Then see here (indicated in green) where the background colour or image must exceed the bleed edge in order to allow for it to be trimmed off. Also notice that the crop marks are offset, i.e. they don’t join, they need to be like this so they don’t print. If they joined together then its likely that they would been seen on the final printed article as they would print inside the bleed area. Please allow at least 3mm offset for the crop marks.

You’ll see I have worked out an 8 page and a 12 page booklet for you, you can work out bigger booklets Eg: 16 page, 20 page etc by simply doing as I suggest and make one up with blank paper and write the page numbers on, lay the sheets flat to see your printers pairs.

Most artwork we see is set up with full colour black, which means that the black is made up from within the full colour set, there will be a percentage of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.

This is fine if the whole colour make up is less than 200%, Eg 50% or less of all C,M,Y,K colours.

If 200% colour density is exceeded, then the paper its being printed onto will become saturated that its unlikely that the ink will dry properly. Should this be the case then this will cause ’set-off’, which is where the ink transfers from one print to another, which is a huge problem.

With regards to solid black areas, the crucial colour is obviously black, more often than not solid black areas have the black set to less 100%,  which means it will never achieve full 100% black.

If a black solid area only consists of black ink only then the result can be quite dull and becomes a matt black, even on gloss paper.

So other colours can be added into the mixture can help to ‘deepen’ the black, this is whats known in the trade as ‘Rich Black’ and needs to be made up of the following.

For a deep black, 100% Black (K), 50% Cyan (C), there is some room for a small percentage of magenta here too but never any yellow!. Yellow can make the black appear grey as it lightens it. On screen this will look fine, but if any percentage of yellow is added then this will water down the black, similar to adding white to it, so try to avoid yellow being present if at all possible

There are two ways of folding a tri-fold leaflet,  either a ‘Z’ fold or a ‘Roll Fold. The ‘Z Fold’ is when the document folds back on its self like a concertina effect, and the ‘Roll Fold’ is when the panels are folded over each other, and then folded inwards.

The most common paper type for this kind of leaflet is around the 150gsm or 160gsm, as this thickness doesn’t need to be scored before folding. Scoring is done as a precaution like a pre-fold  which stops thicker material form cracking when it goes through the folding machine.

The opposite is then the case on the other inside spread. Again reading from left to right. The Leaflet hand panel (inside front cover) is 100mm wide, the centre panel (inside of back cover) is also 100mm, then the right hand panel is 97mm. By having the flap panel slightly shorter on its width allows it to slide within the fold neatly without obstruction. The term ‘roll folded leaflets‘ is trying to describe the way in its its folded, the ‘flap panel’ is rolled over the next panel and then the next panel before its flat folded.

Don’t forget to add ‘bleed‘ to these measurements.

Fire brigades use leaflet printing with bold colours in order to attract awareness about risks of not checking your smoke alarms. But because there is such a large range of colours, different hues can be used to make blocks of information distinct from the other information that surrounds them. This function is of tremendous importance in the design of such material as timetables, annual reports, leaflet printing, forms, calendars, sign systems and maps.

Most work of this nature can be read and under stood to only a small degree when produced in black and white, because the greater the complexity of columns and facts, the harder it is for people to find their way around what they are looking at and comprehend it. But by including coloured rules to separate vertical and/or horizontal columns, or coloured tints behind selected areas, or by marking out particular items in colour when leaflet printing, the designer can reduce these problems.

Colour distinctions are extremely helpful when signs are read from a distance, as are the road signs on a highway that distinguish between minor roads and highways. I find that the best way to approach complex problems of tabular design is first to conceive the initial concept in monochromatic terms and then to introduce secondary elements and colors. It is far easier to assess illegibility objectively in monochrome and then to add other colours one by one to resolve areas of poor legibility and clarity.

Another form of colour ’signposting’ concerns shop signs. This extremely important visual element informs shoppers immediately of where to purchase their desired commodity. This is particularly important for large chain stores, such as Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose.

They know that as customers move around from town to town, city to city, country to country, on business or holiday, they must be able to pick out their favourite store from the inevitable sea of neon, display and billboards that surrounds any busy shopping area. The corporate colour schemes
are often designed to be bright for just this purpose.

Obviously, where there is an association with fresh water and coolness, blue has a prominent role, as does green for the promotion of field sports and other outdoor pursuits. Fresh fruit and vegetables, which stress freshness and goodness ask for the same kind of treatment, stressing freshness and goodness.

The use of pastel colours is also much in evidence in packaging for pharmaceutical products, but the nature of some products, such as medicines, demands that they be presented in a bright, fresh, clean manner, suggesting much the same quality of health associated with eating fresh fruit and salads.

We have seen a surge in all things green over the past 2 years or so, the use of lime green and yellow for leaflet printing, I would go so far as to say its been the most common colour for flyer printing we have seen printed bar none.

It seems everyone has been at it, we even came across the biggest brand in the world – ‘Coca Cola’ having a go.

This has led designers to gravitate toward the subtitles of earthy browns and ochres to promote many ‘traditional’ products, which are much more in vogue now than they were in the past. Such colours are used not only to symbolize the natural, organic and healthy aspects of the produce but also to suggest tradition and evoke feelings of nostalgia.

Other earthy colours used in this context are dark greens, deep golds and
dark reds.

Up until the recent downturn in the economy, we had seen a surge in the demand for ‘recycled’ style printing. This used all these type of earthy colours. This has slowed down an awful lot since the trends for buying organic produce has reduced over recent months as consumers have tightened the spending, and buying organic has been less common.

This type of colouring isn’t used as much in leaflet printing these days, as leaflets tend to be more vibrant and eye catching where an ‘organic’ or ‘earthy’ coloured leaflet , would get completely lost against its more colourful peers.

But not all healthy companies go for dul pastels or earthy colours, checkout this ‘POT OF’ pakaging, this shows how colourts taken fomr the same side of hte spectrum as the organic set, an easily be used in a vibrat and eye-catching manor.

By ‘properties’ I mean aspects such as volume, excitement value, temperature, and symbolic value. Let’s start with volume. There are quiet colours, such as light blue, light pink, and soft grey, and there are loud colours, such as bright reds and
bright greens. Their ‘volutme’ comes from their dominance (how much they seem to jump out at you), or from their recessive ness (how much they sink into the background). Dominanant, or loud, colours are aggressive, whereas recessive, or paler, colours are passive.

You might use quiet colours for a product such as a fabric softener, with its connotations of soft blankets and woolens, but it is unlikely that you would use loud colours for such a product. You’d might use loud colours for a food product, such as a salt, which will appear on the supermarket shelves among containers full of the same product, and choose bright colours such as red and bright blue
on white, simply so that your product will standout from all the rest.

Of course there are other considerations to be taken into account when choosing a colour, and they all combine to create the final product, but each must be assessed on its own before the whole is put together. So, onto the next – excitement value. ‘Excitement’ can refer to warning, danger, risk, and
fear. The colours used most commonly to signify excitement are red and orange, used extensively ill the areas of poisons and lethal chemicals, explosives and road hazards; but, particularly in the case of red, they also represent blood, horror and revolution. Conversely, for products with no – excitement value, a designer may want to put across the opposite image and use safe colours.
These are usually blues, browns, dark greens or greys.