If you are planning to make a brochure design but wondering which online tool or software will match your needs best, read on. This post is for you!
With the numerous possibilities for graphic editing software nowadays, you can easily get confused and be unable to filter the suggestions. More and more brands are offering solutions and bragging about powerful capabilities for creating brochure design fast and easily with their software or builder. Today, we’ll introduce to you 11 solutions for brochure making. To make this post more useful, we’ve divided the suggestions below into two categories: online brochure makers and brochure design software. Each of the suggestions on the market can help you come up with a brochure design but all of them are suitable for different user needs. Let’s start.
1. Online brochure makers
1.1. Adobe Spark
1.2. Canva
1.3. Lucidpress
1.4. BeFunky
1.5. Flipsnack
1.6. Venngage
2. Brochure design software
2.1. Adobe InDesign
2.2. QuarkXPress
2.3. Microsoft Publisher
2.4. Affinity Publisher
2.5. EdrawMax for Brochure Design
1. Online brochure makers
Online graphic tools are a handy solution for people with little to no experience in graphic design, as well as for people who are in a hurry and looking for a fast and effective solution for their needs. Such online brochure makers offer quite affordable or even free templates that you can edit on the go – literally and figuratively. Each online maker provides an easy-to-use editor that allows you to adapt the chosen design to your needs. Then, you can easily download the design in your preferred file format and even order it in print – depending on what the platform offers. Let’s see several good options to consider.
Adobe Spark
- Free – access to templates, images, icons
- Individual $9.99/month – access to all premium features
- Team $19.99/month – several users under one account
Adobe Spark offers free and premium memberships giving you access to a different range of features and assets on the site. If you want to test out the platform with a free account, you will have access to hundreds of brochure templates, all available for download in PNG, JPG, and PDF (best for printing). Each template is fully editable and includes a watermark from Adobe Spark which you can manually remove.
Canva
- Free – access to free and premium elements ($1 per each)
- Canva Pro $12.95/month – access to premium features
- Printing service – flexibility on the price and delivery times
Canva is an online graphic maker that uploads hundreds of brochure templates on their site. Whether you are using templates with free or premium images will determine the price of the final design – roughly $1 per premium element. The final brochure design is available for download in JPG, PNG, or PDF (best for printing). Canva offers a printing service, as well – you get volume discount and free delivery if you go with the standard delivery time frame.
Lucidpress
- Free – access to the basic template library
- Pro $14.95/month – access to the premium assets and PDF file download
- Printing service is available
An online graphic maker for various print designs – brochures, leaflets, flyers, posters, and more. Lucidpress offers a library of premade designs, all editable according to your taste and needs. You can use the design editor with a free account or a premium account. A slight disadvantage is that the PDF download format gets unlocked with the premium account only. It also gives you access to advanced publishing and design options. On the bright side, Lucidpress offers a printing service, as well, so you can order your print versions right when you finish your design.
BeFunky
- Free – you can use all free assets and templates
- Plus $6.99/month – access to premium assets and features
BeFunky is an easy online graphic maker for brochures and other design materials. On the site, you will find a great diversity of brochure templates which you can use for free or with a subscription. Of course, the paid subscription gives you more opportunities. You get advanced design and editing options, plus more designer’s assets unlocked – premium templates, graphics, stickers, icons, effects, etc. But still the good thing is, the free account covers great high-quality brochure templates and PDF print-friendly download file format.
Flipsnack
- Free – for digital brochures only
- Premium from $32/month – export for printing is supported
Flipsnack is a free online brochure maker which will help you create leaflets, bi-fold and tri-fold brochure designs. The platform is oriented towards digital brochures, so it provides you with options like flip animations, videos and interactivity, website integration, and more. Flipsnack supports PDF, so if you have a design in this format, you can simply upload it and edit it online. If you don’t, you can take advantage of the library of pre-made templates. If you still want to export your brochure for publishing, you will have to go with a paid subscription which may be a bit of a disadvantage.
Venngage
- Free – comes with a Venggage branding, export is unavailable
- Premium from $19/month – access to a library of premium assets, removes Venggage branding
- Business from $49/month – unlocks even more assets plus more premium features
Venngage’s tool is a popular online graphic editing solution that provides you with hundreds of templates in different categories. When it comes to brochures, you will quickly find out that there are free brochure templates, as well as templates marked with Premium and Business labeled. The latter can be used only if you subscribe to Premium or Business plans, respectively. While the diversity of templates is really impressive, you will probably need to opt for a paid version since the free account doesn’t provide you with export options. Therefore, you won’t be able to save your design in PDF and prepare it for printing. Besides that, Venngage is a great platform with powerful options for brochure design.
