How to make a made-to-measure binder

Sometimes the most convenient way of storing items that are regularly viewed is in a ring-binder. A ring-binder, sometimes known as a folder, allows things like photographs, newspaper clippings and more to be mounted onto a binder page offering protection from direct handling. When you have a collection of various shaped or non-standard sized items, a standard ring binder might not be a good match. A made-to-measure ring-binder with bespoke-sized mounting pages may be the answer.

What type of ring-binder you can make

We always recommend a box-binder design. A box-binder has a number of benefits:

• Protection from damaging external factors. Excludes, light, dirt, dust, water (light splashes) the contents are not exposed at all.
• Protection from crushing. The box effectively protects the contents from accidental crushing or other handling and storage accidents.
• Easier to store. Will safely stack unlike a standard ring-binder.

How to measure up for your made to measure ring-binder

Firstly you need to consider the items that are being placed inside, if you want to make some bespoke punched pages to fit, you may be best to start with those and use those dimensions to build your box-binder.

Mounting onto a binder mounting page

Mounting onto a bespoke sized binder mounting page helps to support your items inside the binder. You can make your punched binder pages to suit your binder and they are sized in the same way that your ring-binders are measured. On boxsite you can make mounting pages, index pages (add an extra 10/15mm to the width to make a tab), and clear archival polyester dividers to help protect your contents. You can even choose whether to have square or rounded corners.

Make your binder pages here

What dimensions do you need for the binder size

There are a number of different dimensions that are applicable to a ring-binder, so to keep things as simple as possible when you make a binder with us on boxsite.co.uk the measurements you enter are the measurements for the usable area that you can adjust to suit the items you wish to store.

As you can see from the illustration, the measurement is taken from the right-hand edge of the rings, to the inside of the right-hand side of the box. Please add an allowance of at least +10mm if you are mounting onto a binder page to ensure that your item fits comfortably. So, if the item you wish to store is 100mm wide by 300mm long, you would make your binder dimensions 110mm by L 310mm. This provides space for your binder page - if you would like to add index type pages, you may wish to add an additional 10mm to allow for a tab. 

The choice of material you make your box from is totally up to you, but for larger boxes over 350 x 350mm, 3mm board, or premium 1.7mm board is advised.

Please note that the internal size of your box will be larger to accommodate the the rings (as shown on the illustration), this is a fixed size and accounts for approximately 43mm added to the width. 

Make your made-to-measure box binder here 

Make your made-to-measure binder mounting/divider page here