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Box Styles & Construction
Construction guides for every structure we make, with side-by-side comparisons where the choice is close. Each style page covers what the box suits, where it falls short and what to specify.
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Box Styles & Construction
Choosing the right box construction: a decision guide
Box construction follows how the product travels, what it weighs and what the box is for after opening. Rigid boxes suit products that are given or kept; folding cartons…
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Crash-lock vs snap lock bottom: strength, speed and cost
Crash-lock (auto lock) and snap lock (1-2-3) bottoms both replace a tuck base with four interlocking flaps. A crash-lock base is pre-glued during converting and locks…
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Magnetic closure vs lid and base boxes
Magnetic closure and lid and base boxes are both rigid greyboard boxes wrapped in printed paper. A magnetic box is one piece, with a hinged lid and a front flap held by…
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Mailer box construction: roll-end tuck front and its variants
Most custom mailer boxes use the roll-end tuck front construction, FEFCO 0427: one die-cut corrugated blank whose side walls roll over into double thickness, with a…
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Mailer boxes vs folding cartons
A mailer box is a corrugated box built to travel through the post as the outer packaging and be opened by the customer. A folding carton is a lighter printed paperboard…
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Rigid boxes vs folding cartons: how to choose
Choose a rigid box when the packaging is part of the product experience: it will be given, photographed or kept, and its perceived value supports the price of what is…
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Straight tuck vs reverse tuck end: which should you choose?
Straight tuck and reverse tuck end cartons are the same one-piece folding carton with one difference. On a straight tuck both lids hinge from the back panel; on a reverse…
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Covered in depth on these pages
Box style
Straight Tuck End Boxes
Straight tuck end (STE) boxes are printed paperboard cartons with a tuck closure at each end, both hinged from the same panel. They suit light retail products, up to a…
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Reverse Tuck End Boxes
Reverse tuck end (RTE) boxes are printed paperboard cartons whose top and bottom tucks close in opposite directions. They are the workhorse carton for light personal-care…
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Crash-lock Bottom Boxes
Crash-lock bottom boxes, also called auto lock or auto-bottom cartons, have a four-flap base that is partly glued at the converting stage and locks itself when the carton…
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Snap Lock Bottom Boxes
Snap lock bottom (1-2-3 bottom) boxes have a hand-folded interlocking base and usually a tuck top. They sit between a tuck end and a crash-lock: stronger than the first,…
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Magnetic closure boxes
Magnetic closure boxes are one-piece rigid boxes: a wrapped greyboard tray glued into a wrapped cover whose lid folds over the top and whose front flap closes onto…
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Lid and base boxes
Lid and base boxes, also called two-piece rigid boxes or telescope boxes, are made from two wrapped greyboard trays: a base and a lid that fits over it, covering all or…
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Drawer boxes
Drawer boxes, also called slide boxes or sleeve and tray boxes, are two-part rigid boxes: a wrapped greyboard tray that slides out of a wrapped sleeve, pulled by a…
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Collapsible rigid boxes
Collapsible rigid boxes, also called foldable or flat-pack rigid boxes, are wrapped greyboard boxes whose walls fold flat for delivery and storage, then fold up at…
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Book-style boxes
Book-style boxes are rigid boxes built like a hardback book: a greyboard case with front board, spine and back board, wrapped in paper, with a tray glued to the back…
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Shoulder and neck boxes
Shoulder and neck boxes, often called shoulder boxes, are rigid boxes made of a lid, a base and an inner neck. The neck is glued inside the base and projects above it;…
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Sleeve and Slipcase Boxes
Sleeves and slipcases are open-ended outer packaging. Carton sleeves are the most economical way to brand plain boxes, trays and multipacks; rigid sleeves and slipcases…
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Window Boxes
Window boxes combine a printed carton with a view of the product. They suit anything that sells on colour, shape or texture: cosmetics, toys, food, candles, accessories…
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