How to Make An Attractive Pamphlet?

What are pamphlets? Primarily used to hand out information that cannot be condensed to fit on a poster, pamphlets or brochures are generally used to either explain an issue to society at large or to give out information about an organization. They are also used to spread awareness about the rights that a person has and to garner support for campaigns.

The reason many people prefer learning to make these documents than getting them designed by someone else is because it is much more cost-effective to make them.

You can make them on Word or any other basic graphic design software. The cost is generally not very high. Also since the quality of the paper is not of major importance, you can easily opt to photocopy the pamphlets once you have printed out one of them.

First and foremost, it is important that you think of different design ideas. This will help you figure out the kind of layout you want for your pamphlet. Generally, there are two common types of folds that are used. The z-fold where in the paper is folded into three, in alternating directions is the first commonly-used fold.

The second one is known as the barrel fold. This resembles the technique that you would use to fold a letter. Once you have figured the layout that you would want to opt for, open Microsoft Word.

Once the blank document appears before you, click on the Office Button, which is placed on the top left-hand side of the screen. On the drop down menu that appears, click on New. Opt to surf through Microsoft Office Online to select from the different templates.

If you are doing this on Microsoft Word 2007, then you can opt to click on trusted Templates to access those templates that are installed on Word. Once you have downloaded the template and installed it, you will have to set the page. This means that basically you will need to decide on the margins for the brochure.

Ensure that you do not make the margins very tiny. In order to set margins, you will need to go to File - Page Setup - Paper Size and select Landscape as the orientation. Next on the Margins tab, enter, and set your margins.

The next step is to set up the columns. This ensures that your pamphlet text is not spilled all over the pamphlet, when you fold the same. For this you need to put in the right measurements in the spacing box in the Columns box. Called gutter space, this measurements should be double of what your margin is.

You can make these changes by going to Format - Columns. For this we suggest that you switch on your text boundaries and paragraph marks by going to Tools - Options, and then put check marks against the text boundaries and paragraph options.

You can insert a blank line by either choosing Insert Break or pressing Enter. When you click on Column Break, you will find your cursor at the top of the second column.

Now you can start adding the text that you want. To ensure that you do not exceed set measurements, switch to Normal View that allows you a view of the column breaks. You will need to keep in mind the fold that you have decided on and then add text accordingly.

Format the text either as you type, or at the end of it all. Play around with font types and sizes but do not go overboard. Add pictures wherever you deem necessary. In order to do this, go to Insert - Picture - From File. Re-size it as you want and place it properly on the pamphlet.

The final step is to start the process of printing. Opt to print one copy and then photocopy or print out as many copies as you want. It is important though, that you first take one print out, check for any errors after you fold the same, and only then print out the rest of the copies.

If you are comfortable with other graphic designing software, then you can opt to make the pamphlet on these software. You can also make pamphlets by hand, but if you need to make many copies, then this may not be a good idea, as it can be extremely time-consuming.