside page which means the pattern doesn’t quite meet in the middle. With some pro skills, patience and Indesign acrobatics you can get around this. Our guide on how to print a literary magazine explains how much margin to leave beside that hinge.

Buy a copy of each superb issue at https://dollhospitaljournal.bigcartel.com/

Supporting Your Audience

Doll Hospital puts a supportive arm around the reader and welcomes them into its world. Uncoated feels like a softer and more appropriate treatment than silk or gloss would. It’s calmer and less in your face.

The 162 inside pages onto 115gsm Uncoated contain page after page of absorbing content, poems, creative writing and artwork. It can become a labour of love to physically lay out this amount of content but the payoff in the end is worth it. The volume of the pages does make for a weighty book that really makes an impact on a desk or bedside table.

The 300gsm uncoated for the cover has a real snap to it and the matt lamination protects the ink from cracking when folded.

For more Ex Why Zed Showcase Snippet videos, jump over to our dedicated page.

News, articles and whats what
Take a look at some of our other blog posts.
Zine pricing for the print revival: what a copy costs and what it can earn

Zine pricing for the print revival: what a copy costs and what it can earn

Posted on 1 November 2026
  by Mike Heaton
Print is back on the shelf. We set our real UK print prices beside what zines, magazines and books sell for, and show the profit left on each copy.
How to print an annual report, working back from the AGM

How to print an annual report, working back from the AGM

Posted on 28 October 2026
  by Mike Heaton
Printing an annual report starts with two fixed numbers, the trim size and the page count. From there you count back from the date members must receive their copies, leaving five working days for a glued spine once the proof is approved. Ex Why Zed is a Colchester printer of short runs, based in Essex, […]
Zine Sizes Explained: Twenty Real Zines From A6 to A3

Zine Sizes Explained: Twenty Real Zines From A6 to A3

Posted on 28 October 2026
  by Mike Heaton
Most zines are A5: 148 x 210mm, the size you get when you fold a sheet of A4 in half. It became the default because it is cheap to print, goes in a coat pocket without fuss and fits every zine rack, but it is one size among many, and the right one for yours […]
How many pages should a magazine have?

How many pages should a magazine have?

Posted on 27 October 2026
  by Mike Heaton
Stapled magazine page counts must divide by four. See where staples stop, when a spine appears and real page counts from magazines we have printed.
©2026 Ex Why Zed Ltd. All Rights Reserved | A polite suggestion to the rest of the print industry: why not use some brain power and creativity to write your own content rather than copying ours again?Catchfish Online