Flyers and Brochures
Half-Fold Brochures
One clean fold down the centre: a flat sheet becomes four panels of room, with a front cover that earns the open and an inside spread that carries the whole offer. More than a postcard, lighter than a booklet.
No account needed to design — build your half-fold brochures in the browser free, then create an account to order.
At a glance
Sizes 8.5x11, 8.5x14, 11x17, 9x12, Custom
Stock 100lb Gloss Book, 100lb Gloss Cover, 100lb Cover, 100lb Text, 70lb Uncoated
Coating / finish AQ on Both Sides, AQ, None / Uncoated, None
Print sides 4/0 Full Color Front Only, 4/4 Full Color Both Sides
Mailing Mails as a USPS mailpiece
Single-fold half-fold brochures - four panels, folded and tabbed to mail as a self-mailer.
Scoring, a single fold, and tabbing add one finishing pass after print — a touch more schedule than a flat card. See turnaround times.
Overview
About half-fold brochures
A half-fold brochure is the simplest fold in mail: one crease down the centre of a flat sheet, turning it into two equal panels and four printable faces — front cover, inside left, inside right, and back. Fold an 8.5x11 and you get an 8.5x5.5 finished piece; 8.5x14 gives 8.5x7; 9x12 gives 9x6; and an 11x17 folds to a full 8.5x11, a booklet-style piece with real page presence. There is no second crease and no roll to fight: the sheet opens flat in one motion to a single wide spread, which is exactly why it reads clean and photographs well.
Planning a half-fold is planning four faces around one fold. The front cover carries the hook, the back becomes the address panel when the piece mails, and the two inside faces open as a single uninterrupted spread — the widest continuous canvas any folded self-mailer gives you, ideal for a menu grid, a price table, or a real-estate photo that wants to run edge to edge. Because the inside is one spread rather than a set of narrow columns, you design across the centre fold, not around it, keeping the crease clear of small type and faces so nothing critical lands on the seam.
Everything runs in one continuous pass. We print flat on both sides, score heavier stocks so the single centre crease folds crisp instead of cracking through the ink, fold once, and — when the piece mails — tab the open top edge with nonperforated wafer seals in the DMM-prescribed positions. One fold is forgiving to register, but it is unforgiving about the spine: a half-fold shows its crease straight down the middle of the inside spread, so we score and fold to keep that line true and the two panels the same height, and we plan the panel layout before design so the address never crosses the fold.
Folded to letter dimensions with the crease to the bottom and the open edge tabbed, a half-fold mails at First-Class or Marketing Mail letter automation prices — the same class of rate as a #10 letter, with no envelope and no inserting cost. The address panel needs a clean barcode zone in the lower right and an address block that survives the indicia, and the folded piece has to hold the automation aspect ratio or it drops to nonmachinable. The one size that leaves that world is 11x17: folded once it finishes at 8.5x11, past letter limits, so it mails as a flat, and we quote it that way rather than pretend it is a letter.
Every half-fold moves through the same pipeline as our largest programs: the list is CASS-standardized and NCOA-updated, deduplicated, and matched to carrier routes; postage is presorted and optimized; the pieces print, score, fold, tab, and address in sequence; camera verification is available to read each piece as it runs and reconcile the count to your list; and the mailing enters USPS Full-Service for automation discounts and end-to-end tracking. You get a single-fold piece that behaves in automation and a drop that reconciles back to the file you handed us — list to print to finish to verify to USPS, in one building in Vista, CA.
Mailing It
How half-fold brochures mail
A half-fold self-mailer mails at First-Class or Marketing Mail letter automation prices, but only when the single centre fold seats to the bottom as the closed spine and the open top edge is tabbed shut per DMM 201. Because there is just one fold, the closure is simple — typically two nonperforated wafer seals of 1 to 1.5 inches across the open edge, with the exact count set by finished size and paper weight — and the address block lives on the back panel where it never crosses the fold. The finished piece has to land inside USPS letter limits (up to 11.5 inches long, 6.125 inches high, a quarter inch thick) and hold the automation aspect ratio, which an 8.5x5.5 (folded from 8.5x11) or an 8.5x7 (from 8.5x14) does comfortably. The size that breaks the pattern is 11x17: folded once it finishes at 8.5x11, past letter limits, so it mails as a booklet-style flat rather than a letter, and we price it that way. We build the fold-to-bottom, the tab positions, and the address panel into production, show every tab on the interactive mailpiece templates before you design, then price First-Class against Marketing Mail from your actual list so the rate is a fact, not a guess.
