How Custom Packaging Is Manufactured: From Brief to Delivery

Custom packaging is made in five stages: enquiry and specification, dieline and artwork, proof approval, production and delivery. In production, board is printed as flat sheets, finished, then cut and creased on a die-cutter; cartons and mailers are folded and glued and delivered flat, while rigid boxes are wrapped and assembled. Knowing the order of the steps helps you see where your decisions matter and what takes time.

The five stages at a glance

Every custom packaging job follows the same route, whether it is a short run of mailer boxes or a long run of cartons. What changes from job to job is how many production steps sit inside stage four.

Stage 1: enquiry and specification

The job starts with a specification: what the box is, how big it is inside, what it is made from, how it is printed and finished, and how many you need. It does not need to be complete. Many buyers send product sizes and a description, and we recommend the style, board and finish.

The specification is what the quotation prices and what the proof is later checked against, so it is worth getting right. Our packaging specification template lists every field, and our guide on how to measure a box covers the dimensions.

Stage 2: dieline and artwork

A dieline is the flat drawing of your box: every cut line, crease and glue area, drawn to your internal dimensions with the board thickness allowed for. It is the template your artwork is designed on. Our guide to what a dieline is explains how to read one.

Artwork is then placed on the dieline and checked in pre-press. The usual checks are:

• bleed extends past every cut line, and important text sits inside the safe area;
• images are high enough resolution for print, and colours are set up as CMYK or named Pantone references rather than RGB;
• fonts are embedded or converted to outlines;
• barcodes are the right size, colour and position to scan;
• panels read the right way up once the box is folded, including the inside of any lid.

If artwork arrives with problems, this is where they are found and fixed, not on press. Our print-ready artwork checklist covers each check.

Stage 3: proof approval

Before anything is printed, you receive a digital proof: your artwork on the dieline, usually with a visual of the folded box. You check it panel by panel and approve it in writing. Approval locks the artwork, the size and the specification.

The proof is the last point at which changes are simple. After approval, sheets are printed and cut, and a change usually means starting again. Ask about sample options when you request your quotation if you want to see or handle the box before a full run.

Stage 4: production

Production depends on the type of box. The steps below are in the order they usually happen for a printed carton; mailers, corrugated boxes and rigid boxes share most of them and add their own.

Board and sheet layout

Board is cut to press-sheet size. In pre-press the blanks are laid out on the sheet, often several to a sheet and turned to nest together, to use as little board as possible. Grain direction is set so the main creases fold cleanly and panels stay flat.

Printing

The printed face is produced first, while the board is still a flat sheet. Three print methods cover most packaging.

Our guide to litho vs digital printing explains how the method is chosen.

Printing on corrugated board

Corrugated boxes and mailer boxes are printed in one of two ways. For the sharpest full-colour print, a paper liner is printed by litho and then laminated onto the fluted board, a process known as litho-laminating. For simpler graphics, the corrugated sheet itself is printed digitally or by flexo. Both are then die-cut like a carton.

Lamination and coating

Lamination bonds a thin film over the print to protect it and set the finish: matt, gloss or soft-touch. It is applied across the whole sheet after printing and before cutting. Free Lamination is standard on every order. Water-based and UV coatings are the liquid alternatives, applied on or after the press. Our lamination guide compares the finishes.

Foil blocking, embossing and spot UV

Embellishments are added next, each as its own pass. Foil blocking presses metallic or coloured foil onto the sheet with a heated die. Embossing and debossing press the board between matched dies to raise or recess a design. Spot UV lays a clear gloss coating on selected areas and cures it under ultraviolet light. Each needs its own setup and registration to the print.

Die-cutting and creasing

The finished sheet goes through a die-cutter with a cutting forme made to your dieline: a board set with steel rules bent to the shape of the box. Sharp rules cut the outline and rounded rules press the creases, in a single stroke. No Die Charges are standard on every order.

Waste board between the blanks is then stripped away, leaving individual flat blanks. If the box has a window, a clear film patch is glued over the opening at this point; see window patching.

Folding and gluing

Folding cartons run through a folder-gluer, which folds the blank and glues the side seam so the carton can be delivered flat and squared open at packing. Crash-lock bottom cartons have extra glue points set on the base during this pass, and the first cartons off the machine are checked to make sure the base locks. Most mailer boxes need no gluing: they fold up from the flat blank using tabs and locking flaps.

Making rigid boxes

Rigid boxes are made differently. Greyboard, usually 1.5–3 mm thick, is cut into panels and formed into a shell, with the corners either taped with corner stays or V-grooved so the board folds into a crisp edge. The printed and laminated wrap paper is glued onto the shell and turned in over every edge, then the inside is lined to hide the turn-ins.

For magnetic closure boxes, magnets are set into the lid flap and the base before the wrap goes on, so they are hidden. Ribbons, pull tabs and inserts are fitted last. Much of this work is done by hand or on semi-automatic machines, one box at a time, which is why rigid boxes take longer than cartons and arrive assembled, unless a collapsible style is chosen.

Inserts

Inserts are made alongside the box. Card and corrugated inserts are die-cut in the same way as cartons; foam inserts are cut from sheets; moulded pulp is formed in a tool. The insert is sized from your product and the box from the insert. See custom box inserts.

Quality checks

Checks run through production rather than only at the end: colour and register against the approved proof on press, cut accuracy after die-cutting, glue and base lock on the folder-gluer, and wrap, corners and magnets on rigid boxes. Counts are checked before packing.

Stage 5: packing and delivery

Flat cartons and mailers are bundled and packed into corrugated outer cartons. Rigid boxes are packed assembled, with protection between them so wraps and corners are not marked. Delivery is included on every order. Your quotation confirms the delivery address and timing.

What takes time

There is no single production time for custom packaging, because the steps differ from job to job. What takes time, in rough order of how often it matters:

• Artwork and proofing. Revisions, missing files and internal approvals on the buyer's side are the most common source of delay.
• Board and paper. Standard boards are usually easy to source; speciality papers, unusual thicknesses and coloured boards can take longer.
• Finishing. Each finish is a separate pass with its own setup, and some coatings and adhesives need time to dry or cure before the next step.
• Hand assembly. Rigid boxes, magnetic closures and fitted inserts scale with quantity in a way that printed cartons do not.
• Quantity. Larger runs spend longer on each machine.

Tell us your required delivery date and our team will confirm whether the timing is achievable. Our guide to custom packaging lead times explains how to plan backwards from a launch.

Common mistakes

• Changing the size after the dieline is drawn. A new size means a new dieline, new artwork layout and a new proof.
• Sending RGB or low-resolution artwork. It has to be corrected in pre-press, which adds a round of proofing.
• Approving the proof in a hurry. Anything on the approved proof is what gets printed, including mistakes.
• Asking for several finishes on the same small area. Foil, emboss and spot UV each need space and registration; too many on one logo can crowd each other.
• Forgetting the inside. Inside print, lid orientation and insert fit all have to be decided before the proof, not after.

When you are ready to start, send your product sizes, quantity and any artwork through the quote form.