envelope templates


A-6 — 4 ³⁄₄" x 6 ¹⁄₂"	6-Bar — 4 ³⁄₄" x 6 ¹⁄₂"	#10 "policy" — 4 ¹⁄₈" x 9 ¹⁄₂"

C6 Pointy — 114 x 162 mm 4 ¹⁄₂" x 6 ³⁄₈"	C6 Straight — 114 x 162 mm 4 ¹⁄₂" x 6 ³⁄₈"	Non standard — 4 ³⁄₄" x 7"

A-1 — 3 ⁵⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈"	Non standard — 3 ⁷⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈"

about these templates

I've created these envelope templates to print on a single sheet of paper. They use the full width and sometimes full height of the paper. They are available as PDF files with both fold and cut lines, or PDF files with just the cut lines, and as the original Open Office Draw documents. If you just want to print, PDF is the easiest, but you can more easily modify the Open Office Draw documents.

Most are designed to be printed on a US Letter sized sheet, and will work on sheets from a pad that are very close but not quite the full width and height. I have a quadrille legal pad whose sheets tear off at 8 ⁷⁄₁₆" x 10 ³⁄₄"; those sheets work. Many will work if printed on an A4 sheet as long as you can get your printer driver to center the image (mine will center it when set to "auto portrait/landscape" but will left align when set to "portrait"; ymmv). The #10 and the 7" wide envelope will not work printed on A4.

A couple of the templates are designed for 6 x 9 inch sheets. They can also be printed on Letter sized sheets; this allows you to make slightly wider side flaps, which is nice.

To use them on non-printable paper, you can print on printer paper, cut the shape out, and trace it on cardstock, paperboard (think cereal box, etc) or cardboard. Then cut that out and use it as a template (the envelope shape itself) or a stencil (the frame of paperboard around what you cut out).

These templates are all in the public domain, which basically means you can do anything you want with them except claim copyright yourself. Mirror this page, modify them, brand them, sell them, whatever.

To ensure the correct size envelope when printing:

It is important to make sure the printer driver is set to use the correct size paper.
It is important to make sure the printer driver is set to "Actual size", and not to "Fit" or "Shrink oversize pages".
The PDF reader built into some popular web browsers will not print these accurately; it adds extra margin or accounts for the "printable area" in some way that isn't obvious how to turn off. Use Adobe Reader.

The basic instructions for using the templates are:

Cut the solid lines using scissors or a straight edge and a hobby knife for better results.
Most printers will not print to the very edge of the sheet of paper; when a solid line ends near the edge, cut all the way to the edge. Refer to how it looks on the screen if necessary.
The lines likely to get cut off are all lines that can stray a bit from the original angle and still be fine; you can just eyeball the missing part of the line when using scissors and the envelope will be fine. Just make sure you hit the corner vertices in the correct place.
Fold on the dot and dash lines.
Any finely dotted lines are optional cut lines. The first time you use a template, don't cut these lines until after you've folded the envelope and then decide if you want to use them.
Once all folds have been made, hold the folded envelope up to a light to see where the overlaps are. Then unfold all the flaps.
Fold in the side flaps.
Use a glue stick to apply glue the bottom flap. Only glue where the bottom flap will overlap the side flaps.
Carefully fold up the bottom flap, smooth it out, and apply pressure for a few seconds.
Open the envelope to see if you accidentally glued the flap to the front. You can usually pop it open or pull it apart if there is only a small amount of glue stick in the wrong place as long as you do it right away.

all the templates

Why not just grab them all? The files are small.

