How to Make a Brochure: 7 Steps From Blank Page to Print-Ready PDF (2026)

You need a brochure, and every guide you open says "pick a template" and stops there. That is the easy part. Learning how to make a brochure that prints cleanly means deciding the size, the fold, what goes on each panel, and how to hand the file to a printer without a nasty surprise.

This 2026 guide walks through all of it in seven steps: goal and audience, size and format, a panel-by-panel content map, copy, images and CTA, layout and safe margins, and finally proofing and exporting a print-ready PDF. You can follow it in Word, a desktop publishing app, or an AI design tool.

What Is a Brochure, Exactly?

A brochure is a printed (or PDF) marketing document that explains one offer, service, or organization in a few focused panels or pages. Most are folded sheets, like a tri-fold, but a flat multi-page leaflet counts too.

Where a flyer shouts one message, a brochure walks someone through a short story: the problem, your solution, proof, and the next step. If you only need a single-page announcement, our guide to making a flyer with AI is a better fit.

How to Make a Brochure in 7 Steps

Here is the short version, then we go deep on each step:

1. Define the goal and the audience
2. Choose the size and fold
3. Map the content panel by panel
4. Write the copy
5. Pick images and place the CTA and QR code
6. Build the layout with safe margins
7. Proof it and export a print-ready PDF

Step 1: Define the Goal and the Audience

Before you open any software, write one sentence: "After reading this, [who] should [do what]." A brochure for a dental clinic might aim to get new patients to book a first visit. A brochure for a trade show might aim to get buyers to request a quote.

That one sentence decides everything else: tone, how much detail you include, and what your call to action (CTA) says. If you cannot finish the sentence, the brochure will feel like a pile of facts.

Also decide where it will be used. A brochure handed over at a counter can be denser than one dropped in a mailbox, because the reader is already engaged.

Step 2: Choose the Size and Fold

Your size depends on where you print. In the US, the standard sheet is Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches (215.9 x 279.4 mm), according to the Letter paper size standard. Almost everywhere else, you use A4, which is 210 x 297 mm under the ISO 216 standard, with A5 (148 x 210 mm) as its half-size sibling.

Here are the most common brochure formats:

Now the fold math, because this is where first-timers get burned. A tri-fold divides the 11 inch width by three, which gives about 3.67 inches per panel. But the panel that folds inward is usually made a hair narrower (often around 1/16 to 1/8 inch) so it lies flat instead of buckling. Your printer's template will give you exact widths, so use theirs over any number you read online.

Panel order matters too. On a standard letter-fold tri-fold, one side of the sheet holds the inside flap, the back panel, and the front cover, in that order from left to right. The other side is the three inside panels, read left to right. Getting this backwards is how you end up with a cover that opens onto the wrong page.

Step 3: Map the Content Panel by Panel

Do this on paper first. A brochure works when each panel has exactly one job. Here is a content map for a tri-fold, using the standard letter-fold order:

For a bi-fold, collapse this to four panels: cover, inside left (problem and promise), inside right (details and proof), and back (contact and CTA). For a flat multi-page brochure, assign each page a role in the same way, cover, inside pages, and a back page with a CTA.

Step 4: Write the Copy

Write the headlines first, then fill in the body. A skimmer should understand your whole brochure from the headlines alone.

Keep these rules in mind:

• Lead with benefits. "Book a same-week appointment" beats "We offer appointments."
• Cap each panel at roughly 50 to 80 words. Small panels need breathing room, and dense text reads as fine print.
• Use 3 to 4 bullets per section, not paragraphs of prose.
• One CTA, repeated. Pick a single action ("Call," "Scan to book," "Visit the site") and use the same wording on the cover, the inside, and the back.
• Body text at 9 to 11 pt, headlines at 18 pt or larger. Print is more forgiving than screens, but tiny type still loses readers.

Also keep contrast strong. The accessibility guideline of 4.5:1 contrast for normal text is written for screens, yet it is a solid rule of thumb for print too, especially for light text over photos.

