Digest size is amagazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standardpaperback book, approximately 14 cm × 21 cm (5+1⁄2 by8+1⁄4 inches). It is also a13.65 cm × 21.27 cm (5+3⁄8 by8+3⁄8 inches) and14 cm × 19 cm (5+1⁄2 by7+1⁄2 inches) format,[1] similar to the size of aDVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing press operation end. Some printing presses refer to digest size as a "catalog size". The digest format was a convenient size for readers to tote around or to leave within easy hand-reach.
The most famous digest-sized magazine isReader's Digest, from which the size appears to have been named.[2]TV Guide also used the format from its inception in 1953 until 2005.Bird Watcher's Digest was an international magazine that has retained the digest size from its creation in 1978 until it folded in 2021.
Digest size is less popular now than it once was. ThePenny Publicationscrime fiction andscience fiction magazinesEllery Queen's Mystery Magazine,Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine,Analog andAsimov's Science Fiction, as well as many of their word-puzzle and now-folded horoscope magazines, switched to a format slightly taller than standard digest size. Other publications remaining in digest size arePrevention,Guideposts Magazine and someArchie comics digests.[3]
Children's Digest was originally in digest size but switched long ago to a larger format as well, though keeping the word "Digest" in its name.Writer's Digest is another publication with the word in its name that is not actually produced at that size.[citation needed]
From the 1950s the format was used by severalscience fiction magazines.[4] Those still being published as of 2023 are:
Magazines that were published in digest format but are no longer being published include:
From the late 1960s on, severalcomic book publishers put out "comics digests," consisting mostly if not entirely of reprinted material, usually about6+1⁄2 in × 5 in (17 by 13 centimetres).Gold Key Comics produced three digest titles that lasted until the mid-1970s:Golden Comics Digest,Mystery Comics Digest, andWalt Disney Comics Digest.DC Comics produced several in the early 1980s (includingDC Special Blue Ribbon Digest andThe Best of DC), andHarvey Comics also published a few during the same time (includingRichie Rich Digest Magazine).Archie Comics has published numerous comics digests since 1973, and in the 2000sMarvel Comics has produced a number ofdigests, primarily for reprint editions.
Themanga graphic novel format is similar to digest size, although slightly narrower and generally thicker.
TheA5paper size used by manyUK fanzines is slightly wider and taller than digest size.
InItaly,Topolino'sDisney comics title has been published in the format since 1949, inspired byReader's Digest (which was also published byArnoldo Mondadori Editore).[5] AlsoDiabolik and the vast amount of so calledfumetti neri for adults are commonly published in this format.
The format is widely used in comics published inItaly,France,Brazil,Mexico,Spain and more countries.[6]