Brochures

There are great software tools available to you to produce your brochure design, like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark Xpress, and Indesign. Many home business owners decide to create their own marketing pieces. We have these tools if you don’t, so either way you are covered. Here are a few important tips you should know that will help your printed pieces look professional when it comes time for printing.

1. Chose A Correct Print Size.

Your artwork must be setup in the correct size to avoid lots of rework by us before printing.  Don’t use a 9 x 12 layout for printing on 81/2 x11 paper. We will have to stretch or shrink your artwork to fit the paper. This could effect the quality and resolution.

2. Allow for Bleed

It is an additional amount of margin that’s needed so that the final paper can be cut to the correct size while allowing for the fluctuations in the printing process.
Designing your art with an extra 1/8th inch of coverage beyond each edge is recommended.

3. Resolution is critical

Using high-resolution (high quality) images in your design is a key step toward creating a professional looking piece. If you submit something for print that isn’t the proper resolution, your images will come out ‘soft’, blurry, or even “pixilated.”

The resolution of images on your computer monitor are only 72 dpi (dots-per-inch). Your images should be at least 300 dpi to print clearly with full sharpness. There are a variety of stock image sites on the web where you can obtain inexpensive, high-resolution, royalty-free images to use in your designs. Some stock image sites even offer free high-resolution pictures you can use for your piece.

4. Choose High Quality Paper and UV Finish

We offer 80lb or 100lb stock & cover paper, with a variety of gloss, UV & matte finishes. It’s your choice. 100lb stock is more substantial than 80lb stock paper without a huge cost difference. Using a heavier paper may impress a potential customer. Adding a UV finish will add gloss to your paper and will prevent fingerprint smudges on your final product.

5. Creating Your Own Design

Think about what you want to communicate with your piece. What information are you trying to relay? Look at your competitors to see what they’re communicating in their advertising materials. Provide all the necessary contact information? Decide what makes other designs stand out?

The cover of your marketing pieces are what people see first, so make sure the front is appealing and makes prospective customers want to pick it up! A well-designed piece that’s professionally printed can be worth a great deal more than its cost.