Order custom folding cartons from ZEE Packaging for retail and product packaging. Choose from tuck-end, straight tuck, reverse tuck, auto-lock, sleeve, and other carton styles with custom sizes, branded printing, durable paperboard, and premium finishing options.
If your dream packaging isn’t listed above, we’ll custom-create it just for you. Shoot us a message and our packaging wizards love a good challenge!
If you have ever picked up a cereal box, a toothpaste carton or a bottle of supplement off a shelf, you have already held a folding carton. It is the most produced style of paperboard packaging on earth, and honestly it is the one we print most often here at ZEE Packaging too.
The reason is simple. A folding carton ships flat, stores flat, costs less than almost any other packaging type, and still takes print beautifully. For most brands that is the sweet spot.
A folding carton is a sheet of paperboard, printed flat, then die-cut, creased and glued into shape of containers like tuck end, gable top, pillow shape and many more. It arrives flat and pops up when you need it. That is the whole trick and it is why carton packaging beats rigid boxes on freight costs almost every time.
Rigid boxes come pre-assembled and take up a huge amount of space in a truck. Folding carton packaging don't. You can fit thousands of them in the space that holds a few hundred rigid boxes.
We also build trays and hoods, five-panel hangers, double-wall carton packaging and pretty much any custom dieline you throw at us.
People ask us for standard folding carton packaging sizes all the time and there really isnt one. Every carton is built around what goes inside it. That said, here is what we see over and over:
Give us your product dimensions, including any cap or pump height, and we will adjust the dieline so it fits snugly without crushing.
This is where most folding carton projects go wrong. Too thin and it bows; too thick and it won’t crease cleanly.
Rough guide, 230 GSM up to 650 GSM covers nearly all folding carton work.
We run offset, digital and screen presses. Which one we use depends on your quantity.
Color options include CMYK plus PMS spot colors. Ink can be soy-based, water-based or oil-based, and we default to soy for eco-friendly carton packaging.
A soft-touch folding carton with a foil logo reads as premium instantly, and it costs far less than a rigid box doing the same job.
Our prepress team checks every file, but you save a lot of back-and-forth if you send it clean:
Barcodes need a proper quiet zone, and we always check that before going to press. There is nothing worse than a carton that scans wrong at checkout.
Paperboard carton packaging is already one of the easier formats to recycle, and dropping the lamination makes it easier still.
What is the cost per unit for folding cartons?
Our folding cartons estimated cost is $0.25 to $3.95 per unit at moderate quantities, depending on board, style, size and finishing. Foiling and window patching push it higher. Shipping is included in our price. This is estimate only, so ask our team for an exact quote.
Auto-lock bottom or snap-lock: which one?
Choose an auto-lock bottom if you are packing by hand at volume; it saves real time. Snap-lock is cheaper, but someone has to fold it. For heavy products, we lean toward auto-lock every time.
Can a folding carton hold a glass jar safely?
Yes, with the right board. We would put you on 20 pt or above and probably suggest an insert. Below 16 pt, a glass jar can cause the panel to bow.
How many colors can you print?
We can print up to six colors, inside or outside, using CMYK plus Pantone spot colors. Most carton packaging jobs use four plus one spot.
Do you supply the dieline or do we?
Either way works. We build one for you free of charge, or if your designer already has one, send it and we will check it against our tooling.
Why does my carton crease look cracked?
Usually, the board is too thick for the score, or there is heavy ink coverage on the fold. We adjust the score depth to fix it, and it is one reason we always proof first.
Can you do a window without plastic?
Yes, a plain die-cut opening with no patch. It is fully recyclable but obviously offers no dust protection.
Whats the fastest you can deliver?
Urgent turnaround is 5 to 8 business days after artwork approval. Foil and window patching sometimes add a day or two.
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