How to Make a Brochure with Free Online Tools
94
Really, it's free?
Brochures can be a very important part of your business or organization as far as publicity. You want people to understand your purpose, what you do, and more. And you want your brochures to be nice.
Oftentimes printing these can be very expensive, whether you're paying someone to design the layout or if you're printing yourself and you suffer the costs of ink and quality paper. But producing brochures doesn't have to be expensive. Thankfully, the World Wide Web offers some alternatives to high-cost brochures.
There are plenty of tools you can use online to make some good brochures without any money or a lot of time. You can create them yourself and even have someone else print them for you. Check out the tips and methods I've outlined below and read up through the links I've supplied at the bottom of the page.
Brochure Design
Brochure Design Tips
You might be excited to start generating nice-looking brochures for your company, but before you jump into the online world, glance over these bits of advice I have for you.
Here are some basics concerning how your brochure should work:
1. Determine the purpose of your brochure
Why should people choose your company over others? Explain the answer to this question in the brochure and keep your response focused.
2. Draw attention with your headlines
Make them sound bold and interesting. However, it's not okay to use all capital letters; this sort of scares readers. Use upper- and lowercase instead. Also, try not to make words bold so that when you do, it really catches a reader's attention.
3. Keep copy brief
Make sure there's ample space between lines of type so it's easier to read. Also, there should be sufficient marginal space around every fold and side of your brochure.
4. Use plenty of color
As far as the text, you should include:
- What the customer gets out of doing business with your company - avoid overuse of the pronouns "we," "us," "I" or "our."
- The twelve most powerful words in the English language, which are:
- You
- Money
- Save
- New
- Easy
- Love
- Discovery
- Results
- Health
- Proven
- Guarantee
- Free
- Company information - while the customer comes first, make sure you promote your company too. Explain the business, its history and maybe testimonials or a list of prominent clients.
- Product information - Explain what it's for and explain any warranties or guarantees. Try not to list prices; you want people to contact you so you can engage their interest and have more control over transactions. Speaking with them also gives you the chance to assuage any concerns or uncertainties they may have.
- Contact information - Avoid using staff pictures if you want a more professional image. However, in a close-knit community, it wouldn't necessarily hurt.
Including both prices and staff pictures are tricky because both are apt to change, thus rendering your brochure invalid.
Finally, you may try asking people who know nothing about your product to read over a proof of your brochure and have them explain your company and/or product from what they read.
Remember:
- A good type of paper to use is 70 lb. (or higher) coated stock for a three-panel, four-color brochure. A 10-point card stock is best for single-panel brochures to ensure that it won't flop forward in display stands.
- Dimensions are very important. If you try to design the layout yourself, you often have to get down to portions of inches to get your brochure to print out just right. It's good to want to save money, but when it comes to the livelihood of your business, you might want to enlist the help of an experienced designer to help with the layout, if not the production and printing.
- Know your target audience well. You can look up demographic information about what the audience prefers as far as color, typeface, even style. Do some research before starting to make your brochure.
- Proofread! There is nothing that says "unprofessional" like a misspelled word.
- If you need a large quantity of brochures, it's best to design your brochure online for free, then to take the file to a printer. Mass production of printed items is easier for them and less expensive for you as opposed to you printing hundreds of brochures with your inkjet printer.
How To Create Virtual Welcome Packets
Recommended online tools
MyBrochureMaker
Powered by Doodlelab, this is a Hewlett Packard program that I would say is your best bet for creating your brochure online for free. It's super easy and I think their designs are great. You also print them yourself, which allows for a lot more control on your part.
With MyBrochureMaker you have the choice of making a Brochure with mailing panel, brochure without mailing panel, or flyer.
The program also offers templates with different themes: Medical, contractor, fitness, salon/spa, real estate, nature, travel, business, technology, child care It may take some time to load the templates so you can work on them, depending on your connection (I have dial-up... *shudder*).
Then you press buttons to Edit Outside, Edit Inside and View Both to start editing the text for your brochure. You just click on the boxes where the text goes and type the words. The pictures are already there and the layout is already set up.
