Pillow pouch sizes
A pillow pouch is the bag chips come in: one sheet of film wrapped into a tube, sealed down the back and across the top and bottom. Sizes are rarely standard — they are set for each product and machine — so here are the rough ranges to start from.
Starting sizes
| Holds about | Width × height | Range seen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-serve snack, 20–30 g (about 1 oz) | 100 × 150 mm | 80–115 × 140–150 mm | Make this dieline → |
| Snack pack, 60–85 g (2–3 oz) | 120 × 190 mm | 110–125 × 180–200 mm | Make this dieline → |
| Share bag, 140–170 g (5–6 oz) | 150 × 250 mm | about 150 × 250 mm | Make this dieline → |
| Family bag, 200–280 g (7–10 oz) | 195 × 290 mm | 7.5 × 11 to 8 × 12 in | Make this dieline → |
| Ground coffee, 227 g (8 oz) | 130 × 260 mm | about 130 × 260 mm | Make this dieline → |
Rough starting points, not a standard. Chips and puffed snacks are light and packed with air, so their bags are big for the weight; dense products like coffee or rice need far less room. For comparison, a standard UK crisp packet measures about 133 × 194 mm.
How to read the sizes
- Width — the front face of the finished bag, lying flat. The film itself is about twice as wide, plus the back seal — the dieline works that out.
- Height — from the bottom seal to the top seal. Cross seals usually take 10–15 mm each, and the bag needs some empty space above the product so it can be sealed.
Fin or lap seal
A fin seal joins the film inside to inside and stands up as a small fin on the back — it works with any film. A lap seal overlaps the two edges and uses a little less film, but the film has to seal on both sides. You can also move the seam off-centre to keep it clear of a barcode.
Need a pouch that stands on the shelf? See the stand up pouch sizes.