Printed Hard Backed Envelopes

Since 1999 Envoprint has been litho-printing to the highest quality onto hard backed (board backed or ‘do not bend’) envelopes.

For top quality print onto board back envelopes, Envoprint are the ones to trust with your requirements.  Get in touch today for quotations, free printed boardback samples, or expert advice on what can and can’t be achieved when printing onto hard-back envelopes.

What are Printed Hard-Backed Envelopes?

Also known as ‘card backed envelopes’ or ‘boardback’ envelopes, printed hard-back envelopes have a rigid ‘greyboard’ backing and a paper front and flap. The paper front is normally 120gsm paper and the rigid back is normally around 600gsm (1000 micron); although cheaper 300gsm ones do exist – they are easier for us to print; however the construction is poor and they don’t offer a lot of rigidity, so we don’t recommend them as a rule.

The ‘greyboard’ or ‘chipboard’ backing is made from compressed pulp fibres and is therefore often a dull grey colour, however we also off a ‘white backed board back envelope’ with an outer white coating on the hard back envelope.

The front paper can be white or manilla or bespoke coloured; some options are pre-printed with red text ‘please do not bend’ meaning you can have us print a 1 colour design onto the envelope and also have the red ‘please do not bend’ on the envelope without incurring any extra cost for red ink.

Most sizes, particularly A4 (C4) Hard backed envelopes and A5 (C5) Hard backed envelopes are available with windows. C5 and C4 board back envelopes are the correct term for ‘oversized A5 or A4 hard backed envelopes’ – the C sizes are simply oversize version of the A sizes, designed to take A5 and A4 documents with ease. Surprisingly, Envoprint can also print onto large size boardback envelopes such as C3 hardbacks and B4 boardbacks.

See also Printed Cardboard Envelopes and Printed Gusset Envelopes:

Bespoke-Made BoardBack Envelopes Manufacturer

Litho printing onto board-back envelopes is not easy! When printing on the front of the envelope we can’t litho-print too close to the edges as the paper front needs to be supported by the card back of the envelope in order for the print to transfer correctly. In addition, if you want a heavy-ink coverage onto a hard-back envelope, the litho-print method isn’t suitable as the construction of boardback envelopes causes the paper to crinkle as it passes through the machine, with high ink-coverage printing.

If a high ink coverage is required, or bleed print (print right to the edges), on a board-back envelope, then we recommend that these are bespoke made. When we bespoke-make a board-back envelope, we can print the sheets of paper prior to the envelope manufacture, meaning that there are no restrictions to the level of ink coverage, and large areas of solid print are an not issue. Also the print can go right to the edges, or even round onto the back of the envelope, if you take advantage of our in-house board back envelope manufacturing.

A further alternative option for difficult-to-print card back envelope jobs is for us to digitally over-print onto the envelope, our UV-cured digital machine is able to print full-bleed and heavy ink coverages no problem, and is an ideal option where only small quantities are required. However if more than 2000 are required it usually works out cheaper to get them custom-made from flat printed sheets. Bespoke-made boardback envelopes also allow special finishes such as lamination, foiling, embossing, die-cutting, etc; and we can select special grades of paper and card to suit your custom requirements.