Brochure, flyer or leaflet: which do you need?

The distinction that matters

A flyer is a single sheet with one message, made to be handed out in volume and read in seconds. A leaflet folds, carrying a little more. A brochure is multi-page, made to be kept and read deliberately.

The real question is where in the decision the reader is. Awareness wants a flyer. Consideration wants a brochure.

• Flyer — one offer, high volume, low cost per piece, seconds of attention.
• Leaflet — three to six panels, enough for a service list or a map.
• Brochure — eight pages or more, for a considered purchase such as property or education.

What each costs to produce

A flyer is the cheapest printed thing you can make in volume, which is why it suits distribution where most copies will be discarded.

A brochure carries a real per-unit cost because of the extra paper, the folding and the binding. That cost only makes sense when it is handed to someone who has already shown interest — which means printing far fewer of them, and being deliberate about who gets one.

Choosing the fold

For a leaflet, the fold decides the reading order and it is worth thinking about rather than defaulting.

• Bi-fold — four panels. Simple, opens like a card, good for a service list.
• Tri-fold — six panels. The standard rack leaflet. The front panel and the first inside panel do nearly all the work.
• Z-fold — six panels that open flat in sequence. Better for a step-by-step or a timeline.

The specifications this applies to

For reference, here is how it works out on the products this comes up on most often.

• Flyers — 148 × 210 mm finished, 3 mm bleed, 300 DPI minimum, from ₹2.5 per unit with a minimum of 250.

Ordering

Every file is checked automatically before printing, so a mistake in any of this is caught while it can still be corrected rather than after a run is on paper.

Standard delivery is free to every PIN code in India — two working days to a metro, up to twelve to the islands — and prices include GST, so the figure on the product page is the figure charged. Add a GSTIN at checkout and the invoice carries it for input credit.

Measuring whether it worked

Print is often written off as unmeasurable, which is only true if you make no effort. A distinct phone number, a QR pointing at a URL you control, or a code the customer has to mention all turn a print run into something you can count.

Do that once and the next order becomes a decision rather than a guess — you will know which piece produced enquiries and which produced nothing but a bill.