Finally, you print your brochure: first you print the outside on one side of the paper, then rotate it 180 degrees and put the paper back in, printed side up. (HP recommends doing a test print to make sure it comes out the way you want it to on the paper you selected before printing more.) Then you print the inside. And then you're done! You can save your design or ditch it. HP also recommends you use their specialty brochure paper when using their service as well. Depending on how professional the purpose of your brochures are, this might not be a bad idea; I find HP paper to work really well and sometimes you can get it on sale.
VistaPrint
At VistaPrint, you have the option of making 25 free - they print them for you. You can also make them in quantities of 50,100, 250 and 500, but they cost more respectively (making 500 costs $250). You can also pay for a document proof in PDF form for $1.99. Hint: Before you start, you may want to register if you are not already a member of the site because they will ask you to do that in the middle of the brochure-making process before you can continue.
You can also just continue as a guest of the site. If you're downloading a template, VistaPrint recommends you use Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator for editing.
Here are the product specifications for their printed brochures:
· Full Bleed Size (starting document size): 11.10" x 8.63" (they advise that finished artwork should use the full bleed dimensions for better results)
· Document Trim Size (final size after being cut): 10.98" x 8.50"
· Resolution: 300 DPI
Make sure to keep all text within the safe margins they designated. Dotted lines indicate where a fold will take place. If you don't want text or other elements to appear on the fold, make sure they stay within each panel's safe margin.
When you're making your brochure, you have the option of using one of their templates or uploading your own design (or having them make it for you for $99).
If you're uploading your own outline, you have to make sure it conforms to their specifications, including the size of 11.10" x 8.63"; that all background colors and images bleed to the edges of the document at the full bleed; that all important text and images are within the safe margin (.137" from the edge of your document); that resolution is 300 DPI at 100%; and that all fonts are converted to outlines (as in Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw). From there they take it, print it, and send it to you in as little as 3 days. If you're using a template, you're in luck because they have a wealth of nice industry designs to use, including wedding, flowers, construction, legal and more. You can even add the ones you love to your Favorites. Once you get a look at the design you think you want, you then enter your text where the sample text is at the left side of the window (you enter it in boxes), initial a box to get online approval of both sides, and have it printed and shipped to you!
Tabblo
This is another great and free resource to make brochures... and another Hewlett Packard program. The point of this Web site is to "make cool stuff with your photos." Members are very involved in uploading and sharing their photos with others on the site. You have a blog and you can pay to print certain products, like books, posters and more. You can make your brochures here to print at home or through the company.
The first thing you have to do, however, is sign up... it takes just a minute to do so. You don't even need to check your e-mail to verify your account.
Once you've done that, you can start making your brochure. This program seems less structured than the others I have listed, but you can use the member network maybe to get some great ideas and even use some of the photos they have posted for sharing to put in your brochure.
Live feed
- Question: Brochures for dummies
Recommendations for brochure-making software needed. I have two small businesses and want to advertise them with bi-fold and tri-fold brochures. I'm frustrated with Word, so now I'm looking for something simple and cheap to create the brochures. I really don't need templates, just something to easily format pages and add art. What works for you? - 6 years ago
- By: Jairus
If you want simple and cheap, and you own Office, try Microsoft Publisher. - 6 years ago
- By: orangemiles
I've also used PowerPoint, believe it or not. Create a blank slide and you can insert text boxes and art galore. - 6 years ago
Online tools and additional resources
- HP Printer ink and laser toner cartridge and paper supplies
Here you can find the ink and paper you need to print your brochure after youve designed it. HP is a trusted and reliable brand a good place to start printing brochures! - VistaPrint Brochures
VistaPrint has special offers so you can try the first 25 brochures free. Try your hand at designing your own brochures and having them printed by someone else! - GotPrint
Kristy recommended this link as a cheaper, faster way to print brochures. Thanks! - Tabblo
Tabblo is an extremely popular photo-sharing and utilization center. Network with other users and find and use photos to make different products (including brochures) online to produce yourself. - Brochure Monster
If you need more help than just cost-efficient brochure printing, you may want to check out this Web site, with lots of resources to help you end up with the brochure you want. - Print Place
This company specializes in printing brochures for a low price. Once you’ve developed your design, you can take it here and choose from a variety of options to get the brochure you want. - Free Brochure Software :: My Brochure Maker
Here is it: my favorite free online brochure-making program, MyBrochureMaker. Design the brochure you want so you can print it at home… it’s easy and it turns out great. Also look at HP products. - 4Over4.com
4Over4 stands as another resource with free services to make brochures… only they offer a free online proof of your brochure before you start printing. It might end up being helpful! - BuyerZone - Free online quotes
At BuyerZone you can get a free online quote of what your brochure is going to cost, with what materials, in what quantity. Understand how the brochure production industry works before you get started. - Prepress - Free brochure template downloads
Here at Prepress, you can download brochure templates for free. All you have to do is register on the site and you have access to a wealth of templates, from stationary to menus. - Business Card Printing - Brochure Printing
vote upvote downshareprintflag
- Useful (21)
- Funny (2)
- Awesome (7)
- Beautiful (6)
- Interesting (3)
CommentsLoading...
