Everything You Need to Know About Printing Brochures

Printing brochures is a great, classic way to share information. Whether you use them to tell your brand story, debut a new product, or even as educational material on features, brochures are an important part of your print marketing mix.

Printing them, however, sometimes feels complicated. Read on to demystify all the complexities of tri-folds, paper stocks, perforation, and more for printing your brochures.

What is a Brochure?

A brochure is a printed document featuring important information about your brand or a key subject. Brochures are usually folded into smaller finishing sizes, making them convenient as handouts at events, tradeshows, reception centers, and more.

How Much Does Printing Brochures Cost?

The cost of printing your brochure will vary based on the finishing options you choose. For example, color printing is more expensive than black and white. Paper stock, the number of folds in your brochure, and the number of brochures will also impact the price. If you are curious about how much a brochure will cost with Mimeo, log in to request a quote.

Printed Brochure Formats

Brochures come in many different formats. In general, your information is printed onto a standard 8.5×11” page (in the USA) and then folded to its finished size. The number of folds decides the final size of your brochure. Here are some of the common folds for printing brochures.

In addition to choosing your brochure format, you can also choose whether your printer folds the brochures for you. While this usually adds on a slight cost, it saves you tons of time and mitigates folding errors.

Half-fold

In this format, the 8.5×11” page is folded in half.

Tri-fold

In tri-fold brochures, the 8.5×11” page is folded three times. You can choose letter-style folding, in which the two outer panels are folded over each other into the front (like an envelope), or z-fold, when one outer panel is folded to the front of the center and the other outer panel is folded to the back.

Paneled

Sometimes, you want a larger brochure. You can choose to print on larger pages that are folded more times. For example, at Mimeo we offer standard 4-fold and 8-fold brochures.

How to Prepare Your File for Printing Brochures

Once you have chosen your brochure format, you will need to prepare your design file for printing. Here is what most printers require.

If you would like more information on how to prepare your file for print.

• PDF file type
• 300 dpi image resolution
• Add crop marks (or bleed marks) to show where to time the outer border
• CMYK color scheme

Choose the Right Paper Stock for Your Brochure

It is important to choose the right paper stock for your brochure. A few decisions you will have to make include:

Color or B&W

Color printers typically use different paper stocks than black and white printers, so your first decision is whether to print the brochure in color or not. Since brochures are often marketing pieces used to tell your brand story or catch your prospects’ attention, the best option is usually color.

Lightweight or cardstock

Next, you’ll need to choose the weight of your brochure stock. If you expect your audience to pick up the brochure, read it, and discard it, then a lightweight stock might be fine. However, if you want the brochure to survive being stuffed into a bag, carted through an airport, or other abuse, then consider a sturdier cardstock.

Laminated or poly paper

You may want to add an extra layer of protection to your brochure to prevent it from tearing, bending, or getting stained. Lamination is applied onto the printed brochure like saran wrap. A more elegant option is poly paper, which prints directly onto a tear-free, waterproof synthetic paper.

Perforation

If you intend for part of the brochure to tear off, then you’ll need to find a printer to accommodate perforation. Perforation scores the paper so it is easy to rip in the location you want to tear-off, without damaging the rest of the brochure.

Glossy or matte

You will also need to decide the finish of your brochure. If it is rich in images or color, then you may prefer a glossy finish, similar to a photograph. Otherwise, you will probably be happy with a standard matte finish.

Printing Brochures: Where to Print

When it comes to printing, you always have a few options. You can buy a printer for your office, but if you need 100 brochures, that will waste a lot of your time. Or you can find a commercial printer. Perhaps the most convenient commercial print shop is online so that you don’t even have to leave your couch.

When choosing an online printer for your brochures, be sure to keep certain questions in mind.

• How do they handle proofs? Will you see a virtual build of your brochure so you can approve the cut and folds?
• How do they handle color standards? For example, Mimeo calibrates our color presses every hour.
• Do they have customer reviews available (for example, on TrustPilot)?
• Do they offer next-day delivery?

Learn more about brochure printing services:

Why You Should Print Brochures
Using PowerPoint as a Graphic Design Tool
Get Started Printing Brochures with Mimeo