Common Uses
Where half-fold brochures earn their keep
Restaurant & takeout menus
A cover that sells the brand and one wide inside spread that lays out the whole menu without columns fighting a fold — the kind of piece that gets kept on the fridge, not read once and tossed.
Event programs & orders of service
Cover, schedule, and acknowledgments across four faces, with the inside spread holding the running order in one uninterrupted view that narrow folded columns cannot match.
Real-estate one-sheets
A listing photo that runs edge to edge across the inside spread, specs and neighborhood detail on the facing faces, and a back panel that mails straight to the farm without an envelope.
Price lists & rate cards
A clean grid that needs room to breathe: the single fold gives a full spread for the table and a cover for the offer, and it reorders from saved artwork the moment prices change.
Bi-fold mailers & single-fold newsletters
A folded ask or a short newsletter that mails itself at letter automation rates — front-cover hook, inside-spread story, back-panel address — with more room than a postcard and none of a booklet's bindery cost.
Good To Know
Before you order
- One centre fold makes two equal panels and four printable faces: front cover, inside left, inside right, and back
- Finished sizes are half the flat sheet: 8.5x11 folds to 8.5x5.5, 8.5x14 to 8.5x7, 9x12 to 9x6, and 11x17 to a booklet-style 8.5x11
- The inside opens as one wide spread — the widest continuous canvas of any folded self-mailer — so design across the fold, not around it
- As a mailer the single fold seats to the bottom, the open top edge is tabbed, and the address rides on the back panel
- 8.5x5.5 and 8.5x7 mail at letter automation rates; an 8.5x11 folded from 11x17 mails as a booklet-style flat
- Stocks run 100lb Gloss Book and 100lb Text for marketing shine, 70lb Uncoated for an editorial, writable feel, and 100lb Gloss Cover or 100lb Cover for a substantial, self-supporting piece
- Heavier and coated stocks are scored before the fold so the centre crease does not crack through the ink
- Keep small type and faces off the centre crease, and keep the lower-right barcode zone clean on the address panel
Questions
Half-Fold Brochures FAQs
What sizes does a half-fold come in, and what do they finish at?
A half-fold folds once down the centre, so the finished piece is exactly half the flat sheet: 8.5x11 finishes at 8.5x5.5, 8.5x14 at 8.5x7, 9x12 at 9x6, and 11x17 at a full 8.5x11. Send the flat size and how it mails and we will confirm the finished dimensions and the rate.
What is the difference between a half-fold and a brochure with two folds?
The number of folds. A half-fold has a single centre crease — two equal panels and four printable faces — and its inside opens as one wide, continuous spread. A brochure with two folds breaks that inside into narrower columns with a rolled sequence instead. Reach for a half-fold when you want one big uninterrupted canvas rather than a series of columns.
Can a half-fold mail by itself?
Yes. Folded to letter dimensions with the crease to the bottom and the open top edge tabbed per DMM 201, a half-fold mails as a self-mailer at letter automation rates — no envelope. The one exception is an 8.5x11 folded from 11x17, which is past letter size and mails as a flat.
Where does the address go on a half-fold mailer?
On the back panel, which becomes the address side when the piece is folded and closed. It never crosses the fold, and we keep the lower-right barcode zone clear and the address block clear of the indicia so the piece runs through automation without a surcharge.
Will the fold crack on heavy stock?
Only if it is not scored first. We score the cover weights — 100lb Cover and 100lb Gloss Cover especially — before folding, so the single centre crease seats crisp and the coating does not split down the spine.
How many tabs does a half-fold self-mailer need?
Usually two nonperforated wafer seals across the open top edge, though the exact count and position follow DMM 201 by finished size and paper weight. Because there is only one fold, the closure is simpler than a two-fold piece's, and we build the tabbing into production and show it on the mailpiece templates before you design.
Related
Often ordered together
Flat Flyers & Brochures
Flat or folded flyers, inserts, letters, and campaign literature.
Tri-Fold Brochures
Letter-fold tri-fold brochures - six panels, folded and tabbed to mail or hand out.
Business Cards
Standard 3.5 x 2 in cards on heavy cover stock - the exact stocks and finishes are listed under At a glance.
Price your half-fold brochures
Quantity, size, and dates. Quotes come back fast, and an account is free.