You can use many different programs to make a flyer, and Google Docs just happens to be one of the easiest to use.
Although it is widely known as an online word processor, Google Docs also has some additional features that can be used for other functions, including making a flyer.
It also surprisingly comes with a few flyer templates that you can load and customize to your liking.
This guide will show you how to make a flyer on Google Docs by using existing templates from the Google Docs library and even how to make a tear-off flyer. Read on to learn more.
Table of Contents
What Are Flyers?
Flyers are small leaflets used to advertise specific brands, products, or events. Typical flyers contain a small amount of text that gives viewers crucial information about the service or product they are promoting and a small call-to-action prompt. A flyer design should be very engaging as you only have a few seconds to grab the reader’s attention. And, a flyer shouldn’t be crammed with text as huge blocks of text often confuse or bore the reader, so they don’t pay any attention.
Flyers are usually a part of the marketing strategy of a lot of companies to advertise their services. You can also add QR codes to the flyer that will take the user directly to the product page or a page for your service.
Why You Should Create Your Flyer in Google Docs
Google Docs is a great choice for making a flyer for numerous reasons. One of the biggest reasons to use Google Docs is that it is free to use for small businesses and individuals.
The only requirement for you to get started is that you need to have a Google account to sign in. You don’t even need to download software onto your computer as the interface for Google Docs is web-based, meaning it will run directly on your web browser.
You can use hundreds of flyer templates free on Google Docs that are available online. But while a lot of templates are free to use, some cost money. Google Docs also supports add-ons, so you can have most of the assets you need directly in Docs. You can start with a basic template and customize it to your liking so that your flyer looks like you want it to.
How to Make a Flyer on Google Docs
The process to make a flyer on Google Docs shouldn’t take much time or effort unless you are looking to create one from scratch. To create a simple flyer, you can use the template gallery.
Here is how to create a flyer on Google Docs:
- Open Google Docs on your web browser and log into your Google account. This will open the main screen of Google Docs.
- Here, click on the Template gallery towards the top right part of the screen.
- This will expand the options allowing you to view all of the templates Google Docs provides. Google Docs doesn’t have a specific category for flyers. However, many of the templates can be used for creating a flyer (the newsletter templates are particularly good). Click on any template that suits your needs. This will open the template on a new screen. Here is the one we used above.
- Make changes to the Google flyer template.
- Change the images by right-clicking them and selecting Replace image.
- Edit the body text and heading by simply clicking the areas that already have text and typing what you want.
- Change the images by right-clicking them and selecting Replace image.
- Finally, add a title for the template in the main heading textbox to save it.
Here is another flyer template you may want to consider.
Related: Easily Insert a Google Sheet Into Google Docs
Making Changes to the Flyer Template
When you open a template on Google Docs, it won’t exactly match what you wish to create. You can do a few things to edit the flyer template in Docs and truly make it your own. Let’s take a look at some of them:
- Add your own images. The images in the template are just for your reference. Feel free to delete it or add your own or replace it. Again, you can do this by right-clicking on the image and clicking on the Replace image option. There, you can select an image from your computer, or you can add one using a URL.
- Replace the text. The template will have sample text used to showcase the template. Delete the text and add your own text.
- Change the font. Select the text you wish to change the font of and click on the Font button in the toolbar. Here, select the font you wish to change to.
- Add the links. If you wish to use the template for online flyer, add any website details. If a plain web address is entered, simply press Enter to change it into a hyperlink. To change text into a hyperlink, highlight it and right-click on it. Then, select the Insert link button.
How to Share the Google Docs Flyer
There are two ways in which you can share the Google Docs flyer. Let’s take a look at both of them.
Downloading the File
You can download the flyer by following these steps:
- With the flyer open, click on File in the main top bar.
- In the dropdown menu, click on the Download option.
- In the pop-up menu, you can choose the file format you wish to download. Click on your desired format to start the download.
Sharing Through Google Docs
You can also share the document directly from Google Docs. To do this:
- With the flyer template open, click on the blue Share option towards the top right of the screen.
- In the window, you can enter the person’s email in the textbox or change the General access option to allow Anyone with the link to access it.
- Click on the Copy link and send the link to the person you wish to share the template with.
