How to Make an InDesign Flyer Template

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

Let's care for our environment by celebrating Earth Day on 22 April. In this annual event, we raise awareness about the growing environmental problems of our planet.

This year's Earth Day campaign is focused on protecting endangered and threatened species. If you're organizing an Earth Day event, this informational flyer is a great way to spread awareness and start helping our planet. We'll be using some of the information found on the Earth Day website in our flyer design.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a flyer in Adobe InDesign. This simple flyer is easy and quick to put together. You'll learn about some basic tools that are necessary to create a template you'll be able to reuse over and over again.

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

40 Best InDesign Flyer Templates (For Business, Events, Parties, and More!)

Melody Nieves

07 Oct 2023

What You Will Need for Your InDesign Flyer Template

You'll need access to Adobe InDesign. 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 get started on your flyer design!

1. Setting Up an InDesign Flyer Template

Step 1

In InDesign, go to File > New. Name the document Informational flyer template and set the file to the following flyer dimensions:

Width to 21 cm
Height to 29.7 cm
Orientation to Portrait
Units to Centimeters
Pages to 1
Margins: 1.5 cm
Bleeds to 0.3 cm (it's best to seek your professional printer’s preference)

Click Create.

Step 2

For this open informational 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.

On 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 button from the main menu. Set the Swatch Name and values to the following:

Orange: C=15 M=60 Y=100 K=0
Green: C=75 M=0 Y=80 K=70

Click Add and OK after you input each color value.

Step 4

Head over to Layout > Create Guides. Set the number of Columns to 4, Gutter to 0.5 cm, and Fit Guides to: Margins. Click OK.

2. Designing Your InDesign Flyer Template

Step 1

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) from the Toolbar. Click on the document to open the Rectangle options window. Set the Width to 21.6 cm and the Height to 10.7 cm. Click OK.

Place the rectangle at the very top of the event flyer template.

create a rectangle and place it atop the page

Step 2

From the Toolbar, select the Polygon Tool. Click on the document to open the Polygon option window. Set the Polygon Width to 1 cm, the Polygon Height to 0.5 cm, and the Number of Sides to 3. Click OK.

Using the Rotate Tool (R), rotate the triangle until it points downwards. Hold Shift for an even rotation.

create a triangle and rotate it to point downwards

Step 3

Move the triangle towards the rectangle.

Open the Pathfinder panel by going to Window > Object & Layout > Pathfinder. Select both shapes and select the Add button on the Pathfinder panel.

Step 4

On the Swatches panel, set the color for the newly merged shape to Green.

Duplicate the shape by pressing Option and dragging downwards.

set the color to green and duplicate the shape

Step 5

Select the shape at the top and press Command-D to Place an image. Navigate to the Girl recycling paper tube image and click Open.

Select the image within the object with the Direct Selection Tool (A). Head over to the Control panel and set the Scale X and Y Percentage to 70%. Move the image with the Direct Selection Tool (A) to find a good position.

Step 6

Select the duplicated shape with the Selection Tool (V) and place it on top of the image. If your object is behind the image, press Shift-Command-] to Bring Forward.

Head over to Window > Effects to open the Effects panel. Set the Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 7

Select both shapes and head over to the Layers panel. Drag the square on the right side of the highlighted layer towards the Background layer. This will move all the objects.

move the objects to the background layer

Step 8

Duplicate the shape with the triangle pointing down by pressing Shift and dragging downwards.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a rectangle that measures 21.6 cm in Width and 1.5 cm in Height.

Move the rectangle to the top of the newly duplicated shape.

Select both shapes and, on the Pathfinder panel, select the Add button.

duplicate the shape and add a rectangle at the top

Head over to the Swatches panel, and set the color to [Black] and the Tint to 15%.

Move the shape upwards and place it below the first shape. Send the object back by pressing Shift-Command-[.

Step 9

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a rectangle that covers the rest of the page.

Press Command-D to Place an image. Navigate to the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon file and click Open.

Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to resize and move the image as you need.

create a rectangle at the bottom of the page and add an image

Step 10

Duplicate the rectangle by selecting it and pressing Command-C to Copy and Shift-Option-Command-V to Paste in Place.

Delete the image within the frame with the Direct Selection Tool (A).

Head over to the Swatches panel and set the color to Green. On the Effect panel, set the Blending Mode to Multiply.

add a rectangle overtop and set the blending mode to multiply

Select all the objects, make sure they are all placed on the Background layer, and lock it. Select the Images layer.

select all the objects and place on the background layer

Step 11

Select the Ellipse Tool (L), and click on the document to open the Ellipse option window. Set the Width and Height to 3 cm. Click OK.

