Printing and designing leaflets by yourself can be easy if you read through the different types of leaflets and follow standard leaflets dimensions.
As our customers tend to experience difficulties with the configuration and printing of leaflets, we have concluded that they can be quite complicated during the artwork closing process and also printing. This article therefore aims to demystify the trickiness behind leaflet printing, and increase your confidence in your leaflet-design and printing skills.
The first matter to take into account when designing your leaflets is the folding you want for it. There is a vast array of possible folding methods that you can choose from in the market, which all impact how you will need to format the lay-out of your leaflet’s content. Let’s give you an overview of the folding methods available at Gogoprint.
1. Single fold
As its name indicates, single-fold leaflets can simply be seen as a piece of paper folded in half, yielding two different parts on the paper. As such, you need to make sure that no important content (especially text) sits on the fold, which is true for every kind of folding.
2. Letter fold
Letter fold leaflets are folded two times (instead of once) and are therefore constituted of 3 parts, the same way as posted letters in envelopes are. This is probably the most intuitive way to fold a leaflet, which would explain why it is so popular.
3. Zig zag fold (2 fold)
The zig zag 2 fold thanks its name to the shape that the paper takes when looked upon from the top: like a zigzag (obviously). When you open and close the leaflet, it basically looks like an accordion. When the paper is folded twice, you get a zigzag leaflet with 3 parts.
4. Zig zag fold (3 fold)
This folding method is the same as above, but with an extra fold, yielding 4 compartments in your leaflet. It is important to keep in mind that the more folds you want your leaflet to have, the bigger the unfolded format that you need to select, especially if the paper you want is thick.
5. Parallel fold
This type of folding will also yield a leaflet that has 3 folds in total, and 4 different compartments. For this type of folding, the sheet of paper is first folded in half (into a single-fold leaflet), then folded in half again.
6. Window fold
The window fold owes its name to the fact that folding and unfolding it looks a bit like opening and closing a window in your house. There are two folds, and three different parts in the leaflet.
Once you know which kind of folding you want, it is time to start thinking about the dimensions that you want your folded (closed) leaflet to have. Based on the desired format of your folded leaflet, and the type of folding that you want, you will be able to determine the open (unfolded) format that you need to select when printing your leaflet online. Indeed, our leaflets configurator requires you to select the dimensions or format of your leaflet in its unfolded (open) state.
Conclusion
For instance, if you desire to print a window-fold leaflet that is 10x10cm in its closed (folded) format, you will need to input the custom dimension 20x10cm (the unfolded, open format) in our configurator. If you want a letter-fold leaflet that is 9.9x21cm in closed format, you will select the format DIN A4 (29.7x21cm) in our configurator as the open format for your leaflets.
Frankly, except for this folding and format trickiness, printing leaflets is exactly like printing flyers. The only thing you need to really make sure about is that the dimensions and lay-out of your artwork file correspond to the open format of your leaflets, and the folding you chose. So go ahead and configure.
