Well this is a strange one, the name indicates a leaflet which folds ‘tri’ or 3 times doesn’t it?, well no not exactly. This term is usually used to describe an A4 leaflet which folds twice to 1/3 A4. It can also be called an 6pp DL, this means a leaflet with 6 panels, for example if you fold down an a4 leaflet to a 3rd of an A4, then you will have six panels in order to add your design. This kind of works a min brochure, a very cost effective way of having a multi-page mini booklet printed out of one sheet.

There are two ways of folding a tri-fold leaflet, either a 'Z' fold or a ‘Roll Fold. The 'Z Fold' is when the document folds back on its self like a concertina effect, and the ‘Roll Fold’ is when the panels are folded over each other, and then folded inwards.

The most common paper type for this kind of leaflet is around the 150gsm or 160gsm, as this thickness doesn’t need to be scored before folding. Scoring is done as a precaution like a pre-fold,  which stops thicker material form cracking when it goes through the folding machine.

For a roll folded leaflets the In order to create artwork for a A4 folded to DL, or 6pp DL leaflets you need to divide up the 6 panels, creating 3 vertical panels each side. Imagine the document is flat A4 landscape, and you are looking at the outer cover side, so what you see is document which is 297mm wide x 210mm high (without bleed). Measured from the left to right, the left hand panel is 97mm wide, the centre panel (back cover) is 100mm wide and the right hand panel (front cover) is also 100mm wide.

The opposite is then the case on the other inside spread. Again reading from left to right. The Leaflet hand panel (inside front cover) is 100mm wide, the centre panel (inside of back cover) is also 100mm, then the right hand panel is 97mm. By having the flap panel slightly shorter on its width allows it to slide within the fold neatly without obstruction. The term ‘roll folded leaflets‘ is trying to describe the way in its its folded, the ‘flap panel’ is rolled over the next panel and then the next panel before its flat folded.

Don’t forget to add ‘bleed‘ to these measurements.

When artwork is created and made ‘print ready’, in almost all cases bleed is required. This is an additional area added (normally 3mm on all edges) to the finished size of your document. It allows either the finishers or even the guy who guillotines the final job down to size when its completed, a little room for maneuver.

If you have ever seen a finished printed item with a very fine white line on one of the edges, this usually means that bleed was not allowed for and when the final job was cut, it left a white strip along the edge. This doesn’t mean that the guillotine is not accurate, but when several hundred items are being cut at any one time – the guillotine only has to be out by a fraction of a millimetre and the white edge will appear.

So it’s best to add a 3mm edge to your artwork on all edges. Every image or background colour which reaches the final cut size of your document, needs to bleed over the edge, so that when its cut no white areas are showing.

If you are experiencing problems with bleed edge with your artwork, give our studio a call and we can give you advice or maybe even add bleed for you.

For other information and paper sizes see our Artwork Specifications page on the website.

Here at Print-Print we spend a lot of time giving advise to customers who are new to the world of full colour printng, advising them on how to prepare their design work for print.