Leaflet Folds Explained: Bi-Fold, Tri-Fold, Gate Fold & Concertina

"Leaflet" covers a lot of ground. A single fold and a six-panel concertina are both leaflets, but they hold wildly different amounts of content, cost different amounts to produce and read in completely different ways. This guide walks through every fold we print, what it gives you, and the practical things worth knowing before you design one.

How folds are counted

Two numbers matter, and they're easy to confuse.

Panels are the sections created by the folds on one side of the sheet. Pages are panels counted on both sides. A tri-fold has three panels per side, so six pages. A four-panel concertina has four panels per side, so eight pages. When we quote a "12 page" leaflet, we mean six panels front and six back — not twelve separate folds.

Flat size is the sheet before folding. Folded size is what your customer holds. Both matter: flat size determines your artwork dimensions, folded size determines whether it fits a DL envelope or a leaflet rack.

Bi-Fold

Flat: 198 x 210mm  |  Folded: 99 x 210mm  |  4 pages

One fold down the centre. Two panels each side. The simplest folded format there is, and the cheapest.

The bi-fold's strength is that it does not overpromise. There's a front, a back and two inside panels facing each other — so the inside opens as a single spread, which is genuinely useful for a price list or a two-column comparison. Because there's no third panel to plan around, it's also the easiest fold to design for if you're not a designer.

Use it for: price lists, menus, single-service explainers, event handouts, membership information.

A4 Tri-Fold

Flat: 297 x 210mm  |  Folded: 99 x 210mm  |  6 pages

The default leaflet. An A4 sheet folded twice in the same direction, giving three panels each side, closing to a DL shape that fits standard envelopes and standard leaflet racks — which is exactly why it became the default.

The fold itself is a C-fold: one panel tucks inside the other two, so the closed sheet forms a rough C when you look at it edge-on. You'll also hear it called a roll fold or letter fold, but C-fold is what we call it on the shop floor. It's the same fold we use on our Multi-Panel A5 leaflets, just on a different sheet.

The structure suits a natural sequence. Front panel: who you are and why to open it. Inside spread: the detail, across three panels. Back panel: contact details, opening hours, a map. The panel that folds innermost is trimmed 2-3mm narrower than the others so the leaflet closes flat rather than bowing — a detail our templates handle, but one to be aware of if you're building artwork from scratch.

Use it for: service overviews, treatment lists, clinic and salon information, tourism, charity appeals — the widest range of any format here.

A4 Folded to A5

Flat: 297 x 210mm  |  Folded: 148.5 x 210mm  |  4 pages

Same sheet as a tri-fold, one fold instead of two. You trade panel count for panel width, and that trade is often worth making.

A 148.5mm panel is nearly 50% wider than a tri-fold's 99mm. Photographs stop feeling cramped, headlines fit on one line, and the inside opens to a full A4 spread you can treat as a single canvas. If your content is visual rather than dense, this beats a tri-fold comfortably.

Use it for: event programmes, restaurant menus, property particulars, portfolio pieces, anything image-led.

Gate Fold

Flat: 297 x 210mm  |  Folded: 148.5 x 210mm  |  6 pages

Two outer panels fold inward and meet in the centre, so the leaflet opens like a pair of doors onto a three-panel spread.

This is the only fold in the range that has a moment. The closed piece gives you two half-width panels to set up a question or an image; opening it delivers the answer across a full spread. That sequencing is genuinely persuasive when the content earns it — and slightly silly when it doesn't. Use it when the reveal is the point.

Design note: the two door panels are each trimmed marginally under half the width so they meet without overlapping. Get this wrong and the doors either gap or foul each other.

Use it for: product launches, venue and wedding packages, premium service tiers, portfolios.

A3 Folded to A4

Flat: 420 x 297mm  |  Folded: 210 x 297mm  |  4 pages

Twice the paper of every other format here. One fold takes a full A3 sheet down to a manageable A4.

The reason to choose this is a single large visual that cannot be broken across panels — a site map, a floor plan, a route, a timetable, a seating chart, a wall planner. Opened flat it's a poster; folded it posts in a C4 envelope and stacks on a counter. Nothing else in the range gives you that.

It also has real presence as a straightforward four-page piece when you want something more substantial than A4 without moving to a stitched brochure.

Use it for: maps, wall charts, price boards, timetables, festival programmes, large-format visuals.

Multi-Panel DL (Concertina)

Flat: 396 / 495 / 594 x 210mm  |  Folded: 99 x 210mm  |  8, 10 or 12 pages

Four, five or six panels folded zig-zag so the leaflet extends outward like a concertina, closing to the same slim DL size as a tri-fold.

This is the highest-capacity format we print without moving into brochures. Twelve pages in something that still fits a pocket is a lot of room. The concertina fold means panels reveal in sequence as the reader opens it, which suits content with an order to it — steps, stages, days, chapters.

Worth knowing: more panels means more folding, so lead times run 3-5 working days and the cost step between four, five and six panels is real. Design each panel to stand alone as well as work in sequence, because readers open concertinas unpredictably.

Use it for: step-by-step guides, itineraries, walking and cycling routes, detailed product ranges, multi-service price lists.

Multi-Panel A5

Flat: 444 x 210mm (portrait) or 630 x 148mm (landscape)  |  Folded: 148 x 210mm or 210 x 148mm  |  6 pages

A C-fold giving three panels each side in a compact A5 footprint, in portrait or landscape.

Portrait reads like a small guidebook and suits text-led content. Landscape gives you a wide panoramic spread — good for timelines, before-and-after comparisons, and imagery that wants width rather than height. Six pages is a sensible middle ground: more room than a tri-fold, less commitment than a concertina.

Use it for: pocket guides, exhibition handouts, compact service brochures, product introductions.

Quick comparison

Still deciding?

Our decision guide works through the same seven formats by budget, content volume and purpose. For paper, see the stock guide. Or browse the full range and ask us anything.