Brochures and folded leaflets
A brochure is a sequence, not a page. The fold decides what is seen first, what is seen second and what is never seen at all — and it decides how the sheet has to be imposed before a single mark is printed.
EZ Print prints brochures in Singapore, and has done since 2017. Common formats are A4 folded to DL 99 × 210 mm, A4 folded in half to A5, A3 folded to A4, and square 210 × 210 mm folded to 105 × 210 mm. Fold patterns are bi-fold, tri-fold, Z fold, gate fold and roll fold, and a roll fold needs each inner panel cut progressively narrower so the panels nest. Stocks run 128 gsm to 350 gsm; anything above 170 gsm is creased before it is folded, or the coating cracks along the spine. Finishing includes matt and gloss lamination, spot UV and die-cutting. Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days, whatever the fold pattern and whether or not it is laminated. Express is quoted per job. EZ Print quotes from the specification and does not publish prices.
Specifications, formats and enquiry details for each product quoted on this service.
A folded sheet whose panels lead a reader through a product, a property or a programme.
Also ordered as: Pamphlet, Tri-Fold Brochure, Bi-Fold Brochure, Long Brochure, Folded Leaflet, Z-Fold
A flat or folded menu for a table or a takeaway bag, on a stock chosen for handling and wiping.
Also ordered as: Menu Card, Food Menu, Folded Menu, Drinks Menu, Takeaway Menu, Synthetic Menu
A brochure quote needs the flat size, the folded size, the fold pattern and the stock. Get those four right and everything else follows. The finished DL panel is drawn below at true physical size, because a tri-fold panel is smaller than most people design for.
The range
Six panels, three of them outside
99 × 210mm
The finished DL panel of an A4 tri-fold. Six panels exist on the sheet; this is the one a reader actually sees first.
What to ask for
1,000 A4 tri-fold brochures 157 gsm gloss art paper 4C/4C Matt lamination both sides Folded to DL 99 × 210 mm Print-ready PDF supplied, folds on a separate layer Needed by — your date
The material
A brochure is handled more than a flyer and kept longer, so the sheet has to survive being opened and closed. Weight helps up to a point and then starts fighting the fold. The edges below are drawn at the measured caliper of the weight named.
Also sold as gloss art, coated text, C2S gloss. Held at 128 and 157 gsm.
Folds cleanly without creasing, holds a photograph, and sits flat in a rack rather than springing open.
Also sold as matt coated card, C2S matt. Held at 310, 350 and 400 gsm.
A brochure that behaves like a folder. Heavy enough to stand on a table, and it has to be creased before it will fold without cracking.
Also sold as uncoated natural, offset paper. Held at 300, 350 and 400 gsm.
Matt through and through, warm, and it folds with a soft edge rather than a sharp one.
The reliable rule: the more panels, the lighter the sheet. Two panels can carry 350 gsm; six panels on the same stock will not close.The materials library
A roll fold is not three equal panels. Each panel that tucks inside is cut about a millimetre narrower than the one outside it, or the brochure will not close flat.
The sequence is fixed by the material. Film is bonded to a flat sheet, then the sheet is creased, then it is folded. Reverse any two of those and the result is a cracked spine or a film that lifts at the fold, and both of them are reprints rather than repairs.
| Finish | Tooling | What the reorder pays for |
|---|---|---|
| Round-corneringStandard radii, on a die held as stock tooling | None | Nothing to make, so nothing to remake. |
| Matt or gloss laminationSingle pass, both sides | None | Nothing to make, so nothing to remake. |
| Creasing and foldingA creasing line is scored above 170 gsm, so a coated sheet does not crack at the fold | None | Nothing to make, so nothing to remake. |
| Spot UVNeeds a screen; reads best over matt film | Made once | Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it. |
| Die-cuttingA forme is cut once, then kept for the reorder | Made once | Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it. |
| Nested panel trimmingInner panels cut narrower so a roll fold closes flat | None | Nothing to make, so nothing to remake. |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Every operation here is quoted inside the standard window. What changes between a first order and a second is the tooling: a die, a block or a screen is made once and then kept on file with your approved artwork, which is why the reorder of a job carrying one is a different job from the first.
Half the brochures that fail were designed as six rectangles on one artboard, with no idea which three the reader would meet first.
The fold is chosen for how the reader will meet the content, not for how the file is easiest to draw. Each pattern below states its panel count and the one thing it is bad at.
The single most useful thing in a brochure file is a fold layer. Without it, panel one on the artboard and panel one in the reader’s hand are two different panels, and nobody finds out until the folded proof.
Ask for the fold templates and the bi-fold, tri-fold, Z and roll artboards come back with the panel widths already set for the stock you have chosen.
Turnaround
Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
Standard orders. The schedule for specialist finishing is confirmed in your quotation.
Same-day printing available.
Subject to artwork, stock and production capacity confirmation. Timing is agreed for each job.
The fold is the constraint, not the quantity: folding is a second pass over every sheet and creasing is a third, so a thousand flat sheets are lighter work than five hundred folded ones. Both are quoted inside the same window, and where a date is tighter than it, express is quoted against the specification rather than against a clock.
Every answer here is in the page source at full opacity, open or closed. An answer engine has to be able to read it without executing anything.
A flyer is one flat sheet read at a glance. A brochure is folded, so it has a sequence — an outside panel, an inside spread and panels that are only reached by opening it. That sequence is what the fold pattern decides, and it is why a brochure file needs a fold layer and a flyer file does not.
Flat A4 at 210 × 297 mm, folded to DL at 99 × 210 mm. Six panels, three on each side. The panel that tucks inside is cut about a millimetre narrower so the brochure closes flat, which means the three panels on the artboard are not equal thirds.
128–157 gsm gloss art paper for anything with four panels or more, because it folds without fighting back. 310–350 gsm matt art card for a two-panel bi-fold that has to feel like a cover. Above 170 gsm the sheet must be creased before folding, whatever the panel count.
Because a coated sheet over about 170 gsm splits along the outside of a fold. Creasing crushes the fibre along the line first, so the sheet bends rather than tears. It is a separate pass over every sheet, which is why a folded brochure is more work than a flat one at the same quantity.
Yes. Supply the spot UV as a 100% K vector on its own layer named SPOTUV, at the flat trim size and in register with the artwork. The screen is made once and kept on file, so a reprint of the same cover does not wait for it again.
A roll fold wraps each panel inside the next, so an A3 sheet becomes eight A4-width panels. Use it where the content is genuinely sequential. Each panel that tucks inside is drawn narrower than the one outside it — usually a millimetre per fold — or the piece will not close.
Yes, if it is soft at that point. Folding tolerance is around half a millimetre, so a gradient or a texture crosses invisibly and a hard horizon or a straight edge shows as a step. Never put type across a fold.
Fifty. Short runs go on a digital press and the specification does not change; above roughly two thousand offset usually becomes the sensible route, and that is where Pantone matching and heavier stocks become straightforward.
Every job is quoted from its specification — stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline.
Artwork is welcome but not required to start. Email sales@ezprint.com.sg if you would rather attach files.
