Most printed boxes you have handled in a shop are folding cartons. Cereal, cosmetics, medicine, phone accessories, bakery. They are cut and creased from a single sheet of paperboard, glued along one seam, and delivered flat so that they take almost no storage space until you fill them.
Board and caliper
Caliper is thickness in thousandths of an inch. It is the number that decides whether the carton feels cheap, and it is the first thing to get right.
| Caliper | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 14pt | Light contents, small cartons, cost-led runs |
| 16pt to 18pt | The common middle ground for cosmetics, supplements and retail goods |
| 20pt to 24pt | Larger panels, heavier contents, cartons that need to stand up on a shelf without bowing |
Board type matters as much as thickness. Solid bleached board gives a bright white printing surface on both sides. Clay coated news back has a white front and a grey inside, and costs less. Kraft board prints brown and is chosen for the look as much as the price. If you are unsure what your product needs, what paperboard thickness to use works through it.
Common styles
- Straight tuck end. Both flaps tuck from the back, so the front panel stays clean.
- Reverse tuck end. Flaps tuck from opposite sides, cheaper on material, slightly more visible seam.
- Auto bottom. Pre-glued base that locks when erected, for weight and speed. Covered at auto bottom boxes.
- Seal end. Glued shut after filling, used where a sealed pack is expected.
- Sleeve. A band with no ends at all, wrapped around a tray or a product.
Printing
Digital printing has no plate step, which makes it efficient for short runs and for versioning where every box is slightly different. Offset uses plates and gets cheaper per unit as the quantity climbs, with tighter colour control on large solid areas. On a 100 unit order the print method is chosen for you based on the artwork and the finish. On a large repeat run it is worth a conversation, because the crossover point moves with coverage and colour count.
Where folding cartons stop working
Paperboard has a ceiling. If the contents are heavy, if the box needs to survive being the shipper on its own, or if you want a box that holds its shape when empty and gets kept, you are looking at rigid or corrugated instead. The honest comparison is on rigid boxes vs folding cartons, including where the cost lines cross.
Minimum, price and lead time
The minimum is 100 boxes. Bulk pricing starts at about $0.48 per unit, and the number that applies depends on size, caliper, board type, print coverage and finish, so it is confirmed on the written quote. The die and plates, design support, free US shipping and a digital proof before printing are included in the order, which means a first run does not carry separate tooling.
Turnaround is stated per product across three lanes: rush (expedited production plus air freight, with a premium of about 7 to 25% depending on the job), standard (air), and cost saver (sea) for the lowest freight cost and the longest wait. The floor is from about 7 business days plus 2 to 5 for delivery, and specialty imported items can run up to about 12 weeks. Cartons are produced at our West Chicago plant in the United States and our Guangzhou plant in China.
Send your inside dimensions, the style you want and your quantity to /quote/, and ask for the flat dieline with the proof so you can lay artwork out against the real creases.
