• Gridify Our Page

Criteria for your pages

Your pages must:

• use the A4 page dimensions.
• have all elements aligned to column guides.
• either left-aligned or left-justified text.
• have all body copy aligned to the baseline.
• have adequate margins, inside, outside, top and bottom.

The Modular Grid

Our magazine dimensions are going to be A4 size, that’s 21cm x 29.7cm. Read more about ISO A page dimensions here. This is our canvas. The grid needs to allow for:

• Margins
• Top: Running Headers
• Outside: Thumb space
• Inside: Binding
• Bottom: Folios
• Columns
• Reasonable line length
• Gutters
• Breathing room between columns

Pinterest Board with page layouts on grids.

Your Grid

I suggest you use 6 columns on most of your pages. A few of them will work better with an 8 column grid. That way, you can mostly use them as a three or four columns, with halves built-in.

Bleeds

When you place text and artwork on the page, it either needs to be within the margins or reach out to the bleed line accurately. The bleed must be ⅛” or 0p9, which are equivalents.

Don’t leave any artwork beyond the bleed line.

Text Alignment

Your text can either be left-justified or left aligned. Choose one alignment for all your pages.

Baseline Grids

You must align your body copy to the baseline grid. The baseline grid is a set of guides on which can align body copy so text baselines align from column to column. It makes the pages look a lot cleaner—more orderly.

We can have text aligned to the baseline whether it’s left-aligned or left-justified. You do not need to align titles or any other text to the baseline grid.

Sketching Pages

You’ll need to sketch page layouts. I usually print pages with a grid on them to guide me in my sketching. It also helps that the proportions are the same as my final printed piece.