Make Brochures on Microsoft Word

Brochures are a portable, inexpensive way to offer credibility to a business. These methods will teach you how to create your own brochures using Microsoft Word. The first two methods use existing Microsoft templates, while the third and fourth methods teach you how to manually format your own brochure.

Steps

Office 2010 Template

  1. Open a Word document. You should see a blank page.
  2. On the upper left, click the "File" menu.
  3. In the left vertical column, click the "New" tab.
  4. Select "Brochures and booklets" from the available templates.
  5. Select "Brochures" from the available templates.
  6. Choose the kind of brochure you wish to use. If you do not already have the template, Microsoft will download it for you.
  7. Your brochure will pop up in Microsoft Word. You will now be able to format it.
  8. Replace existing pictures. Click on the picture box you wish to change and delete it.
  9. Click on the "Insert" tab, and then click the "Picture" button. Search for and select any picture that you have on file.
  10. Size and place your new picture into the desired spot.
  11. Replace any existing text. Click on the text box you wish to change, delete the existing text, and type in desired text.

Office 2007 Template

  1. Open a new Word document.
  2. Choose Brochures from the possible templates.
    • If your version of Word does not offer brochure templates, go to Microsoft.com’s Templates area and choose Brochures.
  3. Download the brochure template that suits your needs.
  4. Fill in and format your own text. Simply click inside an area of text to modify it. In addition to the actual wording, you can also change the font and coloring, for example.
    • Don’t forget to replace all the example text; leaving text that says “Insert description here” will make your brochure look extremely unprofessional. To make absolutely sure you haven’t missed anything, change the color of any text you’ve modified so that the leftovers stick out like a sore thumb. When you’re done, you can change all the font back if you want.
  5. Add images.
    • Click on the example image.
    • Delete the existing image by pressing Delete.
    • Go to Insert and choose Picture.
    • Browse for a desired image and click Insert.
    • Wait for the picture to appear. Note that it will probably show up in a size and location that is far from ideal.
    • Click and drag the corners of the image to resize it. Click and drag the image itself to move it to the correct area.
  6. Make additional formatting changes as desired. Add/change the background color, move the text and image boxes around by clicking and dragging, add borders, and so on.
    • To explore the formatting options for any area of the page (text box, image box, background), simply right-click it and choose any formatting/modification options that pop up in the menu.

Manually on Word 2007 or Newer

  1. Go to Page Layout > Margins to set the margins. You should leave at least 1/8-inch margins around all sides for a clean look.
    • Since the brochure will be folded, making the panels relatively small, it’s best to keep your margins on the narrow side to leave space for your text and graphics.
  2. Go to Page Layout > Orientation to set your paper to “Landscape.”
  3. Go to Page Layout > Columns to select your desired number of columns. The columns correspond with how many folds your brochure will have.
    • If you want to create a bi-fold brochure, you’ll need two columns on page 1 and two columns on page 2.
    • If you want to create a tri-fold brochure, you’ll need three columns on page 1 and three columns on page 2.
    • You can alter the spacing and width of the columns as needed, but the default spacing should be okay for most layouts.
  4. Add column breaks. This will ensure that each column (i.e. panel) of your brochure holds separate paragraphs of information.
    • Making sure that your cursor is at the top left-hand corner of your first column, select Page Layout > Breaks > Column. Your cursor should jump to the beginning of the second column.
    • If you have three columns, repeat this process with your second column. (Your cursor should then jump to the beginning of the third column.)
  5. Add a page break. This will create a second page, which will become the outside of your brochure.
    • If it’s not already there, place your cursor in the right-hand column, go to Insert > Break and choose Page Break. Now your cursor will jump to page 2, i.e. the outside of the brochure.
  6. Repeat Step 4 on page 2.
  7. On a blank piece of paper, make a quick mockup of your brochure. This will help you visualize the proper layout of your Word document. (Because brochures are folded, some of the positioning will be quite counterintuitive.)
    • Take a blank piece of paper, turn it to landscape orientation, and write “Inside/pg.1” on one side and “Outside/pg.2” on the other.
    • With the Inside/pg.1 side facing toward you, fold your paper either in half (so that half of the Outside/pg.2 side now faces you) or thirds (so that two thirds of the Outside/pg.2 side face you) depending on whether your brochure is bi-fold or tri-fold.
    • Pretend that the folded paper is your brochure and mark it up accordingly. Write “title” on the front panel, “info” on the inside panels, and so forth depending on what you want the finished product to look like.
    • Unfold your paper to see where everything is located. Your title, for example, should be on the right-hand panel of Outside/pg.2, meaning it will correspond with the right-hand column of page 2 of your Word document.
  8. Add graphics and text to your columns. Use your mockup as a guide.
  9. Print out a test copy. Use this to make adjustments to your document if necessary.

