We have released a new update of MyBrochureMaker which addressed several items to improve ease-of-use:

New Features:

All Users: Clear image function now functions on user uploaded images.
All Users: We have updated our image upload process to prevent PDF corruption.
All Users: The ProPrint process now offers a proof and approval before submitting the order.
All Users: Contact form has been updated with commonly Asked questions.

NOTE: If you are having trouble seeing the new changes, please make sure to clear your history and cookies in your browser.

For Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835

For Firefox: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Clearing+Private+Data

For Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/3.0/en/9360.html

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We have launched another suite of templates for our Real Estate section, titled “Warm & Modern.” With rich dark tones and clean, elegant fonts, this suite can instantly raise the property value of the home you are offering.

But it’s not just for Real Estate, this theme instantly “Robb Reports” anything you want to offer: from high-end autos, wines, vacation getaways, touring packages, cigars or furnishings. This suite adds style and panache to your products and company.

See our gallery, below:

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1. Size: The Size option will allow you to increase the size of the selected image. You can accomplish this by either dragging the slider along the track to increase or decrease the image, or, you can specify a percentage in the text box provided.
2. Rotate: By sliding the bar along the track, you will be able to rotate the selected image clockwise or counter-clockwise within it’s space in your project.
3. Move: If you would like to move your photo, you can do so by clicking on the Up, Down, Left and Right arrow buttons. You can also click on the image in your project and drag it with your mouse. This will allow you to move your photo within its designated space in your project.
4. Clear Image: Clicking on this button will remove the image you have selected. This is a quick way to strike a photo from your project.
5. Reset: If, for example, you’ve spent some time modifying an image, but then decide to un-do those changes, simply click on the “Reset” button and the image will be reverted back to it’s originally-inserted state.
6. Restore Stock Image: Clicking on this button will allow you to easily and quickly remove an inserted image and replace it with the original stock photo.
7. My Images: By clicking on the “ADD” button, you will be able to upload images from your computer into your MyBrochureMaker project. To insert an uploaded image into your project, click on an image location and then click on the thumbnail of your photo, located in the “My Images” section of the sidebar.

   If you have multiple pages of uploaded images, you can use the Left and Right arrow buttons to navigate among the various pages of uploaded items.

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We have just launched a new suite of templates. Currently categorized under “Real Estate” the Clean & Sharp template suite is light on the color and adornments and big on flexibility.

We recommend this suite for all customers who want to emphasize imagery and content. Also, for companies that have an established logo and identity package. This template is a great “blank slate.”

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New Features:
All members: Clear Image option. You can now delete the images in the brochure.

Bug Fixes:
All members: The editors view now matches the pdf.
All members: The editors now supports special characters.
All members: Copy in the text boxes can be completely cleared without causing the pdf to fail to load imagery.

Click here to view a post about the image editing tools.

NOTE: If you are having trouble seeing the new changes, please make sure to clear your history and cookies in your browser.

For Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835

For Firefox: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Clearing+Private+Data

For Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/3.0/en/9360.html

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Dear MyBrochureMaker Members:

We recently deployed a new build of the MyBrochureMaker software, which addressed several known issues, and enhancement needs. Let’s get started!

New features:

Bug fixes:

Coming in version 1.3

COMING SEPT. 2: New Real Estate template suite.

NOTE: If you are having trouble seeing the new changes, please make sure to clear your history and cookies in your browser.

For Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835

For Firefox: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Clearing+Private+Data

For Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/3.0/en/9360.html

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We’re looking for great designers to help us create more brochure templates!

This is a great program for designers to sell unused client revisions or designs with a minimum of labor.

WHAT WE’RE OFFERING

• $200 for a suite of all four layouts (plus a $.25 revenue share for paid usage)

• $45/layout (plus a $.25 revenue share for paid usage).

If your designs meet the following requirements. We would love to hear from you!

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Must be in Adobe Illustrator, or In Design format

2. Emphasis is on reuse. Templates should consider end user ability to edit text and upload images (logos and photos)

3. Designs must fall in one of the following business categories

• General Business
• Child Care
• Contractor
• Fitness
• Medical
• Environmental
• Restaurants
• Real Estate
• Salon & Spa
• Travel
• Technology
• Wineries/Tasting Rooms

4. Layouts: Must match the following specifications:

3-Panel Brochure

• Full color
• Flat size 11″ x 8-1/2″
• Roll folds to 3-5/8″ x 8-1/2″
• Size to fit standard brochure holders as well as standard #10 envelope.

3-Panel Self-Mailer

• Full color
• Flat size 11″ x 8-1/2″
• Roll folds to 3-5/8″ x 8-1/2″
• Mailing panel to meet US postal requirements.

Product Sell Sheet or Flyer

• Full color
• Flat size 8-1/2″ x 11″
• Sell sheet to fit into standard 9″ x 12″ envelope.

4-Page Brochure

• Full color
• Flat size 17″ x 11″
• Folds to 8-1/2″ x 11″
• Brochure to fit into standard 9″ x 12″ envelope.

If you are interested, please contact us at designs@mybrochuremaker.com. Links to watermarked work examples are helpful.

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GIFs were developed in the mid-80′s by Compuserve (remember them?) as a light graphical format for display on computers. Only 256 colors are allowed in the GIF format and the maximum resolution is 96dpi. (Although most GIF images are 72 dpi).

This means that what looks good on your computer screen will look horrible on your printed brochure since high quality print resolutions are generally between 200-600 dpi.

