A5 Leaflets .org.uk is coming very soon!
In the meantime if you are looking to have your A5 leaflets printed or designed please visit our sister website where you can buy your A5 Leaflets at some of the UK's best prices.
Below is some further information on leaflets that may be of use.
Why choose an A5 Leaflet?
Professionally printed A5 leaflets can boost your company's profile and help grow your business. Leaflets have always been a cost effective way to market products and services and A5 is the most popular size by far.
At 148mm x 210mm an A5 leaflet is the perfect size, they will fit snugly into C5 envelopes to send via post, are a cost effective size for distribution with most local newspapers, fit in most counter display stands and are easily held and carried, simple to slip into a briefcase, bag or pocket to take away and read later, or pin-up on a notice board as a reminder. If you have a message to get out to new or existing customers then an A5 leaflet is the perfect way to do this.
What paper/card?
Gloss, Silk or Uncoated?
Gloss and Silk are the most popular finishes and they are described in the printing industry as 'coated stock', coated paper/card has a coating, usually of china clay which gives it a smooth finish. Gloss has a shiny surface and isn't suitable for writing on, silk has more of a matt finish and can be written on with most pens if needed (ideal for postcards and greetings cards). Coated paper/card is suitable for projects requiring a high quality finish such as leaflets, brochures and flyers to name a few.
Uncoated stock doesn't have a coating and is therefore not as smooth as coated paper. This type of paper is typically used for letterheads and compliment slips and products that need to be over printed at some point.
What weight?
It is normal practice to specify the thickness of paper/card by its weight in grams per square metre (GSM or GM). Fax and photocopier paper is usually around 80gsm, a high quality letterhead is around 120gsm, a leaflet such as a takeaway menu is around 150gsm, a flyer is around 300gsm and a postcard or high quality business card is around 400gsm.
As thickness is measured by the paper's weight, one manufacturer's 150gsm paper may seem slightly bulkier or stiffer than a competitor's product. Uncoated papers tend to be bulkier than their coated counterparts, that said, a paper's GSM rating is a good guide to show how thick or stiff the paper will feel.
Full Colour Leaflets or Spot Colours?
Your A5 leaflet can be printed full colour (CMYK) or in spot colours (Pantone colours) - Both explained in detail further down. Most businesses nowadays opt for full colour leaflets as they represent good value for money and maximum impact as it enables the display of full colour photos and imagery, something that is not possible with spot colour printing alone. It is possible to have a mixture of the 2, full colour print and the use of additional spot colours but this will be a costly way of getting your leaflets printed.
How should my A5 Leaflets be printed?
Litho Printed A5 Leaflets
Offset lithography, or litho print is a method of printing used worldwide. Most leaflets are printed using offset lithography. This printing technique is widely regarded as the workhorse of printing, because it is fast, efficient and relatively cheap. The 'offset' in the name refers to the fact that the ink is transferred to a separate surface before being applied to the paper.
Litho print has changed hugely in the last few years, modern technology such as computer-to-plate and fast set-up presses mean that the prices have come down, turnaround times are far quicker and quality comes as standard, almost. As with most things you get what you pay for and it's worth paying for professional high quality litho print where possible. You can either have 'CMYK' print which is also known as process or full colour printing or 'spot colour' print (both explained further down). With litho printing you will get consistent high quality print with sharp clean images especially on longer runs, typically over 500 sheets, and the longer the run the cheaper the unit cost will be.
Digitally Printed A5 Leaflets
Leaflets can also be printed digitally. Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digital based image directly onto paper or card; it usually refers to short-run jobs where desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using high-volume laser printers. Modern digital printing is ideal for printing variable data, but it is mainly suited to quick, short runs of a few hundred. As soon as quantities exceed this volume digital printing will have a higher cost per page than the more traditional superior quality of offset printing.
CMYK Printed A5 Leaflets
CMYK print which is also known as process or full colour printing uses four inks - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to produce multi-coloured images. The inks used are translucent and can be overprinted and combined in different proportions to produce a wide range of colours. This means that you can have a full colour logo, photograph or background colour printed on to your leaflets at no extra cost. With CMYK printing, half-toning allows tints of the main ink colours; tiny dots of each ink colour are printed in a pattern small enough that we see a solid colour. For example, magenta printed with a 20% half-tone produces a pink colour, because the eye sees not only the tiny magenta dots, but also the white paper between the dots as a lighter tint or tone of the solid magenta ink. With half-tones a full range of colours can be printed. CMYK printing is by far the most popular and cost effective method for printing leaflets.
Spot Colour Printed A5 Leaflets
Spot colour printing is a method that uses a different ink for each colour. By using a single ink for each colour it is possible to achieve exceptional fidelity between print runs and good matching to either existing printing, or to colours from the Pantone spot colour swatches. Spot colours can be used if a colour needs to be extremely precise. For example, if you need to reproduce a specific colour for a corporate logo or to match an existing piece of printing. As the printing press has to be cleaned for each print run, spot colour printing can work out quite expensive if you have more than two or four colours. Spot colour printing is used for jobs which require no full colour images.
Leaflet Design
You need to think carefully about the design of your A5 leaflet and the impact it will have. Taking a look at your competitor's leaflets and finding designs that inspire you is a good way to start the design process. You need to ensure that you have good quality photos of your products and that your logo/branding looks professional, a clipart logo from Microsoft Word is not ideal!
Using a graphic designer may seem costly but you will benefit from their experience and knowledge and your leaflet will be more effective as a result.
More than just an A5 Leaflet
If your leaflets have too much information to fit on one side of an A5 sheet you can have them printed double-sided, a '2pp A5' as it is known in the printing industry. What does the 'pp' stand for you ask? Quite simple, it refers to the 'printed pages'.
1pp A5 (a single sided A5 leaflet)
2pp A5 (a double sided A5 leaflet)
4pp A5 (an A4 sheet folded in half giving 4 printed A5 panels)
6pp A5 (a sheet measuring 444mm x 210mm folded twice giving 6 printed A5 panels)
6pp DL (an A4 sheet folded twice giving 6 printed 210mm x 99mm panels)
8pp A5 Booklet (2 A4 sheets collated, folded and stapled to make a booklet)
In the example above we have chosen a finished size of A5/DL, however, it is just the same for any other size that you may need, i.e. A7, A6, A4, A3, A2, A1, A0, the size specified is always the finished folded size.
If you have a multi-page booklet you have to remember that the total number of printed pages/sides (even if some are blank) must add up to a multiple of four, i.e. 8pp, 12pp, 16pp, 20pp, 24pp, 28pp, 32pp, 36pp, 40pp, 44pp and so on.
There are various types of folding available for your leaflet, you can have a simple single symmetric fold; an asymmetric fold; a gate fold; and for 6pp leaflets you can have a 'U' fold (roll fold) or a 'Z' fold (concertina fold).
Ordering your Leaflets
As mentioned above we are in the process of having a new website designed, in the meantime if you would like to see our A5 leaflets price list, place an order, or if you just have a general question please visit our sister website by clicking the following link: Leaflet Printing