I’ve always used free software to get everything I needed to be done. I never thought twice about it, until the software that came with my computer expired at the precise moment I needed it most. Talk about disaster! I needed to create a beautiful, slick brochure for my presentation, and now I was stuck. I rushed online to find the online version of my go-to product, but that proved slow and ineffective. I did not know that there were free brochure design templates available online. So I logged onto Facebook to share my dilemma and stumbled upon a post from Jane, an old school friend of mine, that mentioned an online brochure tool called Yumpu Publishing.
What On Earth Was Yumpu Publishing?
I dropped Jane a personal message and she told me a little more about it. In a nutshell, it’s a free online app that can be used to create slick, attractive digital brochures and magazines and it comes with a whole host of free brochure design templates. The enthusiastic reactions of the commenters under her post were all the convincing I needed to check it out for myself.
I logged onto the website and created a free account in no time. The simplicity of it all was reeling me in; all I had to do was upload my PDF files and the app would do the rest. Even more impressive was the fact that everything I created would be delivered with optimized content that would be compatible with any kind of device. A minimized loading time that would not result in loss of quality? I was definitely up for that! In no time my brochures were complete and ready to be shared with the team! Where had this app been all my life?
I thought about my not-so-distant struggles with other online brochure-making apps. Even with the now-expired PC application that I’d previously labeled as ‘reliable’, I had never really been able to find what I was looking for. In the rare instances that I’d actually been able to source something I could work with, particularly with the online programs, resource issues came up. Nearly every time I’d try to upload a file to the application my browser would completely shut down! Now that I had found something that actually worked, I wanted to share it with the world.
Create A Brochure in PDF Format with the free brochure design template
To use Yumpu Publishing, you need to have a PDF file ready to be uploaded. If you don’t have a brochure in PDF format so far, have a look at my brochure templates below. Feel free to download the templates and use them for your personal purposes.
These free brochure design templates can either be downloaded in .PSD or .INDD format, so you can easily exchange images, choose colors and add appropriate content. Of course, you can also modify the original template if you’re experienced in working with Photoshop or InDesign.
Please install the supplied fonts before starting with the creation of your own brochure, otherwise, Photoshop or InDesign will complain of missing fonts.
Once you created your brochure, the last thing you need to do is to convert it into a Multi-Page PDF. That can be easily done in Photoshop. In order to convert your PSD brochure into a PDF simply go to the tab “File” and select “Automate”. Then click on “PDF Presentation” and either select “Add open files” or “Browse…” to select all the files you want to make a PDF with. Save the document as “Multi-Page Document” and you’re done.
Your PDF brochure is ready to be uploaded to Yumpu Publishing!
What I Love
The first thing I noticed was that even with the free version there were tons of really good templates to choose from. I started sifting through them right away, and it seemed as though the conceptualizers had known exactly what I’d be looking for before I did. There was no such thing as selecting an option because of lack of choice, every step was as precise as I needed it to be so that my presentation came out just the way I wanted it to.
What was even more amazing was the range of features I could add to enhance my brochure. The Hot Spot Editor made it super easy to add videos, slideshows, or sounds by just dragging and dropping just about anywhere on the page. Everything was adjustable for accuracy, and even the pixels seemed to magically adjust to whatever size I needed!
I was able to share my progress with my team straight away with the app’s optimized sharing on social media. Yumpu Publishing reached across the networks through Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest, even allowing me to share one page or the entire publication via email! I was most impressed by the fact that I could select specific parts of my publication to share onto Facebook or Pinterest, and if I needed to, I could share entire interactive magazines (with page-flipping capabilities!) onto Facebook.
Another thing I love about the software I actually stumbled across by accident. Once my completed brochure was published on the site, I started getting hits from people outside of my direct marketing network. From just creating a free brochure and posting it up on their website, I was generating even more visibility for myself and my product than ever before. With an ever-expanding community of clients that is now somewhere in the millions, I realized quickly how invaluable this aspect would be to any budding business.
I have found my new go-to program for all things brochure making. I know for a fact that I will never be stuck in a rut again like I was with my old expired product, and if you give this product a try, I know you won’t be either. If you are looking for an easy way to convert your PDF documents into amazing brochures that will impress everybody, look no further than Yumpu Publishing!
