Creating a cover spread in Indesign is simple when you know how! We show you a nice and simple workflow in our Adobe Indesign training courses.
First of all open a brochure template – we show you how to create these in previous blog posts. Or if you’re creating a brochure from scratch go to File > New Document, choose settings for page size, margins and columns, and bleed. In the example shown here we have an A4 page with margins of 14mm on all sides, two columns on the inside pages and a 3mm bleed for commercial printing.
Note also that covers are often printed separately on Oversize A4 pages using a thicker paper stock. Check this possibility with your print provider.
In the example here we would create two layers, one for graphic elements and one for text. This allows for easier editing later on when you can lock one layer against the other. On the bottom graphics layer we then created a rectangle shape with a blue to white gradient fill colour. On top of this we placed a Rectangular Frame and imported the photograph of the computer screen. We then right-click on the image and choose Fitting > Fit Content Proportionally. In this case we chose an image with a transparent background. Repeat this process for the logos at the bottom of the spread. We also create blue boxes for the title text to sit on.
Then on the text layer we create a text box for the title. The text on the back page of the spread is imported from a Word document, and given a Paragraph Style which can be used throughout the document for design consistency. We also sampled the blue from the company’s logo and used this as our text colour.
Finally the cover spread can be exported as a PDF with Printer’s Marks and Bleed, to be emailed to your printing company.
More tips and techniques can be found at Adobe user groups which meet regularly in most capital cities, and are free forums for designers to discuss topics and the latest Indesign features. See also many examples of our own clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related Indesign Blog Posts:

• Indesign images and text
  
• Indesign workflow
• Indesign templates
• Indesign page numbers
• Indesign add hyperlink