Behold, the mighty PNG
The PNG format (pronounced “ping”) solves the GIF formats shortcomings by offering 16 million colors and a much better overall print quality.

How do I get a PNG?
Keep in mind that turning a low-resolution GIF into a PNG file will result in a low resolution PNG. The best bet is to use the PNG format primarily for non-photo images (like a logo). Start with your original logo art and convert the file using an image editor like photoshop.

Don’t have Photoshop?
We understand … photoshop is really expensive. Luckily, there are some programs available online which are free and do a heckofa job.

Checkout this great guide to online photo editors:
http://www.bestdesigntuts.com/55-awesome-online-photo-editors/

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A full scale, totally re-engineered site built entirely in Adobe Flex. You can now choose from four different categories of brochures: 3-panel brochure, 3-panel self-mailer, product sell sheet/flyer or 4-page brochure (17″x11″). We’ve pre-loaded our templates with professional high-resolution photography OR you can customize by uploading your own photos and logos. Add headlines, subheads and body copy as you see fit. You can also choose from a wide range of fonts to create a unique and professional-looking project. Plus, MyBrochureMaker continues to have the capability to save your projects online where you can access saved projects from any computer using a web browser.

Professionally designed templates, within the following categories: general business, childcare, contractor, fitness, non-business general and medical.

Professional printing and shipping option. Another development that’s got us stoked is professional printing for client-pleasing, eye-popping brochures. Print as few as 50 or as many as 2500 brochures and have them delivered with our new shipping partner, FedEx.

Right now, we’re opening up our Beta site to allow visitors a chance to kick the tires while we tighten things up. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the new site and any suggestions for improving things. Simply add a comment to this post. Thanks!

For Our Existing Users, Welcome Back!
We have just re-launched mybrochuremaker with many new features. If you are a returning user, please click here for instructions on how to retrieve your previously saved projects »

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Words.

The most beautiful design template is meaningless unless you have created a clear message to your prospective customer.

• Avoid technical or industry talk (unless you are a business to business company).
• Write “punchy” headlines that capture the reader’s interest.
• Check your document for spelling errors.
• Less can be more: You aren’t writing a Russian novel. Keep it short and sweet, concentrate on only the information a prospective customer needs to pick up the phone or email you.
• Include your contact information (sounds silly, but trust us, this happens).
• Don’t plagiarize. If you must use someone’s words, ask permission and make sure to attribute these words to their author.

Fonts.

Less is more (did we say that already?)
Keep your font styles and colors consistent. Don’t go hog wild with all of the options you have, find styles, colors and sizes which can be applied to all similar fields.

We can give you your fonts
If your company uses a font we don’t supply, contact us to discuss a custom account where we can deploy your special font needs.

Finding the right shade
Make sure your font colors match those of your logo or identity packaging. If you don’t have a program like Photoshop where you can find the six-digit hex colors your branding uses, try one of these sites and keep the six-digit codes handy:

LUNAPIC

http://www.lunapic.com/editor/

I was able to determine a hex color using this in less than 30 seconds. Simply upload an image of your logo, find the color picker icon on the left side of the page (the ninth icon from the top) and click on the color you’d like to find the hex value for. The six-digit color will display at the top of the page, preceded by a pound sign (#). For example, #FCCC3A .

PIXLR

http://pixlr.com/editor/

Closer to the functionality of Photoshop. If you are familiar with Adobe software tools, this is a nice choice.

We also found an article of other photo editors which can help you not only find colors, but also to prepare your images for use in your brochures.

http://www.bestdesigntuts.com/55-awesome-online-photo-editors/

Photos.

Finding the right photos to enhance your brochures requires more thought than simply uploading an image to MyBrochureMaker. Make sure to ask yourself these questions:

Is my image a high enough resolution?
We recommend a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Keep in mind that it is impossible to take a low-res image and turn it into a high res image.

Does the image fit the space?
You may have an awesome horizontally biased photo you would like to use in your brochure, but there is a good chance it’s awesomeness will be diminished if you try to wedge it into a vertically biased space.

Think twice about family photos
That picture of Aunt Millie with your grandson may be cute as heck, but it may not be the best choice for your Accountancy brochure. Make sure your images are relevant to the message.

Stock photos
You don’t have to use high-priced stock houses like Getty or Corbis to get great high-quality images for your brochures. We particularly like www.shutterstock.com for their competitive pricing and selection of images.

Printing.

Make sure you have a printer capable of handling high resolution output. Additionally, a printer that can perform duplex printing (printing on both sides of the paper without having to manually re-feed the paper) will make life easier for you.

Test first in black and white
If you are new to printing brochures on your printer and want to make sure your print options are set right and are feeding your paper in correctly, do a trial run in black and white to avoid wasting ink.

Landscape vs Horizontal
This can be another ink waster. For the record, all of our templates print in landscape with the exception of the Product Sell Sheet.

Talkin’ bout the resolution
Make sure you set your printer to print your brochures at 300 dpi or higher for optimal results.

It’s only worth the paper it’s printed on
Standard printer paper will not give you optimal results. Get down to your local office supply store and find 80 or 100lb stock paper. Both of these paper “weights” come in either a gloss or matte finish.

Get another pair of eyes on the page
Find a friend or colleague who can take a look at your creation. Typos, general thoughts about the use of images and the overall message can be missed when you are in the middle of creating a project… that’s why writers need editors.

It’s all about the business.

In the end, your brochure is an extension of your business. By following these steps, you can ensure you deliver the story of your company to your prospective customers in a way that increases your company’s value and professionalism.

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