Ad Layout Introduction Put it in writing The layout sheet Indicating copy and art The copy sheet Keying copy Keying art Other things about art Digital artwork How art scales The model release form Proofs Managing proofs Credits and adjustments More on adjustments The fastest way to increase sales! Participate in this award-winning, newspaper-specific ad sales course on-site or in a Webinar.  • Get past upfront stalls and objections without any pushing  • Make the account believe he really needs you  • Get better information from your prosepct  • Develop quick ad strategies that work the very first time  • Eliminate size, frequency, content, cost and most other objections before they ever arise  • Get dramatic responses for all kinds of advertisers  • Never have to push an advertiser to run again click here

Layout sheets are marked with vertical lines that correspond to the column widths of your publication, as well as horizontal markers that correspond to the units your newspaper uses to measure the height of the ad, usually inches or centimeters.

Using the information given to you by the advertiser, you need to create a layout using one of these sheets. Basically, draw a box the exact size of the ad you're creating using the column and inch markings as a guide. Next, working from the information the advertiser gave you, begin writing the information in the box as indicated in the figure below.

Usually an advertiser will want a dominant headline, image, and logo in the ad. Write the headline in the box, indicate where the image should go and where the logo, if any, should go by either sketching the logo into the ad or even copying the logo and pasting it into the ad.

Nothing you write, draw, or paste in this box will be reproduced in the ad. You'll be "keying" this rough sketch to separate copy and art sheets that your production people will use for the actual information and art.

Use your copy machine's reduction/enlargement capability in case any element you'd like to paste directly onto the layout is a different size.

Continue entering the information you want in your ad. If you have small type in the ad and you can't write that small, don't worry. Simply indicate where you want the small type to go with horizontal lines, again, as indicated in the figure above. This may, in fact, be the way your production department wants you to indicate all type, and in some cases, even the headline, as we've done here.

Next: The copy sheet