This is fantastic!
Very helpful information, thanks!
WOW ! Thanks for the info !
wow amaxing
good verry good
thanks for sharing. i never know this before. i'll start to use now
true, it is expensive to let other make your brochures and other advertising tools. This is very helpful. It will be of great help to business owners.
There's a program in Microsoft Pack that makes brocures. It's pretty good. I've never tried any of the programs that you've listed. Although, I have used Vista for business cards.
Useful info from you...best regards
Thank you for this very helpful information. The images and impacts of brochures make them an important part of marketing even for those focusing on the online community.
I'm going to refer your great Hub to my friend, Terri Shearer of http://homehealthcarebooks.com - She will want to make brochures to take to Ken McArthur's JVAlert workshop in Orlando next month. Terri's on the "hot-seat" there with her new 3-hour "how-to" video and PDF (that she spent a year on, with medical professionals)... and what better way for the crowds to take away a reminder of what she has to offer than with a well-done brochure? You give her invaluable tips here - and all we Hubbers. In fact, I'm going to send your Hub link to MANY people! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.
Very good quality advice and a must for the small business operator wanting to look as professional as possible without having to invest greatly. Don't forget to use the "AIDA" principle as it imperative to stand out!
Even if you are starting out in business, you don't have to look like it. Prospect, clients will take your word for it UNTIL you prove otherwise. Therefore "fake it 'til you make it!"
Excellent!
Do remember that your brochure is just salesmanship - in print - so make the sales copy compelling!
Thanks, I want to start making one today
Excellent hub, very informative and well designed. Could come in useful for my company. Thanks.
Thank you for the information. These are great ideas and great 'how to' details. Thanks for writing this hub!
It sounds like you are a professional maker of brochure. Thanks you very much for the guideline.
love this hub! :)
i've been planning of venturing on desktop publishing biz for extra money, and this hub of yours is such a helpful jumpstart kit for me! :)
thanks a lot! :)
I have made numerous brochures but I just ran into a problem with sending one, to my business partner, online. She did not have the right software and could not open it. This article gives me a new idea for doing that. Thanks!
Hi,
This is Guru, brochure is a media of advertisement, whether the company is new or old, whenever the company launches a new product or services to the customers, the company should intially advertise their products through different medias like TV, publishing adds in newspaper, magazines, outdoors adds in big wallpapers, apart from these brochure is also a media of advertisement to the customers, basically the brochure should be very attractive, moreover the contents should impress the peoples to know about the company's product in indepth.
While printing the brochure, the key word like Discount or offer or gift should be highlighted in Red or Blue colour or any attractive colour, the peoples should be attracted to these key words, they call upon the office to know the products which they offering & many more aspects in indepth.
Therefore the brochure should be attractive, showfull, highlighting with Discount, Offer, or gift voucher.
These are the essential features to be considered while printing the brochures.
Regards,
Guru.
How could I get to make the brochure and print it on my computer?
A+ Hub.
I've made a few catalogues and your hub covers the basics and you also give some good advice about copy-writing.
omg!i love this this is just amazing thanx guyzz!
this website is not helpful at all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very informative and lots of examples, but I am not good enough in design and all the rest and I prefer to outsource that task to professionals.
thanks for the great free info on makeing your own brochure. small businesses will have a great improvment because of this.
Wow, very informative and great multi-media to help all of us, thanks!
What a great hub! Fantastic information beautifully presented. Good job!
This is fantastic information! Great hub, and thanks so much for the valuable info!
