Guide to print: Folding
Do you know your letter fold from your gatefold? It may not be the most thrilling of topics but having a good understanding of the correct folding terms used in printing will help you be far more creative and confident when choosing your next brochure or flyer.
By taking the time to really consider how you want your brochure and content to be presented will ensure your message doesn’t get tucked away; each fold should be there for a reason in order to make your content visually appealing and easy to absorb.
Our team are always happy to talk through the best options for your brochure so feel free to give us a call if you would like to discuss your options.
If you need a quick reference in the mean time then we have described the most popular folding options below:
- Single Fold – About as simple as it gets: This fold is most regularly used for this standard flyers, gift cards and business presentations.
Poster Fold – Also known as a Tri-Fold + Half Fold: This fold is often used for maps, diagrams, and informative posters. This fold lends itself to pocket sized guides, such as festival maps prefixed with a lanyard that can be unfolded and re-folded with ease. 
Letter Fold – This fold would be used on a six-side flyer, i.e. a flyer with three exterior sides and three interior sides. It is more commonly used for folding a standard A4 business letter. 
Roll Fold – This fold is regularly used for brochures due to the ease of the fold. The paper is folded inwards from one end as if you are rolling it up yet using the crease folds.
Z-Fold – The Z-Fold has alternating folds in a concertina fashion which when viewed from above resembles a Z shape. This allows the user to quickly glance at the content so it is great quick mail outs due to its auto opening nature. 
Accordion Fold – An accordion fold is similar to a z fold yet with more pleats, resembling the folds found on an accordion. It has more than 3 panels unlike the z fold so is beneficial for brochures with more in-depth content. 
Double Parallel Fold – A parallel fold brochure is fashioned by folding paper directly in half from left to right and repeating so each fold lines-up together. This is useful for an information heavy brochure that needs to be displayed on info racks with limited space.
Gate Fold – A standard Gate fold is 6 sided where the right and left panels fold inwards towards the centre of the document. The nature of a Gate fold document encourages the reader to open it up and invites the user to explore the document further.
A Closed Gate fold is similar to this but makes use of an additional fold down the middle of the standard Gate fold document.
