Custom Mylar Bags with Window
Custom mylar bags with a clear window, made to your size and artwork from 100 units. Tell us what goes inside and where you want it seen; we send a dieline with the window drawn in and a price the same working day.
A clear patch in a foil bag is a hole in the barrier, by design
- Sizes
- From 3 × 4 in (76 × 102 mm) to 12 × 18 in (305 × 457 mm)
- Film
- PET / aluminum foil / PE, 3.5–5 mil, clear PET/EVOH/PE at the window
- Formats
- Flat pouch, stand-up with bottom gusset, three-side seal
Get a price for Mylar Bags with Window
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.
Where the clear film comes from
A foil laminate is opaque because the aluminum layer is. To make a window, either the whole front is a different, clear laminate joined to a foil back, or the foil panel is die-cut and a clear strip is sealed behind the hole. Both are normal; they cost and perform differently.
The clear film is not just PET. On a bag that has to keep something fresh it is usually a PET/EVOH/PE structure, which is clear and still stops most of the oxygen. Plain PET/PE is cheaper and stops almost nothing.
A window trades barrier for visibility, which is why long-term storage bags go the other way — a fully opaque foil bag keeps light off the contents entirely.
| Clear PET/PE | See-through, no real barrier — dry goods, short shelf life |
|---|---|
| PET/EVOH/PE | Clear with a moderate oxygen barrier — snacks, coffee, edibles |
| Full clear front | One side transparent, foil back only — the cheapest way to show everything |
| Die-cut patch | Foil front with a shaped hole and a clear strip laminated behind it |
Shapes that survive a heat seal and shapes that do not
Keep the window at least 12 mm inside every seal and at least 15 mm below the zipper. A window that runs into the gusset fold will crease white and stay creased.
- Rectangles and ovals with rounded corners — the safest; the die does not tear the foil and the seal bar never crosses the patch edge.
- Circles — fine at 30 mm and above; below that the patch registration tolerance is most of the hole.
- Letters, logos and silhouettes — possible, but every inside corner is a stress point when the bag is filled and squeezed.
- Windows within 10 mm of a side seal — avoid; the seal jaw heats the patch adhesive and it clouds.
Light gets in through the window, and so does the customer's eye
The reason the foil was there was light and oxygen. Behind a window, light reaches the product all day on a shelf, which fades color in herbs, dulls chocolate and turns oils. Size the window to the product: a 40 × 60 mm slot shows enough and leaves the rest of the pack doing its job.
The upside is the reason people order these. A bag that shows the gummies, the coffee bean or the dried flower sells better on a shelf than an opaque one with a photograph of the same thing, and it lets a buyer check fill level without opening it.
Products sold under strong retail lighting — dispensaries especially — should assume the window is where the product ages fastest.
Registering print to a die-cut opening
Print goes on the reverse of the outer film before lamination, then the window is cut. The cut can land ±1.5 mm from where the artwork says, so a printed frame that hugs the hole will look off-center on some bags. Either give the frame a 3 mm clear margin or run the print right through the window area and let the cut be the edge. Our artwork setup notes cover how to mark the window on the file.
What fills a windowed pouch, and how it arrives
Confectionery, coffee, granola, pet treats, cannabis and hemp products, bath salts and craft supplies — anything where the contents are the best picture of themselves. Bags ship to you flat, bundled in fifties, zipper closed and unfilled; you fill, seal the top with an impulse sealer and the tear notch does the rest. Other window builds sit across the mylar bag range if a stand-up or flat style suits better.
Mylar Bags with Window — 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
- Sizes
- From 3 × 4 in (76 × 102 mm) to 12 × 18 in (305 × 457 mm)
- Film
- PET / aluminum foil / PE, 3.5–5 mil, clear PET/EVOH/PE at the window
- Formats
- Flat pouch, stand-up with bottom gusset, three-side seal
- Window
- Die-cut patch or full clear front; rounded shapes preferred
- Closure
- Press zipper, tear notch, heat-seal top
- Up to 8 colors reverse-printed, matte or gloss lamination
- Minimum
- 100 bags
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in up to ten colors on the outer film, or digital for short runs and changing artwork.
- Color
- A white underprint carries normal color on metallised or clear film. Without it, every color takes on what is beneath it.
- Tolerance
- Bag width plus or minus 2 mm, length plus or minus 3 mm. Film stretches, so a barcode is verified on a filled bag.
- Tooling
- Print plates or cylinders per design, kept. There is no cutting die — the bag is formed and sealed rather than cut.
- Food contact
- A food-grade sealing layer against the product, with the inks trapped between layers rather than on the food face.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material PE or PP where the shelf life allows, which recycles as a soft plastic. A foil laminate does not.
- 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 mylar bags with window on
A flexible pack is a stack of films laminated together, and the middle layer is the barrier. The structure is chosen from the shelf life you need and what you want to be able to say about recycling.
