Paper companies assume that you know exactly what to do with your carbonless paper. Some printers do enough carbonless business that they have the process down pat. It’s all on autopilot. Other businesses, especially small printers, might only get a few carbonless paper orders in a year, and they have to review the whole process every time. No worries. We can only get good at a process that we practice, right? 

Traditional offset carbonless paper

Traditional offset carbonless paper doesn’t work as well on a laser printer. While the laser printer would be able to print each sheet, the offset paper could hurt the rollers, drums, and other printer parts. So, don’t often use offset carbonless paper on a laser printer unless you want to shorten the life of your printer.

Another traditional carbonless paper uses an impact printer. The printer feeds the whole packet using a pin system, and the printer uses pressure to create a top form and copies of that form on every page underneath it. The advantage of traditional paper is that you only have to run a packet once, but it also means you need a specialized printer to do it.

Laser carbonless paper

Laser carbonless paper runs smoothly through ANY printer and print in collated form. You can get this kind of carbonless paper in pre-collated packs which have the right sheets in the right order. Then the laser printer will pull the sheets through correctly so you end up with a packet that’s ready to go. You can also get laser carbonless paper in separate reams. That is, you can get a pack of the pink sheets or a pack of the canary sheets separately. 

When you use pre-collated carbonless paper (Pre-collated definition: the paper comes with the sheets already in the right order), you can run it through the printer without sorting it yourself. 

Remember, though, that the printer will take the top sheet first, so it will come out with the top sheet on the bottom. If you want it to have the white sheet on top, you’ll need to load the paper upside down with the pink sheet on the top. Pre-collated carbonless paper takes a little extra planning. 

The biggest advantage for a laser carbonless paper is that you can create full-color carbonless forms on every sheet. With traditional carbonless, the sheets under the top sheet come only in black. Laser carbonless means you can have more color and branding opportunities on each copy.

Numbering carbonless paper

Most carbonless forms have a numbering system to track things like invoice numbers and to have a simple system to know which copies belong together. When you print forms using laser pre-collated carbonless paper, you can have full color numbering systems. When using an impact printer or offset printer, you can’t.

A numbering system is a good way for a small, legacy printer to show an advantage. When you have personal service, you can adjust your numbering system to whatever the client needs. A big, impersonal printer may not have all the options that you can give a client.

Finishing carbonless paper forms

Once you have the forms printed, you’ll need to find a way to bind them into a useful pad. There are several ways to finish your projects, and you should choose each method based on how the client wants to use the form.  

Fan apart glue

Many carbonless form pads are finished with only an edge of glue on one of the sides, called fan apart glue. This makes it easy to tear a set of forms from the pad while using it. It’s relatively easy to finish with fan apart glue. After you print the forms, cut the edges to the right size. While the forms are held in place after the cut, brush the sides of the forms with fan apart glue. As you brush the glue onto the forms, it will work its way into the form, usually about ⅛ of an inch. You should brush on the glue and not use a spray. The brush is necessary to make sure that you have even coverage, and the pressure from the brush helps to push the glue into the paper to ensure a good seal.

Hole Drilling

Hole drilling is a way to put holes in the forms so it can fit in a 3-ring binder, spiral binding, or something similar. They call it that, because it is literally done with a special paper drill while the printed forms are held tightly. These holes can be arranged to fit any kind of binder from a 3-ring binder to a comb binder or spiral. 

Perforation

In addition to the binding options, many people like to have perforated edges on their carbonless paper forms. They might like to have a copy of the form number on the perforated edge as well as on the original, or they might just like how easy the perforation works when tearing off a form. 

Paper binding with cardboard back

Many clients want a hardback to make it easier to write on their carbonless forms. This kind of binding uses a relatively thick cardboard back with a paper pad binding usually at the top of the board like a legal pad. 

Booklet binding

There are examples of more complex binding options. For example, one company publishes a lab notebook to help scientists and students take lab notes while they are working. It is bound with a spiral edge, a full-color cover, and a flap that folds under each set of carbonless paper.