The Ultimate Guide to Different Types of Envelopes

Envelopes are the basic little packaging items, most commonly used for sending letters. They can be either plastic or made out of paper. Envelopes can also be used as storage for documents and diverse papers. Now, there are a lot of different sizes and designs of envelopes. You have plenty of options to choose from.

Plastic Invoice Enclosed Envelopes

Plastic invoice envelopes can be used for sending mail/important documents or simply for storage of papers. Plastic is great for the occasion because it is water-resistant and you can rest assured whatever is inside will stay intact. This is the most effective way for you to protect your documents. Plastic envelopes are made from either polypropylene or polyethylene and they can be both see-trough and white. A see-through invoice enclosed envelope is useful for organizing whilst the white ones are better for mailing because no one will be able to tell what’s inside.

You can use these kinds of envelopes to organize everything around your office or at home. If you use plastic envelopes that are white, you can write on top of them or add labels that will help you distinguish one invoice enclosed envelope from another. Thanks to the plastic envelopes you won’t have to worry anymore about documents getting wet, torn or smudged. Your most valuable papers will stay in perfect condition.

Plastic envelopes come in many different shapes and sizes. You can find the perfect fit regardless of the size of the documents you plan on storing or mailing. And the best thing about using a plastic invoice enclosed envelope is the fact that it can be reused when it comes to storage. That is not something you can do with basic paper envelopes as they get damaged easily and you can’t use them for a long time. Their lifespan is quite short. Opposite of that, plastic envelopes are much stronger and durable.

Plastic envelopes are especially recommended for business purposes because they look more professional and can be customized with the company’s logo. So apart from keeping whatever is in the envelope safe and protected, you’ll be promoting your own brand which is a win-win situation.

Regular, Commercial Envelopes

What are commercial envelopes? Commercial envelopes are mostly used for correspondence. They’re the basic paper envelopes we’re all familiar with. They usually have a flap design. You can choose a commercial envelope with a window or without. The window allows for the contents inside the document envelope to be partially visible. Regular envelopes have a self-sealing closure and come in many sizes as well as colours. You can go for a basic white envelope, brown paper envelope or one in a specific colour. Commercial envelopes are mostly used for sending invoices, checks, personal correspondence and so on. Out of all the different types of envelopes these are the most commonly used ones along with plastic envelopes of course.

Catalogue and Booklet Envelopes

What is a catalog envelope? Catalogue envelopes are bigger in size and have a stronger construction because they are meant to be used for mailing items that are rather heavy. For instance, if you need to send presentations to someone, catalogues or more than one document, you can use the catalogue envelopes to make sure it won’t malfunction during the delivery process. You can choose from the following two envelope sizes: 229x305mm and 254x330mm. Catalogue envelopes can also be found in diverse colours apart from white and brown.

The difference between catalogue envelopes and booklet envelopes is solely in the position of the opening. Catalogue envelopes have an opening on the shorter size while booklet envelopes open up on the longer side. Precisely this is what makes booklet envelopes more convenient. Other than that they are used for mailing the same things as catalogue envelopes. And you can choose from multiple different sizes depending on how big the documents you’re sending are.

Announcement Envelopes

What are announcement envelopes used for? Announcement envelopes can be used for sending many things from invitations, announcements, promotion materials to greeting and thank you cards and so on. The sizes of announcement envelopes range from A-2 to A-10. Some call these envelopes A-style envelopes. They have a side seam and are quite durable.

You can come across two types of announcement envelopes: basic and decorated ones. Decorated announcement envelopes are ideal if you’re sending something for a special occasion such as a wedding invitation.

Airmail Envelopes

Airmail envelopes are used for transporting something by plane rather than through the regular channels. They have a really specific design and are nothing like regular envelopes. How would you recognize an airmail envelope? On the edges, airmail envelopes have a print that’s usually in the colours of the country from where the envelope is being sent. This is a really handy trick as it helps the one in charge of the mail to easily separate the envelopes by countries thus saving a lot of time in searching for a specific envelope.
Airmail envelopes are lightweight and have a rather small size. They are not meant for sending large documents or catalogues but personal correspondence, invoices and cards.

Disk Envelopes

As the name suggests, disk envelopes are ones meant for storing disks. They are quite small because the disks are not large either. Disk envelopes are important because they prevent dust from entering inside the disk and damaging it. Disks are quite fragile and additional protection is needed.

These envelopes have a window in the middle. This means that you don’t have to label each envelope to know which disk is inside because you’ll be able to see that clearly. Then again, you can also pick an envelope without a window and write something on top that will help you get an idea about what’s inside.

Usually, disk envelopes are white but if you try hard enough you can find coloured ones too. Colourful envelopes can help you with the organisation.