Custom CD and DVD Folders
Custom CD and DVD folders from 100 — kraft and printed cardstock folders with a die-cut pocket for one or two discs, a thumb cut for easy removal and an optional tuck flap, for photographers, studios and promotional discs.
The disc is the product; the folder is the reason it is kept
- Stock
- 14 pt or 16 pt cardstock, white or kraft
- Formats
- Single pocket, single with tuck flap, double pocket, pocket plus card slot
- Disc fit
- Standard 120 mm CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs; 80 mm minis on request
Get a price for CD & DVD Folders
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
How the pocket is cut
The folder is one piece of cardstock, scored once, with the pocket formed by a glued flap on the inside of one panel. The pocket has a half-moon thumb cut at the top so the disc is pushed out from its edge, not pinched by its face. The disc sits in the pocket with a few millimeters of play, enough to slide, not enough to rattle. On a double folder the second pocket goes on the facing panel, and a center divider is added when both discs must never touch.
The cardstock is 14 pt or 16 pt. Thinner stock bows when a disc is inside; thicker stock cracks at the spine score unless it is matte-laminated first.
The glued flap is the weak point of a cheap folder. Glue applied too close to the pocket mouth squeezes out and catches the disc edge; glue applied too thinly lets the flap peel after a dozen uses. Ours is a cold glue in two lines well below the thumb cut, and we fold the folder with the disc in place during setup so the pocket is formed to the disc thickness rather than flat.
Four folders for four jobs
| Single pocket, open edge | The simplest: a disc slides in from the top, no closure |
|---|---|
| Single pocket with tuck flap | A flap tucks over the pocket mouth so the disc cannot slide out in the post |
| Double pocket | Two discs face to face; a photo set or a film plus extras |
| Folder with a card slot | A second slot on the inside panel for a print, a USB or a business card |
Kraft, white and the printed wrap
Photographers tend to order kraft with a one-color logo or a foil mark; it reads handmade and suits a wedding delivery. Studios and software houses go the other way, with a full-color wrap on white stock, a matte laminate and the disc label printed to match. The inside of the folder is a printable panel too, and a track list or a short note from the photographer is what turns a sleeve into something a client keeps. If a USB rides alongside, our coordinated stationery for studios can carry the same look.
Shipping a disc in a folder
- A single folder is under 6 mm thick and mails as a large letter in most postal systems.
- The tuck flap version is the one to post; an open-edge folder can let the disc slide out.
- A stiffener card behind the pocket stops the disc flexing in a soft envelope.
- Boxed sets of folders ship flat in a lidded carton, 50 or 100 to a layer.
Matching the folder to the disc label
Most trouble comes from the disc and the folder being printed by two different suppliers to two different blacks. We print the folders to a supplied color reference and can print the label artwork on a sheet of matching stickers for the discs, so the pair reads as one piece. Variable data is possible: a couple's names and a date on each folder for a wedding run, or a delegate list for an event.
A folder is also the cheapest way to deliver a disc that will be seen by many hands: a press kit, a demo for a trade show, a set of training discs for a company. For those we print the folder on a heavier 18 pt and skip the laminate so the cost stays close to the disc itself.
CD & DVD Folders — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Stock
- 14 pt or 16 pt cardstock, white or kraft
- Formats
- Single pocket, single with tuck flap, double pocket, pocket plus card slot
- Disc fit
- Standard 120 mm CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs; 80 mm minis on request
- Glued inside flap with a half-moon thumb cut
- One-color on kraft through full-color on white; matte or soft-touch laminate
- Finishes
- Foil stamping, spot UV, deboss, rounded corners
- Minimum
- 100 folders
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. Both sides as standard on cards, tags and leaflets.
- Color
- CMYK with spot colors for a brand match. Uncoated and cotton stocks print noticeably lighter than coated ones.
- Tolerance
- Trim plus or minus 1 mm guillotined, plus or minus 0.5 mm die-cut. Anything over about 170gsm is creased before folding.
- Tooling
- A die only where the piece is shaped, perforated or drilled, made once and kept. A plain rectangle needs none.
- Food contact
- Food-safe inks on menus and counter print that will be handled where food is served.
- Sustainability
- Uncoated and unlaminated stocks recycle without separation, and FSC papers are available across the range.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build cd & dvd folders on
Sheet print is judged in the hand more than a box is: the weight, the surface and whether a pen works on it. These are the stocks we run for cards, folders, leaflets and stationery.