How to Make a Tear-Off Flyer in Google Docs
A tear-off flyer is a flyer that has tags, usually at the bottom of the flyer, that can be removed from the flyer. The tags usually contain information like the name of the business or contact information.
Here’s how to make a tear-off flyer in Google Docs:
- Open a template and get started on customizing it.
- Go to Insert > Drawing.
- Click New.
- Click the textbox icon to insert a textbox into the workspace.
- Hold and drag the cursor to create the text box.
- Type in the information in the text box.
- You can also click the three lines on the toolbar to add a border to make the textbox clearer. You will get options for the thickness of the border.
- Use the circle on the selection to rotate the textbox to an upright position.
- Once you are done formatting, click Save and close.
- You can then position it where you want it on the flyer.
Once you have positioned it, copy and paste it to make duplicates to fill the rest of the space.
When you print out the flyer, you can cut around the length to make it easier for people to tear the tags off.
Pros and Cons of Using Google Docs to Make a Flyer
Using Google Docs to create a flyer is convenient and fairly easy. It is versatile and has a lot of useful features that make using it and sharing documents convenient compared to other programs. However, there are some cons that come with it. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of using Google Docs to create a flyer.
Pros
Here are some of the advantages of using Google Docs to make a flyer:
- You can import and resize images in high definition very easily.
- You have access to quite a number of free templates for Google Docs flyers.
- Google Docs is also pretty user-friendly since it does not have too many confusing features.
- The only condition is that you have to have a Google account.
- Your work is automatically saved to your drive as you work on it which means it is highly unlikely that you can lose your project.
Cons
Here are some of the disadvantages of using Google Docs to make a flyer:
- Unfortunately, Google Docs does not have a lot of customization features for flyers since it is essentially made for word documents.
- It is also not easy to move objects around on the page because it often affects the text and layout of the items that are already there.
- There are some limitations when it comes to adding graphics and overlays to a flyer in Google Docs.
Google Docs VS Google Slides
Another convenient program that you can use to create a flyer is Google Slides. Since they come from the same suite, Google Docs and Google slides share a lot of features like the collaborative aspects, the automatic saving features, and the free templates.
The features in Google Docs and Google Slides vary, so we are going to compare between the two software to find out which one is better for making flyers:
- Google Slides has more customization features for creating flyers compared to Google Docs. for example, the sizes of the flyer,
- You will also find more flyer templates for Google Slides than for Google Docs, both in the programs and online.
- Unlike Google Docs, Google slides is more of an open canvas. You can drag things around the page without them affecting the texts or other surrounding things.
- You can also do more with Google slides in terms of multimedia. For example, you can add a video to a digital flyer.
- When it comes to exporting and sharing the flyer, you will notice that Google Docs has a few formats that you can use, including PDF. Google Slides, however, has the added advantage of being able to download your file as a JPEG image, a PNG image, or even a vector file.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Make a Half-Page Flyer on Google Docs?
Half-page flyers only cover half of the page, meaning you can print out two flyers on a single sheet. To do this, click the File button and choose the Page setup option. Here, click on Landscape under Orientation.
How Do You Create a New Flyer Template in Google Docs?
Creating a new flyer from scratch takes a lot of time and effort compared to using an existing template. Create a new document and add the text. Once you add the text, you can add an accompanying image to add visual elements to the flyer. Once you create the template, it will automatically be saved for future use on the cloud. Just remember that changes you make will be permanent, so make sure you go to File > Make a copy for each new flyer you make from your template.
How Do You Import a Flyer From Microsoft Word Into Google Docs?
Google Docs supports the file formats from Microsoft Word. To open the Word file on Google Docs, open Google Docs and click on the File icon. This will open the file selector window. Click on the Upload tab. Drag and drop the file, and Google will load the file onto Docs. Sometimes, you have to go through an extra step and click Open in Docs.
Wrapping Up
There you have it! Making a flyer is a simple process and Google Docs provides you with plenty of templates to choose from. You can use one of the templates from Google Docs, download a free template online or even start completely from scratch.
However, if you’re looking for more functionality and customization features, we’d advise you to use Google slides instead. At the end of the day, it’d up to you to decide which of the two is easier and more convenient for you to use.
Hopefully, you found this guide on how to make a flyer on Google Docs useful. If so, check out some of our related content below.
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