hey! as a matter of fact, i would. there's a lot of videos that will give you knowledge on book binding in general, like this one i used a lot, i really recommend watching it before starting.
i'll be splitting the tips up into formatting, printing, and binding.
You Will Format Your Pdf. you need to convert the hgcz pdf (or any text you want to bind) into a pdf that has the pages offset for printing (the video explains this. watch it 🫵) i had 4 pages per sheet
there are online tools (this one's my favorite and does all the other pdf editing things needed) that will format a pdf into the booklet, but you may need to be kinda good at counting. i am not good at counting. i messed this part up so many times. so golden era had 172 pages, which at 4 pages per sheet, means 43 sheets of paper. you will need to split up the pages into signatures as individual pdfs before feeding them into online2pdf booklet maker. you will need to count them properly. Make Sure They Are Divisible By 4 i cannot tell you the amount of times i messed up counting the pages and would open the separations and see an odd number.
signature separations seen below. it's a tedious process
(many of these were updated 2/5 because originally the signatures were 32 pages which is way too thick for cardstock. fine for paper, cardstock can take a max of 16 pages (4 sheets) before the print near the back starts warping around the spine. rip synergy victim of the first)
if you're planning on bookbinding a comic/zine like hgcz that requires color, and you don't have a color printer like me, you'll probably have to go to a store that offers it as a service.
tips below for color printing (skip ahead if it's a text fanfic or something that a normal bw printer can do):
i did this at the ups store and they did not tell me that i could bring my own paper (cardstock for me, which was $2 a page. not even for any color printing. just the page. yikes) until way later than i would have liked. Bring Your Own Paper. the paper is probably going to be massively overpriced and i was able to buy and bring 50 pages of cardstock at an art store for like. $6. crazy
do NOT print all your signatures all at once. i had several instances where the week's copies were all slightly cut off at the edge and if that had happened to the whole book all at once i would Not have been able to afford reprinting
i printed ~8 sheets of paper a trip, so two signatures. this is easier to keep track of in case your pages get mixed up (and less overwhelming to bind)
if an edge gets cut off, add maybe 2cm of space to that side in the pdf and then resize it to A4 dimensions.
you dont need anything fancy. i used the handle of scissors as a bone folder, regular sewing thread and needle for the bindings, a thumbtack for an awl, and (extra strong) elmers glue for the glue (we will see if this starts falling apart it is only a couple weeks old. it's holding up great so far though)
i did wax the thread with a beeswax candle (couldn't find any wax by itself) (i did set some tissue paper on fire accidentally while trying to get some), i'd recommend this because pulling the thread through all the holes can be a pain if it separates and tangles up
try to do some practice before, make a blank sketchbook or something just so you kind have some experience before the actual thing
sewing in two signatures at a time was pretty nice because it wasn't ever stressful having papers everywhere and this became a weekly project that i did not give up halfway through
i've tried making covers out of fabric before but they kinda look ugly i'm ngl so i skinned an old hardcover book from the library bookstore (was like $2) with similar dimensions. the spine letters can be removed with nail polish remover, though the indent will remain.
the sides and edges of the book WILL be uneven. it is inevitable. it is okay. modern books are only so smooth because they don't make books like this anymore. if you have a paper guillotine (i don't) you can try to even it out, but that risks chopping off some text (i wouldn't) (especially not a color printed comic) and also it ending up uneven anyway esp for thick books like fanfiction often is. there is a method for using an x-acto knife to carefully even it out by hand but i've tried that for bound sketchbooks and i just don't have the precision for it it's pretty awful
that's all i can think of for now! feel free to ask any more questions if you have any. i feel like i should note that hgcz has announced a physical edition to come in the future, so if your goal is to just have a copy, it'd be way easier and cheaper to get that when it comes out. if your goal is the love of the game though? go nuts.
