Adam McIntyre
I am frequently contacted by users asking me “Hey Adam, where do you get your tri-fold brochure mockups from?” “Do you make them yourselves or did you download them?”
The truth is a mix of both. And after being asked for the 100th time, I figured I'd put together a post and share the exact mockups we use, so you can use them too.
But first, why use mockups?
Throughout our tri-fold brochure templates category, you'll see we use high-quality photorealistic mockups that showcase how our designs will look once printed in real life.
Humans really suck at visualising how a flat design will look when put to work in a real life situation. However, mockups can show you exactly how a design will look and feel when converted into ink. This is why mockups are so powerful.
It's also why we decorate specific designs types – like our menu templates – with unique mockups that further build on and add to the theme of a design.
For example, previewing a Christmas menu template surrounded by Christmas decorations suddenly makes a somewhat simple and elegant design look a lot more Christmassy. Wouldn't you agree?
From showcasing designs on your website to presenting clients with finished work; good quality mockups can be the difference between a design that falls flat and a design that resonates with the viewer.
The Tri-Fold Brochure Mockups We Use
We sourced our tri-fold brochure mockups from a handful of websites. However, even though we downloaded off-the-shelf mockups, we have tweaked most them to better fit BrandPacks templates.
Mostly this has been small things like altering the background colour or adding decorations; but in some cases we have rebuilt the mockups entirely.
There are dozens of places now offering brochure mockups online. We spent hours sifting through these websites to track down the very best trifold mockups.
Each of these mockups are in Photoshop PSD format and utilise smart objects to make the process of creating mockups quick, easy and repeatable.
You know these mockups get the seal of approval from us because we use these exact items with our own templates.
1. Tri-Fold Brochure Mock-Up by Zeisla
Our first choice of tri-fold mockups were these fantastic photo-based templates created by Zeisla, an Elite Author from GraphicRiver. If you've peered into the depths of our tri-fold brochure templates category, you'll see our first trifold products all used these templates.
As I mention above, one of the best reasons to use mockups is their ability to help people visualise how a flat design will look in real life. One mockup from this pack is particularly good at conveying this – the mockup with hands.
Zeisla has cleverly used a photograph of two hands holding up a tri-fold brochure. This instantly gives viewers an gauge of the design's size and shows exactly how it will present in real life.
2. Tri-Fold Brochure Mock-Up by bluegraphic0
In our quest to keep improving the user experience here on BrandPacks, we are constantly updating the design, feel and functionality of the site.
After using Zeisla's tri-fold mockups for some time, we felt a change was needed. Whilst there was nothing wrong with Zeisla's mockups, our trifold category began to look a little weird with all those hands side by side.
So we set out to find a mockup that showed both the inside and front cover of a tri-fold in a single image.
After a little more searching online, we found this fabulous mockup in a pack by bluegraphic0, another top-selling artist from GraphicRiver.
This individual mockup is part of a larger pack that includes around 18 unique templates, though we chose only to use the above previewed mockup from this pack.
3. Free Tri-Fold Flyer Mockup by MockupsDesign
Isn't it nice when you find a template, a mockup or any other design resource and it just works? Well that's exactly what you'll find with these tri-fold mockups. Better still, they're free!
Of all the free and premium mockups I've worked with over the years, this set of mockups are amongst the best I've ever had the privilege of using. The quality of the mockup is impeccable and the PSDs are very easy to use.
As you can tell by looking through our collection of trifolds, these mockups have become a mainstay in our product presentation. I highly recommend them!
4. Dark Elements Trifold Leaflet Mockup by MockupsDesign
Last but not least, another incredible free mockup by MockupsDesign. We don't use this mockup too often with our templates because the previous mockups do a good job of showing off the inside layers already.
However, seen as we do use this mockup it should of course be included in this list.
Final note on these mockups:
It's worth noting that whilst these are the mockups we use for our trifold brochure templates, we have slightly customised them.
Mostly all we have changed are the background colours. However in some of these mockups we have altered the panel alignment for designs which span multiple pages. Depending on the exact paper size you're pasting in you may have to do the same.
Free Vs. Premium
I make my living through premium templates, so I am of course somewhat biased here. But I think it's important not to be put off by price. Sure, some of the mockups in this post are premium items but you really do get what you pay for.
The quality is high and this will only help you to present your work to clients in a more professional manner.
But with that said, the free mockups I have listed here are just as good as the premium items. In fact, they're so darn good I have no idea why they're free!…I hope you enjoy them!
Please let me know if I missed any mockups!