PET / PE
A printable outer and a sealing inner. Moisture barrier, modest oxygen barrier. The everyday laminate for dry goods sold quickly.
2-ply, 70–110 micronPET / AL / PE
Aluminum foil in the middle: the strongest barrier against light, oxygen and moisture. Coffee, supplements, anything with a long shelf life.
3-ply, 90–130 micronMetallised PET
A vapour-deposited metal layer. Bright, lighter and cheaper than foil, with a weaker barrier. Most silver and gold bags are this.
2–3 plyMono-material PE
Every layer polyethylene, so the bag recycles as a soft plastic. Less barrier and a slightly softer hand; the sustainable choice where shelf life allows.
100–130 micronMono-material PP
Stiffer and clearer than PE, with better heat resistance. Suits a stand-up pouch that has to hold its shape on a shelf.
90–120 micronKraft-paper laminate
A paper outer over a film barrier. The natural look with a real barrier behind it; the paper takes only a matte, flat print.
Paper 60–80gsm + filmCompostable film
PLA and cellulose structures certified for industrial compost. Lower barrier, higher cost, and no home-compost claim unless the certificate says so.
60–90 micronLDPE mailer film
Co-extruded opaque film for shipping bags: tear- and puncture-resistant, weatherproof, and recyclable where soft plastics are collected.
60–80 micronNot 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.
Film is finished in the lacquer and the ink, not with a laminate.
Matte lacquer
A soft, non-reflective face. Hides handling marks and the most-used finish on a premium pouch.
Gloss lacquer
Wet-looking color. Reads cheaper on some categories and exactly right on confectionery.
Spot matte on gloss
A matte shape on a gloss field, or the reverse. The film equivalent of spot UV.
Metallised effects
Print over the metal layer so a color picks up the shimmer, or lay white under it for a normal color.
Registered emboss
A raised texture pressed into the film. Rare, expensive, and unmistakable in the hand.
Kraft-paper face
A paper outer laminated to the barrier. Matte and flat by nature; no varnish needed.
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 a pouch by what goes in it, not by a bag size: mylar bags with window
Film packs are specified by fill, not by dimensions. Two products of the same weight can need very different bags, because density decides volume — whole coffee beans take far more room than the same weight of powder.
- Fill weight and density
- Give us both, or send the product. We size from the volume it actually occupies, settled.
- Lay-flat width
- Half the circumference of the finished bag. It is the number a converter works to, and we calculate it from your product.
- Headspace
- Enough film above the fill to seal cleanly and for the bag to stand. Too little and the seal traps product; too much and the pack looks underfilled.
- Gusset
- Bottom gusset depth sets how the bag stands; side gussets add volume without width. Both are chosen from the shelf, not the fill.
- Seal width
- 5–8 mm. Wider on liquids and creams, which contaminate a seal, and on anything that will be posted.
- Sample fill
- A plain bag at the finished size, filled from your line, is the only reliable check before print.
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 Mylar Bags with Window
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a film 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 mylar bags with window? 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.
Does the window reduce the barrier?
Yes. Aluminum foil blocks oxygen and light completely; the clear film behind the window does not. A PET/EVOH/PE patch keeps oxygen transmission low, but light still gets through.
Can the window be any shape?
Almost any shape without tight inside corners. Rounded rectangles, ovals and circles above 30 mm are reliable; intricate silhouettes tear at the corners when the bag is handled.
Can the whole front be clear?
Yes. A clear front laminated to a foil back is the cheapest window build and shows the most, at the cost of the most light exposure.
Is the window film food safe?
The clear laminates we use are food-contact grade. Tell us what goes inside and we choose the film for the product rather than the look.
Will the window fog up?
Only with moisture inside. Dry goods stay clear; anything with water activity, like soft baked goods, will fog on the inside of the patch.
Can I print over the window?
A light spot of ink on the clear patch is possible for a logo or a texture, but any solid print defeats the point. Most brands frame the window instead.
Where should the window go?
Centered on the front, at least 12 mm from every seal and clear of the zipper and gusset. We draw it on the dieline so you can move it before anything is cut.
Does it come with a zipper?
Yes as standard, with a tear notch above it. A no-zipper heat-seal-only version is available for single-use packs.
What is the minimum order?
100 bags in one size and one design. The window tooling and print set-up are the same for 100 as for 5,000, so the unit price falls quickly above that.
Can I get a matte window?
The window itself stays clear. The rest of the bag can be matte laminated, which makes the clear area stand out more.
Do you send a dieline?
With every quote, window position included. It is yours whether or not you order.
How do I seal them?
A hand impulse sealer at 8–12 in wide handles the top seal. Keep the seal bar clear of the window area, which is why we leave a margin around it.
Can I reorder the same bag later?
Yes. We keep the window die and the print plates, so a reorder matches the first run.
Same range
