How to Design a Booklet
These days, budgets guide business decisions, so if you require a booklet to outline company policy, create a directory or produce a collection of procedures, knowing your way around computer software can save you a bundle. The most difficult concept to grasp when designing a booklet–if your software has no booklet option–is to make friends with the “signature”: one sheet of paper that, when folded in half, creates four pages. Keep that in mind as you design your booklet and you’ll produce a winner.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Page layout or word-processing software
- Printer
- Images (optional)
Instructions
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1
Fold four sheets of any size printer paper in half to mock up an eight-page “dummy.” Need more than eight pages? Add one sheet of paper per four finished pages. Paginate each page with a pen. Use this as your desktop reference while you create your booklet if you'd like to save yourself from some frustration.
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2
Determine the size of your booklet to begin your layout with the correct document specs. Choose, for example, a finished booklet of 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches, which requires 8.5- by 11-inch sheets of paper folded in half. Looking to create a larger publication? Use 11- by 17-inch paper so the booklet measures 8.5 inches by 11 inches once it’s printed and folded.
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3
Boot your computer. Open a word-processing document to create your booklet's content. Write a brief introduction explaining why the booklet was created before writing content. Add credits, a table of contents, bibliography, glossary, index and other beneficial text.
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4
Open a new landscape (horizontal) document in either a page layout or word-processing program to begin the booklet design process. Select “two columns." Add additional two-column pages in increments of two. (Two pages equals a signature.) Refer to your paper dummy to help you add the right number of pages to the layout.
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5
Retrieve the content generated in Step 2. Flow it into the booklet layout. Adjust the copy so sections appear on the correct pages by using this formula: Left back cover pairs with right front cover, page one with page six appear together, page five pairs with page two and pages three and four create the centerfold of an eight-page booklet. Remember that odd numbered pages are left facing; even numbered pages are on the right.
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6
Use your paper dummy to verify that, for example, the employee benefits section earmarked for page 6 does, in fact, appear on that page. Make adjustments as necessary before choosing a font for the content. Choose a sans-serif font (Times) for readability. Output a page. If it’s too crowded, change the font to a “condensed” sans-serif typeface rather than shrinking the letters or tightening up the line spacing.
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7
Spell-check the booklet, print out several copies and turn the galleys over to several proofreaders (at least two; preferably good spellers and grammarians). Use their notes to make final changes. Take the project to an instant print shop if you don’t plan to print, fold, staple and distribute the booklet on your own.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want your booklet to have a substantial cover, replace the stock you've loaded into your printer tray with card stock (white or a color) and output all of your covers at the same time.
