10 Brochure Folds and How to Create Them

Written by UPrinting    ●    Updated on October 13, 2023

A traditional marketing tool they may be but there’s a reason why brochures remain relevant despite the prevalence of social media and QR codes. Brochures increase a brand’s legitimacy — they’re like tangible commercials that you can touch, with each panel telling its share of the story. Unfolding a brochure can be a fun experience especially if you design them such that every panel reveals information while building excitement for the next one. In this guide, we will learn the different kinds of brochure folds and how you can maximize every panel by designing with intention.

Two-Fold Brochures

1. Half-Fold

Also known as the bifold, this layout involves folding a sheet of paper in half to get two panels. A half-fold done horizontally opens and reads like a magazine, while a vertical half-fold will give you a conventional commercial brochure.

Perfect for: Quick business presentations, product guides, and side by side comparison of two products

Three-Fold Brochures

2. Trifold

One of the most common brochure folds is the trifold where you fold the material like you would a letter. It also resembles the letter C when opened.

Perfect for: Travel brochures, presenting company information, career fair brochures

3. Z-Fold

A popular type of trifold brochure, the Z-fold moves likes an accordion and is great for presenting cascading information.

Perfect for: Hotel brochures, real estate brochures, restaurant menus

4. Gate Fold

The gate fold method adds a little dramatic flair to your brochure as it sets the reader to anticipate something pleasant when they open the front flaps.

Perfect for: Special events brochures, real estate brochures, interior decoration brochures

Four-Fold or More

5. 4-Panel Accordion Fold

An accordion fold traditionally features four equal alternating panels that open like a fan.

Perfect for: Healthcare brochures, corporate brochures to present team members or services

6. Double Gate Fold

To achieve this brochure style, you create a classic gate fold and then fold it in half.

Perfect for: Guides for cinemas, galleries, and art exhibits, year-end reports, travel brochures

7. Double Parallel Fold

When you fold a half-folded sheet of paper twice, you get a double parallel fold. It is also crucial to the double parallel fold that the panels are in the same direction.

Perfect for: Travel guides, conference primers

8. French Fold

The French fold involves folding a sheet of paper in half vertically, and then folding it again in half horizontally. This choice is ideal for when you want to make the entire inner panel of your brochure into a poster.

Perfect for: Beauty and wellness brochures, stylized travel maps, new product launches

9. Roll Fold

The Roll fold is an elegant way to execute a reveal. All you need is to fold a sheet of paper into four equal parts, fold the rightmost panel inward into the left, and then close it off with the leftmost panel.

Perfect for: Step-by-step guides, educational materials

10. Half-Fold Then Trifold

You can achieve this style by setting a sheet of paper vertically, folding it in half (from top to bottom), and then folding it again into three equal columns.

Perfect for: Art workshops, comprehensive seminars, pet adoption guides

A Few Reminders Before Creating Your Brochure

Decide on a paper size.

The amount of content you’ll put out will dictate the paper size you need for your brochure, and it’s essential that you finalize your content first so you can reasonably gauge how big (or small!) your paper is going to be. At UPrinting, our most popular paper size is 8.5” x 11” which is also known as US Letter Size. You can create a brochure as small as 4.25” x 5.5” and as big as 11” x 25”. If you require specific dimensions, you can pick Custom Size from our menu and we can cut the exact paper size you need.

Use your space wisely.

Unfolding a beautiful multi-paneled brochure is exciting but designing one isn’t as easy. On the one hand, they provide you with a lot of room to show more elements such product images, list of services, and nuggets of text, or even just utilize the white space available. That being said, you don’t want to crowd your brochure and risk losing your reader’s interest.

Be mindful of the margins and bleed marks.

Making a brochure gives you a lot of room to be creative and the rules of art can be flexible. That being said, make sure you don’t compromise on certain elements of design. Do not position objects along the fold lines so that the crease won’t affect their readability. Also, ensure that your layout lies within the margins of the entire sheet to prevent any images or textboxes from being cut off unnecessarily.

Do some test folds before with actual paper.

It will help you envision your brochure better if you practice with a physical sheet of paper of your preferred size. A mockup is also great for imagining the layout — you can create a draft of your layout and plan where the photos should be, how much space a background image should take, or how many lines your headline should occupy.

A well-designed brochure opens various possibilities for your brand — whether it’s engaging with potential customers, advertising your products or service, or simply making a statement. With your newfound knowledge about various brochure folds and tips on how to design one, you’re well on your way to creating your own brochure that your customers will want to take home.