Place the ellipse in the grey area and in the first column.

create an ellipse and place it on the first column

Step 12

Duplicate the Ellipse by pressing Shift-Option and dragging towards the right. Place an ellipse in each column.

Select the first ellipse and press Command-D to Place an image. Navigate to the Bee on flower file and click Open.

Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), resize and reposition the image as you need.

duplicate the ellipse on the rest of the columns and add an image

Step 13

Place images into the rest of the ellipses by pressing Command-D. Place the following images: Giraffe in Africa, Southern right whale jumping, and Coral reef. Press Open.

Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), resize and reposition the images as you need.

add an image to the rest of the ellipses

Step 14

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a new shape that measures 3.2 cm in Width and Height.

Place the new ellipse over the bee image. On the Swatches panel, set the Stroke color to Orange.

On the Stroke panel, set the Weight to 2 pt and the Type to Japanese Dots.

create an ellipse and set the stroke to orange and Japanese dots

Step 15

Using the Line Tool (/), create a 1 cm line and place it under the bee image.

Using the Swatches panel, set the color to Orange. On the Stroke panel, set the Weight to 2 pt and the Type to Japanese Dots.

create a line and use the same formatting settings as the ellipse

Select both outlined objects and press Command-G to Group.

Duplicate the new group by pressing Shift-Option and dragging towards the next image. Continue this action for all the images.

duplicate the ellipse and line and apply to the rest of the images

Step 16

Using the Text Tool (T), create a text frame that fits the width of the columns. Place the frame under the bee image. Add text and use the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character) to format the text.

Set the title to Bw Glenn Sans, Font Family to Black, Size to 12 pt, and Tracking to 75.

On the Swatches panel, set the color to Orange.

add a text frame and a title Use the character and swatches panel to format it

Set the rest of the copy to Bw Glenn Sans, Font Family to Regular, Size to 8 pt, Leading to 10 pt, and Tracking to 50.

On the Swatches panel, set the color to Green.

Duplicate the text frame and place the copies under each image. Press Shift-Option and drag towards the right.

add body copy to the text frame and duplicate for the rest of the images

Step 17

Create a text frame over the top of the flyer template using the Text Tool (T) and add copy. Use the following settings:

EARTH DAY 2019 CAMPAIGN:

(Bw Glenn Sans, Font Family: Medium, Size: 14 pt, Tracking 75. On the Swatches panel, set the color to [None])

PROTECT OUR SPECIES

(Bw Glenn Sans, Font Family: Black, Size: 30 pt, Tracking 75. On the Swatches panel, set the color to Orange)

“IN NATURE, NOTHING EXISTS ALONE.”

(Bw Glenn Sans, Font Family: Black, Size: 18 pt, Tracking 75. On the Swatches panel, set the color to [None])

– RACHEL CARSON, 1962

(Bw Glenn Sans, Font Family: Medium, Size: 11 pt, Tracking 75. On the Swatches panel, set the color to [None])

Step 18

Head over to the bottom of the event flyer template. Use the Text Tool (T) to add a text frame and add copy. On the Character panel, set the title to Bw Glenn Sans, Black, Size to 12 pt, and Tracking to 75. Set the rest of the text to Bw Glenn Sans, Regular, Size to 10 pt, and Tracking to 50.

On the Swatches panel, set the title color to Orange and the rest of the copy to [None].

While selecting the text frame, press Command-B to access the Text Frame Options window. Set the Number of Columns to 2. Click OK.

Step 19

Add a text frame at the bottom of the informational flyer using the Text Tool (T). Add copy and format the text on the Character panel. Set the text to Bw Glenn Sans, Regular, Size to 8 pt, and Tracking to 50.

On the Swatches panel, set the color to Orange.

add a website at the bottom of the flyer

3. How to Export a File for Printing

When you are done designing your informational flyer, take a look around all the edges to make sure all the images and vectors are touching the bleeds.

Step 1

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

Step 2

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

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 use document bleed settings

Great Job! You’ve Finished This Tutorial!

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

set up a ready-to-print event flyer template
organize multiple layers on your flyer design
add color swatches to your flyer template
use the Pathfinder panel to convert objects
create columns and guides on your flyer design

If you are new to InDesign and need Photoshop flyer templates or Illustrator flyer templates right away, head over to Envato Elements and Graphic River. We’ve got many options to explore!

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