Ninefold PrintPresentation Folders
Presentation and Capabilities Folders
A folder is a die cut, scored and glued piece that happens to be printed. Most of the decisions are structural, and they are easier to make before the design is finished than after.
Structure First
What Gets Decided Before the Design
Pocket style, capacity and stock weight all change the die, and the die changes the artwork. Designing first and specifying second is the usual reason a folder has to be redrawn.
Pocket Style and Capacity
Standard pockets, angled, reinforced, or expandable for a thicker insert. A folder holding a few sheets and one holding a printed proposal are different structures, not the same one in a heavier stock.
Stock and Caliper
Heavy enough to hold its shape when full. Too light and it bows in the hand, which undoes the reason for having one. Coated one side is common, since the inside is often left uncoated to take a pen.
Card Slits and Inserts
A business card slit is standard and free to include in the die. Where it sits matters, because a card over artwork looks like an accident and a card in a clean field looks deliberate.
Finish and Glue
Lamination protects the fold, which is the first place a folder wears. Gluing is usually machine done, and the glue tab position is part of the die rather than something decided at the end.
What Moves the Cost
Roughly in order of how much difference each one makes. No price is published here because the answer changes with quantity, stock and which manufacturer the work suits, and a number that ignores those is a number you cannot rely on.
- Stock weight and coating
- Quantity, since die cutting and gluing carry setup
- Whether a stock die exists or a custom one is cut
- Lamination, and whether one side or both
- Ink coverage, particularly heavy solids across a fold
- Any foil or emboss, each being a separate pass
What to Send
Enough to get a comparable quote rather than five guesses. If some of it is not decided yet, say so, and it becomes part of the conversation instead of a blocker.
- What goes inside, and roughly how thick
- Quantity, and whether it repeats
- Whether you need a card slit
- Any existing folder you want matched
- Artwork, or a note that it is still to be designed
- When you need them in hand
How We Produce It
The Right Die Usually Already Exists
Most folder manufacturers hold libraries of standard dies, and using one removes the tooling charge entirely. A custom die is worth it when the structure genuinely needs it, and not otherwise. Knowing which partner holds which die is part of what we bring. It should not be your research project.
Related Reading
Worth Knowing Before You Specify One
Get this made
Send us your spec, or what you have so far.