Tab Printing, From the Plant That Die-Cuts the Tabs
Most tab printing is brokered: a print shop takes the order, a converter somewhere else actually makes the tabs. Tabzoola is the converter. Your titles are printed, die-cut, Mylar-reinforced, punched, and collated in one plant in Schaumburg, Illinois that has been die-cutting index tabs since 1993 — with the whole job priced live online, from $1.08 per set at volume.
No artwork, no template, no setup call. The designer draws production-ready tabs as you type, prices the run live, and emails a free PDF proof before anything prints. Already have the titles? Paste the list, pull them from a document’s table of contents, or photograph the set you use today.
What the service covers
Everything between your section names and a finished set on the binder rings: single- or two-sided tab printing on 90# or 110# index stock or .015 poly, any tab cut from 1/2 to 1/15, Mylar reinforcement in 19 colors, 3-hole punching, and collation into finished set order. Sets from 1 to 500 tabs; numbered, A–Z, and monthly runs generate themselves. Unpunched stock for binderies, and bottom-edge hanging tabs for top-bound books, are standard options rather than specials.
The honest economics of printed tabs
At one or two binders, hand-labeled store tabs win — we publish free printable tab templates for exactly that job. Printed tabs win the moment a set repeats: an 8-tab paper set is $8.00 per set at the 25-set minimum, $2.44 per set at 250, and the tabs arrive reinforced, collated, and identical across every binder — which is what a records room, a trial team, or a tax season actually needs. Nothing is quoted by callback; the designer shows the number as you build.
Print shops and brokers: we run trade work
If you sell print and a customer needs tabs, you do not need to own a die-cutting department — that is what ours is for. We produce finished, unbranded tab sets for resellers and binderies: send the spec or the customer’s list to sales@tabzoola.com or call (847) 397-1200, answered at the plant. Unpunched and uncollated formats for your own finishing line are no extra ceremony.
Frequently asked questions
Is tab printing a service or a product?
Both, and that's the point: tab printing means having index tabs manufactured with your wording on them, rather than writing on blank store-bought tabs. At Tabzoola the whole job happens in one plant — printing, die-cutting, Mylar reinforcing, punching, and collating — so what arrives is a finished, ready-to-use tab set, not sheets you still have to process.
Do I need print-ready artwork to have tabs printed?
No. The online designer builds production-ready art as you type — no design files, no templates to fill in, no prepress charges. If your titles already exist somewhere, skip the typing: paste a list, upload a document and pull tab titles from its table of contents, or photograph an existing tab set and the titles are read straight off the picture.
How fast is custom tab printing?
Paper tab sets print and ship in about 5 business days after you approve the free PDF proof, and the proof itself is drawn instantly while you design. A 3-Day Rush is available when the deadline is real. Poly runs about 15 business days. UPS Ground from Schaumburg, Illinois reaches most of the Midwest in one day and most of the country in one to three.
What can be printed on the tabs?
Any wording you want on every tab — printed one- or two-sided in black ink on paper stock, or black or white ink on poly, where white pops on the 11 darker sheet colors. Tab color comes from Mylar reinforcement in 19 colors on paper sets, and body printing on the divider sheet itself is available on poly.
What is the minimum order for printed tabs?
25 sets, with volume pricing to 1,000+ — an 8-tab paper set runs $8.00 per set at the minimum and $2.44 per set at 250. A single title can also be printed in quantity as individual tabs, cut to any position, from $51.25. Every price is live in the designer before you commit to anything.
Can you print tabs to match a set I already use?
Yes — photograph the set you have, whoever originally made it, and every title is read off the photo exactly as printed, with each tab matched to the nearest stock color. The free PDF proof shows the match before anything prints. Reorders of your own past Tabzoola sets rebuild themselves in one click.