I’ve tried so many different ways to make brochures – computer programs, online apps – but nothing really *worked* for me. Either the interface was way too complicated, or it cost way more than I wanted to spend on a software I’d only occasionally use. I had resigned myself to just making sad little PDFs that I could e-mail around. But after some research, I found an easy and free solution for my problems – Yumpu Publishing! For some reason, I’ve always hated making brochures. But I wanted a real solution. Yesterday morning, I was catching up with my friend Shelley, who is an amazing photographer by the way. She had seen my previous blog posts on my seemingly endless search for a brochure maker and she mentioned that one of her clients has been using a free online brochure maker to put together brochures for their local dental clinic.
What is a Brochure Maker?
It’s a free online app that runs in your browser (I tested it with Chrome and with a new browser, Vivaldi). You visit their website, Yumpu Publishing, and upload one or more PDFs. Like magic, the site outputs a beautiful interactive brochure that’s viewable by anyone with internet access.
Once I created a free account, I was off and running. I was able to take the PDFs I had created (one for each page of the brochure), and upload them in a simple, painless process.
The magic elves who live in the code then converted my PDFs into an amazing, beautifully formatted brochure!
And once the conversion process was done I was able to share it with the entire team right away. I genuinely couldn’t believe how easy it was. Something that would have taken me an hour of fussing was done in just under 20 minutes. I was hooked!
What else makes this software so great?
1., unlike most of its competitors, the free version of this software has loads of features and settings to play with which ensured that my brochure came out exactly as I intended. Truth be told the free version is literally the least restricted free version of any software I have ever used.
2., the software’s built-in optimization ensures your content is readable on any size screen. That way, I was sure that all my readers were seeing my brochure formatted correctly and looking beautiful whether they were on their laptops, tablets, or mobile phones. It’s always a pain when you’re scrolling around on your phone trying to read a huge document, plus it looks really unprofessional. Making sure that this never happens is a major plus in my book.
3., the hotspot editor allows you to add links, audio, video, and even slideshows to the brochure really effortlessly. Even better, if you already have links like email addresses, phone numbers, or URLs in the PDF that you upload, the hotspot editor will detect those and create the links automatically! I made full use of this feature by linking to the website of the resort we were using for the retreat so that people who read the brochure could explore everything the hotel had to offer. I also made sure that there was a link to email the contact person – all my coworkers had to do was click to email their questions or RSVPs. It was absolutely brilliant!
4., and where I really can see the potential of this online brochure maker – is in the sidekick WordPress plugin. Using the plugin, I was able to insert the brochure I made directly into a post on the company’s internal blog! It was so easy to do, and looked so impressive, that I’m sure I scored major brownie points with the boss. I can see myself using this for all sorts of things – the ability to integrate your e-brochures so easily with your website is truly a revolutionary feature in my opinion.
I think that the next hundred coffees for Shelley and I will be on me – she’s always been a great source of information, and she proved her worth once again with this recommendation.
I had always hated having to make brochures for work, and I’d found other options for making brochures…just not up to par. The ease of use and that incredible hotspot editor completely solve that problem – and for FREE! If you want to turn boring PDFs into cool, interactive brochures, then you should definitely sign up for the free trial and give Yumpu Publishing a whirl.
