How much do presentation folders cost in Australia?

What they cost, by package

Every figure below is an A4 folder with one glued pocket and a card slit, printed on the front, with a gloss or matt laminate on that side, including GST and delivery Australia-wide. Gloss and matt cost the same. Read from the same price list the checkout charges from.

A folder is not printed so much as made. The sheet is printed, laminated, die-cut to the folder shape on a steel-rule die, creased, and then the pocket is folded over and glued — a separate pass on a separate machine. Every one of those steps is set up once for the job, and the set-up costs the same for 25 folders as for 250. That is why the per-folder price falls by two thirds between the smallest package and the largest, $9.96 a folder down to $3.20, while the total only rises from $249 to $799.

The practical reading: if you will use 60 folders over a year, order 75 rather than 50 twice. The second 25 cost $4.92 each in the larger package and $9.96 each on their own.

An A4 folder, closing at 219.6 × 309.6mm so an A4 sheet sits clear of the edges. One pocket, glued on the right-hand inside panel, with two slits die-cut into it that hold a standard 90 × 55mm business card by its corners. Full colour print on the front cover and the back cover, with a gloss or matt laminate over the printed side. A proof on the dieline before anything is cut, and delivery Australia-wide. Gloss lifts a photograph and wipes clean; matt reads softer and scuffs less in a bag. The laminate guide has the rest of that choice, and both cost the same.

Anything that changes the die or adds a pass. A second pocket on the left-hand panel is a second glue pass. A capacity spine, the flat strip between the panels that lets a folder close square around a thick pack, is a different die. Printing on the inside is a second side through the press. Spot UV over the laminate is a finishing pass. Any size other than A4 is a custom die, and more than 250 is a run priced on its own. All of these are quoted, and the number comes back the same business day. If the pack you hand over is a few sheets and a card, the priced folder is the right one.

Nothing for delivery. Delivery is included in this price — Australia-wide, with no freight line at the cart and nothing added later. Allow 1 to 2 working days longer outside NSW, QLD and VIC. Your complete delivered price is confirmed before you pay. Artwork from your own file is set up free; design from nothing is quoted per job. Either way, start from the folder template, which is the die this folder is cut on with the covers, the pocket, the glue flap, the safe area and the bleed marked. A folder designed on a flat A4 page, without the pocket and the flap, is the single most common reason a folder file comes back for another go.

1. Is the pocket glued? A folder price can be for a scored and die-cut blank, with the gluing left to you. Ask.
2. One pocket or two? Two pockets is a dearer folder. Compare like with like.
3. Laminated? An unlaminated folder prints cheaper and scuffs the first time it goes into a bag. Most quotes include a laminate; some do not.
4. Card slits? Easy to leave off a cheap quote, and the first thing noticed when the folder opens.
5. What stock? A folder wants a heavy board, 300gsm and up, or the pocket sags. The GSM guide has what the weights mean.
6. Including GST and delivery? Every figure here includes both.