A well-designed brochure does something your website can’t. When a prospect holds it, flips through it, and sets it on their desk, your brand is physically present in their space in a way no digital touchpoint can replicate. But a brochure that comes back from the printer with text sliced by a fold line, or images that bleed into the wrong panel, undermines that impression before anyone reads a word.
Whether you’re a marketing manager briefing a designer, a newer designer working in print for the first time, or someone wearing every hat at your company, these tips will help you avoid the most common and costly brochure mistakes before your files ever reach a printer.
The way a brochure will be distributed should shape every design decision you make, from fold style to paper weight to call to action placement.
A brochure sitting in a rack at a trade show gets picked up by strangers who know nothing about you. The cover has to earn their attention in seconds. A brochure included in a proposal package goes to someone already in conversation with you. It can go deeper and support the sale. A brochure mailed directly to a prospect needs to survive handling and still feel premium when it arrives.
Knowing the use case before you start designing prevents you from making the wrong choices on format, tone, and layout.
This is the most common mistake printers see from designers working in print for the first time, and it’s the one that causes the most reprints. There are two separate fold-related problems to understand before you design anything.
A fold is not just a line on paper. It is a physical crease that occupies space. When a designer places an image flush to the fold line in their software, the image looks fine on screen as a flat document. But when the brochure is physically folded, that crease consumes space and a sliver of the image ends up on the wrong panel. An image that was meant to sit entirely on one panel now bleeds slightly onto the adjacent panel, creating a visible and unprofessional edge right at the fold.
The fix is simple: keep images and critical content away from fold lines. Do not run images all the way to the inside fold edge. Leave breathing room between your content and every fold line so there is no risk of the fold clipping your design.
On a standard trifold brochure, the three panels are not all the same width. They should not be. The fold-in panel, the one that tucks inside when the brochure is closed, needs to be slightly narrower than the cover panel. Typically about 1/16 inch smaller. This gives it room to fold flat inside the other two panels without buckling, bulging, or creating a gap at the edge.
Designers who set all three panels to equal width, which is the natural instinct when dividing a page into thirds, end up with a brochure that won’t fold properly. The fold-in panel is too wide to sit flat and the brochure will never close cleanly.
Before you start laying out content, ask your printer for a dieline. A dieline is a template that shows the exact dimensions of each panel, where the folds occur, where the trim edge is, and where your bleed needs to extend. Designing from a dieline eliminates both of these problems before they start.
Designers who primarily work in digital often set up files in ways that create problems at the press. Here’s what to check before you send:
Resolution: All images should be at least 300 DPI at their final printed size. An image that looks sharp on a screen at 72 DPI will print soft and blurry. If you’re pulling images from a website, they are almost certainly too low resolution for print.
Color mode: Your file should be in CMYK, not RGB. Computer screens display color in RGB. Printers use CMYK. If you submit an RGB file, the conversion to CMYK will shift your colors, sometimes significantly. Set your document to CMYK from the start.
File format: Submit print-ready PDF files. PDF preserves your fonts, images, and layout reliably.
Fonts: Outline your fonts or embed them in your PDF before submitting. If a font is missing on the printer’s system, it will be substituted with a default font, which will change your layout.
Bleed: Any image or color that is meant to extend to the edge of the finished piece needs to extend 0.125 inches beyond the trim line. This is called bleed. Without it, a slight variation in the cut can leave a thin white edge on your finished piece.
The paper your brochure is printed on communicates something before anyone reads a word. A thin, uncoated sheet signals economy. A heavy coated stock signals quality and confidence. The finish matters too: gloss coatings make colors pop and images vivid, while soft-touch matte finishes feel premium and are easier to read in bright light.
Think about how the brochure will be used. A brochure that will be written on or handled frequently benefits from an uncoated stock. A brochure that leads with photography and visual impact benefits from a gloss or silk coating.
If you’re not sure which paper is right for your project, ask your printer for samples. At Sun Print Solutions we can walk you through substrate options based on your goals, budget, and distribution method.
The fold you choose determines how many panels you have to work with and how the brochure will be read. Common options include:
The half fold (two panels) works well for simple presentations with a clear front and back, like a product overview or an event program.
The trifold (three panels per side, six total) is the most common brochure format. It works for step-by-step processes, service overviews, or any content that benefits from a logical left-to-right flow.
The Z-fold opens accordion-style and works well when you want the full interior to unfold as one continuous visual, like a map or timeline.
The gate fold opens from the center outward and creates a high-impact reveal, often used for premium brand pieces or event invitations.
Choose the fold based on how much content you have and how you want it to be read, not based on what looks interesting. A fold that doesn’t match your content will either leave panels awkwardly empty or force your content into a layout that doesn’t flow naturally.
It’s surprisingly easy to design a beautiful brochure and forget to tell the reader what to do next. Every brochure needs at least one clear call to action: visit a URL, call a number, scan a QR code, request a quote.
Your call to action should be placed where the reader naturally finishes the brochure, typically the back panel of a trifold or the last panel of whatever fold style you choose. Make it visually distinct so it doesn’t get lost in the layout.
If you’re using a QR code, make sure it links to a page that’s relevant to what the brochure is about, not just your homepage.
A brochure that doesn’t match your website, packaging, or other marketing materials creates confusion. Use the same logo, color palette, fonts, and tone of voice that appear everywhere else in your brand.
If you’re working from a brand guide, share it with whoever is designing the brochure. If you don’t have one, use your website as the reference point for colors, fonts, and overall visual style.
Sun Print Solutions produces brochures in a full range of sizes, fold styles, paper stocks, and finishes. If you’re in the early planning stages and not sure which format is right for your project, contact our team and we’ll help you figure it out before design begins. Getting the specs right upfront saves time, money, and reprints.
You can also visit our brochure printing service page to explore options and request a quote.
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