Carbonless papers are bond papers that have been coated with microencapsulated dye and reactive resins and clays. Carbonless papers consist of four distinct types of paper, Coated Back or CB , Coated Front and Back or CFB, Coated Front or CF, and self-contained paper or SC .
If you think of the typical multi-part carbonless form as a sandwich, CB and CF will be your bread with CB as the top slice, and CFB will be the filling and CF will be your bottom slice of bread. There are occasional variations from this, but as a rule that is the way a form usually is constructed. The papers are explained in detail below.

Design Considerations: Areas with heavy ink coverage may impair the ability of the chemical process between the microencapsulated dye and the resin and clay to be delayed. It is usually best to use a screen density of no more than 50% to allow for instant interaction of the dye and the resin and clay.

CB - Coated Back: Coated back (CB) paper starts out as bond grade paper. It is coated with microencapsulated dye on the backside of the paper. This paper reacts to pressure, such as handwriting, by releasing dye from the microcapsules that react with the clay and resin on coated front (CF) paper to produce an image in the shape of the pressure applied.

CFB - Coated Front And Back: Coated front and back (CFB) paper starts out as bond grade paper. It is coated with resin and clay on the front side of the paper. This paper reacts with dye released by pressure from the coated back (CB) paper to produce an image in the shape of the pressure applied. It is also coated with microencapsulated dye on the backside of the paper which releases dye from the microcapsules, that react with the clay and resin on coated front (CF) paper to produce an image. In a multi-part set with more than 2 sheets CFB comprises all the parts except for the first and last sheet.

CF - Coated Front: Coated front (CF) paper starts out as bond grade paper. It is coated with resin and clay on the front side of the paper. This paper reacts with dye released by pressure from the coated back (CB) paper to produce an image in the shape of the pressure applied.

SC - Self-contained: Self-contained paper has both microencapsulated dye and reactive clay and resin coating on the paper. When pressure is applied the capsules burst and react with the clay and resin producing an image of the area to which the pressure was applied.

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