How to order Custom NCR Forms?

Ordering NCR forms printing can be big hassle if you don't know how they work and what options are available?

NCR forms as their name shows, stand for No Carbon Required forms. They are also frequently referred as Carbonless Forms. They are primarily used for making multiple copies of your original document, without using a copy machine! You can order 2 part , 3 part, 4 part, 5 part or even 6 part NCR forms. Each part is a separate sheet or copy. You just write on the first part and it is copied to all parts of the form. Make sure you write with firm hand applying reasonable pressure. After you are done writing, each sheet can be easily separated for filing or distribution.

 The first part which is also the topmost part, always comes in white color, until you specifically tell the printing company to use a different color. The rest of the parts come in several colors, yellow, pink, blue, green and canary/golden. Take an example of 3-part NCR forms; the first will be white, the 2nd part yellow and 3rd part pink. When glued together on the edge, the 3 parts make up 1 set of 3-part form.

You may be wondering why they come in different colors. The colors serve an important and very useful purpose: They help in organization of your documents. Your records can be grouped, sorted and filed using these colors. Most printing companies use a specific color sequence for NCR forms. For example when you order 2-part forms, the printer will tell you that the 2nd part will be in blue color. Or for the 4-part forms, the colors will come as white, yellow, pink and green. What happens when your requirement is have a color sequence that is different than what your printer is offering. This is called custom color sequence and depending upon who your printer is, it may cost you extra. So remember to find out the color sequence from the printing company you are dealing with.

NCR forms can be printed in standard and custom sizes. Standard sizes are 8.5" x 5.5' or half-page, 8.5" x 11" or letter, 8.5' x 14' or legal, and 11" x 17' or tabloid size. any other size generally will be a custom size and may cost you little extra.

A vast majority of NCR forms are printed in black color, which is also the easiest, fastest and cheapest to print. The back of the forms are commonly printed at 50% to 70% black on gray-scale to avoid color bleeding on the front of the forms. You can order forms in 2-color printing and full color printing as well. Full color NCR forms look elegant but cost more. Keep in mind some printer provide only the white part in full color and the rest of forms in black. Yet they will call it full color printing. PrintingFairy.com will print all parts in full color CMYK process, also called 4-color. Your business requirements may need different printing on each part of form. This will be custom printing and will need extra time.

It is worthwhile to know the weight and type of NCR paper being used for printing these form. 20 Lb or 75 gram/sq.meter carbonless paper is frequently used for NCR forms printing. Sometimes only the first part is 20 Lb paper, the rest of the forms are printed on 16 Lb or 60 gram/sq. meter paper.  This is primarily to save the shipping weight. The last part of the forms can be ordered in heavier Index tag paper which is 65 Lb or 170 gram/sq. meter weight. This is available in white and manilla covers. The top part is referred as CB (carbon back), the middle parts are CFB (carbon front & back) and the last part is CF (carbon front). The letters F (front) and B (back) tell you which side of the paper has pigment dye that, when pressed with writing pressure, produces image on the  forms below.

The most important aspect you need to know are the binding options. The cheapest and fastest binding/glue option available is edge-glued set of forms. Depending upon how many copies/parts you order, they are glued together on edge to make a 2, 3, 4 , 5 part set. Forms can also be bound in padded book or booklets with wrap-around cover. Booklets with wrap-around cover produce elegant look and while writing, the heavier cover-sheet itself wraps underneath the forms to prevent transfer of the image to the rest of the forms. Forms inside the booklet may also be perforated for easy separation.

Here are 2 images for ncr forms bound together in padded books with wrap-around cover.

3-part ncr book/pad with wrap-around cover

Depending upon you design, forms can be horizontally or vertically perforated. In fact there can be more than one perforation lines on each part/copy. Forms are further sequentially numbered for identification purpose. The numbers are generally printed in red color. However they can be printed in other colors as well. Let your printing company know this beforehand. You may need to have separate numbers for each part/sheet of forms. That will be custom numbering or custom number sequence.

Another option is hole drill. You should know what size hole you need and its location on forms.The holes are used for strings or tassels.

Finally, the most important of all is your design file that you will send to the printing company. Printing companies like to have PDF files. However look for a company that accepts MS Word and Excel files as well. Before placing order, you need to see Proof for how your printed forms will look. Make changes to the Proof and go with the printing company that offers free revisions to proof and offer Free Design Help. Adding free shipping also does not hurt either.

Hope you have learned how to order order NCR forms with confidence!!