all the PDFs : all the Open Office Draw files

US letter sheet templates

Standard A-6 Announcement envelope — 4 ³⁄₄" x 6 ¹⁄₂"
	Standard A-6 Announcement envelopes can be easily made from the US Letter sheet. They feature a rectangular closing flap. Often they are called Invitation or Social envelopes. They will hold a quarter-folded Letter or A4 sheet, and they will hold half-folded 6 x 9, A5, 5.5 x 8.5, Crane's half-sheets, and other similar sized writing tablet sheets. This envelope measures 4 ³⁄₄" x 6 ¹⁄₂" PDF with instructions : PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw
Standard 6-Bar Baronial envelope — 4 ³⁄₄" x 6 ¹⁄₂"
	Standard 6-Bar Baronial envelopes can be easily made from the US Letter sheet. They are the exact same size as an A-6, but have diagonal seams and a pointed flap. They will hold a quarter-folded Letter or A4 sheet, and they will hold half-folded 6 x 9, A5, 5.5 x 8.5, Crane's half-sheets, and other similar sized writing tablet sheets. This envelope measures 4 ³⁄₄" x 6 ¹⁄₂" PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw
#10 sized "policy" envelope — 4 ¹⁄₈" x 9 ¹⁄₂"
	You can just barely make a #10 sized envelope with the closing flap on the side, sometimes known as a "policy" style envelope. It will hold Letter sized sheets folded into thirds. The dimensions are 4 ¹⁄₈" x 9 ¹⁄₂" You only get about ³⁄₁₆ of an inch overlap for gluing down the long seam, which is pretty marginal. This is best used when transfered to a larger sheet and all the flaps extended by a half inch. PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw
ISO Standard C6 envelope — 114 x 162 mm, 4 ¹⁄₂" x 6 ³⁄₈"
	I saw a design for a diagonal seamed pointed flap type envelope sized 4 x 5.5 inches on a free online template. The interesting thing about it is that the template is exactly square. I made my own version that fills the whole width of a Letter sheet. The finished envelope ended up being just a couple millimeters off from a C6 standard size, so I adjusted it to be a perfect ISO C6. The dimensions are 114 x 162 mm, or 4 ¹⁄₂" x 6 ³⁄₈", or 4.48 x 6.37 inches. This envelope is large enough to hold a quarter-folded A4 or Letter sheet and half-folded sheets of A5, 5.5 x 8.5 and similar sized writing tablets, but will not take a half-folded 6 x 9 sheet. The side flaps do not meet in the middle. When gluing, apply glue to the diagonals on the bottom flap, but not across the horizontal cut, and it is an easy glue-up. You can leave the top flap long and pointed or cut it at the optional cut line to square it off. PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw
ISO Standard C6 Straight Flap envelope — 114 x 162 mm, 4 ¹⁄₂" x 6 ³⁄₈"
	This is an ISO C6 standard sized envelope in the straight flap announcement style. The dimensions are 114 x 162 mm, or 4 ¹⁄₂" x 6 ³⁄₈", or 4.48 x 6.37 inches. This envelope is large enough to hold a quarter-folded A4 or Letter sheet and half-folded sheets of A5, 5.5 x 8.5 and similar sized writing tablets, but will not take a half-folded 6 x 9 sheet. You can use this on paper as small as 7.5 x 10 inch. It will also work printed on an A4 sheet. PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw
Non standard envelope — 4 ³⁄₄" x 7"
	This envelope is the 6-Bar stretched to be 7 inches wide; at only ¹⁄₂ inch wider it is mostly a curiosity. It is the largest Baronial style envelope I can easily fit on a US Letter sheet. This envelope will hold all the standard half and quarter folded sheets. It might also be useful on some notecards or greeting cards. Its dimensions are 4 ³⁄₄" x 7". On most printers, you will not get any of the cut lines on each side to print, but you should get the full fold lines defining the corner of the envelope. You can either draw your own v shape to cut out, or just wing it (the exact angle is not that crucial). For this reason, you will not be able to use the version without the fold lines unless your printer can print very close to the edge of the paper. The side flaps do not meet in the middle, and much more care is needed when gluing down the bottom flap to avoid gluing it to the front of the envelope. PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw

6" x 9" sheet templates

Standard A-1, the smallest mailable envelope — 3 ⁵⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈"
	The smallest envelope allowed by the USPS is 3 ¹⁄₂" x 5". This envelope is a standard A-1 sized Announcement style envelope, which is 3 ⁵⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈". Not only is this a "standard" size, it allows for some margin of error in cutting and folding while still exceeding the USPS minimum size. This envelope will hold most small writing tablet sized sheets folded into quarters; A5, 6x9, 5.5x8.5, and similar. PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw
An envelope for half-folded mini legal pad sheets — 3 ⁷⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈"
	This is an A-1 design stretched as tall as it can be without going under the USPS minimum aspect ratio of 1.3. Any taller and this envelope would be considered "square" and subject to extra postage. This envelope will hold anything the A-1 will hold, but it is optimized to fit sheets from a 5" x 8" "mini" legal pad that have been folded in half, as those sheets are only 5" x 7 ¹⁄₄" when removed from the pad. When folded, they are just barely too tall to fit in a regular A-1. PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw

Standard A-1, the smallest mailable envelope — 3 ⁵⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈"

The smallest envelope allowed by the USPS is 3 ¹⁄₂" x 5". This envelope is a standard A-1 sized Announcement style envelope, which is 3 ⁵⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈". Not only is this a "standard" size, it allows for some margin of error in cutting and folding while still exceeding the USPS minimum size.

This envelope will hold most small writing tablet sized sheets folded into quarters; A5, 6x9, 5.5x8.5, and similar.

PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw

An envelope for half-folded mini legal pad sheets — 3 ⁷⁄₈" x 5 ¹⁄₈"

This is an A-1 design stretched as tall as it can be without going under the USPS minimum aspect ratio of 1.3. Any taller and this envelope would be considered "square" and subject to extra postage.

This envelope will hold anything the A-1 will hold, but it is optimized to fit sheets from a 5" x 8" "mini" legal pad that have been folded in half, as those sheets are only 5" x 7 ¹⁄₄" when removed from the pad. When folded, they are just barely too tall to fit in a regular A-1.

PDF : PDF without fold lines : Open Office Draw