Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
A 6 Panel CD jacket is the largest fixed format in our jacket lineup: three folds create six printed panels, roughly double the interior space of a 4 panel jacket. That extra room makes it a practical fit for multi-disc sets, extended liner notes, full lyric sheets, or packaging that needs several disc pockets in one folded piece. It's the format worth considering once a project's content, whether that's discs, text or images, has genuinely outgrown a simpler two-fold jacket.
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Adding a third fold to a CD jacket turns four panels into six, and that jump in panel count is a bigger step up than it sounds. A 6 panel jacket unfolds into a strip nearly three times as wide as a single front cover, giving a project genuine room to spread out. It's built the same way as our smaller jackets, scored and folded from a single sheet, just carried one fold further so there's more surface to design across.
With six panels, most projects can dedicate specific space to specific content instead of squeezing everything onto one interior spread. That might mean a front cover, a spine, two panels of liner notes or lyrics, a disc pocket, and a back panel with track listings and a barcode, or, for multi-disc releases, two or three individual disc pockets built into the fold sequence so every disc has its own secure spot. Because the layout has to be planned around exactly where each fold lands, this format benefits the most from a proof reviewed before anything goes to press.
This is the size most releases reach for once their content genuinely needs it: multi-disc box sets, deluxe or anniversary album editions with expanded liner notes, comprehensive software or training packages shipping several discs together, and any project where a shorter jacket would mean cutting content that matters. It's less often the first choice for a straightforward single release, where a 2 or 4 panel jacket usually covers the need at a lower cost.
Because the fold sequence is more complex, it helps to think through panel order early, which panel faces out on the shelf, which panels sit hidden until the jacket is opened, and where each disc pocket needs to be die-cut. Stock choice matters more here too, since a jacket with this many folds needs a stock that scores cleanly without cracking at every crease; heavier, more rigid coated stock in the design proof is worth confirming before a large print run is committed.
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.
The largest fixed format here: three folds giving six printed panels and roughly twice the interior area of a four-panel jacket. It suits releases with extensive notes, lyrics, photography or credits, and it can carry two discs in separate pockets. The stepping of panel widths matters most at this count, since three folds compound any error at the fore-edge.
Can six panels hold two discs? Yes, in separate pockets. Sharing one pocket between two discs is how they get scratched, so it is always two.
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 |
Yes, in separate pockets. Never share one pocket between two discs. They rub against each other going in and out, and that is exactly how discs get scratched.
Considerably. Three folds compound any error, so if the panel widths are not stepped correctly the jacket will not close flat at all. It is the main thing we check on the proof for this format.
Lyrics, extensive sleeve notes, photography, full credits. The kind of content that makes a physical release worth buying over a download. If you do not have that content, four panels will look better than six with empty space.
Somewhat. More paper, an extra fold and more finishing. The jump is smaller than the jump from two to four, so if you are already at four and the content justifies it, six is usually worth asking to be quoted.
Pricing for 6 panel cd jackets starts at $290 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 6 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. Three folds, double the interior 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: three folds, double interior. Order it when lyrics, photography or two discs. If you have seen it called 6 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 6 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: 6 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.
