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Child Development and Assessment

 

Dr. Arcus

 

Simple directions for creating trifold brochures using MS Word 

 

 

A trifold brochure requires printing on two sides of a paper turned on it’s side and divided into three columns.  You can print out two pages and Xerox them back to back, or put sheet one through the printer again for printing on the reverse side.

 

What could be simpler?

 

Using MS Word, here are the basics.

 

1. Open a new document. Save often.

 

2. Under the file menu, select page set up, click on the tab labelled paper size, and select landscape.

 

3. Under the format menu, select columns and click on three

 

4. Use the ruler to adjust margins for the three columns.  Line them up with the way you want the brochure to fold the best you can.

 

5. When you want to be sure that your text begins in a new column, don’t keep hitting enter, instead go to the insert menu and select break and select column break.

 

6. Remember to adjust each panel for how it will look when the brochure is made and folded (e.g, the cover goes on the far right column of one page so it has the right orientation when it is copied onto the backside of the other page with text).

 

7. If you want something to span across all three columns, use the header or footer options.

 

 

Remember to keep it visually appealing. Don’t overwhelm your reader with text.   Make good, balanced use of blank space.  Always use a standard font with no less than 11 point size.  

 

Finally, make sure you have identified all the critical information for this brochure, using appropriate literature and including places for the reader to seek additional information.  All form and no substance is not a good idea!  

 

For further suggestions on the use of templates and wizards see the University of Washington Health Center site.