Commercial and official:
These envelopes normally have a commercial flap (standard flap), however some manufacturers offer a square flap version as well for certain sizes.
#6 1/4 envelope – 3.5625 x 6.25
#6 3/4 envelope – 3.625 x 6.5
#8 5/8  envelope – 3.625 x 8.625
#7 3/4  envelope – 3.875 x 7.5
Monarch – 3.875 x 7.5
#9  envelope – 3.875 x 8.875
#10 envelope – 4.125 x 9.5
#11 envelope – 4.5 x 10.375
#12 envelope – 4.75 x 11
#14 envelope – 5 x 11.5

Announcement envelopes:
These envelopes have a square flap.
A-2 envelope - 4.375 x 5.75
A-6 envelope – 4.75 x 6.5
A-7 envelope – 5.25 x 7.25
A-8 envelope – 5.5 x 8.125
A-10 envelope – 6 x 9.5

Baronial Envelopes (abbreviated “Bar”):
These envelopes have a baronial (pointed) flap.
#4 Baronial envelope – 3.625 x 5.125
#5 Baronial envelope – 4.125 x 5.5
#5 1/2 Baronial – 4.375 x 5.75
#6 Baronial – 4.75 x 6.5
Lee – 5.25 x 7.25

Remittance envelopes:
These envelopes have a statement or return flap
6 1/4 Remittance envelope – 3.5 x 6
6 1/2 Remittance envelope - 3.5 x 6.25
6 3/4 Remittance envelope – 3.625 x 6.5
#9 Remittance envelope – 3.875 x 6.5

Other Envelope Facts:

• A Booklet envelope has the flap on the long side. For example, on a 9×12 booklet, the flap is on the 12 inch side.
• A Catalog envelope has the flap on the short side. For example, on a 9×12 catalog, the flap is on the 9 inch side.
• A converted envelope is when the envelope is printed on a flat sheet and then made into an envelope. This is opposed to printing on a preconverted envelope. A converted envelope is most economically feasible at larger quantities.
• A square flap envelope with rounded corners is called a pictorial flap envelope. In most cases this is only available with a converted envelope.

In printing terms “bleed” is referred to as a place or places where image on the finished piece is intended to go all of the way to very edge of the sheet. In order to accomplish this effect, we need to have a little extra image beyond where the final cut is supposed to be made. Standard bleeds are 1/8th of an inch (.125″). Cropmarks (as shown in the image above) show our bindery where the cut needs to be made. The image beyond the cropmarks is considered the bleed.

Why we need bleeds is simple. While our computerized guillotine cutters are precise, when cutting large stacks of sheets, there is a very slight variance, meaning that we could set our cutter to cut right on the very edge of the image of the top sheet, but when the blade goes through the stack it may vary slightly leaving a white line on the bottom sheets, which would totally ruin your intended effect! Bleed ensures that there are no white lines and that your print project turns out as you intended and looking it’s best.

So, what does this mean to you as a designer? This means that, unlike your web projects, on your print projects you need to plan for bleed in your file when placing images and creating graphics by making sure you have enough image extend past the edge of your document. Indesign and Quark make planning for bleed easy by either setting your bleed margins or dragging guides yourself.

• Always create dies as vector art. This is due to the fact that the machines that read the die lines and in turn cut and bend the metal to make your die, can only read vector information. The most popular ways to make a vector die line are by using your page layout program (such as quark or indesign) or using your vector art program (such as illustrator).
• The only exception the rule above is when making a sculpted emboss die. Sculpted emboss dies can include raster (pixel based) information, however they are quite expensive to make.
• If you would like to show your die line over your art instead of a separate file, spec it as a spot color in your layout or vector art application and put it on a separate layer. This will allow you to toggle the die line’s visibility on and off .
• On foil and emboss dies, make the areas that you want embossed or foiled 100% of a solid pms color. The areas without the color will in the case of embossing, stay flat and in the case of foiling, not foil. This can also be applied to specifying which areas on a printed piece get spot varnish or spot uv applied.

Thanks!

Craftsmen