How to make a trifold leaflet or a brochure

For a trifold leaflet or a brochure, Publish by Zaweba has a template for each: a trifold leaflet and a 4-page brochure. Open the one you need, replace the sample words and pictures with your own, and export a PDF or print it. Publish is free software for Windows, works offline and doesn't ask for an account.

The two suit different amounts of content. A trifold is a single sheet folded into three panels, handy for a takeaway menu, a service guide or a visitor leaflet. A 4-page brochure gives you more room for a story, a list of courses or a price list with pictures.

Working with the trifold

A trifold has six panels across two sides of the sheet, and the fold order matters. The template is laid out for you, so keep its panel structure and change what's inside each one.

The front cover panel should say what the leaflet is about in a few words. The inside panels carry the detail. The back panel is often where contact details and opening times go. Insert > Page parts has a contact details block that drops in grouped and in the document's colours.

Watch the edges of each panel. Text that runs up against a fold looks careless and can disappear into the crease. Guides dragged from the rulers help you keep a clear gap on either side of each fold.

Working with the brochure

The 4-page brochure gives you a front cover, two inside pages and a back. If an article needs to run from one page to the next, use linked text frames: when a box is too full a red plus appears, and clicking it then clicking an empty box continues the story there.

Master pages are worth a look if you add more pages. Anything on the master, such as a footer or a page number, shows on every page that uses it.

When you're ready to print a longer brochure on a home printer, File > Export booklet PDF lays the pages out two to a side in saddle-stitch order for folding and stapling, padded with blanks to a multiple of four.

Pictures and text that fit together

Insert, paste or drag pictures in, then double-click to crop inside the frame. Text wraps square, tight to the outline, or top and bottom around pictures and shapes, and new pictures start with square wrap.

Columns in a text box keep longer passages tidy on a wide page. Paragraph and character styles mean your headings and body text stay consistent across every panel, and changing a style updates all the text using it.

If you want a different look, the colour schemes and font schemes in the Format menu restyle the whole leaflet in one step.

Printing and folding

For home printing, use the Windows print dialog; Publish prints at actual size, centred. Print a single test and fold it before you print a stack, because that's when you'll spot a panel facing the wrong way.

For a print shop, export a print-ready PDF with bleed, crop marks and embedded fonts. Colour is RGB only, so ask the shop if they need CMYK. For e-mailing a copy, the web PDF shrinks pictures to 150 dpi so the file is small.

Fold one by hand, look at it the way a stranger would, and fix anything that reads in the wrong order.