Step 5: Pick Images and Place the CTA and QR Code

Print needs far more image data than a screen. Aim for 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the size the image will actually print. A photo that fills a 3.67 x 4 inch panel needs at least about 1,100 x 1,200 pixels. Anything pulled from a web page at 72 dpi will look soft or blocky on paper.

Here is the quick check: divide the image's pixel width by the printed width in inches. If the answer is under 300, shrink the image or find a bigger one. Never stretch a small image to fill a panel.

A few placement rules that work:

• Use one hero image on the cover, and small supporting images inside.
• Put your CTA on the back panel and again near the last inside panel, where the reader has just finished the pitch.
• Add a QR code for anything digital, such as booking, a menu, or a landing page. Keep it at least about 0.8 inches (2 cm) square, and leave a blank margin around it, since a QR code needs a quiet margin to scan reliably.
• Test the QR code on a printed proof, not only on screen, and use a URL you control so you can fix the destination later.

Never place a QR code on a fold line or too close to the edge, where trimming or creasing can break it.

Step 6: Build the Layout With Safe Margins

Now you can open a design tool. If you prefer a familiar office app, Microsoft has a step-by-step page on creating a brochure in Word, which starts from a template and lets you swap in your own text and pictures.

Whatever you use, follow these layout rules:

• Keep a safe margin of about 0.25 inch (6 mm) inside every panel edge. Text and logos should never sit closer than that to a trim edge or a fold.
• Add extra room at folds. Leave a small gutter, roughly 0.125 inch (3 mm) on each side of the crease, so nothing is swallowed by the fold.
• Stick to 2 fonts and 2 to 3 colors. If you do not have brand colors yet, build them first with our guide to creating a brand kit with AI.
• Repeat elements across panels, like a colored header bar or icon style, so the six panels feel like one piece.
• Leave whitespace. A brochure that feels calm looks more expensive than one packed to the edges.

If you want an AI shortcut, Krumzi builds multi-page documents from a text description. You pick a size (A4, A5, A3, US Letter, Half Letter, or DL), portrait or landscape, and anywhere from 2 to 12 pages. It assigns real page roles, a cover, inside pages, and a back page with a CTA, shows dashed safe-margin guides, and everything stays editable.

Here is the honest part: Krumzi produces flat pages. It does not provide fold guides, bleed, crop marks, or CMYK. That makes it a strong fit for a flat brochure, a booklet-style bi-fold set (for example, four Half Letter or A5 pages), or a leaflet. For a true folded tri-fold with bleed, ask your printer for their template and plan to add the folds and bleed in their pre-press step. If you want the flat-booklet route, see our guide to making a booklet.

Step 7: Proof It and Export a Print-Ready PDF

Proofing is where most brochure disasters get caught, or missed. Go through this checklist before you export:

• Read every word aloud, including phone numbers, emails, and the URL behind the QR code.
• Have someone else read it. Fresh eyes catch what yours skip.
• Check that every image is 300 dpi at its printed size.
• Confirm nothing sits outside the safe margin or across a fold.
• Check panel order by printing the file on plain paper, folding it, and flipping through as a customer would.
• Verify the CTA and QR code on the printed test page.

Then export. Save a PDF at 300 dpi with fonts embedded and pages in reading order. If you send a multi-page PDF, the printer will arrange the pages onto the sheet for folding, a step called imposition.

Finally, check with your printer before you approve a big run. Ask them for:

• Their template or dieline for your exact fold
• Required bleed (often 0.125 inch, or 3 mm) and whether crop marks are needed
• The color mode they want (many presses print in CMYK, so ask whether they will convert from RGB)
• Their accepted file format and paper stock options
• A digital or physical proof before the full run

A 10-minute call can save you an entire reprint. For more examples of print-ready thinking, our business card design guide covers the same trim, safe zone, and proofing habits at a smaller scale.