Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
A 4 Panel CD jacket adds one more fold beyond our basic 2 panel sleeve, creating a front cover, two inside panels and a back cover. Those extra inside panels leave room for liner notes, lyrics, credits or a second disc tray, without the size and cost of a full 6 panel jacket. It's a common choice for full-length album releases, two-disc software bundles, or any project where a single front-and-back sleeve doesn't leave enough room to say what needs saying.
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A 4 panel CD jacket is scored with two folds instead of one, which turns a flat sheet into a front cover, two facing inside panels, and a back cover. The same basic construction as a small bi-fold card, sized to wrap around a disc. That second fold is what separates it from a basic 2 panel sleeve: instead of cover art on one side and a short back panel on the other, there's now interior space to work with.
Those inside panels are usually where the extra content lives. One inside panel commonly holds a second disc tray or pocket, useful for a project shipping two discs together, while the other carries liner notes, lyrics, credits, or additional imagery that wouldn't fit on a single back panel. The front cover still carries the primary artwork, and the back panel typically holds the track list or a barcode, keeping the jacket's outward-facing layout familiar even though there's more room inside.
This step up in panel count matches naturally with content that outgrew a 2 panel sleeve: full-length album releases with liner notes and lyric sheets, software or training packages that ship on two discs, and photography or portfolio discs where a short artist statement or index adds real value. It's also a common choice whenever a single disc needs a bit more explanatory text than a plain front-and-back layout can hold.
When laying out a 4 panel jacket, it helps to sketch the fold sequence before finalizing artwork, since content that reads correctly unfolded can end up upside down or reversed if the panel order isn't accounted for during design. We handle this as part of the free proofing on every order. If a project needs a second disc tray, that should be flagged early since it affects the die-cut layout of the inside panel. And if even four panels start to feel tight for the content planned, a 6 panel or fully custom jacket is worth a look before the design gets cramped.
A jacket has to fold crisply and then hold its shape while a disc is pushed in and out of it, which puts the useful range fairly narrow. Too light and the jacket creases and the pocket gapes; too heavy and the folds crack and the finished piece will not sit flat in a sleeve or a mailer. Coated cover weights around 250 to 300gsm are where almost all of this work lands.
Why not use a heavier board? It cracks at the fold and stops lying flat. A jacket is a folded sheet, not a box. The stock has to bend cleanly.
Full color on both sides is the norm, and the inside panels matter more here than on most folded products because they are seen every time the disc is taken out. Track listings, credits, sleeve notes and artwork all live there. Any content that has to align across a fold needs to be built against the panel plan rather than laid out as a flat spread.
Should the inside be printed? Yes. It is seen every time the disc is removed, which is more often than the back cover is ever looked at.
Every fold is scored before it is folded, because coated cover stock at this weight cracks visibly along an unscored crease. On jackets with more than one fold the panels are also stepped (each inner panel cut fractionally narrower than the one outside it) so the jacket closes flat instead of bulging at the fore-edge.
Why does my jacket bulge when closed? Equal panel widths. Inner panels have to be cut slightly narrower so they nest, that stepping is what makes a multi-fold jacket close properly.
A jacket holds the disc in a pocket formed by gluing part of one panel, or in a simple open sleeve. The pocket depth and the glue line decide whether a disc slides out easily or has to be prised, and prising is how discs get scratched. Where a jacket carries more than one disc, each needs its own pocket rather than sharing one.
How do I stop the disc being scratched? A thumb notch and a correctly sized pocket. A tight pocket with no notch forces people to drag the disc against the card.
One more fold than the basic sleeve, producing a front cover, two inside panels and a back cover. Those two interior panels open as a spread, which is what makes this the first format that can carry real content. Credits, sleeve notes, images and a track listing without any of them crowding the others. It is the most commonly ordered jacket for that reason.
Why is four panels so common? Because the two inner panels open as a spread, which is enough room for everything a single release usually needs.
Ask for samples before a run. How a stock takes a score and whether it closes flat are physical properties you cannot judge on screen.
A blunt rule pressed into the sheet before folding. At cover weights this is not optional. An unscored fold on coated stock cracks white along its full length the first time it is closed.
A bonded film, worth it on anything sold at retail or handled repeatedly. It also stiffens the pocket slightly, which helps the jacket keep its shape after the disc has been taken out a few dozen times.
An aperture cut through a panel so the disc face or an inner panel shows through. It is the most effective way to make a folded card jacket look designed rather than economical.
The pocket glued along its edges to the depth the disc needs, with a thumb notch cut so the disc can be lifted rather than dragged out against the card.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Jacket | From | Panels | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Panel CD Jackets | $170 | One fold, front and back | A cover, a track list and one disc |
| 4 Panel CD Jackets | $245 | Two folds, interior spread | Credits and notes need real room |
| 6 Panel CD Jackets | $290 | Three folds, double interior | Lyrics, photography or two discs |
| Custom CD Jackets | $170 | Your fold plan and pockets | The fixed panel counts do not fit |
Because the two interior panels open as a spread, which is enough room for credits, notes, an image and a track listing without any of them crowding the others. It is the point where a jacket stops being a sleeve and starts being packaging.
It will if the panel widths are stepped. The inner panel is cut fractionally narrower so it nests. A four-panel jacket that bulges at the fore-edge has been cut with equal panels, and it is a fault rather than a characteristic.
One comfortably. Two is possible but tight, and they must be in separate pockets rather than sharing one. If two discs is the requirement, six panels is the better format.
If it is sold at retail or handled repeatedly, yes. Lamination also stiffens the pocket slightly, which helps the jacket keep its shape once the disc has been removed a few dozen times.
Pricing for 4 panel cd jackets starts at $245 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 4 panel cd jackets 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 digital proof showing the flat sheet with score lines and pocket glue areas, plus the panel sequence in the order someone actually opens it. Nothing prints until you approve it. 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. Two folds, interior spread 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: two folds, interior spread. Order it when credits and notes need real room. If you have seen it called 4 panel cd jackets 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 4 panel cd jackets it is worth asking for one, because the difference between coated cover and coated cover is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on coated cover, 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 scoring, lamination, die-cut window. 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: 4 panel cd jackets 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.
