How to Make a Prop Magazine

Creating a Fake Magazine Cover for Your Prop

• 1

  Use a website to create free fake magazine covers that look like the real thing. At Fakemagazines.com, for instance, you can choose a cover that looks like the real thing, then use the site's browse button to search your computer's picture folder to find a picture you would like to use on your fake magazine cover. Once you find the picture you want, click on "Upload," and then choose "Fake Magazine Cover."

  Save your cover before adding text and other elements. Using the site's tools, you can re-size your photo or add text and then save the magazine cover to your computer by using the "Save as" and directing the website to save it to your computer system.

• 2

  Print your new magazine cover on a glossy paper, such as photo paper.

• 3

  Glue your cover to an existing magazine's cover.

• 4

  Use a software program such as Microsoft PowerPoint. Open a blank document. On the "Design" tab, click on "Slide Orientation" and choose "Portrait." To insert a photo, click on the "Insert" tab and then "Picture." Choose a picture from your computer files to add to your PowerPoint slide and then re-size and move it to fit your needs.

  To insert text, click on the "Insert" tab again and choose "Text." You can choose either a text box or WordArt and then change font and sizes to create text that will look good on your magazine cover.

• 5

  Save and then print your cover out on glossy paper, such as photo paper.

• 6

  Glue your new cover to an existing magazine's cover.

Specialty Magazine Props

• 7

  Score lightly, with an X-acto knife, the pages of your magazine prop if an actor is going to have to rip it in half during a scene. If your actor has to struggle to rip a magazine, he will look weak and it might also add unnecessary time to a scene.

• 8

  Loosen the staples or add a fake page in your prop magazine if an actor has to tear a page with specific information out of it, to enhance a scene.

• 9

  If the magazine prop is to appear in a scene where everything is old, such as an attic scene, you don't want your prop to look shiny and new. Crinkle it, roll over it a few times with a car's tire, or wet it down with some coffee to give it an aged look.

• 10

  Make several magazine props, especially if it is important for a scene in a play. If a prop gets lost or damaged, it is important to have another one available as a backup.