Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
2 Part Carbonless Forms use pressure-sensitive coated paper to produce one instant duplicate of everything written or printed on the top sheet, with no carbon paper required. That's typically enough copies for a straightforward transaction: the customer keeps the white original, you keep the colored duplicate for your own records. Available in standard sizes like 5.5" x 8.5" and 8.5" x 11", they're a practical, low-cost choice for sales receipts, simple work orders and delivery slips where a single backup copy is all the paperwork calls for.
Carbonless forms, often called NCR forms for "no carbon required," use a chemical coating on the back of one sheet and the face of the next to transfer an impression from pen or impact printing without a loose carbon sheet in between. Write or print on the top page and the pressure of the pen recreates the same marks on the page beneath it, cleanly and without smudging. A 2 part form is the simplest version of this: just two sheets bonded at one edge, an original and a single copy.
For a lot of everyday paperwork, two copies is exactly the right amount. A cash sale receipt, a basic work order, or a delivery slip usually only needs one copy for the customer and one for the business's own files. There's no third party like an accounting department or a supplier that needs a separate record. Keeping it to two parts also keeps the form thinner and less expensive than a multi-part pad, which matters when a business is printing forms by the thousands rather than the hundreds.
The two sheets are conventionally differentiated by color, most often a white top sheet paired with a canary or pink copy underneath, so it's obvious at a glance which page is the original and which is the retained copy. Layout, sequential numbering, and any carbon-copy instructions ("customer copy," "office copy") are typically set up once during design and then repeated across the full print run, so every pad or set in an order matches.
When ordering, think about how the form will actually be filled out and used: pads bound at the top work well for a desk or counter, while books with a stub or perforation suit forms that get torn out and handed over on the spot. If record-keeping later turns out to need a third copy, for a supplier, a driver, or a separate department, it's a straightforward step up to a 3 part form rather than a redesign from scratch.
Carbonless paper works through two coatings that only react when pressed together. The back of each sheet carries microscopic capsules of colorless dye; the front of the sheet below carries a reactive clay. Writing pressure ruptures the capsules, the dye meets the clay, and the mark appears, which is why there is no carbon paper to remove and no black smudge on anyone's hands.
Why do the sheets have to stay in order? Because each one is a different coating. Shuffle them and the set stops transferring. A CF sheet in the middle position ends the chain.
The color sequence is not decoration; it is how staff tell copies apart without reading them. White is almost always the original, and the copies follow a conventional order (canary, pink, goldenrod) so that "the pink copy" means the same thing across an organization. Keeping to the convention matters more than matching brand colors, because the whole point is instant recognition.
Can I choose different colors? You can, but think twice. The standard sequence is understood by everyone who has ever used a form, and deviating from it costs more in confusion than it gains.
Most forms print in one or two colors, because legibility under handwriting matters more than color. The addition that does real work is sequential numbering. Each set carrying a unique number printed in a contrasting color, so invoices, receipts and work orders can be tracked, audited and reconciled. Numbering is applied per set, not per sheet, so every copy of one transaction shares its number.
Do I need numbering? If the form records a transaction someone might later query (an invoice, a receipt, a job sheet) yes. It is the cheapest audit trail you can buy.
How the set is held together is chosen against how it is used in the field. Padding glues one edge so sheets tear off individually. Booked sets are bound into books with a stiff back and often a wraparound cover, which is what you want when a form is filled in on a knee or a bonnet. Perforation lets a copy detach cleanly while the rest stays in the book.
Padded or booked? Booked if the form is completed away from a desk. The stiff back is a writing surface. Padded if it lives on a counter.
The simplest useful set: one sheet for the customer, one retained by you. It covers the large majority of everyday transactions (a receipt, a delivery note, a simple invoice) where only two parties need a record. Because the set is only two sheets thick, writing pressure transfers cleanly with an ordinary pen and no unusual care.
Is two parts enough? If only you and the customer need a copy, yes. Add a part the moment a third department, a driver or an accounts file also needs one.
Ask for samples before committing to a long run. How cleanly a set transfers is a physical property you can only judge by writing on it.
A unique number printed on every set, usually in red so it cannot be confused with handwritten content. It is the cheapest audit trail available and the single most useful addition to any transactional form.
A micro-perforated line so a copy tears out cleanly while the rest of the book stays intact. Without one, sheets are torn out raggedly or removed with the wrong copy attached.
Sets bound into books with a chipboard back and a wraparound cover. The stiff back is a writing surface, and the cover folds behind the working set so writing pressure does not transfer into the sets below.
