Knowledge Center
How To Choose An Expanding File
An expanding file looks like a simple product, but four decisions separate a file that people keep using from one that ends up in a drawer. Here is how we work through them with buyers.
Pocket Count
Our standard range is built with six or thirteen inner pockets, and that split is not arbitrary. Six pockets suit a light sorter where documents fall into a handful of groups. Thirteen pockets cover a full calendar year plus a spare, or an alphabetic split, which is why thirteen is the standard choice for accounts and monthly filing.
Going above thirteen pockets makes each pocket thinner and the file harder to open at the right place. If a user genuinely needs more sections, two thirteen pocket files usually work better than one file with twenty six.
Pocket counts outside the standard range are produced against a specification.
Gusset Depth
Gusset depth decides how much paper the file holds and it drives the flat pack size, which drives the freight cost. A shallow gusset gives a slim organiser that fits in a bag. A deep gusset gives a file that stands on a desk and holds a real archive.
The mistake we see most often is specifying a deep gusset for a file that will only ever hold thirty sheets. The file then never fills out, looks slack on the shelf and costs more to ship.
Set the gusset from the paper volume, not from how substantial you want the product to look.
Closure
Elastic is the lightest and cheapest closure and suits a file that stays on a desk. A press stud is faster to use one handed and holds better when the file is full. A buckle gives a more finished look on a premium item. A handle turns the file into a case that travels.
Each closure changes the assembly route, so it is worth deciding before the sample rather than after.
Index Tabs
Tabs can be printed with your own headings, in your language and in your order. For an export market this matters more than it seems: a file with English month names is much harder to sell in a market that does not use them.
Blank write on tabs are the alternative where one item has to serve several markets.
Colour And Finish
Accurate colours across our expanding file range include blue, green, purple, grey and clear. Other colours are matched to a Pantone reference or a physical swatch you send.
Clear film lets the user see the contents, which some buyers want and others specifically do not. It is worth asking the end user rather than assuming.
