Forms and receipts: What is carbonless paper

Whether you are looking to print invoices for your company, receipts for customers, or any of a number of business or medical forms that require multiple copies, carbonless paper provides numerous options and colors to get your job looking perfect.

For those of us who work in printing, it can be surprising when someone asks for forms to be printed on carbon paper. Much like the ditto, and the dot matrix, carbon paper has long since become obsolete in the printing industry. In its place now are numerous varieties of what are known as carbonless or NCR papers. These print and maintain business forms much more efficiently and much more cleanly.

Carbonless paper is simply paper that allows for multiple copies to be made of a document. A common use is for receipt or invoice pads, where one would write on the top sheet. Micro-encapsulated inks on the back of the sheet would leave a copy of what you wrote on the next sheet below. That 1st sheet is usually white, and might be the customer copy, while the sheet below (most often yellow or pink) becomes your business’ copy.

The first image to come to mind when you think of carbonless paper might be basic old black and white forms. There are now many different special purpose carbonless papers available that open a ton of potential applications. There are thick carbonless papers that can be printed as tickets.  Papers that can be printed on both front and back, and digital carbonless papers that allow for full color pads and forms to be printed inexpensively.

Carbonless is readily available and with a little foresight can be set up to create great  forms for your business. That said, if you’re ordering business forms, than there are a few key words it is helpful to know.

NCR

No Carbon Required, this acronym is often used as another word for carbonless paper for business form printing.

Part

NCR is most usually available in 2, 3, 4, or even 5 part versions. Part refers to the number of sheets involved. Each of these parts are often a different color as required for a particular business form.  A 2-part form has two sheets often used as merchant and customer copies. A 3-part form might be divided into customer, production, and accounting copies.

Fan Apart

This is paper that can be printed and then sealed together to make one complete business form. Rather than creating a solid pad of hundreds of sheets where one sheet follows the other, with fan apart papers each set of copies is glued in a way that stays together as a separate unit. If your business uses a 3-part form, you would simply pull out one small packet not a big stack.

Tag

This is a heavier weight carbonless paper. It can’t be used as the top page in a set, but can be written on from another sheet of carbonless.

Snapset

These are carbonless forms with a single perforated edge at the top. Pages can be torn or snapped out from within the set, while leaving the rest of the pages fastened together.

Of course,  the business or medical forms you use at your company are unique to your company and there are many possible options available. We work hard to get all of our customers exactly what they want. If you want business forms or otherwise, so feel free to call us to consult on your next form project.

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cutpasteandprint Printing, graphic design, binding, and promotional product specialists in Huntingdon Valley, PA. We proudly serve the Bucks and Montgomery County areas with superior quality, great customer service, and a commitment to getting you and your the best possible printed materials. Our services include: Digital Printing, Offset Printing, Graphic Design, Promotional Items, Bindery, and Copying.