Folding Fanatics at foldfactory.com

It's always a pleasure to come across someone who loves what they do. Take a peek at the Folding Basics video at this link and then c'mon back and we'll talk about Trish Witkowski and foldfactory.com.

Beyond pointing to the wealth of information and entertainment at foldfactory.com this post will highlight FOLDRite template master, which is their plug-in for InDesign. This invaluable tool solves the myriad problems we see with customer layouts of folded brochures, and does so through an efficient and easy to use interface. This is a very powerful, time saving tool.

(Before that, however, I am compelled to disclose that, in order to evaluate this software, I was given a copy of FOLDRite which I do not have to give back. No other consideration was given or received. I am still a penniless blogger.)

For those who skipped the video, (bad idea) let's recap:

• Any panel folding inside another panel must be shortened, (a concept FOLDRite refers to as compensation). This is not optional...it's true the same way gravity is true, and on a multi-panel brochure can be wickedly complicated. (For more background see here.)
• Real people hate fractions and long decimal points. No one wants to take a prime number (11" for instance) and divide into three panels (letterfolded) two of which are equal and one which is shortened. Life is too short.
• The consequences of getting the compensated panels wrong are quite dire...either the layout must be adjusted and re-proofed, or the printed job, on the way to the folder, will be chopped short which makes the layout look wrong. The video contains an interview with an actual folder operator who shows you the gruesome result.

This is where FOLDRite comes in. The basic screen shows you pictorial choices of folding styles, and lets you enter either the final folded size (e.g. 4 x 9) or the sheet size you want to begin with (e.g. 9 x 12). Within seconds FOLDRite will build you an InDesign template with guides in place, and designations on each panel such as "outside front", "inside left", etc. You build your design from there, and save it as you would any other .INDD file. No math, no mind-bending mirror image for the inside vs. outside, and, most importantly, no mistakes.

It's FOLDRite's ability to construct the template in either direction, from the final folded size up or the beginning sheet size down, (and do so with no user computations), which makes it unique. The fact that the panel compensation can be adjusted for various weights of paper through a simple, non-numerical choice, (normal, increased, heavy), is the crowning feature I was looking for. This is obviously a product engineered with real world feedback from design, production, and software professionals.

Like anything truly great, this product is easy to underestimate. It is a powerful and thoroughly engineered add-on to the de facto standard page layout program, and is easier to use than most of InDesign's standard features. At the current special price of $99 (single user license) it will pay for itself by saving you one set of revised proofs from a bad layout. More important, it will save you five to thirty minutes every time you start a layout from scratch. Most important, the website gives you a wealth of creative ideas, many of which are practical even for a budget minded client.

foldfactory.com and FOLDRite are a one, two punch...the website gets you excited about the design possibilities, and FOLDRite will build a layout which is fail safe. Your printer will be literally amazed when you say, "here's my broadside vertical roll folded brochure", and the layout is right on the money. Like a pool shark, you might even want to sandbag your rep and place a side bet on success...maybe make some extra money. I would probably fall for it. (Once.)

Here's a regular feature from foldfactory.com called the 60 Second Super Cool Fold of the Week. Clearly, these are people who know how to have a good time:


I love these self-proclaimed "folding fanatics" because they've built a bridge from the art of paper folding to the science of cutting edge graphics technology, and had a blast in the process. That's what I want to do when I grow up!

Until then, I look forward to your comments online.

Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business

Note: InDesign is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. FOLDRite Template Master is a registered trademark of the Finishing Experts Group, Inc. Images and videos used with permission.