How to Make a Brochure on Google Docs (Easy 2024 Templates)

This guide will show you how to make a brochure on Google Docs using a template or from scratch. To use a template, you simply have to access one of the brochure documents from the Google Docs template library and replace the images and text. To do one from scratch you just need to mess with the page setup options a little. If you need detailed step by step instructions for either of these methods, read on to learn more.

Can You Create a Brochure in Google Docs?

While there is no dedicated Google Docs brochure maker, you can make brochures in the software. However, it isn’t the best tool you can use to do so, as it has a very limited customization feature set. The graphics design part of Google Docs isn’t the best, so you can’t add a lot of creative visual elements to the brochure.

Google Docs also has limited page types and sizes available, which can force you to make unwanted changes to the brochure design if Google Docs is the only option you can use. Unlike Microsoft Word, Google Docs doesn’t allow the user to add a custom font which can be extremely limiting for companies or businesses that want to use their branding.

How to Create a Brochure in Google Docs

Related: How to Draw in Google Docs

There are two ways to create a brochure on Google Docs. The first involves using a prebuilt template, while the other one will have you make a brochure using Google Docs from scratch. The template method is fast and simple, as someone who doesn’t know how to use Google Docs can still create a brochure. Creating one from scratch requires much time more and effort, and can be tough for some.

How to Do a Brochure on Google Docs Using Premade Templates

When using a premade template, you can either use the one provided by Google using the template gallery or a third-party one. Here is how to make brochure on Google Docs from the template gallery:

  1. Go to Google Docs and log into your account. Afterward, you will be taken to the main screen to create a new document or select a suggested template.
Using the template gallery
  1. Click on Template Gallery towards the top right of the screen. This will expand the template selection screen.
Find the brochures
  1. Scroll down to find a template you wish to edit. Most brochure format Google Docs templates can be found under the Work section. For demonstration, we are using the Brochure by Modern Writer template. Click on your desired template to open the edit screen.
  2. Change the placeholder text to match what you want the brochure to convey.
  3. You can change placeholder images for those saved on your computer by right-clicking the image and selecting Replace image.
Insert an image
  1. You can also add new photos. To do this:
    1. Click on Insert in the main bar and Images in the dropdown menu.
    2. Select Upload from your computer or Search the web. You can also select an image from Google Drive or Photos or take one directly using the Camera.
  1. After you make a brochure in Google Docs, you can save and download it. To do this, click File in the main bar and then Download. Click on the desired format, and the file will be saved to your computer.

Related: Easily Insert a Google Sheet Into Google Docs

How to Make a Brochure on Google Docs From Scratch

You can also make a brochure template from scratch if the templates don’t suit your needs.

How to Make a Two-Way Brochure

A two-way brochure is one of the most commonly used types of brochures with both sides printed with information. Here is how to create one in Google Docs:

  1. Go to Docs.new
Change the page setup
  1. There will be a lot of designing in the brochure, so we need to set the paper size. To do this, click on File in the main top bar and then click Page setup.
Alter the paper size
  1. Here, select the desired size in the Paper size option. Letter is a good one for brochures.
  2. Click OK to save the changes.
Insert an image
  1. Now add the text and images to the brochure. Images can be added by clicking on Insert and then on Image. As its a two-way brochure you need two pages wirth of images and text.
Download the brochure
  1. After editing the brochure, click File in the main bar and Download.

When printing the downloaded brochure file, ensure you have enabled the duplex printing option in your printer’s settings so that the content is printed on both sides.

How to Create a Tri-Fold Brochure

A trifold brochure is folded twice from the middle to create three sections per side of the paper. This means you can have six panels for a sheet of paper with three on each side. You can download a blank template here.

Here is how to make a trifold brochure in Google Docs:

  1. Go to Docs.new
Change the page setup
  1. The first thing to do on a new document is to change the page settings. To go to the page setup screen, click File in the main top bar and click Page setup. This will open the window in the middle of the screen.
Change the margin size
  1. Set the page Orientation of page to be Landscape and the Paper size to be the paper you wish to print on.
  2. Make sure you have selected the Pages setup. Select the margins to be 0.25 for the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right.
  3. Click on OK to save the changes.
how to make a brochure on google docs with a table
  1. With the page orientation set, we can create a table to divide the page into three. To do this, click on Insert in the main top bar and click on Table in the dropdown menu. Here, you can select the table size. For a trifold, choose the 3×1 table size.
  2. To make the columns taller, either click and drag your cursor on the bottom edge to extend the column. Repeat for a second page.
  3. Start adding the content to the brochure. On the first page, the leftmost page is for the cover of the brochure. The second and third columns will be the brochure’s rear cover and inside flap pages. The second page will be the info for the inside of the folded brochure.
  4. Once the template for the brochure is created, you can remove the black borders of the table. To do this, right-click anywhere inside the table to select it and right-click to access the dropdown options menu.
Change the table properties
  1. Here, click on Table properties and click to open the Color section.
Alter the color and border
  1. Click the Table border width option under Table border and select the 0 pt option.
  2. With the basic setup done, you can save it and download it. To do this, click File in the main bar and Download.

Alternatives to Google Docs for Making a Brochure

Although Google Docs can be great for creating simple brochure designs, it is not the best tool to use if you want to create a complex design, as Google Docs is limited in a lot of ways.

However, there are a lot of free as well as paid tools that can help you create a brochure. Some of the tools offer built-in templates similar to Google Docs.

Here are some alternatives you can use to create a brochure:

  • Canva
  • Adobe Creative Cloud Express
  • Visme
  • Venngage
  • Adobe Illustrator CC
  • Inkscape
  • Microsoft Publisher
  • Google Slides

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Google Docs Have a Brochure Format?

Google Docs has many templates available that you can use to create a brochure. To do this, open Google Docs and click on Template gallery towards the top right of the screen. Here, you can select the template you wish to use for the template. Click on it, and the file will open in Google Docs. Make the necessary edits to the file and download it to your computer for printing.

How Do I Make a PDF Brochure in Google Docs?

After creating a brochure, you can download it in PDF format for printing or send it via email. To do this, click on File in the main top bar and then click on Download in the dropdown menu. Here, click on the PDF Document (.pdf) option. The PDF file will then be downloaded to your computer.

How Do I Get to the Back of the Brochure?

You can do the back part on another page if you’re making a double-sided brochure. After making the design, download it to your computer and head to the print settings. Here, ensure you enable duplex printing so that both brochure pages are printed on one page.

Why Does a Brochure Need to be Double-Sided?

A single-sided brochure is often known as a flyer. But they are both promotional material and you could use a flyer instead if you want to save money on printing.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, you now know how to make a brochure on Google Docs. But, in all honesty, you may be better off using any one of the alternative options we recommended in this article to make better brochures. You may even want to consider using Google Slides for two sided brochures. You can learn more about Google Slides and the rest of the G Suite by taking a comprehensive Google Suite course.

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