Great. This is going to be very helpful for me.
Thanks everyone... I hope this really helps you guys :)
This Hub was fantastic. I really appreciated it.
Daniel Tetreault
cool
Thanks for the information.
This is nice. I never thought such resources existed. This hub sure makes creating brochures seem very easy.
The videos in this hub are broken.
Thanks for catching that! I found new ones and fixed them
Nice info
I'm glad I came across this hub as I've been thinking about making brochures for ages and never realised that you could do it online. Thanks for this
Dan
Many thanks for all the information! Great resource!
Love the info. Thanks! If only I could find something like this about printing calendars...
Thanks for the info. You've gotta love the web.
Coool... thats awesome amount of quality info. Gr8 work!!
Great resource! I offer support for moms starting out with home businesses, and this is a SUPER tool! I actually have a consult next week with a "newbie", and this will be SO helpful!
Thanks for the link, Pat, and for the compliments from the rest of you!
That's very detail information you have. Thanks for sharing.
Great Hub with fantastic information. Thanks for the insight!
Very valuable information you had given to all thanks for your good lens. Here i posted a hub recently http://hubpages.com/hub/MortgageCalculator you can get good information from this hub.
Very Good Information
Very usefull information, I will make my own brochure this days. Thanks a lot
This hub is exactly what I was looking for! I've been searching for info on brochure creation for some time and this is by far the best article I've found on the subject.
I'm going to bookmark it at Delicious.com.
I Love This
I have to agree with Karen - great hub. I just finished making a brochure using a template off of the HP site in Microsoft Word but didn't particularly like the way it turned out. I'm going to try the MyBrochureMaker.
This is a great resourse and will help mein my marketing consulting...thanks for putting this up and doing all the research!!! Thumbs up!!!
its lovely i got sumthin reali interestin yep its great
thanks alot great help u made my day
This Hub is great! Definitely a good resource. Thumbs up for you!
cdvfkyigiygyigrfgtkwtrhb
I was drawn to this hub immediately because I was planning on writing one on this very same subject. You've covered it so well and with such detail that there's nothing left to say, which is all good with me! Great job!
The only tiny little thing I would add is that I think it's always nice for contact information to include as many different methods of contact as possible...email, phone, physical location, and so on.
You are so right about not adding prices and staff pictures that could change, and it's a super idea to have someone who knows nothing of your business to read over the proof. :)
Nice hub!
Thanks for the tip, Pam! Sorry I took the Hub idea from you... it was a Flagship Hub! But I'm sure you can still write on it :)
This information came up for me at the right time so thank you.
A really nice hub - very informative, indepth, yet easy to follow. Thanks, this is a terrific resource especially for many of us brick and mortar businesses who are looking for ways to cut costs.
Great resource and very timely for me. Thanks
thanks for your shareing
I will try this for my Nachmieter-Blog! Txs for sharing.
Thank you everyone! I hope this helps you all in some way :)
Thanks for the hub its great, very good information that I will be looking into.
Great ideas.
Here is some good advice on how to send it out effectively.
In order to implent the ideas Microsoft Publisher 2007 is a good appliaction with builtin templates
Great information for getting a great looking brochure fast and cheap.
I had researched a lot of printing companies for our brochures and found that http://www.gotprint.com was the least expensive of them all. Additionally, their turn around time is excellent and their quality is flawless!
Kristy
Thanks everybody, and thank you Kristy for the extra link!
Wow, thats an info packed hub! Seems like the costs of running a small business are decreasing every year as new technology and services become available. I'll keep this in mind as another tool to use when I finally start my own. Thanks.
Thanks for the tips. I've bookmarked it for when I need to do a brochure.
Nice hub!
Nice! Great tips. I do desktop publishing and all this is great! I offer a lot of tips for VA's, this will help them too! Keep it up. Here is my blog for some other cool tips: http://virtualassistantresources.wordpress.com
Great information for copywritiing. I havn't used a brochure for ove 15years. My book How to Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast acts as my living brochure. And, with the world of Web 2.0 people use their useful information to attract sales. Still--helpful.
Judy Cullins at bookcoaching.com
Very well explained and an informative hub.thank you
This is really excellent and very helpful to people trying to grow or even start a business on a small budget.
Thank you for such a great effort and for including so many resources.
