Custom Carbonless Pads

Designing a Layout People Can Fill In Quickly

A carbonless pad is written on in a hurry, often resting on a knee or a van bonnet. Give each box enough space for real handwriting, put the fields in the order the job happens and use tick boxes where the answer is one of a few options. A job sheet that asks for the time on site, the parts used and a customer signature in that order is much quicker to complete than a form that jumps about.

Leave a firm margin at the glued edge so nothing important disappears into the binding. Put your business name, phone number and web address at the top so the customer can find you again from their copy.

If you already use a form, send a photo or scan and we will redraw it cleanly, tidying spacing and alignment so the copy layer reads properly.

Test the layout by filling in a printed draft yourself before approving it. Writing a real job onto the page shows quickly whether the address box is too short, whether the signature line is cramped and whether the total sits where a customer expects to find it. The field sizes we recommend are the same ones used on our printed order forms, which have been tested with a biro and a wet gloved hand.

Custom Carbonless Pads for Trades, Shops and Offices

Most of the pads we print fall into a handful of jobs, though the layout is always your own. Garages that also need a loose job sheet usually order single-sheet carbonless forms for the office printer alongside the pads.

• Order pads for cafés, butchers and farm shops taking phone or counter orders
• Job sheets and work dockets for electricians, plumbers and heating engineers
• Delivery notes and proof of delivery forms for wholesalers and couriers
• Receipt pads for market traders and mobile services
• Inspection and vehicle check sheets for fleet operators
• Time sheets for agency and site staff
• Repair tickets for bike, phone and watch repair shops

Numbering, Perforation and Binding Options

Sequential numbering is the most useful extra on a carbonless pad. Each set carries the same number on every part, so a delivery note, its signed copy and the office record can be matched without guesswork. Tell us the starting number and we continue from your last book.

Pads are glued along the head or the side. Head gluing suits portrait forms written on a clipboard; side gluing suits landscape forms and receipt books. A card back stiffens the pad so it can be written on without a desk, and a cover with a writing shield stops the next set picking up marks from the one being filled.

Perforation along the glued edge lets the top copy tear away neatly while the office copy stays in the pad, which keeps a full record in order without filing loose sheets.

For businesses with several vans or branches, give each one its own number range, or print a short branch code beside the number. When a copy comes back to the office weeks later, it is obvious which team issued it. Numbering and perforation also apply to A5 notepads with tear-off sheets, which some firms use for internal notes without a copy.

Print Colours and Paper Sizes

Most forms are printed in one or two colours, which keeps them clean and readable and holds the cost down on repeat orders. A brand colour on the header and black for the fields is a common choice. Full colour is possible on the top sheet when you want a logo to look exactly as it does elsewhere.

A5 is the most popular size because it fits in a glovebox and a jacket pocket. A4 suits detailed inspection forms and delivery notes with long item lists. DL and smaller receipt sizes work well for market stalls and counter sales.

Bear in mind that the coloured lower copies are a little darker than white, so very pale print colours can be hard to read on pink or blue sheets. A dark ink for field labels keeps every part legible, even after the copy has sat in a filing box for months. The paper colours and weights are explained in the guide to paper and board types.

Send Your Current Form, Even a Scruffy One

The fastest way to get a carbonless pad right is to post or scan the form you use now, with any handwritten changes your staff have added over the years. Those scribbles tell us which fields are too small, which are never used and where the signature line should be. We redraw the layout at the same size, tidy the boxes and set the numbering, so the new pad feels familiar to people who fill it in daily.

Alongside the form, tell us the number of parts, the colour sequence for the copies, the pad size and how many pads you need. A quote comes back by email within one working day, and the free proof shows every part with the perforation and glue edge marked. Pads are printed and collated in 4 to 7 working days after approval and travel by tracked courier at no charge to UK mainland addresses; numbering errors or faulty copies reported within 10 days are reprinted or refunded. If drivers need a bound version that stays in the cab, stitched carbonless books take the same layout.