How to Choose High-Quality Images for Brochures(6 Rules to Follow)

Last Updated on October 19, 2023 by Packoi Team

Research shows that digital content filled with good images gets 94% more views online compared to those without them.

But here’s the challenge. It’s not just about choosing quality images. It’s also about choosing the right photo that’ll connect your business with the target market.

In this article, you’ll discover how to choose the right pictures to create a great brochure design. You’ll learn the important rules that you need to follow to produce a printed business brochure that’ll stand out and deliver your brand’s story accurately.

4 Questions to Ask Before You Choose Images for Brochures

What does it take to make sure that you’re choosing images that’ll represent your brand perfectly? You need to ask the right questions that’ll lead you to the right printed photos for your business.

You have to treat every image as an integral part of your overall brochure. Don’t choose images just to fill spots – they have to contribute to the overall narrative of your brand story.

To do that, here are the important questions that you need to answer.

1. What Is the Type of the Brochure?

The first thing you have to focus on is the type of printed brochure design that you want to create. This is tied to the type of business that you run. The type of brochure determines the type of font used for the brochure, as well as the type of images.

Do you sell products or services? Who is your target market? Your business will define the story that’ll be printed in your brochure. Once you’ve identified the narrative that can promote your brand in the best possible light, it’ll be easier to select the appropriate images to make your brochure stand out and call to your market.

For instance, a business that sells watches to businessmen would have a different brochure design compared to a company that offers graphic design services.

2. What Is the Objective of the Brochure?

The objective of the brochure design will also guide you in choosing the right images that will send a clear message to your potential customers.

There are brochures meant to be educational, while others are meant to launch a new product. Some are meant to introduce an advocacy that the business is passionate about.

Whatever the objective is, it’ll serve as the content guide for your brochure. It’ll help you decide on what text and images will fit the narrative that you want to share.

3. What Is the Intended Reaction from the Brochure?

As you identify the purpose of the brochure, you’ll get an idea of what type of reaction you want the audience to have. Make sure the images you choose will lead them to act in favor of your business. Remember, it’s not just about making them buy.

For instance, an educational brochure intends to increase brand loyalty. You need images that’ll strengthen their sense of loyalty to you.

On the other hand, a brochure that launches a new product or offer intends to get the target audience’s attention and compel them to make a purchase. This would require an image that’ll make customers feel impressed with the new offer.

4. What Are Your Market’s Expectations from the Brochure?

Finally, you have to take on the perspective of your target audience. What are their expectations of your brochure?

If you have a luxurious brand, they’ll naturally expect to get luxurious, high-quality brochure images and content pieces. If you want to attract professionals and business people, the images you’ll pick will have to reflect that.

You need to put in the same amount of effort that your market is expecting from you. That’s how you can be sure that they’ll react in the way that you expect them to.

6 Rules to Follow When Choosing High-Quality Images for Brochures

Choosing images for print materials takes more than just looking at the resolution or the pixel count of the pictures. To get high-quality brochure images, you need to understand specific design rules and printing techniques.

You should also identify the images that your target market can relate to. All these factors will have to be considered, so you’ll end up with the right content and design for this printed marketing tool. Here are the rules that you have to follow to choose the perfect images that suit your marketing objectives.

1. Know the Difference Between DPI and PPI

Sometimes, images look great on your screen, but once they’re printed, you get poor-quality images that are blurred and pixelated. The key to avoiding this is to understand the difference between DPI and PPI.

DPI refers to dots per inch, while PPI refers to pixels per inch. The common rule for getting the best images is to have 300 PPI. If you want to print high-quality brochure images with a 4×6 size, the pixel dimensions of your pictures should be 1200×1800.

If you want to know the printer resolution that’ll give you high-quality images, this is where the DPI comes in. The DPI is the total number of ink dots per linear inch of any printed material.

It’s best to talk to your printer to ask which measurement you should focus on—the DPI or the PPI.

2. Choose an Emotionally Compelling Image

When it comes to creating effective brochures, it’s not enough to choose photos with the correct PPI or DPI. The right images should also have the correct context and background. This is how you pick emotionally compelling images that’ll make your target market react to your brochure as intended.

If you’re trying to sell a watch to working professionals, you want high-quality brochure images of successful-looking people wearing the product. These photos would show models wearing power suits while standing in front of a luxury vehicle that’s parked in front of a building.

This image screams power and success—something that customers will get if they use your brand. Consider the emotions that are important to your target market and find the right photographs that resonate with them.

3. Pick a Color Scheme

Choosing the right color scheme would help you target and achieve the right reaction from your audience. Some colors like yellow can make someone feel happy. Blue is associated with feelings of calmness. Green is all about growth.

Set one color scheme for your brochure design and pick images based on that. So if you want people to feel relaxed, use predominantly blue images. Or if you want people to feel alive and excited about your brochure, use photos with shades of yellow in them.

Of course, if your product has a color scheme, it’s also ideal to choose that. Find a balance to pay homage to your product while evoking the right emotions from your audience.

4. Remember the Rule of Thirds

This is a technicality that photographers use. The Rule of Thirds refers to the principle of finding balance in a photograph. The idea is to keep your subject on one-third of the image, either on the left or right side. This is to keep two-thirds of photographs more open.

Your brochure design can benefit from this rule. If anything, this rule will give you space to add text to images. This will allow you to highlight elements in the pictures to better promote your brand and tell your story.

5. Avoid Photos that Feature Famous People

It’s tempting for many businesses to use images of famous people to attract the attention of their target market. But this isn’t a good idea unless the celebrity is associated with your brand.

After all, the celebrity might sue you for using their image without their permission. To be on the safe side, you’re better off using images of ordinary people—those that represent the message that you want the brochure to share.

There are many quality images from stock photo-sharing sites that you can choose from. Or you can stage your photo shoot to get unique images to use for your business.

This is better than relying on the photos of famous people.

6. Keep It Authentic

Finally, pick the right images that will make your brochure design look authentic and genuine. While you want your marketing materials to show the best side of your business, you also want to be real and transparent about what you offer.

Be careful with the life aspirations that you’ll project through your image selection. It has to be realistic and something attainable; otherwise, your market won’t learn to put their trust in you. Trust is important if you want them to buy from you.

Do You Need Help with the Images of Your Brochure? Packoi Printing Has a Design Team Ready to Assist.

Images play a huge role in creating a great design for your brochure. If you want it to impress your market and represent your brand’s story, you need to choose the right images to make it happen. Remember, it’s not just about choosing photos with the right resolution. It’s also about using pictures that resonate with the deep needs and life aspirations of your market.

If you need help designing printed marketing materials, get in touch with Packoi Printing. We have a design team on standby to lend their expertise.

Let’s talk about your ideas for your brochure. We have years of experience in brochure printing, and we can help you understand the options that can make your marketing materials stand out.

Give us a call so we can discuss more. We’ll get back to you with a fair quote as soon as possible.