Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
Custom CD Jackets are built around your own specifications rather than a fixed panel count. Choose the fold structure, trim size and disc-pocket arrangement that fits the project instead of picking from our standard 2, 4 or 6 panel presets. This is the option to reach for when a jacket needs to hold an unusual number of discs, fit a non-standard case, or match a shape that a preset fold simply can't accommodate. Panel layout, stock and finish are all worked out with you during the free design proof before anything goes to print.
Our 2, 4 and 6 panel CD jackets cover the fold configurations most projects need, but not every disc project fits neatly into one of those three presets. A custom CD jacket order exists for the cases in between and beyond: an odd number of panels to match a specific fold sequence, a trim size built around a non-standard case, or a disc count that doesn't split evenly into the pockets a standard jacket provides.
Construction follows the same basic principle as any CD jacket. A single sheet of coated paperboard scored at each fold line, with a die-cut slit or a small adhesive hub to hold each disc in place. What changes with a custom order is how many folds there are and where they land, which is worked out around the actual content: how many discs need a home, how much space liner notes or credits require, and whether the jacket needs to slot into an existing case or stand on its own as a folder-style wallet.
This flexibility matters most for projects that don't map onto music packaging at all. Software companies distributing installation media across several discs, law firms and consultancies delivering case files or presentations on disc, photographers handing over a full shoot across multiple discs, and archival or historical societies preserving recordings in a specific format all tend to need a jacket shaped around their particular disc count and use case rather than a music-industry standard.
Because the fold sequence isn't fixed in advance, it's worth coming to the design conversation with a rough sense of what needs to go where. How many discs, what needs to be readable at a glance versus what can live on an interior panel, and whether the piece needs to survive mailing or just sit on a shelf. Stock and lamination choices follow the same logic as our standard jackets: a heavier, more rigid board holds its shape through more folds, and gloss or matte lamination protects the surface from handling wear, whichever fold count the final design settles on.
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.
For jackets beyond the fixed panel counts. A different fold pattern, a non-standard trim, a die-cut window revealing the disc or artwork beneath, or a pocket arrangement built around a specific set of contents. The manufacturing sequence is the same; the fold plan, the pocket positions and the stepping are all drawn for your job rather than pulled from a preset.
Can it hold a booklet as well as a disc? Yes. A second pocket or a slot sized to the booklet. Tell us the booklet thickness and we build the pocket around it.
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. Either a second pocket or a slot sized for the booklet. Tell us the booklet page count and stock so we can build the pocket around its actual thickness rather than guessing.
Yes, and it is the most effective way to make a card jacket look designed rather than economical. Keep the window away from the folds and the pocket glue lines, and we will show the position on your proof.
Usually. Send a physical copy. Stock weight, fold pattern, pocket depth and finish are all far easier to identify in the hand than from a description, and for a series that continuity is the point.
Yes, though check it against whatever it has to fit. A retail rack, a mailer, a shipping carton. A distinctive jacket that does not fit the distribution is an expensive mistake, so those constraints come before the design.
Pricing for custom cd jackets 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 custom 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. Because this product is cut to a shape, the file also needs a live vector path for the blade to follow. A JPG or PNG has no outline to cut to, so it has to be redrawn first. 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. Your fold structure 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: your fold plan and pockets. Order it when the fixed panel counts do not fit. If you have seen it called custom 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 custom 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: custom 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. Where the job used custom tooling, that tooling is reused, which is why a shaped run costs less the second time. 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.
