How a flat sheet
becomes panels.
Enter a flat size and a fold type and get the panel count, the panel widths and a diagram of how they lie side by side.
A reference tool, not a quote. Sizes and rules of thumb here are general prepress and USPS conventions — confirm specifics for your job by calling (763) 475-1826 or requesting a quote.
Panel widths follow standard folding/prepress convention (the fold-in panel typically runs 1/16-1/8 in. narrower so it tucks cleanly).
Not sure which fold the piece actually wants? Describe how it should open and ask.
Request a quote Call (763) 475-1826Panels and folds are not the same count
A flat sheet with one fold in it has two panels on each side. Add a second fold and it usually has three or four, depending on where that second fold lands and which way it runs. Counting panels rather than folds is the useful number for layout, because every panel is a place text or an image can sit without a crease running through it.
Why one panel is narrower
A letter fold and a double parallel fold both roll one panel inside the others, and the panel doing the tucking has to travel a slightly shorter path than the ones it tucks into — cut it the same width as its neighbors and it buckles instead of lying flat. A Z-fold has the opposite geometry: every panel folds outward in an accordion rather than nesting inside another, so nothing needs to be narrower and all of them come out equal.
Panel widths are a prepress decision, made before plates, not a bindery adjustment made after the fact — so it is worth checking them against a layout before a file is finished, not after it prints.
Know how it
should fold?
Tell us the finished size and how the piece should open and we’ll set the panels in prepress. Or call (763) 475-1826.