Planning the Layout in InDesign

A bifold brochure is an 8.5 x 11inch sheet of paper that's folded twice. The result is a brochure that has six panels and can fit inside a standard #10 envelope. When you are laying out the brochure in InDesign, you'll need to arrange the panels so that the job will look correct when it is folded and printed.

Launch InDesign and create a new file. In the New Document dialog box, specify the following options (see Figure 13.1):

• Set the number of pages to 2.

• Uncheck the Facing Pages option.

• Specify a letter-size page (8.5 x 11 inches) with an orientation set to landscape (wide).

• Set your number of columns to 3 and specify a gutter of 0.5 in.

• Set the margins to 0.25 in all around and set the bleeds to 0.125 in all around.

Figure 13.1. Specifying the document settings for the brochure.

Save the file into your Version Cue project with a comment.

Import the Text

Before beginning the actual design and layout, I like to label the individual panels, making it easier to visualize the final piece (see Figure 13.2). Most important, this step keeps you from accidentally mixing up the panels.

Figure 13.2. Labeling the panels in the layout. You'll delete these later in the project.

The next step is to bring in the text. For many jobs, you'll receive text files from a word-processing program (Microsoft Word, for example). Of course, at times you'll also receive text that you'll have to copy and paste from an email, and there will be plenty of times when you'll have to type the text yourself directly into InDesign. For now, I'm going to place a Word file, but you can add any text you want to for this project.

Did you Know?

If you don't feel like typing any words, simply draw a text frame and choose Type, Fill with Placeholder Text. You can also download the Microsoft Word file for this project from www.designresponsibly.com.

The text will flow from page 3 to page 4, so after placing the first text frame on the panel that will be page 3, click on the Out link box of the frame and then click in the panel that will be page 4 (see Figure 13.3). This will thread the text so that it flows from one panel to the next.

Figure 13.3. Threading the text across two panels.

The quote will be a separate text frame, so cut and paste it into its own new text frame. Do the same for the headline (see Figure 13.4).

Figure 13.4. Separating the quote and the headline into their own text frames.