Custom Glassine Paper
Custom glassine paper cut to your sheet or bag size and printed with your mark, from 100 packs. Translucent, grease-resistant and plastic-free — the quote and a cutting spec come back the same working day.
The paper that looks like plastic and is not
- Stock
- Glassine 25–60 gsm; pH-neutral, uncoated, translucent
- Formats
- Sheets, interleaves, flat and gusseted bags, fold-over envelopes
- Flexo 1–2 colors, water- or soy-based; food-contact ink where needed
Get a price for Glassine Paper
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 glassine resists, and what it does not
Its other property is neutrality: glassine is pH-neutral and free of coatings, so it can sit against a photograph or a chocolate for years without transferring anything.
| Grease and oil | Good — the density of the sheet keeps them on the surface |
|---|---|
| Air and dust | Good — used as an interleave for prints and stamps for this reason |
| Water | Poor — it is still paper and wets through |
| Heat | Fine for warm baked goods; not an oven paper |
Sheets, interleaves and bags from the same stock
Bags are the format most people mean by "glassine": the translucent envelope a cookie, a pair of earrings or a seed packet arrives in.
- Flat sheets, cut to size — for wrapping, lining a box, or separating layers of product.
- Interleaves — sheets sized to a print, a card or a garment, packed in counts.
- Bags — flat, gusseted, or with a fold-over flap; glued on the seams, printable on one face.
- Envelopes — for seeds, stamps, small parts, samples.
Weights, and which does what
25–30 gsm is an interleave — thin, very translucent, tears easily. 35–45 gsm is the bag and wrap weight, with enough body to fold and glue. 50–60 gsm makes a stiffer bag and a wrap that holds a crease. Heavier than that, the translucency falls off and you are better served by a coated paper. Our food paper range covers those alongside glassine.
Printing on a surface built to repel
The smooth dense face that resists grease also resists ink. One or two colors flexo in a water-based or soy-based ink sit well; a solid area or a photograph does not, and looks patchy. A logo, a line and a pattern are what glassine carries. Because the sheet is translucent, print shows through from the back — worth remembering when the bag is printed on one face and the product is dark.
Food-contact inks are used as standard on any glassine that will touch food. Say if it will, and we specify accordingly.
Where it is replacing plastic
Glassine bags are the usual swap for small polythene bags: jewelry pouches, seed packets, cookie bags, garment interleaves. They recycle as paper, compost in a home heap, and carry a print. What they cannot do is keep moisture out, so anything that goes soft in damp air still needs a film or a lined bag.
Glassine Paper — 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
- Glassine 25–60 gsm; pH-neutral, uncoated, translucent
- Formats
- Sheets, interleaves, flat and gusseted bags, fold-over envelopes
- Flexo 1–2 colors, water- or soy-based; food-contact ink where needed
- Barrier
- Grease and air resistant; not a moisture barrier
- Sizing
- Cut to your size; bags made to the product plus 5 mm
- End of life
- Recyclable as paper; home compostable
- Minimum
- 100 packs
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to six colors, printed on the outer face only and before any lining goes on.
- Color
- Food-safe inks throughout. Kraft mutes color; a white board or liner is needed for anything photographic.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, and fit confirmed by filling a plain sample from your own kitchen or line.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, kept. Molded pulp needs a tool per shape, which is a longer lead and a larger one-off.
- Food contact
- Every board food-contact grade, with grease resistance built into the sheet and never a PFAS treatment.
- Sustainability
- Aqueous linings and unlined boards repulp with ordinary paper. PE-lined cups need cup collection, and we say which you have.
- 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 glassine paper on
Food packaging is chosen for what the food does to it: grease, steam, heat and time. Every board here is food-contact grade, and none of them uses a PFAS treatment for grease resistance.
Food-grade virgin board
Bleached board made for direct food contact. Clean, bright, no recycled fiber and no mineral-oil risk from recovered paper.
14–24ptGrease-resistant board
Resistance built into the sheet rather than sprayed on. Holds fries, pastry and butter without darkening. PFAS-free.