Great hub! I'm going to take advantage of this information. Thanks!
Dear Sir, How are you? We are a factory of toner chip,OPC,Mag Roller,PCR and toner cartridges for laser printer in China.Our website is http://www.printercolorltd.com. Please check our full product list of chip land toner cartridges at your attachment!To tell you a good news,we have worked out the Dell 3110 chip,Xerox 6180 chip,Epson AC3800 chip,Epson C2600 chip ,HP 4014 chip,HP CP1215/1515 chip,Samsung CLP-350 chip,Kyocera Tk-Tk-715,TK-675,TK-310,Tk-130 etc chip,HP CB435A/436A/388A chip,New HP 2600 chip etc.Please check our latest product list at your attachment.And we have much advantage in manufacturing the toner cartridges.We have been doing this business for many years.Our quality is very good and our sales conditions and price are very competitive.And we have very reliable quality warranty.You won't have worries after sales.Our quality warranty is as follows:If there is any of the defectives,I'll exchange for you directly in your next order by adding the same amount claimed .And our defective rate for chip is less than 0.3%.Our defective rate for toner cartridge is less than 3%.If you have any question,please let me know!I am looking forward to your reply!Best wishes!yours,SherrySales ManagerCompany: Printer Color Technology Co., LtD Address: Room 402,Unite 1,Building 2,Sheng Fu Da Yuan,Beijing Westroad No.69,Nanchang City ,Jiangxi Province,China Tel:86-0791-6207670 Fax:86-0791-6207670MSN: printcolorltd@hotmail.com,huangbaimei00001@hotmail.comSkype:sherryhuang000001Yahoo Id?sherryhuang000001@yahoo.comEmail: printercolorltd@gmail.com,printercolorltd@yahoo.com Web:http://www.printercolorltd.com
ITS HARD I DONT UNDERSTAND STILL
Wow it really awsome and it really helps
nice hubs i want make brochure someday
Thanks for the info. Free is good!
Excellent product. I can think of many uses for it.
this is a great article,i want to translate it into Chinese and tell my friends!
How to Make a Brochure with Free Online Tools
well written, I come on , welcome to my hub
Thanks, it is so helpful to me. I was looking for a way to make brochures to promote my aStores for charity. Basically a way to raise money for homeless and sick kids.
Great information. I would really like to design some brouchers for my company using these.
Great hub. Excellent work! Thanks for your work.
Great resources. I have bookmarked this hub for future use.
this is really a wonderful hub....
very informative .... very nicely explained ....
keep the good work up .... god bless you .....
yup,,its simply amazing. will definitly use to make brocher of my company, thanks a lot friend.
the web page is to long :-[
This is very useful and helpful. You explained everything so clearly. Thank you, glass visage. I'm bookmarking this great hub.
I will be back again to see what else you’ve got going on ...
Great Hub for DIY. Another great resource for all of it is http://trusteprint.com They can handle the design and printing. Plus they have free templates that you can use to design your brochures, http://trusteprint.com/download-templates They are pretty affordable and they do amazing design work.
Thanks for the resources!
Interesting! I need to have time to read this. I will come back. Thanks.
FREE Internet Business Course—$295 Value!
Free Internet business, training, and support. Multiple income streams. Residual and leveraged income; 95% of the work is automated. Visit http://www.sfi4.com/10926692/FREE for complete details today.
Excellent resource! Thanks!
I am bookmarking this one!
I like VistaPrint as well, but they can't do the folding for tri-fold brochures.
Great Post very helpful
Patty
Great Hub! I love Office Max or Impress! I know it is costly but IF you are doing allot of publishing - Microsoft Publisher is wonderful! They offer a 60 day free trial so if you plan your time well - which is impossible to do as an entrepreneur - I know! Publisher is so much more flexible in inserting photos and text boxes and changing the text box size. Rated it UP! Excellent Hub!
Awesome! Excellent info
Thank you for your posts! GMA and Jesaira and HKrafston, great tips... Thanks for helping to improve my Hub!
