Materiality asks: what materials can host this work, and how does each material shape the experience? In an era where publishing spans both physical and digital realms, materiality is no longer fixed to paper alone. Projects that explore materiality examine how different formats, substrates, and physical properties influence how work is produced, circulated, and received. The counter to materiality is intangibility, where meaning exists independent of physical form.

The translation of digital content to material form represents one of the most significant shifts in contemporary publishing. As Post-Digital Print scholar Alessandro Ludovico argues, we are in an era where "there is no one way street from analog to digital; rather, there are transitions between the two, in both directions."

The question is no longer whether to publish digitally or physically, but rather how the choice of material format shapes the work itself. The "elitization" of print has occurred as print becomes less of a necessity and more of a possibility. The print object is elevated from mundane to art object, fundamentally changed by the presence of digital alternatives.

The experience of a book is determined by the type of paper, the size and form at which it is printed, the binding structure, even the smell and weight of the object. Each material decision shapes how readers encounter the work. What materials can host this work? Could the same book be printed in five different ratios? Can we experiment with paper sizes, binding methods, or unconventional substrates?

Who decides the material form? Projects like Print Local Sell Local send editable PDFs to publishers so they can adjust sizing to local paper dimensions before printing. Each variation is intentionally different, distributing material decisions across a network of producers. Early experiments in web to print workflows, such as those documented by John Caserta, demonstrated that the same content could be published in radically different material forms, each revealing different aspects of the work. This multiplicity of material forms challenges the notion that content is separate from its container.

p5.zine generator demonstrates the immediacy of giving digital files material format. The tool quickly lays pages out into printable 8 page zines that anyone can print on their own paper using any digital printer. This translation from screen to hand happens in moments.

Library of Artistic Print on Demand (APOD.LI) showcases projects that exist specifically because of print on demand technology, where small run publishing becomes economically viable. Works like Seven Controlled Vocabularies and 56 Broken Kindle Screens use the material form as integral to the conceptual framework.

The Uncensored Library translates censored journalism into the material substrate of Minecraft blocks, demonstrating that "material" need not mean paper. The work exists as explorable architecture within a game world. The Book After the Book explores how books can be both digital interfaces and material objects, examining what changes when the same work exists in multiple material states.

E-Book Backup from P—DPA (Post Digital Publishing Archive) examines the tension between digital ephemerality and material permanence by backing up digital books in physical form.

Projects exploring materiality focus on making the material choice itself visible and consequential. Variable sizing approaches enable books to be printed at different scales, adapting to available paper stock while maintaining legibility and composition. Alternative substrates like fabric, wood, or plastic bring different tactile and visual qualities. Combined binding approaches merge traditional and experimental methods, making structure part of the content. Environmental acknowledgment directly addresses the environmental impact of material choices. Modular materiality creates systems where components can be produced in different materials and assembled by readers according to their needs and resources.