16–24ptPE-lined cupstock
Board with a polyethylene film for hot and cold liquid. Microwave-safe for reheating; recycled only where cup collection exists.
260–350gsmAqueous-lined cupstock
A water-based lining instead of PE. Repulpable in ordinary paper recycling in more places, and compostable; a slightly shorter hold time.
260–320gsmGreaseproof and glassine
Dense, calendered paper that resists fat through the fiber. Wraps, liners and interleaves; breathable, so pastry stays crisp.
30–55gsmFood-grade corrugated
E and B flute with a food-contact liner, vented where steam has to leave. Pizza, catering and anything hot and heavy.
E and B fluteMolded pulp and bagasse
Fiber pressed into a shape. Holds heat, resists grease with no lining, composts, and takes only an embossed or one-color mark.
Molded to shapeRecycled board
Post-consumer fiber. Used for outers, sleeves and anything that does not touch food directly — not for direct contact.
Non-contact onlyNot 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.
Food finishes are limited by what may touch food, and that is the point.
Food-safe inks
Printed on the outer face only. Every food pack we make uses them, laminated or not.
Uncoated kraft
No coating at all. Breathable, so pastry stays crisp, and it takes one or two colors.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance without a plastic film, so the pack still repulps.
Molded emboss
A logo pressed into pulp or bagasse. No ink, nothing to rub off, and it survives grease.
Grease-resistant face
Not a finish you can see. It is in the sheet, it is PFAS-free, and it is why the print stays clean.
Matte lamination
Available on outers and sleeves that never touch food — a cake box lid, a carrier, a gift sleeve.
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 food packaging around a portion, hot: glassine paper
Food is sized by serving, not by dimensions, and it is served hot, heaped and in a hurry. Send us the portion — or better, the box you use now with the food in it — and we size to how it is actually filled.
- Portion, heaped
- Fries, popcorn and salad are served above the rim. A box sized to a level fill looks mean and spills in a bag.
- Lid clearance
- Enough that a loaded burger or a topped cake does not touch the lid. This is the single most common complaint about a food box.
- Venting
- Hot food steams. Vents in the lid keep pastry and fries crisp; a sealed box is right only for cold food.
- Grease path
- Where the fat sits decides the board. Say if the food is fried, buttered or sauced, and whether it is held for minutes or an hour.
- Stacking in a bag
- Delivery boxes are stacked five high on a bike. The lid has to hold the box above it off the food below.
- Sample fill
- A plain box filled from your kitchen settles the size in one try, and we send one before the run.
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
Build your Glassine Paper in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board 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 glassine paper? 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 glassine paper food safe?
Yes, when made and printed for it. Glassine is uncoated and pH-neutral, and we use food-contact inks on anything that will touch food.
Is glassine the same as wax paper?
No. Wax paper is coated with paraffin; glassine gets its grease resistance from the density of the sheet itself, with no coating at all.
Does it keep things fresh?
It keeps grease and air off, which is enough for a cookie for a day or two. It does not stop moisture, so it is not a long-term freshness barrier.
Can I print on it?
One or two colors of a logo, text or pattern print well. Large solid areas and photographs do not sit well on the dense surface.
Is glassine recyclable?
Yes, as paper, and it composts at home. It is one of the reasons it is replacing small plastic bags.
What weight should I choose?
25–30 gsm for interleaves, 35–45 gsm for bags and wraps, 50–60 gsm for a stiffer bag. We suggest the weight from what you are packing.
What is the minimum order?
100 packs, with the pack count set by the format.
Can you make glassine bags to a size?
Yes. Give the product size and we make the bag 5 mm larger each way, flat or with a gusset.
Will it protect photographs and prints?
That is one of its oldest uses. Being pH-neutral and smooth it does not mark or stick to a print, and archival suppliers still use it as an interleave.
Can the bag be sealed?
A fold-over flap with a sticker or a gummed strip is usual. Glassine does not heat-seal on its own.
Will print show through the paper?
To a degree, because the sheet is translucent. Print on the face away from a dark product, or accept it as part of the look.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes — United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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