Awsome
cool
This will come in very handy, thank you
Kerry:)
I love this hub. Your writing is original and the photos are beautiful.
glassvisage, I was looking around your hubs and stumbled upon this one, WOW what a fabulous wealth of information. Thanks for the how to make a brochure online hub! Peace :)
Thank you all for your comments! I hope that the Hub was helpful :)
I like the video. I bookmarke it. Glassvisage, nice to meet you :)
So flipping amazing. It would be great to include some recommendations on where to obtain visual assets. Like an istockphoto or something.
If you're ever in San Francisco, drop me a line and I'm happy to provide you some recommendations on "how to do" SF. http://misterarcher.com/
Till then!
-Mister Archer
Wait, how do you do it?
Thank you all for stopping by! Sophie, it depends on the tools you use, but feel free to check out some of the links and look into what you need to do to make a brochure their way!
i didnt find this program helpful at all .
This is another testimony that with the internet, the world is indeed in your fingertips.
Its great.Thanks for your recommendation.
can get yourself free business cards and everything... wonderful... Good hub, useful if you are starting your own little business with limited funds.
I am going through all of your hubs and I don't have enough words to praise the quality of the stuff you are providing. Thanks.
Very practical information. Very useful, because you point out were you can use it and what the benefits are.
Thanks.
I'm a member of a non-profit ministry and my husband in a gospel music minister. I can benefit greatly from your hub and I thank you. Thank You!
One way I lowered costs was to buy a used skid steer instead of a new skid steer. Why buy new when the old is still perfectly useful and has plenty of wear in it for half the price. Maybe the army can learn from my example. http://www.texasskidsteer.com
wow thanks
bad and not good
Thanks for that. Great guide. Good, clean design. Less is more! Well done.
Thanks!
great infomation for me..thanks
well i dont like to read soo.... i did not read this but if it is alot then it must be good!
Great advice, I wanted to get a line of brochures for my business, but was shocked by the prices that some graphic designers were charging. This is a great way for me to take my time and plan it out exactly the way that I want it!
Very informative. Brochures are a great marketing tool. Who knew they were so easy to make?
Hi MyBrochureMaker is not working now for free.It needs around 10$ to print a brochure from them.They do not allow even to save that in my pc.i am using now http://freebrochuremaker.net .it is so charm so far.But thanks for so info
Quite useful. Thanks!
thank you for this great post I for sure will be referring to this when i create some brochures for http://www.centecequipment.com . thank you again
actually, i dont undarstand what kind of program you use? can any one tell me what free program i need to use to make a brochures or flyers?
Thank you all for your comments! Lukas, look at the Recommended online tools section for some suggestions, like VistaPrint.
how do you make a leaflet online i really need to know its bugging me
Great article! The brochure I created and had printed turned out to be a great marketing tool for my business. I found Vista to be a little pricey and I don't really like their quality. So I did some research and found http://www.zoomprinter.com/products/brochures, I was able to get 500 8.5 x 11 for about $200. I was extremely pleased with the fast turnaround and end product.
kommitted, thanks so much! I think I'll add that to the links :)
extent presentation.its benefited me to make idea.
Great article. Thanks!
yoyyoyoy
Thank you for your kind information
Excellent stuff from you, man. I’ve read your things before and you are just too awesome. I adore what you have got right here. You make it entertaining and you still manage to keep it smart. This is truly a great blog thanks for sharing…
gaming cases
I barely got anything, buuuut i'll say its good enough :)
kcoool i have dmot twied it vo
Excellent information and well-written. Thanks for sharing. GC
If you're looking to create free real estate or rental flyers online check out http://www.housingflyers.com/real-estate-flyers.ht for 8.5"x11" real estate brochures you can download as a pdf and print at home.
These days you can do so much online. From brochures to even business cards. As for business cards one of my favorite type is the raised ink business cards.
thank you for the information. That was very nice. Hope to have an article about flowers to. You can get an idea about this on www.romeesgarden.com I am very interested about that. Thank you!
alllah! alllah!
make it more clear while explaning the procedure so that it is better understood to continue with your hub.
This Hub is a great resource for people looking to make great brochures. I just Bookmarked this hub and some of the useful websites.
Shared this with my Followers and also Socially Shared. Thanks for SHARING!
Having a brochure to pass out is always great. its a way to grow your business, and if u can find tools that are free and help you grow, then its something people should take advantage of.
we get ours printed at http://lecards.com
MrMarmalade 4 years ago
An excellent hub
thank you