Totorus

Photo credit by rbnstubbs

Creating a travel brochure is fairly easy with the wealth of information available on the Internet. Easy to use computer programs and easily affordable home laser printers make it a simple matter to create and print your own travel brochure. It is simply a matter of choosing a layout, writing text and choosing photographs, and putting it all together.

The first thing to consider when making a travel brochure is the layout. Most travel brochures are standard size 8 1/2 x 11 or 8 1/2 x 14 inch paper folded in thirds much like you fold a letter to fit in a business envelope. In order to make the most professional looking brochure, you need a printer that can print on both sides of the paper. Some software programs can organize the layout so that you can feed sheets back through in order to print on both sides. The software you use should also allow you to arrange your text and photos in column form so that you can use the tri-fold layout. Software programs such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, or Microsoft Publisher either come with Windows or can be downloaded from the Microsoft Website. Microsoft Publisher includes several brochure templates that make it easy to insert your text and pictures into a pre-formatted document. Many other programs can also be used to create travel brochures.

Once you have chosen the layout and considered your printer options and software programs, you need to write your text and choose photographs. Text should be written in clear short sentences and point out interesting facts and attractions. Be sure to double check facts and spelling for all the text you write. If you do not have photos there are several good websites that offer free photos on a variety of subjects. Wikimedia Commons and morgueFile.com both have large databases of photos that can be used by anyone. You need to read the usage license for any photo to see if there are any restrictions or if you need to cite the author. You simply download the photo and crop and size it to fit your needs. These two sites along with a few others have many thousands of images that require no citation at all.

When you have completed the layout and insertion of text and photos, you should print a sample and check it again. Look for any corrections and consider whether you want to print it from home or consider the option of a print shop. Some home color laser printers can produce near professional quality printing. However, depending on the how many copies you want and the type of paper you want to use, it may be cheaper to have it professionally printed than to pay for the paper and ink for your home printer. If you choose to have it professionally printed shop around online. Your local print shop may not be the best deal, you may be able to send the data electronically and order your finished brochure much cheaper from an online shop.

With the large amount of information available on the web and the sophistication of software it is easy to your make your own travel brochure. From a simple layout in a word processing program to a more elaborate publishing program you can produce a quality travel brochure. Attention to detail when determining layout, writing text, and choosing photographs can help you produce anything from a simple tri-fold paper brochure to a professionally printed product on commercial paper.