Ninefold PrintFolding Cartons
Custom Folding Cartons and Packaging
Printed, die cut, folded and glued. The structural decisions get made before the artwork does, and getting that order wrong is the usual reason a carton costs more than it should.
Before the Artwork
The Decisions That Set the Price
A folding carton is a structural problem before it is a printing one. These four are settled first, and each of them changes which manufacturer the job should go to.
Board and Caliper
SBS for a clean white face, kraft for an unbleached look, recycled board where the specification calls for it. Caliper has to carry the product without being heavier than it needs to be, because board is usually the largest single input.
Structure and Die Line
Straight tuck, reverse tuck, auto bottom, sleeve or a rigid two piece box. The structure decides the glue pattern, the packing method and whether it can be machine filled. A die line either exists already or has to be drawn.
Finish
Gloss or matte lamination, soft touch, spot gloss, foil, emboss. Each is a separate pass, and some combinations have to run at different facilities, which is a scheduling question as much as a cost one.
Run Length
Short runs suit digital, with no plates and no makeready. Longer runs suit offset, where the setup is spread across more units. The crossover point moves with the size of the carton and the number of colors.
What Moves the Cost
Roughly in order of how much difference each one makes. No price is published here because the answer changes with quantity, stock and which manufacturer the work suits, and a number that ignores those is a number you cannot rely on.
- Board choice and caliper, usually the largest single input
- Quantity, because setup is fixed and gets spread across the run
- Number of ink colors, and whether any are spot rather than process
- Finishing passes: lamination, foil, emboss, spot gloss
- Whether a die already exists or a new one has to be cut
- Carton size, through how many fit on a press sheet
What to Send
Enough to get a comparable quote rather than five guesses. If some of it is not decided yet, say so, and it becomes part of the conversation instead of a blocker.
- What goes in the carton, and roughly what it weighs
- Finished dimensions, or a sample you are working from
- Quantity, and whether it will repeat
- Any board or sustainability requirement
- Whether it is filled by hand or by machine
- Artwork and a die line if they exist, and if not, say so
How We Produce It
Made by a Converter, Not a General Printer
Cartons are converted, not just printed: cut, creased, folded and glued on equipment most commercial printers do not have. We match each carton job to a converter set up for its structure, board and run length, which is not necessarily whoever printed the last one.
Related Reading
Worth Knowing Before You Specify One
Paper and Board Without the Jargon
SBS, kraft, caliper and why 80lb text and 80lb cover are nothing alike.
Read it →Why Print Quotes Differ So Much
Board is the largest input and the least specified. Where the gaps are.
Read it →Print Certifications: When to Ask for One
Food contact and retail packaging both narrow the field before price.
Read it →Get this made
Send us your spec, or what you have so far.