Printed cardboard boxes: artwork, print methods and getting started

Start with what the print is for

A printed box does one of three jobs, and it is worth being clear which one you are buying. Recognition, so the delivery is obviously from you. Instruction, so the person handling it knows which way up it goes, what is inside and where the labels belong. Or retail presentation, where the box is part of the product experience and the print quality has to be high. The first two are cheap. The third is a different budget.

The three print methods

For transit packaging, flexographic print in one or two colours does almost everything people want. Digital comes into its own when you have several versions of the same box or a short seasonal run. Litho lamination is for packs that go on display.

What artwork we need

• Vector files: AI, EPS or a print-ready PDF. Fonts outlined so nothing substitutes.
• Colours as Pantone references rather than screen values, because a screen colour is not a printable instruction.
• One colour separations for flexographic work, with a note of which element prints in which colour.
• Any legal or compliance marks, recycling labels and barcodes, at the size they must appear.
• A note of anything that must not move: a barcode position, a label panel, a keep-clear area for your own printer.

We lay the artwork onto the die line for your box, so you can see exactly where the print sits relative to the creases, flaps and joint. Print does not cross a crease well, and a logo that straddles a fold will look broken however good the file was.

Colour on kraft board

Plain kraft is brown, and every ink printed on it takes on some of that brown. A confident single colour, black, a deep blue, a strong red, works well. Pale tints, light greys and pastels rarely do. White top board gives a much closer match to brand colours and costs a little more. It is nearly always better to see it on the actual board before signing off than to argue about it after a run.

Plates, run rates and repeats

Flexographic printing needs a plate for each colour. That is a one-off cost, and we keep the plates so repeat orders only pay for board and machine time. It is the reason print gets noticeably cheaper on the second order, and why it pays to settle the artwork before the first run rather than tweaking it every few months.

Sample approval

• We send a die line proof showing the box flat, with the print in position.
• You check spelling, colours, barcode, dimensions and print positions, then approve in writing.
• Where it is worth it, we produce a sample box so you can pack it, stack it and look at the print on the real board.
• Only after written approval do we plate up and run.

Read the proof properly. The overwhelming majority of print problems are not printing problems, they are approvals given quickly on a phone screen.

Getting started

Send us your logo, the box size or the product dimensions, and a rough annual quantity. We will tell you which print method suits, what it will look like on kraft and on white top, and what the plates and run rate mean for the price. We supply FSC certified board from responsibly managed forests and other controlled sources under licence C214479 where you need it.