Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
Custom envelopes are printed to match a job that a stock #10 or A7 size can't cover. A nonstandard remittance size, a booklet envelope for a thick insert, or a full-bleed printed design that carries a brand out to the mailbox. Choose the size, paper weight and closure style (gummed flap, self-seal or peel-and-seal), and we'll print, die-cut and glue them to spec. Works equally well for a short run of branded mailers or a bulk order for ongoing invoicing and correspondence.
An envelope is one of the few printed pieces that's guaranteed to be handled by every recipient before anything inside it gets seen, which makes the size and construction worth getting right rather than defaulting to whatever's on the shelf. Custom envelope printing exists for the jobs that a standard #10 business envelope or a stock A7 invitation envelope doesn't quite fit. A remittance piece with a return window, a booklet-style envelope that opens on the short edge for a thicker mailer, a squarer format for a keepsake invitation, or a full-bleed printed design that turns the outside of the mail piece into a brand touchpoint instead of a blank wrapper.
Construction details matter more here than on most printed products, because an envelope has to fold, hold its shape in transit, and open cleanly by hand. Paper weight typically runs from a lighter 24 lb writing stock for everyday correspondence up to a sturdier 70-80 lb text or cover stock for a mailer meant to protect what's inside or make a stronger first impression. The closure style is worth deciding early too: a traditional gummed flap that needs moistening, a self-seal strip for high-volume mailing, or a peel-and-seal liner that keeps the adhesive protected until the envelope is used. Window envelopes, common for invoices and statements, need the printed address or content lined up precisely with the die-cut opening, so that's a detail to confirm before the run goes to press.
Full-color exterior printing turns a functional envelope into part of the message. A return address and logo on the flap, a color band or pattern along the edge, or full coverage artwork that makes the piece stand out in a stack of plain mail. Interior tinting or a printed pattern on the inside of the envelope is a smaller touch that keeps contents private and adds a bit of polish for invitations and higher-end correspondence. For most orders, a light interior lining is optional rather than standard, so it's worth specifying up front if it matters for the project.
Before placing an order, it helps to nail down four things: the finished size (and whether it needs to fit a specific insert or window), the paper stock and weight, the closure style, and whether printing is needed only on the flap or across the full exterior. Bulk orders for ongoing business use (statements, invoices, standard correspondence) typically favor a simpler one- or two-color print run for cost efficiency, while a one-time invitation or promotional mailing can justify full-color printing and a heavier stock since the volume is lower and the impression matters more.
Envelope weight is doing two jobs: it decides how the piece feels when it arrives, and it decides whether the contents show through. A 24lb wove is the everyday business standard and hides a folded letter adequately. Step up to 28lb or 32lb where the contents are thicker, where a check or a dark-printed insert would otherwise ghost through, or where the envelope itself is meant to signal that something considered is inside.
Why can I see the contents through my envelopes? The stock is too light for what is inside. Either move up a weight or add a printed security tint to the interior.
The constraint that surprises people is that you cannot print wherever you like. Postal systems reserve areas of the face for the address block, the postmark and machine-readable barcodes, and artwork intruding on them can slow a mailing down or get it rejected. Everything else is available (the flap, the reverse, and the areas of the face outside those zones) which is why so much envelope design lives on the back.
Can I print across the whole front? No. The address block, postmark area and barcode zone have to stay clear. We will show those on your proof.
How the envelope is folded and glued determines what it is good at. A side-seam envelope has glue lines up both edges and lies flat and rigid, which is what business correspondence and machine insertion need. A diagonal-seam envelope folds from a single diamond blank with the seams meeting in the middle. Traditionally the more formal construction, and the one used for invitations and announcements.
Does the seam matter? For machine inserting, yes. Side seam feeds reliably. For a hand-addressed invitation, diagonal seam simply looks right.
Three closures, chosen against volume and by hand or by machine. Gummed flaps need moisture and are the cheapest. Fine for a machine, tedious by hand in quantity. Peel-and-seal has a release strip over a pressure adhesive and is far faster for hand assembly. Latex self-seal bonds only to itself, so envelopes can be stacked without sticking and closed with a press.
Which for a hand-stuffed mailing? Peel and seal, without hesitation. The extra cost per envelope is recovered in the first hundred you do not have to lick.
Where a stock size genuinely will not serve. A nonstandard remittance format, a booklet envelope for an unusually thick insert, an announcement size that has to match a card you have already printed. The envelope is converted from flat sheets to your dimensions rather than bought in. That also means the artwork can run across areas a pre-made envelope cannot be printed on, including over the seams and flap.
Why is custom sometimes better value than it looks? Printing flat before converting allows full-bleed artwork and edge-to-edge coverage that is impossible on a pre-made envelope at any price.
Ask for samples before committing. Show-through and how a stock takes a fold are both impossible to judge on screen.
A return address and a logo, printed directly. It is the cheapest way to make mail look like it came from an organization rather than from a printer, and on a business envelope it is often all that is needed.
Photographic and full-bleed artwork. Worth noting that full-bleed coverage is only truly achievable on custom envelopes printed flat before converting. On a pre-made envelope the seams and flap edges limit how far ink can reach.
Metallic foil pressed into the stock, most often on the flap or as a monogram. On a textured or laid envelope the combination of foil against the ribbed surface is the traditional formal treatment.
A die-cut aperture backed with a clear film so an address prints once, on the letter, and shows through. It removes a whole addressing step from a mailing, which is why it dominates invoicing and statements.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Envelope | From | Format | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| #10 Envelopes | $220 | 4.125″ × 9.5″, letter in thirds | Standard US business correspondence |
| #9 Envelopes | $220 | 3.875″ × 8.875″, nests in a #10 | A reply envelope goes in the mailing |
| 9 x 12 Envelopes | $240 | Holds letter size unfolded | The contents must not be folded |
| DL Envelopes | $190 | 110mm × 220mm, A4 in thirds | Letters and invoices on A4 |
| C6 Envelopes | $180 | 114mm × 162mm, A4 in thirds | Cards and shorter ISO correspondence |
| Custom Envelopes | $190 | Printed flat, converted to size | No stock size fits, or you want full bleed |
Two reasons. Either no stock size fits. An unusual insert, a card you have already printed, a booklet envelope for a thick document, or you want artwork that runs to the edges. Full bleed across the seams and flap is only possible on a converted envelope.
Custom envelopes are printed flat and then die-cut and folded. Stock envelopes are printed on the finished envelope, which is why ink cannot run over the seams and there is always a small unprinted margin.
Effectively yes, since the die is made for your job. Send the letter or insert template and we position the aperture against it, rather than you having to design around a fixed window.
Only if they stay within the postal service size and aspect ratio limits. Unusual proportions can attract surcharges regardless of how little they weigh. Worth confirming before the die is cut rather than after the mailing.
Pricing for custom envelopes starts at $190 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 envelopes 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 artwork with the clear zones and, where relevant, the window position marked. Nothing prints until you approve it. On a custom conversion the proof also shows the flat blank before folding. 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. Converted to your size 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: printed flat, converted to size. Order it when no stock size fits, or you want full bleed. If you have seen it called custom envelopes 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 envelopes it is worth asking for one, because the difference between white wove and white wove, heavy is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on white wove, 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 one or two color, full color, foil stamping. 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 envelopes 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.
