How to Make a Marketing Flyer Template in InDesign – Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

Final product image — What You’ll Be Creating

Promote your next business venture or current products with this super-easy tutorial that will help you attract more consumers. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a flyer template.

Corporate business flyers are cost-effective advertising that you can use. Having an easy-to-use business flyer whose format you or your clients can quickly change is a huge advantage.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a flyer with the most essential tools. You’ll learn how to successfully set up a template with layers, Color Swatches, and Paragraph styles. These three components will make trouble-free business flyers that can be formatted in just minutes.

In a hurry? We’ve got amazing InDesign marketing flyer templates and business flyer templates over at Envato Elements and GraphicRiver. Go check them out!

What You Will Need for Your InDesign Flyer Template

You’ll need access to Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t have the software, you can download a trial from the Adobe website. You’ll also need:

Download the assets and make sure the font is installed on your system before starting. When you are ready, we can start designing the business flyer template!

1. Setting Up a Marketing Flyer Template InDesign File

Step 1

In InDesign, go to File > New. In the New Document window, select the Print Tab. Select the A4 preset and name the document “Marketing Flyer Template”. Change the settings to the following:

Width to 21 cm
Height to 29.7 cm
Orientation to Portrait
Units to Centimeters
Pages to 1
Uncheck Facing Pages
Margins to 1.27 cm
Bleeds to 0.3 cm (it’s best to seek your professional printer’s preference)

Click Create.

Create a new marketing flyer template file

Step 2

For this open marketing flyer template, we will work with three Layers. Organizing layers is an important practice when designing a template as they will make it easier for the user to edit.

Bring up the Layers panel by going to Window > Layers. Double-click on Layer 1 and rename it Background.

In the Layers panel main menu, select New Layer. Name it Images. Click OK.

Additionally, create a new layer named Copy. Click OK.

Step 3

Head over to Window > Color > Swatches to expand the Swatches panel. Choose New Color Swatch from the main menu. Set the Swatch Name and values to the following:

Teal: C=60 M=0 Y=30 K=0
Dark Blue: C=100 M=80 Y=0 K=70

Click Add and OK after you input each color value.

Step 4

For this tutorial, we will create a list of Paragraph Styles that we will use to format the marketing flyer template.

Head over to Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles to open the Paragraph Styles panel. On the main menu, select New Paragraph Style and set the Style Name to Copy. Select the Basic Character Formats option from the left side menu. Use the following settings:

Font Family: RNS Sanz
Font Style: Normal
Size: 9 pt

Select the Character Color option from the left side menu. Set the color to the Blue swatch. Click OK.

create paragraph styles for your marketing flyer template

Create a New Paragraph Style, setting the Style Name to Headline. Set the Basic Character Formats option to the following:

Font Family: RNS Sanz
Font Style: Extra Bold
Size: 14 pt

Select the Character Color option from the left side menu. Set the color to the Teal swatch. Click OK.

Create a New Paragraph Style, setting the Style Name to Subheadline. Set the Basic Character Formats option to the following:

Font Family: RNS Sanz
Font Style: Extra Bold
Size: 9 pt

Select the Character Color option from the left side menu. Set the color to the Teal swatch. Click OK.

Create a New Paragraph Style, setting the Style Name to Tagline. Set the Basic Character Formats option to the following:

Font Family: RNS Sanz
Font Style: Extra Bold
Size: 18 pt

Select the Character Color option from the left side menu. Set the color to the Blue swatch. Click OK.

Step 5

Go to Layout > Create Guides. In the Create Guides option window, use the following settings:

Rows Number: 5
Rows Gutter: 0.5 cm
Columns Number: 2
Columns Gutter: 0.5 cm
Fit Guides to: Margins

Click OK.

create guides on your marketing flyer template

2. How to Design a Marketing Flyer Template in InDesign

Step 1

Select the Background layer from the Layers panel.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a rectangle that measures 15 cm in Width and 5 cm in Height.

On the Swatches panel, select the Blue swatch. Set the Tint to 10%.

create a rectangle on the top right corner of the marketing flyer template

Create a small text frame over the element and on the top right corner of the marketing flyer. Here, you can include contact information. Use the Paragraph Styles panel to format the frame into the Copy style. On the Control bar, select the Align Right button.

Step 2

Select the Images layer from the Layers panel.

Press Command-D to Place an image. Select the Social Media Logo EPS file and click Open.

Use the Selection Tool (V) to crop the frame to the preferred logo. Place the logo on the top left corner of the flyer design.

place a logon on the top left corner of the marketing flyer templates

Step 3

Press Command-D to Place an image. Select the Female Asian Architect JPG file and click Open.

Place the image on the top guide of the first gutter. Use the Selection Tool (V) to crop the frame to the fourth row.

Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to resize the image to 50%. Check for the Scale percentage on the Control bar.

