Are you a brochure designer? Avoid these boo-boos at all costs

You can't hit "undo" when your printed brochures arrive with glaring mistakes. That's the harsh reality every <a href="https://www.printulu.co.za/product/brochures" class="internal-link text-[#007756] hover:text-[#005d42] underline font-medium">brochure</a> designer faces when errors that looked fine on screen suddenly jump off the page in print.

The solution? Master the art of preflighting your InDesign work before sending it to print. You don't need expensive proofs – just print pages on your regular office printer and check everything twice. Read through all elements, verify pagination, and ensure your page order flows correctly.

<AcademyQuote>Not all brochures & booklets are created equally. Publishing with Microsoft Word layout sends a clear sign to readers that your work is amateur and self-published.</AcademyQuote>

Microsoft Word works brilliantly for writing and collaborating with editors. But when it comes to layout? Most professional brochure designers and desktop publishers turn to Adobe InDesign.

What the heck is a Desktop Publisher?#

We're currently recruiting junior graphic designers, and here's what surprises me: even qualified candidates don't know what desktop publishing is. Yet most DTP operators understand fundamental design principles perfectly.

Desktop publishing is simply the technical assembly of digital files in the proper format for printing or electronic distribution.

Why does this matter?#

Because DTP is the only thing standing between you and getting your brochures and booklets printed successfully. A printing service with a fantastic DTP team will catch catastrophic issues – like half your content disappearing when bound because your margins were too narrow.

I recently spoke to our in-house DTP team about the most common booklet artwork issues. Their answer absolutely shocked me.

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_**"Brochure Designers sometimes supply the pages in the wrong order. We print as it is sent to us

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we can't make assumptions and change page order for our clients. So these clients are always very unhappy when their booklets arrive with the wrong pagination (page order)." – DTP Operator, Printulu.**_

!Book's pages being flipped#

Page Count, Leaves, Pages, what else?!#

Printulu's incredible Customer Service Team Lead, Derlwyn, confirms that page count confusion happens frequently. "Customers don't understand the difference between pages and leaves. They also don't always understand why we only print books with pages in multiples of four."

If you're not a printing expert, that's exactly why you're here. We're here to answer your burning questions.

1. Page Count – Multiples of Four#

4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24… you get the picture. If your copy only extends to 15 pages, you'll need to add a blank page to reach 16. Why? Your book pages get printed on large parent sheets that hold 8, 16, or 32 pages, depending on your book size. Notice how these numbers are all multiples of four? This ensures no blank pages when the parent sheets are folded. The multiple of four rule applies to saddle-stitched, perfect-bound, and case-bound (hardcover) books.

2. Leaf VS Page – Huh?#

This sounds complicated but it's just print jargon for something simple. A sheet of paper = one leaf. A page = a single printed side of that sheet. Think about page numbering versus leafing through your book. A leaf of paper has two pages.

3. Inner Pages VS Cover Pages#

Your total page count (including covers) needs to add up to a multiple of four. Your book gets supplied in this order: _Front Cover / Inside Front Cover / Text Pages / Inside Back Cover / Outside Back Cover._

**!Coffee table book **#

Sorry guys, size DOES matter#

Our DTP team shared their three top tips for clients wanting to print booklets or brochures anywhere:

1. Your book file must not exceed 500MB.

2. All pages absolutely must have a 3mm bleed.

3. Supply the entire book as single pages in one file, in correct order.

The challenge? Design software encourages high-resolution imagery on every page. That's fantastic – you're ahead of the game. But these images, graphics, and complicated background textures can seriously inflate file size.

<AcademyProTip>Keep file sizes manageable by optimizing images for print (300 DPI) rather than web resolution, and avoid unnecessary effects that bloat your file.</AcademyProTip>

What to avoid at all costs when designing your booklet#

Use the right software#

All printers require '<a href="/blog/print-ready-file-guide" class="internal-link text-[#007756] hover:text-[#005d42] underline font-medium">print-ready</a>' PDF files, but your Word doc saved as PDF won't cut it.

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**"Clients must absolutely not use Microsoft Word or Powerpoint for this. That's because those are not design programs and they cannot handle high resolution images and keep them high resolution once saved as PDF. They can't add bleed or make the overall file print

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ready with these programs either." – Luke Dzviti, DTP Operator, Printulu**

Save yourself the headache – don't do this. Adobe InDesign is designed specifically for creating jaw-dropping layouts. It even includes a built-in Preflighting tool that shows potential errors with your booklet.

This becomes especially handy when printers charge extra for DTP services (which is nearly always the case). Printulu's basic preflight check is free, but knowing what to fix before sending files to your printer saves time.

P.S. – Forgot how to make your document print-ready? Here's a quick checklist.

Here's how:#

1. Choose Window > Output > Preflight to open the Preflight panel.
2. Using the (Working) preflight profile, InDesign finds any errors.
3. Errors show up as the red Preflight icon in the lower-left corner of both the Preflight panel and document window.

The most common errors you'll find:#

• 1Missing fonts: If a font used in your document isn't present or enabled on your system, it's considered missing and won't print properly.
• 2Colour models: Colors created in the wrong colour model for your intended output cause problems. Digital camera images often use RGB colour model while offset printing requires <a href="/blog/clusters/artwork-prep" class="internal-link text-[#007756] hover:text-[#005d42] underline font-medium">CMYK</a> colours.
• 3Overset text: As text formatting changes and objects get moved and resized during layout, text can accidentally get cut off so it doesn't display or print.

<AcademyDadJoke>Why don't fonts ever get lost? Because they always know their family!</AcademyDadJoke>

When all else fails, call in the pros#

You don't need to struggle alone. Writing a book or brochure is time-consuming enough. Worrying about design and ensuring no missing pages in the final print is probably the last thing you want on your plate. That's why Printulu offers in-house design services. And yes, we use Adobe InDesign.

More from Printulu:#

• 1How to Make A Print-Ready Artwork: Your Easy Checklist (Complete List)
• 2How To: Set Up Booklets For Print (Avoid Wasting Money!)
• 3Printing Services for Your Brochure: The Must Haves and Need To Knows (Number 7 is a life saver)
• 4Graphic Design Software Basics: Create Perfect Prints 100% Of The Time
• 5Thu Ultimate Print Guide

Other interesting articles:#

• 1What's involved in designing a book for print?
• 2Book Design Quick Tips for Self-Publishers
• 3What Is Desktop Publishing?
• 4Preflight checking in InDesign

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