Paper Perforation: How to Make Tear-Off Coupons and Tickets

To perforate paper at home, roll a perforating blade along a metal ruler on a cutting mat, then fold the sheet back and forth on the line. That one tool handles tear-off coupons, raffle tickets, punch cards, and menu tear strips. This guide covers the tools, the steps, and the paper weights that tear clean and still hold up in a guest's hand.

Pick your perforating tool

A perforation is a line of tiny cuts with small bridges of paper left between them. The bridges keep the piece attached until someone tears it off. Any tool that makes those cuts in a straight line will work. Here are the common ones, from easiest to most setup.

• Rotary perforating blade. It looks like a pizza cutter with a dotted blade. Roll it along a ruler on a self-healing mat. One customer uses the OLFA perforation cutter 28 to make tear-off notepads from our linen cardstock.
• Paper trimmer with a perforating blade. Many rotary trimmers take a swap-in blade that leaves a dotted line. Good when you need the same line on a stack of sheets, one sheet at a time.
• Sewing machine with no thread. Set a long stitch and run the paper through. The needle punches an even line of holes.
• Die-cutting machine with a perforating die. Best for shapes, like a curved tear-off on a gift tag or a ticket with a rounded stub.
• A push pin and a ruler. Fine for one or two pieces. Too slow for a stack of coupons.

For most restaurant and craft jobs, the rotary blade is the one to buy. It is cheap, fast, and works on cover stock as well as text weight paper.

Perforate a sheet, step by step

1. Print first. Run your coupons, tickets, or menus through the printer before you perforate. A perforated sheet can catch or split inside a printer.
2. Mark the line. Make two light pencil marks at the top and bottom edge where the tear should go. Keep the line at least 1/8 inch away from any printed words.
3. Line up the ruler. Lay a metal ruler on the marks and press it down hard with your flat hand.
4. Roll the blade. Use firm, even pressure in one smooth pass. On 80 lb cover stock, a second pass on the same line helps.
5. Fold it back and forth. Fold along the perforation one way, then the other. This loosens the bridges so the piece tears off with a clean edge.
6. Test one. Tear a single piece before you do the whole stack. If it rips past the line, press lighter. If it fights you, add a pass.

Tear-off ideas for restaurants and bars

A tear-off piece gives a guest something to take home, and it gives you a reason for them to come back. Here are jobs restaurants run on their own office printer with a perforating blade:

• Bounce-back coupons. Print a "come back this week" offer on the bottom of a specials card and perforate it so the guest can tear it off at the table.
• Loyalty punch cards. A punch card with a tear-off stub lets you keep a record of each finished card.
• Raffle tickets. Fundraiser nights, trivia, and holiday parties. Print the numbers twice on each ticket, perforate down the middle, and keep one half in a jar.
• Check presenter inserts. A review card or a "join our email list" card with a tear-off you keep.
• Kids menus. A tear-off coloring strip or a free dessert coupon for the next visit.

Crafters use the same trick for tear-off notepads, homemade bookmarks inside a card, event tickets, and coupon books for gifts.

The best paper for perforated pieces

Paper weight changes how a perforation tears and how the piece feels once it is torn off. Lighter paper tears easy. Heavier paper feels like a real ticket in your hand but needs more pressure on the blade.

Text weight paper (60 lb) tears with almost no effort. It suits raffle tickets and coupons you hand out by the hundreds. Our Light Aged Parchment 60 lb text gives a tear-off coupon an old-world look for steakhouses and wine bars.

Vellum Bristol (67 lb) sits in the middle. The Bright White Vellum Bristol is solid bright white paper with a slight texture, and it runs on laser and inkjet printers with no special settings. A good pick for specials cards with a coupon on the bottom.

Cover stock (80 lb) is the choice for punch cards, tickets, and anything a guest keeps in a wallet. Our White Smooth 80 lb cover is 216 gsm and .0118" thick, about twice as thick as standard printer paper. Teresa printed event tickets on it and wrote:

"The paper was perfect for tickets we had to print."

Linen cardstock works too. Veronica M. prints notepads on our White Linen 80 lb and perforates them herself:

"I actually use the OLFA perforation cutter 28 to create a tear-off piece. The paper holds up very well when tearing off a piece of it."

Here is what 8.5 x 11 sheets of each paper cost today. Orders over $100 ship free.

Paper (8.5 x 11)	Pack	Price
Light Aged Parchment 60 lb text	100 sheets	$33.99
Light Aged Parchment 60 lb text	300 sheets	$69.99
Bright White Vellum Bristol 67 lb	100 sheets	$39.99
Bright White Vellum Bristol 67 lb	250 sheets	$91.99
White Smooth 80 lb cover	100 sheets	$50.99
White Smooth 80 lb cover	250 sheets	$114.99
White Linen 80 lb cover	100 sheets	$53.99

Start with the right size and skip the trimming

A perforated piece looks best when the outer edges are straight and square. If you trim sheets down by hand first, small errors stack up and the tear-off lines drift. Order the paper in the finished size and you only have to make the perforation.

White Smooth 80 lb comes cut to 3 x 5, 4 x 6, 4 x 9, 4.25 x 11, 5.5 x 8.5, and many more sizes. A 4.25 x 11 strip makes a tall specials card with a coupon at the bottom. A 4 x 9 card fits a check presenter. A 3 x 5 card makes a good punch card or ticket. Read more on that in you don't have to trim your paper anymore.

Printing the pieces yourself? Our guide to printing on cardstock at home covers printer settings for heavy paper. Picking paper for the menu itself? See the best paper for restaurant menus.

Cut to order in Nampa, Idaho

We cut every pack to order on a guillotine cutter in our shop in Nampa, Idaho. Sheet 1 and sheet 500 come out the same size, so your perforation lands in the same spot on each piece. Each pack ships flat with a sheet of chipboard on the front and back and shrink wrap around the stack. Need a size you do not see? Send us the finished size of your ticket or coupon and we will cut to fit.

FAQ

Can you perforate cardstock at home?
Yes. A rotary perforating blade and a metal ruler will perforate 80 lb cover stock. Use firm pressure, make a second pass if needed, and fold the line back and forth before you tear.

Should I print before or after perforating?
Print first. A sheet with a perforation line can catch or split as it feeds through a printer.

What paper is best for raffle tickets?
Text weight paper, like 60 lb parchment, tears with the least effort when you sell tickets by the hundreds. Use 80 lb cover stock if you want a ticket that feels sturdy in the hand.

Can I perforate a whole stack at once?
With a hand tool, no. Perforate one sheet at a time for a clean line. A print shop can perforate a full stack on a machine.

Do I need a special tool?
A rotary perforating blade is the simplest buy. A sewing machine with no thread or a push pin and a ruler will work for a few pieces.

Shop paper for tear-offs

Shop all restaurant paper Shop White Smooth 80 lb Shop Vellum Bristol 67 lb Shop White Linen 80 lb

The restaurant collection has coupon, ticket, and menu stock in one place. White Smooth comes in the most precut sizes for tickets and punch cards. Vellum Bristol suits specials cards with a coupon at the bottom. White Linen gives a tear-off notepad a woven feel. Orders over $100 ship free.

Feel the paper first

Not sure which weight tears the way you want? Our free Paper Sample Pack has ten of our most popular papers as 3 x 5 cards, including linen, parchment, and smooth stocks. Run your perforating blade across a few of them and see which one tears the way you like. Every pack comes with a 10% off code for your order.

Get the free Paper Sample Pack

ThunderBolt Paper Team
thunderboltpaper.com