Folding check and size of the artwork for leaflet

Updated: 16.01.2020

In addition to flyers (products that contain information and distributed publicly), leaflets are another popular option that you can easily find everywhere. There's one significant difference between flyers and leaflets; Leaflets have folding.

To print a high-quality leaflet, you need to dedicate a bit more attention to the creation of the artwork file. The reason behind that is the fact that leaflets can have one or multiple folds. 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 some serious mistakes.

Frequent 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 on it, or are too close to the line. In other words, visual elements and text on leaflets are often misplaced. Most often, that happens because of the uncertainty about the actual size of each block of the artwork. On top of that, different printing companies usually have different requirements, which can make it difficult to know what guidelines to follow.

Another common issue is that the artwork is designed without taking into consideration the folding and it impacts the dimensions of different blocks. For example, many people forget 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 with two blocks/parts of the same 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 doesn't have the same dimensions. In fact, the the inner parts have to be slightly smaller in order to allow the outer parts to be folded on top.

We recommended to keep in mind those rules when creating artwork with folding and mind the size of each block.

At Gogoprint, we provide a number of folding types for leaflets that you can choose from. The folding types we provide are: single fold, letter fold, window fold, zig-zag fold, and parallel fold. Here's a cheat sheet you can use to create perfect, high-quality flyers

Different Types of Folded Leaflets

Type of Vertical Folded Leaflets

Let's take a look at different flyer dimensions

*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

  • A2: Outer Page [29.7cm || 29.7 cm], Inner Page [29.7 cm || 29.7 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [21cm || 21cm], Inner Page [21 cm || 21 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [14.85cm || 14.85cm], Inner Page [14.85 cm || 14.85 cm]
  • A5: Outer Page [10.5cm || 10.5cm], Inner Page [10.5 cm || 10.5 cm]

Letter Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Vertical Letter Fold

Horizontal Letter Fold

  • A2: Outer Page [19.6 cm II 19.9 cm II 19.9 cm], Inner Page [19.9 cm II 19.9 cm II 19.6 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [13.8 cm II 14.1 cm II 14.1 cm], Back [14.1 cm II 14.1 cm II 13.8 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [9.7 cm II 10 cm II 10 cm], Inner Page [10 cm II 10 cm II 9.7 cm]
  • 3x DIN A4: Outer Page [20.8 cm II 21.1 cm II 21.1 cm], Inner Page [21.1 cm II 21.1 cm II 20.8 cm]

Window Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Window Fold

  • A2: Outer Page [14.75 cm II 29.9 cm II 14.75 cm], Inner Page [14.75 cm || 29.9 cm || 14.75 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [10.4 cm II 21.2 cm II 10.4 cm], Inner Page [10.4 cm || 21.2 cm || 10.4 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [7.325 cm II 15.05 cm II 7.325 cm], Inner Page [7.325 cm || 15.05 cm || 7.325 cm]
  • 3x DIN A4: Outer Page [20.9 cm II 42.2 cm II 20.9 cm], Inner Page [20.9 cm || 42.2 cm || 20.9 cm]

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

Zig Zag 2 Fold

  • A2: Outer Page [19.8 cm II 19.8 cm II 19.8 cm], Inner Page [19.8 cm II 19.8 cm II 19.8 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [14 cm II 14 cm II 14 cm], Inner Page [14 cm II 14 cm II 14 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [9.9 cm II 9.9 cm II 9.9 cm], Inner Page [9.9 cm II 9.9 cm II 9.9 cm]
  • 3x DIN A4: Outer Page [21 cm II 21 cm II 21 cm], Inner Page [21 cm II 21 cm II 21 cm]

Zig zag 3 fold: where to place the folding lines?

Zig Zag 3 fold

  • A2: Outer Page [14.85 cm II 14.85 cm II 14.85 cm II 14.85 cm], Inner Page [14.85 cm II 14.85 cm II 14.85 cm II 14.85 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [10.5 cm II 10.5 cm II 10.5 cm II 10.5 cm], Inner Page [10.5 cm II 10.5 cm II 10.5 cm II 10.5 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [7.425cm II 7.425cm II 7.425cm II 7.425cm], Inner Page [7.425cm II 7.425cm II 7.425cm II 7.425cm]
  • 3x DIN A4: Outer Page [21 cm. II 21 cm II 21 cm II 21 cm], Inner Page [21 cm. II 21 cm II 21 cm II 21 cm]

Parallel Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Parallel Fold

  • A2: Outer Page [14.75 cm || 14.75 cm || 14.95 cm || 14.95 cm], Inner Page [14.95 cm || 14.95 cm || 14.75 cm || 14.75 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [10.4 cm || 10.4 cm || 10.6 cm || 10.6 cm], Inner Page [10.6 cm || 10.6 cm || 10.4 cm || 10.4 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [7.325 cm || 7.325 cm || 7.525 cm || 7.525 cm], Inner Page [7.525 cm || 7.525 cm || 7.325 cm || 7.325 cm]
  • 4x DIN A4: Outer Page [20.9 cm || 20.9 cm || 21.1 cm || 21.1 cm], Inner Page [21.1 cm || 21.1 cm || 20.9 cm || 20.9 cm]

Roll Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Roll Fold

  • A2: Outer Page [14.76 cm || 14.82 cm || 14.88 cm || 14.94 cm], Inner Page [14.94 cm || 14.88 cm || 14.82 cm || 14.76 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [10.41 cm || 10.47 cm || 10.53 cm || 10.59 cm], Inner Page [10.59 cm || 10.53 cm || 10.47 cm || 10.41 cm]
  • A4: Outer Page [7.335 cm || 7.395 cm || 7.455 cm || 7.515 cm], Inner Page [7.515 cm || 7.455 cm || 7.395 cm || 7.335 cm]
  • 4x DIN A4: Outer Page [20.91 cm || 20.97 cm || 21.03 cm || 21.09 cm], Inner Page [21.09 cm || 21.03 cm || 20.97 cm || 20.91 cm]

Quarter Fold: where to place the folding lines?

Quarter Fold

  • A1: Outer Page [29.7 cm || 29.7 cm || 29.7 cm || 29.7 cm], Inner Page [29.7 cm || 29.7 cm || 29.7 cm || 29.7 cm]
  • A2: Outer Page [21 cm || 21 cm || 21 cm || 21 cm], Inner Page [21 cm || 21 cm || 21 cm || 21 cm]
  • A3: Outer Page [14.85 cm || 14.85 cm || 14.85 cm || 14.85 cm], Inner Page [14.85 cm || 14.85 cm || 14.85 cm || 14.85 cm]