01
Printed by people, not machines
Carbonless invoices have a failure mode nobody expects: the design works on screen and then there is nowhere to write. Field boxes too shallow for handwriting, a description column too narrow for a real line item, a total that sits where a hand naturally rests. A dedicated Print Concierge checks your layout as a form rather than as a design, looking at whether it can actually be filled in on a customer's doorstep with a pen. That is not something an automated printer will ever look at, and it is the reason most invoice books get replaced after one run.
02
Two part or three part
Carbonless paper transfers whatever is written on the top sheet to the sheets below without carbon paper. How many sheets depends on how many people need a copy.
- Two part: one for the customer, one stays in the book. This covers most trades, services and retail.
- Three part: customer, office and driver or technician. Use it when the person writing the invoice is not the person doing the books, which is the moment paperwork starts going missing.
The sheets are colour-coded so it is obvious at a glance which copy is which, and each set tears out cleanly with the book intact.
03
Why paper invoices still matter
Plenty of businesses invoice by email and still order these, because there is a category of work where payment happens at the door. Trades, mobile services, deliveries, market stalls, anything cash or card on completion. A printed invoice book means the customer leaves with proof, you leave with a record, and neither depends on a phone with signal. Sequential numbering makes reconciliation possible at the end of the month, and a missing number is immediately visible, which is a control you do not get from a notebook.
04
Getting your artwork print-ready
Send a print-ready PDF at 300 DPI in CMYK. Design it as a form, not a poster.
- Field boxes at least 0.3 inch tall. Handwriting needs more room than type.
- Leave the description column the widest thing on the page. It is where the actual work gets written.
- Keep everything 0.25 inch inside the trim.
- Tell us in the notes if you want sequential numbering and where the number should sit.
If you are replacing an existing book, send a photo of it and we will match the layout.
05
Need an invoice designed?
Choose Design it for me and our professional design team will build your invoice for $75, laid out as a form that can actually be filled in by hand, and hand back a print-ready file you own outright. If you need the same format for something other than billing, see carbonless forms, which is the same construction for work orders, receipts and delivery notes.
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 reflects that and updates as you configure. Shipping is free over $120 and a flat $15 below that, which most invoice orders clear on their own.