Step 4

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) from the toolbar. Click on the document to open the Rectangle Option Window.

Create a rectangle that measures 10.55 cm in Width and 3.45 cm in Height. Click OK.

Step 5

On the Swatches panel, select the [Paper] swatch for the rectangle. Set the Opacity to 90%. Align the rectangle to the top left corner of the image.

add a rectangle on the indesign flyer template

Step 6

Select the Copy layer from the Layers panel.

Select the Text Tool (T) from the toolbar. Create a text frame over the rectangle that extends over the first column.

add copy over the rectangle on the flyer design

Step 7

Add content to the frame and use the Paragraph Styles panel to style the text. Use the Tagline style for the first two lines—this is great for a catchphrase to attract customers.

Use the Copy style for the description under the tagline.

use the paragraph styles panel to style the content

Step 8

While selecting the text frame, press Command-B to open the Text Frame Options window. Under Inset Spacing, set the Right option to 0.5 cm. Click OK.

Step 9

Using the Text Tool (T), create a one-column text frame under the image. This frame can extend all the way to the bottom margin.

Add content and use the Paragraph Styles panel to style the frame. Use the Headline and Copy styles. Select the copy and change the color on the Swatches panel to [Paper].

Press Command-B to open the Text Frame Options window. Under Inset Spacing, set the Left side to 0.5 cm.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a rectangle that covers the text frame we created in this step. On the Swatches panel, set the color to Blue. Place this element on the Background layer.

add content and add a rectangle on the background of the flyer design

Step 10

Select the Text Tool (T) from the toolbar. Create a square text frame that measures 1 cm on all sides.

Set the color of the frame to Blue on the Swatches panel.

Add a number to the frame and use the Paragraph Styles panel to style it. Select the Headline style and change the color to [Paper] on the Swatches panel.

create a small text frame and add a number

Step 11

Head over to the Control bar and select the Align Center button.

While selecting the text frame, press Command-B to open the Text Frame Options window. Under Inset Spacing, add 0.5 cm to all sides. Click OK.

use the text frame options to add an inset spacing

Step 12

Open the Text Wrap panel by going to Window > Text Wrap. On the panel, set the Offset to 0.3 cm on all sides.

use the text wrap panel to add a wrap around on the text frame

Step 13

Duplicate the text frame by pressing Option and dragging. Change the numbers to “2” and “3”. Place the frames over the full-column frame created previously.

duplicate the text frame and place over the content

Step 14

Using the Text Tool (T), create a second text frame on the opposite column.

Use the Paragraph Styles panel to design the frame with the Headline and Copy styles.

add a text frame to the opposite column of the flyer design

Step 15

Open the Digital Marketing Icons in Illustrator. Select three icons and copy/paste them onto the marketing flyer template in InDesign.

Resize the icons on the Control bar. Set the Percentage Scale to 20%.

Step 16

You’ll notice the colors don’t match our design. On the Swatches panel, select the cream color and click on the Delete button. In the Delete Swatch options window, select the Replacement to Defined Swatch. In the dropdown menu, select the [Paper} swatch. Click OK.

Select the RGB teal color on the Swatches panel. Delete it and replace it with the Blue swatch.

substitute the icons colors for the swatches we created

Step 17

Place each icon at the top of each gutter on the last three rows.

Create a text frame with the Text Tool (T) for each icon/row. Add content and use the Paragraph Styles panel to style it. Use the Subheadline and Copy styles.

Step 18

Using the Line Tool (/), create a stroke between each text frame.

Open the Stroke panel by going to Window > Stroke. Set the Stroke Weight to 1 pt and the Type to Dotted.

On the Swatches panel, set the Stroke color to Blue.

create stroke lines in between the text frames

3. How to Export an InDesign Flyer Template File for Printing

Before exporting a file for printing, it is useful to take a look around all the edges to make sure all the images and vectors bleeding out are touching the bleeds.

Step 1

To export the file, go to File > Export. Name the file “Marketing Flyer Template” and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format dropdown menu. Click Save.

export the marketing flyer template as a PDF

Step 2

In the Export Adobe PDF window, set the Adobe PDF Preset to Press Quality.

select Press Quality under the Adobe PDF Preset

On the left side of the panel, select Marks and Bleeds. Check All Printer’s Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings. Click Export. You will have a ready-to-print PDF file.

select all printers marks and document bleed settings

Great Job! You’ve Finished Your Business Flyer!

In this tutorial, we learned how to make a flyer template. We covered key tools that will help anyone edit this template fast and easy. Today, we learned to:

set up a ready-to-print InDesign file
create layers to keep an organized file
add color swatches and replace colors
create Paragraph styles to style text frames
use the Text Frame options and Text Wrap tool on text frames

If you are new to InDesign and need flyer templates or flyer design inspiration right away, head over to Envato Elements and GraphicRiver. We’ve got many options to explore!