A guide to the most common paper folding options.

Paper folding can be a lot more complex than greeting cards and brochures. With the capability to concertina fold, cross fold, roll fold and more, we can provide advice and solutions to make your next printed product stand out amongst the crowd. Some of the common folding options are listed below, but we can also accommodate custom folding and scoring for any job, so if you have something different in mind, get in touch! Our staff can provide expert advice and suggestions for how to make the most of your prints.

The most common fold for greeting cards, brochures, booklets, name cards and much more, the half fold is simply a single sheet folded in half, creating 4 separate pages.

example of a roll folded brochure

DL roll folding is perfect for brochures, mailouts (fits a standard DL envelope) or other pieces that require a small footprint and allow for content to be broken over several pages. Creates 6 pages and a finished size of 99x210mm

example of a Z or concertina fold

The Z or concertina fold allows a larger number of pages, as the folds do not have to fit inside one another. We can print up to 16pp DL with Z-folding, but can also supply other sizes. Perfect for prints that need to fit a lot of content in a small space!

example of a gate folded brochure

Gate folded brochures allow you to print a single image across the two front panels (doors), opening up to your hero image or content. Typical finished size is A4 or A5.

example of a double gate fold

The double gate fold provides the same space as the single gate fold, but covers a smaller footprint, great for mailing. Typical finished size is 74 x 210mm.

example of cross folding

Folded in half across and then in half again, cross folding can reduce the finished size for mailing inserts or posters.

example of a crash folded brochure

Crash folding is usually used when A3 sheets need to be folded for mailing purposes. The A3 sheet is folded in half to A4, then roll folded to DL. Posters, newsletters and other large items can be sent via regular mail this way, saving expensive postage costs!

example of a double/parallel folded brochure

The double or parallel fold is simply a sheet folded in half twice on the same (horizontal or vertical) axis. Can be used for brochures to separate content panels, or again for mailing large items with a smaller footprint.

6pp A5 parallel folded brochure