How you can create your own brochure templates
With a brochure template in your hands, you do not have to hire a layout artist every time you do a brochure printing. You only need to pull up the template, customize the details you need, and send that design off to printing.
Thus, if you want to create your own useful brochure template, you have to learn the things you need to prepare and do. In this guide, I will teach you the steps on how to create and save your own template. First, let us start with the technical details.
1. Get the technical details first – The first step in creating your own template is to get the technical details that you need first. This basically means that you must try to know the dimensions, fold style and other technical details that make up the template that you need. Sometimes, it is good to try to look at other templates as a start. It is also possible to download some free templates from the Internet and use those settings as a guide for your own personal template. Mark the dimensions, guidelines, printing bleed allowances and other settings.
2. Setup your document with margins, guidelines and bleeds – Now, with the initial document settings for the template known, it is time so setup your document. The first thing that you need to do is to basically open up your software application and then set the document for your brochure template with the margins, guidelines and bleeds that you need. Be sure to mark where the folds are and make sure everything is accurate. Bring up the rulers in your work area to make your time in making this template more effective.
3. Create your master page design – With all the technical details and guides set, and then it is time to create your master page design. This involves adding all the images and placeholder text that will be part of your template. For example, if your logo should always be in the same spot for all your brochures, then it is good to already place that logo in the correct area. The same goes for other design elements such as borders, dividers and even some text. You may also place some placeholder text elements in your brochure template if you want other people to know where the text should be in the template.
4. Save your text styles – Now, depending on your desktop publishing application, it might be possible to save some text styles. Text styles are basically pre-set formatting instructions that are used throughout the different parts of the template. For example, you can set a certain text style for a heading, with its own font style and font size. You can save this into the styles feature in your software and then reapply that style to any other text quickly that needs to become a heading. You can do this for all different styles, from the body text, titles, subheadings etc.
With the use of styles, any other people using the brochure template will have an easier time customizing the template for their own designs without worrying about specific formatting styles.
5. Save as a brochure template – The last step in creating your template is to save it. Just click on the save as option in your software application and then choose a template format that you want. For some applications such as Photoshop, you can simply save it in the native .psd format. Other applications on the other hand, such as Microsoft Publisher or OpenOffice do have template file formats. Just look for the option of saving to that format in the save as dialog window. It is usually a drop down list marked save files as. Once you have chosen the file format, just click on save and you will have your color brochure template ready for use.
Great! Now you know how to create a template! Congratulations!
