01
Printed by people, not machines
A carbonless form is a tool before it is a printed piece, and the way it fails is always the same: it looks right on screen and cannot be filled in with a pen on a tailgate. Boxes too shallow for handwriting, a description field too narrow for a real job, a signature line squeezed against the edge. A dedicated Print Concierge reviews your layout as a form rather than as artwork, checking whether a technician can actually complete it in the field. That is not something an automated printer looks at, and it is why most form books get redesigned after the first run.
02
What businesses use these for
Anything where work happens away from an office and someone needs proof of it.
- Work orders: what was requested, what was done, who signed for it.
- Delivery notes: what was dropped, when, and a signature confirming it.
- Service and repair tickets: parts used, labour hours, customer approval before work starts.
- Estimates and receipts: a written figure the customer keeps, matching the one you keep.
If you need specifically a billing document, see invoices, which is the same construction laid out for line items and totals.
03
Two part or three part
Carbonless paper transfers whatever is written on the top sheet to the sheets below with no carbon paper involved. The number of parts is a decision about who needs a record.
- Two part: customer keeps one, one stays in the book. Right for most trades and services.
- Three part: customer, office and the person who did the work. Use it whenever the field copy and the accounts copy travel separately, which is exactly where paperwork disappears.
Sheets are colour-coded, so it is obvious at a glance which copy belongs to whom, and each set tears out cleanly with the book intact.
04
Getting your artwork print-ready
Send a print-ready PDF at 300 DPI in CMYK. Design it as a form.
- Field boxes at least 0.3 inch tall. Handwriting in a van needs more room than type on a screen.
- Make the description or work-performed area the largest block on the page.
- Leave a proper signature line, not a hairline rule at the very bottom edge.
- Keep everything 0.25 inch inside the trim, and tell us in the notes if you want sequential numbering.
Replacing an existing book? Send a photo and we will match the layout so nobody has to relearn it.
05
Need a form designed?
Choose Design it for me and our professional design team will build your carbonless form for $75, laid out so it can be completed by hand in the field, and hand back a print-ready file you own outright. Forms are usually ordered alongside invoices and business cards for the same crew.
06
Printing and delivery
Carbonless sets are collated and glued into books after printing, so they take a little longer than flat print. The arrival estimate at the top of this page accounts for that and updates as you configure. Most businesses order enough for a year, because the per-set price at higher volumes is a fraction of the smallest run. Shipping is free over $120.
