Buyer's Guide · Brochures & catalogues
Short answer: choose the fold by how much you want the reader to see at once. A roll fold gives six panels that open in sequence, a gate fold gives four panels plus two wings that reveal a wide spread, and a Z-fold gives three equal panels that unfold rather than open. The fold then fixes your panel widths, paper weight and price.
Last updated: · 6 min read · By the Renjie editorial team · Includes: fold comparison table, panel-width maths, paper weight by fold
A fold is named after the panels it creates and the order they open in, not after the sheet it starts from. Roll, gate and Z cover almost every brochure a commercial press prints, and each fails differently when specified loosely (typical, illustrative):
| Fold | Panels | How it opens | Best for | Workable paper weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roll (letter) fold | 6 | Panels roll inward one after another; the reader pulls the cover back like a scroll | Rate cards, product specs, menus | 130–170 gsm text |
| Gate fold | 6 (4 + 2 wings) | Two outer panels fold inward to the centre, then the piece folds once more | Reveal: one image printed across three panels | 170–250 gsm, scored above 200 |
| Z-fold (accordion) | 6 | Panels zig-zag, so the piece unfolds in one movement | Timelines, maps, mailers that fit a DL envelope | 130–170 gsm |
| Double gate | 8 | Two gates open outward, then the inner spread opens again | Premium lookbooks, art catalogues | 200–250 gsm, scored |
The panel that folds innermost must be 2–3 mm narrower than the panels it tucks into, or the accumulated paper thickness pushes the outer panel outward and the piece will not lie flat. At 150 gsm, three layers measure roughly 0.4 mm — enough to bulge a six-panel roll fold by the third fold.
Gate folds reverse the logic: the wings should be about 0.5 mm narrower each than the half they cover, so they meet without overlapping. Fold position itself carries a tolerance of ±1 mm on typical sheet-fed work, so panels set to exactly equal width will show a 1 mm reveal on one side and a 1 mm overlap on the other. State the steps on the fold diagram, not on the shop floor.
Above roughly 200 gsm, coated stock needs a score before folding; above 300 gsm it needs a crease and a fold that runs with the grain. Grammage itself is defined by test method in ISO 536:2019, which is the reference to quote when a supplier's "250 gsm" feels like 200.
Grain is the part buyers underestimate. Paper folds cleanly along the grain and cracks across it, and ISO 216:2007 — the A and B series standard — also specifies how machine direction is indicated on trimmed sheets. A landscape gate fold on short-grain stock breaks the coating along the crease, most visibly on dark solid tints; the fix is a stock with grain suited to the flat size, or an uncoated/matt-coated sheet. Where the brand needs certified fibre, FSC-certified text and cover stocks come with chain-of-custody documents via fsc.org.
Every extra fold adds a pass through the folder and a panel of grip and trim, so fold count changes paper consumption before it changes labour. ISO 216 sizes halve as the number drops: one A2 sheet (420 × 594 mm) carries eight A5 panels, one A3 sheet (297 × 420 mm) carries four — which is why a six-panel roll fold is normally imposed two-up on A2, not cut from a single A3.
Large flat tints are the other risk. A gate fold puts three panels of one solid brand colour side by side, and any drift between them reads as a stripe at the fold. That is what the G7 methodology targets; Idealliance describes its purpose as delivering "a common neutral appearance" across devices rather than a match to a screen. Ask for one press sheet carrying every panel, and check the fold under the light the end user will use.
Folding is a small line item — a few hundred dollars on a mid-size run (illustrative) — but at low quantity, gate folds on 250 gsm are hand-folded and charged per piece.
A fold specification is complete when it answers five questions, and a quote that arrives without them is a guess:
Our brochure and saddle stitch booklet line folds in-house beside catalogue binding, so a brochure and its catalogue share one paper order and one colour target. Send the fold diagram through the quote form and we will return the flat size, score requirement and folding method for your quantity. If artwork is still moving, the preflight checklist covers bleed and dieline placement, and the spot colour guide explains when a tint needs a fifth ink.
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