We've put together some helpful hints and tips to make laying out a variety of documents. You may click any of the small images accompanying the tips to see a full-size version.

Margins

Figure A  Can be layed out "portrait" (shown) or "landscape" (horizontal)

Copiers or computer printers do not print to the edges of the stock. There is always a blank margin. Giving yourself a 1/4 inch (See Fig. A) margin around the edge of any letter size, legal size or tabloid size sheet of paper should allow plenty of room for any output device to avoid cutting off any part of the image area. If you would like the image to run off the edge of the stock, that is called a bleed and requires a larger sheet of stock that must be cut to size after printing.

Folding and Multiple-Page Documents

Figure B

Whether you are planning a newsletter, pamphlet or a folded brochure, such as the self mailing style, your pages/panels must be in sequence, or paginated. A great way to plan this is to make yourself a mock-up. For a newsletter or pamphlet, use some blank sheets of paper, size doesn’t matter, (1 sheet equals 4 pages) and fold them in half together as you would the newsletter or pamphlet. Then while they are still assembled together, number the pages as they would be on the finished piece. Then separate the sheets and see how the pages are sequenced on each sheet (See Fig. B).

Figure C Brochure Template Landscape with 3 columns with 1/2" gutters to give symmetry between the folds. Each panel gets the same 1/4" margin on both sides of each fold.

For a folded brochure, a blank piece of paper can be folded as you would the actual brochure and then you can manually draw/outline each of the panels to give yourself a map of how you want the brochure to lay out (See Fig. C).

Multiple Pieces on Single Sheet

Figure D 12-Up Business Card Template Landscape 3 across and 4 down. Business card size is 3.5" wide by 2" high.

Business cards and other pieces smaller than a standard sheet of stock are done “multiple up.” Many business cards can be done 12 on a sheet typically called “12-up” (See Fig. D). Postcards vary in size but typically can be done “4-up”. The biggest mistake made with customer supplied copy on any multiple up piece is the “stepping process”. Stepping is a method in which you lay one card beside the next so that when the cutting is required after the printing, only one setting is needed to keep cutting to the same size, minimizing the number of cuts, thus saving you money. The easiest way to be sure the stepping is done properly is to measure from one image to another.

Figure E

By measuring a spot on one image to an identical spot of the next image (See Figure E) you should get the same measurement that the size of the final piece will be. Be sure to measure both horizontal and vertical spreads. Make sure you leave yourself a margin (1/8” or more) around the final cut piece , because if the images touch or are too close together, you’ll be cutting right into the images.