Home · Feedback · Estimates · Contact us · Site map
Creating a simple, six-panel, letter-fold brochure
Software & design tutorials
Creating a six-panel brochure
Here is some basic information you can apply to avoid several common problems when using MS Word or other software to create a brochure.
1) Getting started
To start,
remember that the folds of the finished brochure will divide each side
of the sheet of paper into three equal sections (or panels) as shown in
the example below.
2) Margins
Text should not start
at the edge of the panel. Leave a margin all around each panel of the
brochure. The grey area in the image below represents a 1/4 inch (0.25")
margin. The actual margin you should have in your design will depend on
your personal preferences and on the equipment you will be using
to print your brochure. A 3/8 inch margin is sufficient for most
equipment.
3) Gutters
Text should not start at or extend to the fold between two panels. In
the image below, notice how the 1/4 inch margin around each panel
produces a 1/2 inch gutter between the center panel and the left and
right panels of the brochure.
4)
Outside layout
The right-hand panel of the outside of your brochure will be the front
cover, and the centre panel will be the back cover.
5) Inside layout
When readers open your
brochure they will read the contents from left to right.
6)
Bleeds
Blocks of color or images you would like to print right to the edge of
the page must be formatted to extend beyond the edge of the paper. This
is called a “bleed”. Ask your printer how far bleeds should extend in
your design. 1/4 inch bleed is sufficient for most purposes. Only extend
a bleed over a fold if you want it to print on more than one panel.
Caution: Designs with bleeds must be printed on larger paper and then trimmed to finished size, which increases the printing cost.
7)
MS Word page setup
Open a new file in MS Word. Using the Page Setup dialog box, set the
Top, Bottom, Left and Right margins all to 0.25". Set Paper Size to
Letter and Orientation to Landscape.
8)
MS Word columns setup
Click on Format on the menu bar and select Columns from the drop-down
list. In the Columns dialog box, set the Number of columns to 3. Ensure
that Equal column width is selected. Word will automatically compute the
Width of the columns based on the Spacing. The example below uses 0.5"
column spacing — twice the 0.25" page margin selected in Step 7 above —
to produce the half-inch gutter described in Step 3.
9) MS Word sample
document
With view set to Whole Page, when you finish setting up Columns, the
Word document on your computer screen will look something like the image
below.
10) Templates
MS Word comes with templates for brochures and other types of
publications. Check the templates that come with your software before
you start your brochure design. At first it may be easier for you to
adapt a pre-made template than it would be to create your own brochure
design from scratch. Click on Help in your software to find more
information about templates.
RE:Print offers knowledgeable technical support for a wide range of software.
Click here to download this information as a PDF brochure. (Click to open the brochure in a new window; right-click to save the brochure.)
Click here to visit RE:Print's Technical Support page.