Having a fun map and brochure can make all the difference in client commitment. Designing a professional looking brochure and map that gives customers information about your business and visual directions on how to find you can mean the difference between high traffic and none. Printing your own brochure and map can keep your advertising costs low when you are starting up.

Brochures can be many different shapes and sizes. For a fun and printable brochure, choose the tri-fold design on 8.5-by-11 inch paper. This size can be printed on any printer. Fold a sheet of paper into three equal panels. Decide if you will print your map inside of your brochure or as a separate document.

Decide what information you want to include in your brochure and what area you want to cover in your map. Use a pencil and paper to draw an example of your map and your brochure.

Choose a simple word processing software such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect to design your brochure. Choose desktop publishing software or software specifically designed for creating maps like Smart Draw, a free map drawing software.

Adjust your margins to match your printer’s specifications. Divide your document into columns. This will divide your panels evenly with the correct margins. Begin typing in your text. Adjust the text size, type and alignment.

Insert graphics and captions. Choose pictures from stock photos or your own. Make sure your pictures are clear and not too dark. Choose graphics from Clipart software or your website.

Give your graphics a caption which describes the photo or your business, product, service or event. Add lines and objects to create an appealing front cover. Use color if you will use a color printer or keep everything in grayscale and print to colored paper.

Save your brochure and map. To print, select your printer and send a sample of your map and brochure to the printer.