Coated card 300–400gsm
The workhorse. Sharp full-color print, matte or gloss, laminated where it is handled. Does not take a pen unless the finish is matte.
300–400gsmUncoated card
No clay coat. Colors read softer and warmer, a deboss goes deeper, and it writes on with anything. Photographs lose punch.
300–400gsmCotton and textured card
Soft, thick and fibrous. Takes a deep blind deboss and reads as an invitation. Foil sits beautifully; four-color does not.
400–700gsmDuplexed card
Two sheets bonded, often with a colored core, for a very thick card with a visible colored edge. The heaviest thing we print.
600–900gsmText paper 100–170gsm
Leaflets, folder inners and booklet pages. Folds without cracking and takes a full-color print on both faces.
100–170gsmManila and kraft paper
Unbleached, tan, and cheap. One or two colors read well; white ink gives a light mark. Envelopes, folders and tags.
90–300gsmSynthetic stock
Polypropylene sheet for tags and cards that get wet, torn or handled outdoors. Prints like paper and does not soften.
200–400 micronBoard-backed
A printed face laminated to grayboard, for a rigid card, a folder back or a display that has to stand up on its own.
1–2 mm boardNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Sheet print takes the widest range of finishes of anything we make.
Matte lamination
Soft, fingerprint-resistant, and it still takes a pen. The default on anything handled.
Gloss lamination
Maximum color depth. Shows every fingerprint and refuses a ballpoint.
Hot foil
Gold, rose gold, silver, holographic or a color. The block is small so the die is cheap.
Emboss and deboss
Deepest on uncoated and cotton stocks; shallow and prone to cracking on gloss coated.
Spot UV
A gloss shape on a matte laminate. Best on a dark ground where the contrast reads.
Edge paint and colored core
Color on the cut edge of a thick or duplexed card. Only seen when the card is picked up, which is the point.
Soft-touch
A velvet laminate on a cover or a folder. Marks on white; excellent on dark.
Uncoated and textured
No film at all. Writes on, debosses deeply, and reads as considered rather than cheap.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing printed sheets, folds and the grain: cd & dvd folders
A printed piece is specified flat and finished folded, and the difference between the two is where mistakes live. Send the finished size you want and we work back to the flat.
- Finished size
- The size after folding and trimming. A6, A5, A4, DL, US letter and legal are standard; anything else is cut on its own die.
- Bleed and safe area
- 3 mm of artwork past every trim edge, and nothing important within 4 mm inside it. The guillotine drifts by a fraction on every stack.
- Grain direction
- Paper folds cleanly along the grain and cracks across it. We set the grain to the fold, which is why a sheet is not simply cut from the biggest sheet available.
- Fold allowance
- On a roll fold or a gate fold, the inner panels are cut a millimeter or two shorter so the piece closes flat.
- Creasing
- Anything over about 170gsm is creased before folding. Without it the fold cracks and the coating flakes along the line.
- Trim tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm guillotined, plus or minus 0.5 mm die-cut.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Spec your CD & DVD Folders
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a stock and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about cd & dvd folders? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Will a disc fall out of a CD and DVD folder in the post?
Not from the tuck-flap version, which closes over the pocket mouth. The open-edge folder is for handing over, not for mailing.
Do CD and DVD folders hold two discs?
Yes. The double folder has a pocket on each facing panel, with an optional divider so the discs never touch.
What stock are CD and DVD folders made from?
14 pt or 16 pt cardstock. Thinner stock bows with a disc inside; thicker needs lamination so the spine score does not crack.
Can a CD and DVD folder hold a print or a USB as well?
Yes. A second slot on the inside panel takes a 4 x 6 print, a card or a flat USB.
Are kraft CD and DVD folders available?
Yes. Kraft with a one-color or foil logo is the usual choice for wedding and portrait photographers.
Can the disc label be printed to match the folder?
Yes. We print the label artwork on matching sticker sheets so the disc and folder use the same color reference.
Can each CD and DVD folder be printed with a different name?
Yes. Variable data such as names and dates per folder is available on a printed run.
Does a CD and DVD folder fit Blu-ray discs?
Yes. All standard 120 mm discs fit the same pocket. 80 mm mini discs need a smaller folder.
How thick is a CD and DVD folder for postage?
Under 6 mm with a disc inside, so it posts as a large letter in most systems. A stiffener card adds about 1 mm.
How do I get the disc out without touching its surface?
The thumb cut at the pocket mouth lets you push the disc out by its edge.
How many CD and DVD folders can we order?
From 100. Photographers often order one design and have the inside panel printed with their note.
Same range