2. Brochure design software
If you are aiming for an actual career in graphic design, then a better choice for you would be to opt for professional software for brochure making. Now graphic design software programs come with various capabilities and opportunities. While most popular graphic software like Photoshop (raster-based) and Illustrator (vector-based) will do the trick, there are other options that are more oriented towards creating digital and print publishing visual materials. Here is a selection of the most suitable software for brochure design.
Adobe InDesign
- Adobe InDesign from $20.99/month – software updates, 100GB cloud storage, Adobe Portfolio, Fonts, Spark
- Adobe Creative Cloud from $52.99/month – includes the whole creative suite (all Adobe programs), software updates, 100GB cloud storage, Adobe Portfolio, Fonts, Spark
Considered the industry standard, Adobe InDesign is a part of Adobe Creative Cloud. As such, you will have no problem migrating library elements and color palettes across multiple Adobe programs (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop). Unlike its sibling software solutions, InDesign is specifically developed for professional layout design – brochures, posters, flyers, magazines, books, etc. not only for print publishing but for digital publishing, as well. Adobe InDesign is a powerful solution and worth the investment if you are aiming for a professional career in print and digital publishing design. Useful: 21 Great tutorials to master InDesign.
QuarkXPress
- Full lifetime license from $975 – covers updates up to 1 year from downloading
- More packages covering updates up to 2 or 3 years from downloading
A software solution oriented towards digital and print publishing. QuarkXPress is a constantly updated and improved software package containing many of the InDesign features and some other enticing features like flexible layouts, automated tables, interactive elements, and more. When it comes to print publishing, QuarkXPress offers digital-to-print conversion, direct InDesign IDML import, PDF print engine, and more. Unlike Adobe products, QuarkXPress is available with a one-time purchase and a lifetime license. The various packages cover 1, 2, or 3 years of software updates. QuarkXPress is a bit pricey but offers powerful capabilities worthy of investing in if you decide to devote to a career in digital and print design.
Microsoft Publisher
- Comes as a part of Microsoft 365 package starting from $69.99/year
Microsoft Publisher is software for creating marketing materials, calendars, newsletters, and other publishing designs. The latest version of Publisher comes with an Office 365 subscription. If you are a Microsoft user, you will be pretty familiar with the interface. Publisher comes with pre-designed templates from which you can create your own masterpiece. Starting off from a template means the hard design work has already been done, so if you are not looking for a complete creative freedom, this software might be a good choice for you. Unfortunately, Publisher file format is not compatible with Adobe products, so when you export your designs for printing, you should use industry-standard formats.
Affinity Publisher
- A one-time purchase covering all features of the software
Software from the Affinity family is oriented towards publishing design – brochures, magazines, posters, and more. This software has great capabilities that will allow you to create effective layouts and combine visuals and text in ready-for-printing files. You receive features like double-page spreads, master pages, frames with intelligent scaling, text frames, guides, grids, snapping, tables, adjustment layers, advanced design tools, and more. The software supports raster and vector files allowing you to combine photos with high-quality graphics. You can import PSD, AI, PDF, and designs in more formats, as well as export to the most popular raster and vector file formats including files compatible with Adobe products. Affinity Publisher is a great professional solution available as a one-time purchase (no subscription needed).
EdrawMax for Brochure Design
- Available with a subscription license and a one-time purchase license
Vector-based software compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux and adapted to brochure making, as well. With an easy and intuitive interface that resembles Microsoft’s app interface, you should feel pretty confident with this program. In the software, you will find pre-made templates and built-in libraries to help you craft your brochure design fast and easily. Once you are ready, you can export the design in PS, EPS, or PDF file formats.
To sum up,
The opportunities to make brochures these days are limitless – whether you are professionally involved in graphic design or just need a solution for a one-time particular event. We hope this selection of online brochure makers and brochure design software was helpful. We’ve striven to include solutions for every taste and need. If you have other suggestions to add to this list, feel welcome to share them with the community in the comments below.
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