Document Folding

5 min

Introduction

When preparing mail for insertion into envelopes, the folding process plays a key role in ensuring accuracy, and presentation. Understanding how documents are folded, ordered, and inserted helps our customers visualize the journey from printed page to finished mail piece.

This guide provides an overview of:

Folding Types

Nesting Methods

Subsetting Details

Page Order & Insert Sequence

Flat Envelope Usage

Our goal is to give you a clear understanding of these processes so you can make informed decisions about format, design, and the most cost-effective way to send your mail.

The standard folds applied to pages to fit them into envelopes (e.g., C-fold, half fold, Z-fold).

#10 Outbound Envelope

Documents are folded in one of two ways:

C-FOLD

C-Fold

Z-FOLD

Z-Fold

#6x9 Outbound Envelope

Documents are folded as follows:

HALF FOLD

Half Fold

Flat Envelopes (e.g., 9x12)

Documents are not folded, used for larger mailings:

NO FOLD

Nesting of documents refers to how multiple pages are grouped, folded together, combined with additional inserts.

For Letters (C-Fold, Z-Fold)

This typically is up to 4 pages nested (grouped together and then folded).

For mail pieces with more than 4 pages, nesting occurs in subsets to optimize machine handling and insertion.

For 6x9 (Half Fold)

This typically is up to 6 pages nested (grouped together and then folded).

For mail pieces with more than 6 pages, nesting occurs in subsets to optimize machine handling and insertion.

For Flats (No Fold)

This typically is up to 20 pages are nested (grouped together and then folded).

For mail pieces with more than 20 pages, nesting occurs in subsets to optimize machine handling and insertion.

Subsetting helps manage large documents efficiently:

Each subset is folded and inserted into the envelope.

Subsetting is determined based on current production quality guidelines.

Example: a 9-page Letter document might be broken into sets of 4, 4, and 1 pages.

Documents are inserted in the exact order displayed on the pagination page.

This method is used to ensure page sequence is preserved from start to finish.

Page 1 of 4, Page 2 of 4, Page 3 of 4, and Page 4 of 4.

Inserts are then added to the track of the inserting machine as the documents pass throught the equipment.

With the Outbound Envelope being the last component to be grabbed for insertion.

These are envelopes used on documents that require no folding. Typically those mail pieces that are larger packets.

Document Folding

Introduction

Folding Types

#10 Outbound Envelope

#6x9 Outbound Envelope

Flat Envelopes (e.g., 9x12)

Nesting & Subsetting Methods

Page Order & Insert Sequence

Flat Envelope Usage