How to Create a Product Catalog for Free

Promote your products with a catalog.

A product catalog is an excellent way to show customers your product line. With a little preparation and some assembly time you can create, for free, a professional looking product catalog for your business.

Things You'll Need

• Catalog software (free software downloads available online)

Instructions

1. Research free software downloads for product catalog design online. Sites like Catalog Genie and My Business Catalog vary in what they offer, and depending on your skill level one site may be easier for you to use than the others.

2. Download the program. If you chose Catalog Genie you will see that the software utilizes features of Microsoft Access, but it does not require that you have the program on your computer for it to function.

3. Begin adding products by category and then by item. This software allows you to organize the merchandise at different levels, with each tab representing a level: "Product," "Picture," "Text," "Feature," "Attributes." Additionally, the software enables you to attach an appropriate SKU to each product.

4. Select "Publish" once you have completed the catalog. Catalog Genie publishes to Quark Xpress or to PDF, making it easy to include the catalog on your business website.

Tips & Warnings

• To save yourself money on printing and mailing costs, be sure to make the catalog available online and via email.

• If you already have a spreadsheet program on your computer, you may be able to create a streamlined version of your product catalog that allows customers to select and filter products by different options like category or price.

References

• Chandoo.org: Product Catalogs
• Database Pub: Catalog Genie
• My Business Catalog
• Database Pub: Catalog Genie Brochure

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Catalog Template