One edge glued so sheets lift off individually. Cheaper and slimmer than booking, and the right choice where forms are completed at a counter rather than in the field.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Form set | From | Parts | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Part Carbonless Forms | $170 | Original + 1 copy | You and the customer, nobody else |
| 3 Part Carbonless Forms | $195 | Original + 2 copies | Customer, field and office each need one |
| 4 Part Carbonless Forms | $220 | Original + 3 copies | The job passes through four hands |
| 5 Part Carbonless Forms | $260 | Original + 4 copies | Five parties hold the same record |
| Custom Carbonless Forms | $180 | Your parts, size and numbering | The presets do not match your process |
If only you and the customer need a record, yes. Add a third part the moment an accounts department, a driver or a second location also needs one. Retrofitting a part later means reprinting the whole stock.
No. Two parts transfer cleanly with any ordinary ballpoint and normal writing pressure. Pen choice only becomes a real constraint at four and five parts.
Yes, and it is worth doing. The customer copy and your retained copy rarely need identical content: terms and conditions on the back of one, an internal reference box on the other.
Padded for a counter or a desk, where there is always a hard surface underneath. Booked if the form is completed in a vehicle or standing up, because the chipboard back becomes the writing surface.
Pricing for 2 part carbonless forms starts at $170 and moves with quantity, size, material and finish rather than sitting on a fixed list. Setup is shared across the run, so the per-unit price drops steeply as the quantity rises: the gap between a few hundred and a few thousand is usually the significant one. Send the size, quantity and what it has to do and you get a firm figure back, not a range.
There is a practical minimum rather than a hard one. Every run carries artwork checks, a proof and a press setup, so a very small quantity of 2 part carbonless forms prices poorly per unit even though we will still make it. If you are ordering a small batch, ask for pricing at two or three quantities at once: the curve usually shows that a modest increase costs very little more in total.
The clock starts when you approve the proof, not when the order is placed, which is the part most people are surprised by. You get a proof first: a proof of every part, not just the top sheet, so you can check that each copy carries the right destination label and the right small print. This is where mismatched copies get caught, and they are expensive to catch later. Turnaround after approval depends on the finish: anything laminated, foiled or die-cut adds a stage that cannot be compressed without causing problems later. Tell us the date you actually need them and we will work backwards from it rather than quoting a generic lead time.
Print-ready artwork with bleed and a safe margin, supplied as a PDF, AI or EPS. Photographic elements should be supplied at the resolution the finished size needs, not the resolution that looks sharp on screen. If your file is not print-ready, say so when you order. We would rather fix it before the proof than after the run.
Yes. Original plus one copy is the standard build, and the dimensions around it are yours to set. A size that sits efficiently on the press sheet often costs no more than a standard one, while an awkward proportion that wastes half the sheet does. Ask before you commit and we will tell you whether a small change to the dimensions saves a disproportionate amount.
In most cases they are the same product under a different name: the trade uses several terms for it depending on the region and the supplier. What actually defines this one is the build: original + 1 copy. Order it when you and the customer, nobody else. If you have seen it called 2 part carbonless forms printing elsewhere, describe what it has to do rather than which name you found, and we will match the specification.
Yes. We provide free samples, and on 2 part carbonless forms it is worth asking for one, because the difference between the coated-back top sheet and the coated-both middle sheets is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on the coated-back top sheet, but ask for whichever you are weighing up. You also get a free design proof before anything goes to press, so nothing is printed that you have not seen.
The usual choices are sequential numbering, perforation, booking and covers. Finish is not decoration on this product so much as a decision about how long it survives and how it reads in the hand, so it is worth choosing against the job rather than the budget. Tell us where the finished piece ends up and we will say which finish is doing real work and which is only adding cost.
Yes, and that is what almost every order here is. Nothing in this catalogue is a stock item: 2 part carbonless forms are manufactured to the specification you give us, with your artwork on them. Send your logo as vector artwork where you have it, since that scales to any size without softening. If all you have is a low-resolution file, tell us and we will say what it needs before it reaches the press.
Yes, and a repeat run is simpler than the first one. We keep your approved specification on file, so a reorder skips the setup decisions and goes straight to production. If nothing about the artwork or the specification has changed, there is nothing to re-approve. Tell us the previous order and we will match it rather than starting the specification again.
Yes. Regalo Print has been producing custom commercial print for businesses across the USA and Canada since 2008, and every order ships tracked. The tracking number reaches you the day the job leaves, not the day it arrives. If you are working to a fixed date, say so when you order so the production schedule is built around the delivery date rather than the other way round.
