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Roll Fold

For Sizing Tri-Fold Brochures and Others

Letter foldA roll fold (sometimes known as a "barrel" fold) tucks successive panels of your piece into each other. A simple example is a letter fold. If the piece is to lie flat, the panels that fold in must be smaller than the covers.

A good rule of thumb is to subtract 1/16" (or half a pica) of the previous panel's width for each of the third and following panels. This calculation is tedious and can often lead to errors; for example, a 4-panel document that's 3.5" wide when roll folded will be 13+13/16" wide, not the 14" commonly expected.

Please use this online calculator to determine where to position your panel guides and your correct document width if you are using a roll fold. Do not these numbers for a double parallel fold (when you fold the sheet in half and then in half again) or an accordion ("Z") fold where successive folds are in alternate directions.

Desired width of folded piece: (enter as a decimal in the units selected below)

Units returned: Decimal inches Picas Fractional inches

Number of panels:

This page offers an example of how to set up your document with the information from the calculator.

Additional considerations

  • The folder can deal with only so much paper thickness. If you've got a 4-panel fold, you can use up to about a 100# paper stock. If you're going for 6 panels, you should probably use no more than a 60# sheet.
  • Four panels can be done on a single folder; 5 or 6 panels require the use of a second machine and additional setup / makeready charges. If you want 7 or more panels, please contact us for more information.
  • If your design has elements that line up exactly with a fold, this will increase the setup / makeready charges.
  • Our 6-color press and folding equipment both can accommodate 20"x28" sheets. Ensure that your total document width is not greater than 27" (162 picas).