Custom Brochure Booklets

Paper Weights for Cover and Inside Pages

Inside pages are usually 130–170 gsm silk or gloss, which gives good photo reproduction without making the booklet stiff. A self-cover booklet uses the same paper throughout and keeps costs down. A separate cover in 250–350 gsm card gives the booklet a firmer feel and stops the front page curling.

Silk paper is the safe all-rounder: it shows images well yet is easy to read under bright lights. Gloss makes photographs pop. Uncoated paper suits text-heavy guides and brands with a quieter, crafted look, and it takes a pen easily, which matters for order forms. Paper weights are explained in more detail in our guide to board and card types.

Laying Out Pages So They Read Well

Plan the page order before designing. Cover, a short introduction, then the content grouped by product type or service, finishing with contact details and a call to action on the back cover. Keep body text at 9–10 pt or larger for A5, and leave a 5 mm margin clear of trim inside the page edge.

Images and backgrounds that run to the edge need 3 mm bleed. We check your file for bleed, image resolution and page order on the free proof, so mistakes are caught before anything prints.

Write headings that make sense on their own, because many readers flick through before they read. A clear heading per spread, a short paragraph and an image or table is a reliable pattern. Price tables are easier to scan with alternate tinted rows than with heavy ruled lines.

If the booklet will be updated often, keep prices on a separate insert sheet or the back page. That way you can reprint one page when prices change rather than the whole booklet. Healthcare clients lay out medical brochures for patient information in the same way, with one topic per spread.

Where Booklets Earn Their Keep

Retailers use them as product catalogues and stock lists for trade buyers. Service firms such as building contractors, landscapers and accountants hand them over at a first meeting. Venues and hotels place them in rooms or send them to couples planning an event. Schools, clubs and charities use them for prospectuses and annual programmes.

E-commerce brands often add an A6 or A5 booklet to each parcel explaining care instructions or telling the founder's story.

Estate and letting agents use them for area guides and landlord service packs, and garden centres print planting guides that customers keep through the year. Gyms and wellness studios hand new members a booklet covering classes, rules and timetables, which saves staff answering the same questions at the desk.

Manufacturers and wholesalers print trade catalogues with product codes and pack sizes, often in A4 so tables stay readable. A shorter A5 version with best sellers is handy for sales reps to leave behind after a visit.

Charities and community groups print annual reports and fundraising booklets, where a mix of photographs, short stories and simple figures tells supporters what their money achieved.

Architects and interior designers use square booklets as printed portfolios, leaving one with a prospective client after a first meeting so the work stays on the table after they have gone. Studios that want a sturdier leave-behind often present it in a printed folder that holds the booklet.

Finishing Touches That Make a Booklet Last

A laminated cover is the simplest upgrade. Matt lamination gives a calm, modern feel and resists fingerprints; gloss lamination makes cover photos richer; soft-touch has a velvety surface that people tend to remember. Lamination also stops the spine fold cracking on dark covers, where unprotected ink can show white lines along the crease.

Spot gloss on a logo or headline adds a subtle shine that catches the light when the booklet is tilted. For brochures that will be posted, keep weight in mind: a 16-page A5 booklet on 150 gsm silk with a 300 gsm cover weighs far less than the same booklet in A4, which keeps postage in a lower band.

If the booklet will sit in a display rack, ask us about a slightly heavier cover so it stands without slumping. Our guide to lamination and finish options shows how matt, gloss and soft-touch compare on a cover.

Ordering Brochure Booklets: Quote to Doorstep

Tell us the format, the page count, paper choices and quantity, and you will have a custom quote by email within one working day. We send a free proof showing every spread in order. After you approve it, printing and binding take 4–7 working days, then free tracked delivery to UK mainland addresses takes 2–3 working days.

Booklets are packed flat in boxes so covers arrive crisp. If any copies are misprinted or damaged, let us know within 10 days and we will reprint or refund them. Low minimums are quoted per job, so short runs for a launch or a trade show are fine.