Manually on Word 2003 or Older

  1. Go to File > Page Setup > Margins to set the margins. You should leave at least 1/8-inch margins around all sides for a clean look.
    • Since the brochure will be folded, making the panels relatively small, it’s best to keep your margins on the narrow side to leave space for your text and graphics.
  2. Go to File > Print > Properties > Setup to set your paper to “Landscape.”
  3. Go to Format > Columns to select your desired number of columns. The columns correspond with how many folds your brochure will have.
    • If you want to create a bi-fold brochure, you’ll need two columns on page 1 and two columns on page 2.
    • If you want to create a tri-fold brochure, you’ll need three columns on page 1 and three columns on page 2.
    • You can alter the spacing and width of the columns as needed, but the default spacing should be okay for most layouts.
  4. Add column breaks. This will ensure that each column (i.e. panel) of your brochure holds separate paragraphs of information.
    • Making sure that your cursor is at the top left-hand corner of your first column, select Insert > Break > Column Break. Your cursor should jump to the beginning of the second column.
    • If you have three columns, repeat this process with your second column. (Your cursor should then jump to the beginning of the third column.)
  5. Add a page break. This will create a second page, which will become the outside of your brochure.
    • If it’s not already there, place your cursor in the right-hand column and select Insert > Break and choose Page Break. Now your cursor will jump to page 2, i.e. the outside of the brochure.
  6. Repeat Step 4 on page 2.
  7. On a blank piece of paper, make a quick mockup of your brochure. This will help you visualize the proper layout of your Word document. (Because brochures are folded, some of the positioning will be quite counterintuitive.)
    • Take a blank piece of paper, turn it to landscape orientation, and write “Inside/pg.1” on one side and “Outside/pg.2” on the other.
    • With the Inside/pg.1 side facing toward you, fold your paper either in half (so that half of the Outside/pg.2 side now faces you) or thirds (so that two thirds of the Outside/pg.2 side face you) depending on whether your brochure is bi-fold or tri-fold.
    • Pretend that the folded paper is your brochure and mark it up accordingly. Write “title” on the front panel, “info” on the inside panels, and so forth depending on what you want the finished product to look like.
    • Unfold your paper to see where everything is located. Your title, for example, should be on the right-hand panel of Outside/pg.2, meaning it will correspond with the right-hand column of page 2 of your Word document.
  8. Add graphics and text to your columns. Use your mockup as a guide.
  9. Print out a test copy. Use this to make adjustments to your document if necessary.



Tips

  • If you have a standard toolbar at the top of your Word screen (File, Edit, View, Insert…), you are using Word 2003 or older.
  • Understand how your layout will translate to a Word document. Since brochures are double-sided, your completed Word document will be two pages long, with page1 forming the inside and page 2 forming the outside of the brochure. A bi-fold brochure will have two inside and two outside panels, whereas a tri-fold will have three inside and three outside panels.
  • Remember to print your brochure double-sided, if you are not sure how, look around on WikiHow!
  • Brochures are typically either the bi-fold or tri-fold. The bi-fold has one fold, creating four panels. The tri-fold has two folds, creating six panels.

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