Free Flyer Maker

A flyer gets about two seconds of attention. Everything about its design has to work inside that window. That means a single dominant headline, a single focal image, and the critical details (date, time, location, price) laid out where the eye naturally lands next.

The fastest way to ruin a flyer is to try to fit three different messages on one page. If there are multiple things to announce, make multiple flyers. One flyer, one idea.

The second-fastest way to ruin a flyer is small text. Anything the reader needs to know should be readable from arm's length. If someone needs to squint to find the date, they will not bother.

Start with a hierarchy. Biggest element: the headline. Second biggest: the key visual or focal image. Third: the critical details (date, time, location). Fourth: the fine print (address, contact, terms).

Use contrast. Dark text on light background, or light text on dark background. Low-contrast designs look elegant on screen and become unreadable when printed or shared at thumbnail size.

Limit fonts. One display font for the headline, one sans-serif for the details. Anything more and the flyer starts to look chaotic.

Leave margins. A flyer with content touching the edges of the page looks cramped and amateurish. Aim for at least half an inch of margin on every side, and more if you are going for a modern, spacious look.

Flyers are letter-sized, usually printed single-sided, and handed out or posted in small numbers. Posters are larger (11x17, 18x24, or bigger), displayed on walls, and meant to be read from farther away. Handouts are typically half-letter or smaller and designed to be taken home.

The design rules are similar for all three, but scale matters. Poster text should be big enough to read from 10 feet away. Handout text can be smaller since the reader holds it in hand. Our poster maker covers the larger end of the size spectrum.

Digital flyers — shared in emails or Slack — can break the print size rules and go square or portrait for social formats. Export PNG for digital and PDF for print; the tool supports both.