Frequently Asked Questions
For envelope and stationery size information click here
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) about Envelopes
The information we could have included here is endless but as envelopes are not as exciting as they sound, we have limited it to the essentials. If you have a question that is not covered here, please press the e-mail button and ask away. Your question may be one that we would want to add to this list!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A POCKET, A WALLET AND A BANKER?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GUMMED, SELF SEAL AND PEEL AND STICK?
WILL YOU SUPPLY PLAIN ENVELOPES?
For print:
FOR PRINTING PURPOSES, DOES THE ENVELOPE FLAP COUNT AS THE SAME SIDE AS THE FACE?
DOES IT COST MORE TO PRINT BOTH SIDES?
WHAT IS ‘BLEEDING OFF' AND CAN YOU DO IT?
DO YOU SUPPLY FILE COPIES AUTOMATICALLY?
WHAT EXACTLY DOES ‘OVERPRINTING' MEAN?
CAN YOU HANDLE NON STANDARD SPECIALLY MADE ENVELOPES?
WHAT DOES DL MEAN?
DL is an envelope measuring 110x220mm. The DL is short for DIN (deutsche industries norm) which you will have seen on many goods such as cameras. L is for LANGER (the German for long) so the whole thing means standard long or size.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A POCKET, A WALLET AND A BANKER?
A pocket has its flap on the short edge. Both a wallet and a banker have their flaps on the long edge but a wallet has basically straight flaps whilst those on a banker have a more pointed or triangular shape.
WHAT DOES ‘MACHINABLE' MEAN?
If your envelope is to be used as the outer envelope for a mailshot, it may need to be ‘machinable' or ‘machine insertable'. This simply means that it will run through an inserting machine which will open the envelopes, insert the contents and seal it. The gummed flaps and throats of machinable envelopes are specially shaped. Ours are made to the Phillipsberg specification. Inserting machines cannot handle self seal envelopes.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GUMMED, SELF SEAL AND PEEL AND STICK?
Gummed flaps need to be moistened or licked. Self seal envelopes are sealed by pressing one strip of adhesive against another (flap to flap or flap to envelope body). A strip of silicon protects the adhesive on a peel and stick flap, when it's pulled off the envelopes is sealed by pressing the flap against the back of the envelope.
WILL YOU SUPPLY PLAIN ENVELOPES?
Yes, we will supply plain, unprinted envelopes. If we, or in the case of a non stock envelope, the manufacturer, hold in stock this should take no more than 1-2 days. Please refer to our home page to search for over 600 different types of envelopes that we stock.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) - Print
IS THERE A MINIMUM ORDER?
No, but there are minimum charges for print and the least number of envelopes you can buy is one box.
WHAT IS A ‘WET' PROOF?
A wet proof (sometimes called a ‘machine' proof) is produced by printing onto the exact envelope you have ordered. This means that you will know precisely what the finished job will look like. Costs vary from £100.00 for one colour, one side on an envelope smaller than a C4 to £1000.00 for four colours, one side.
WHAT IS ‘SET OFF'?
If an envelope has a large area of solid print, there is a danger that the ink when still wet will, to a varying extent, be transferred onto the envelope behind it on the printing press. If you believe, because of the design, that this could be a problem, please call us to discuss.
FOR PRINTING PURPOSES, DOES THE ENVELOPE FLAP COUNT AS THE SAME SIDE AS THE FACE?
Yes if the envelopes come to us with the flaps open (for example a C4 self seal) however, all peel and stick, gummed and many self seals (for example DL's, C5 wallets) come with their flaps folded down. If these are printed face and flap, that is double sided print.
DOES IT COST MORE TO PRINT BOTH SIDES?
Yes, simply because the machines have to be run more slowly. Sometimes the print on the flap or reverse can be re-positioned on the face, for example, the ‘if undelivered' address could be on the face (top left or bottom left or right). Call us for further information.
WHAT IS ‘BLEEDING OFF' AND CAN YOU DO IT?
Bleeding off simply means that the printed image runs off one or more edges of the envelope. For one or two colour jobs, there is virtually no limit to the print coverage you can have as the two colour machines do not grip the envelopes. The four colour machines do need grip so you should call us to find out which edge of the envelope to leave print free. Windows can move around by about 2mm so if your image bleeds into the window, it could get onto the window film - the alternative to bleeding is to leave a 2mm border around the window - your choice.
DO YOU SUPPLY FILE COPIES AUTOMATICALLY?
Yes, we send 5 file copies to the person who generated the order; one of them will have the job number on it which if you quote anytime in the future will help us to track down the job immediately.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES ‘OVERPRINTING' MEAN?
This is taking a ready made envelope ‘off the shelf' and printing it by running it through our specially designed two and four colour litho printing presses. The advantage of this system is speed; we will overprint any quantity in one to four colours in a maximum of 5 working days!
CAN YOU HANDLE NON STANDARD SPECIALLY MADE ENVELOPES?
Yes, there is no limit to what is possible from hand making a few hundred to making thousands or millions of multi-windowed, five colour non standard sized ‘specials' however, apart from cost, lead times can vary from two to five weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ's) about envelope ABBREVIATIONS
CMYK Cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black.
- The colours that make up four colour process.
PMS Pantone Matching System.
ISDN Integrated Systems Digital Network.
BRE Business Reply Envelope.
PPI Printed Postage Impressions.
GSM Grams Per Square Metre.
Please Email your questions here: mail@ace-envelopes.co.uk
-|Z.E.D|-
