Custom Folded Business Cards
Custom folded business cards that carry four panels in the footprint of one, from 100 cards. Scored properly so they fold flat and stay closed, printed on a heavy stock that survives a wallet, with the inside doing the work the front cannot.
Twice the card in the same pocket
- Stock
- 350–400 gsm coated or uncoated; recycled and cotton options
- Sizes
- 85 x 55 mm and 3.5 x 2 in closed; square 55 mm; custom
- Folds
- Short edge, long edge, gate fold
Get a price for Folded Business Cards
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.
What the extra panels are actually for
If none of those apply, a folded card is a flat card with a fold in it, and the money is better spent on a heavier stock or a better finish on our standard business cards on heavy stock.
- A price list, service list or menu that will not fit on a card back.
- A map or opening hours for a physical location.
- An appointment slot to write in — for clinics, salons and studios, this is the one that gets the card kept.
- A short piece of writing that makes the card worth opening rather than filing.
- A loyalty grid to stamp, which turns the card into something the customer brings back.
Folds and formats
The finished size should stay standard — 85 x 55 mm, or 3.5 x 2 in — because the card has to fit a wallet and a card slot. A folded card that is a few millimeters oversized does not go in either, and that is the whole point of the format.
| Short-edge fold | Opens upward like a small book; the most common |
|---|---|
| Long-edge fold | Opens sideways; a wide interior spread for a map or a list |
| Square folded | Distinctive, and it costs more to post as part of a mailing |
| Gate fold | Two flaps meeting at the center; showy, and fiddly at this size |
Scoring, which is what makes it fold flat
A 350 gsm card folded without a score cracks along the fold and shows white through the ink, and it springs open in a pocket. A proper score — a crease pressed into the fiber before folding, on the outside of the fold — lets the card close flat and stay closed without cracking the printed surface.
On dark or heavily inked cards the crack is the most visible failure a printed card can have, and it is entirely avoidable. We score every folded card and fold along the grain, which is a bindery decision rather than an artwork one.
A soft-touch or matte laminated card cracks less visibly than an uncoated one, because the film bridges the fold. It is worth the small premium on a dark design.
Stock, and staying closed
A folded card wants to be heavy enough to feel like a card when closed and light enough to fold cleanly — 350 to 400 gsm is the range, which is heavier than most flat cards. Below 300 gsm the closed card feels flimsy because two thin panels do not add up to a substantial one.
Springing open is the other common complaint, and it is a scoring and grain problem rather than a weight one. A card that has been scored on the correct side and folded along the grain stays shut without any closure at all.
Printing four panels without filling four panels
The temptation with four panels is to use all of them, and a folded card with dense copy on every surface is worse than a plain flat card. The strongest folded cards keep the front as a normal business card, leave one interior panel largely empty, and put the real content on the remaining two.
The file is prepared as a single flat sheet with the fold marked, not as separate panels, and the bleed rules are the same as any small-format print job — our guide to setting up files for press covers the trim and fold allowances.
Folded Business Cards — 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
- 350–400 gsm coated or uncoated; recycled and cotton options
- Sizes
- 85 x 55 mm and 3.5 x 2 in closed; square 55 mm; custom
- Folds
- Short edge, long edge, gate fold
- Finishing
- Scored and folded along the grain; matte, gloss or soft-touch lamination
- Four panels, full color; foil, emboss and spot UV available
- Minimum
- 100 cards
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 folded business cards 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: folded business cards
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 Folded Business Cards
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 folded business cards? 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.
Is a folded card worth the extra cost?
Only if the extra panels do a job — a list, a map, an appointment slot, a loyalty grid. Otherwise a heavier flat card is a better use of the money.
What size should it be closed?
Standard card size: 85 x 55 mm or 3.5 x 2 in. A folded card that will not fit a wallet defeats the format.
Will the fold crack?
Not on a scored card folded along the grain. An unscored 350 gsm card cracks and shows white through the ink, which is the most visible failure a card can have.
Will it spring open in a pocket?
Not if it is scored on the correct side and folded with the grain. Springing open is a scoring problem, not a weight problem.
What stock should I use?
350–400 gsm, heavier than a flat card, so the closed card feels substantial. Below 300 gsm it feels flimsy.
Does lamination help?
Yes, on dark designs — the film bridges the fold, so any cracking is far less visible. Soft-touch and matte both do this.
Should I use all four panels?
No. The best folded cards keep the front as a normal card, leave one panel largely empty, and put real content on the other two.
Can I have an appointment slot?
Yes, and it is the strongest use of the format — printed lines inside, on an uncoated or matte finish so a pen writes on it.
Will a pen write on a laminated card?
Not reliably. If people write on it, leave that panel unlaminated or use an uncoated stock throughout.
Can I have foil or emboss?
Yes, on the front panel. Keep them away from the fold, where the pressure of folding can distort the impression.
How do I set up the artwork?
As a single flat sheet with the fold position marked, not as four separate panels. Bleed on all outer edges.
What is the minimum order?
100 cards. They print digitally, so short runs and per-person variations are both practical.
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