Folding check and size of the artwork for leaflet

In addition to flyers, which are products that customers choose to provide information on a piece of paper and distribute publicly, leaflets are another popular option that you can easily find everywhere. Actually, flyers and leaflets are only differentiated by the fact that leaflets are folded, but they serve the same functions and goals

To print a great quality leaflet, you must dedicate a bit more attention on the creation of the artwork file than for a simple flyer. This is because leaflets have on or multiple folds, which needs to be reflected in the artwork. To ensure high printing quality, the size of each block of the artwork and the position of the folding lines are key - they have to be precise; otherwise, it can lead to many unexpected mistakes.

A frequent issue that is encountered when printing leaflets occurs when some parts or elements in the artwork cross the folding line(s), fall exactly on it, or are too close to it. In other words, graphics and text elements in leaflets are often where they should not be. Most often, this is because uncertainty about the appropriate size of each block in the artwork. On top of that, different printing companies usually have different requirements, which can make it difficult to know which guidelines to follow.

Another common issue is that the artwork is designed without taking into consideration the folding and its impact on the dimensions of the different blocks. For example, many people forget to think about where exactly the folding line should be. Usually, there will not be any negative effects if the chosen folding type is the simplest one - the single fold. (Single fold is one fold across the centre of the artwork, horizontally or vertically.) For this type of fold, since the paper will simply be folded in half, the artwork can be designed into two blocks/parts of equal size (left and right or top and bottom). However, for more complicated types of folding, such as the letter fold or the window fold, each block/part of the artwork cannot have the same dimensions. Indeed, the the inner parts have to be slightly smaller in order to allow the outer parts to be folded on top.

As a consequence, it is recommended to keep in mind when creating an artwork file that the folding and the size of the artwork is significant.

At Gogoprint, we provide a number of folding types for leaflets that you can choose from when placing an order on the website. The folding types we provide are: single fold, letter fold, window fold, zig-zag fold, parallel fold and roll fold.

Type and how to fold the leaflet

For each fold, you can find the recommended dimensions for each block/part of the artwork in the table below. We strongly recommend following these dimensions in order to avoid any printing mistakes.

*Only standard sizes provided

** “||” indicates where the folding line should be

Single Fold: where to place the folding line?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • DIN A2: [29.7cm || 29.7 cm]
  • DIN A3: [21cm. || 21cm.]
  • DIN A4: [14.85cm. || 14.85cm.]
  • 3x DIN A4: [31.5cm. || 31.5cm.]
  • DIN A5: [10.5cm. || 10.5cm.]

Letter Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • A: Front [19.6cm. II 19.9cm. II 19.9cm.], Back [19.9cm. II 19.9cm. II 19.6cm.]
  • A3: Front [13.8cm. II 14.1cm. II 14.1cm.], Back [14.1cm. II 14.1cm. II 13.8cm.]
  • A4: Front [9.7cm. II 10cm. II 10cm.], Back [10cm. II 10cm. II 9.7cm.]
  • 3x A4 DIN: Front [20.8cm. II 21.1cm. II 21.1cm.], Back [21.1cm. II 21.1cm. II 20.8cm.
  • A5: Front [6.8cm. II 7.1cm. II 7.1cm.], Back [7.1cm. II 7.1cm. II 6.8cm.]

Window Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • A2: [14.85cm. II 29.7cm. II 14.85cm.]
  • A3: [10.4cm. II 21.2cm. II 10.4cm.]
  • A4: [7.35cm. II 15cm. II 7.35cm.]
  • 3x A4 DIN: [15.65cm. II 31.7cm. II 15.65cm.]
  • A5: [5.24cm. II 10.52cm. II 5.24cm.]

Zig-zag 2 folds: where to place the folding lines?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • A2: [19.8cm. II 19.8cm. II 19.8cm.]
  • A3: [14cm. II 14cm. II 14cm.]
  • A4: [9.9cm. II 9.9cm. II 9.9cm.]
  • 3x A4 DIN:[21cm. II 21cm. II 21cm.]
  • A5:[7cm. II 7cm. II 7cm.]

Zigzag 3 folds: where to place the folding lines?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • A2: [14.85cm. II 14.85cm. II 14.85cm. II 14.85cm.]
  • A3: [10.5cm. II 10.5cm. II 10.5cm. II 10.5cm.]
  • A4: [7.425cm. II 7.425cm. II 7.425cm. II 7.425cm.]
  • 3x A4 DIN: [15.75cm. II 15.75cm. II 15.75cm. II 15.75cm.]
  • A5:[5.25cm. II 5.25cm. II 5.25cm. II 5.25cm.]

Parallel Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • A2: Front [14.8cm. - 14.8cm. - 14.9cm. - 14.9cm.], Back [14.9cm. - 14.9cm. - 14.8cm. - 14.8cm.]
  • A3: Front [10.4cm. - 10.4cm. - 10.6cm. - 10.6cm.], Back [10.6cm. - 10.6cm. - 10.4cm. - 10.4cm.]
  • A4: Front [7.32cm. - 7.32cm. - 7.53cm. - 7.53cm.], Back [7.53cm. - 7.53cm. - 7.32cm. - 7.32cm.]
  • 3x A4 DIN: Front [15.65cm. - 15.65cm. - 15.85cm. - 15.85cm.], Back [15.85cm. - 15.85cm. - 15.65cm. - 15.65cm.]
  • A5: Front [5.15cm. - 5.15cm. - 5.35cm. - 5.35cm.], Back [5.35cm. - 5.35cm. - 5.15cm. - 5.15cm.]

Roll Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Type and how to fold the leaflet

Type and how to fold the leaflet

  • A2: Front [14.76cm. - 14.82cm. - 14.88cm. - 14.94cm.], Back [14.94cm. - 14.88cm. - 14.82cm. - 14.73cm.]
  • A3: Front [10.41cm. - 10.47cm. - 10.53cm. - 10.59cm.], Back [10.59cm. - 10.53cm. - 10.47cm. - 10.41cm.]
  • A4: Front [7.335cm. - 7.395cm. - 7.455cm. - 7.515cm.], Back [7.515cm. - 7.455cm. - 7.395cm. - 7.335cm.]
  • 3x A4 DIN: Front [15.66cm. - 15.72cm. - 15.78cm. - 15.84cm.], Back [15.84cm. - 15.78cm. - 15.72cm. - 15.66cm.]
  • A5: Front [5.16cm. - 5.22cm. - 5.28cm. - 5.34cm.], Back [5.34cm. - 5.28cm. - 5.22cm. - 5.16cm.]