| Box Style | As Mention Above |
|---|---|
| Dimension (L + W + H) | All Custom Sizes & Shapes |
| Minimum Run ( For Boxes and Mylar Bags) | 100 Boxes - 1000 Mylar Bags ( 500 each design) |
| Paper Stock | 10pt to 28pt (60lb to 400lb) Eco-Friendly Kraft, E-flute Corrugated, Bux Board, Cardstock |
| Printing | No Printing, CMYK, CMYK + 1 PMS color, CMYK + 2 PMS colors |
| Finishing | Gloss Lamination, Matte Lamination, Gloss AQ, Gloss UV, Matte UV, Spot UV, Embossing, Foiling |
| Included Options | Die Cutting, Gluing, Scored,Perforation |
| Additional Options | Eco-Friendly, Recycled Boxes, Biodegradable |
| Proof | Flat View, 3D Mock-up, Physical Sampling (On request) |
| Turnaround | 7 - 8 Business Days |
| Shipping | FLAT Position |
We use eco-friendly cardboard materials designed to minimize environmental impact and reduce waste.
Kraft paper is a sturdy, durable, and dependable material used across multiple industries.
Rigid material is highly protective, cost-effective, and recyclable, offering maximum durability and security.
Corrugated material is customizable, cost-effective, and sustainable, making it an excellent choice for branding and shipping.
Enhance your product packaging with our premium foil stamping for a sophisticated touch.
Our high-gloss UV coating enhances shine and provides a sleek, protective finish to your printed materials.
Our glossy finish adds a sleek, eye-catching shine to your packaging.
Holographic foil refracts light, creating a stunning rainbow effect from different angles.
Our embossing technique captures the finest details, adding depth and elegance to your packaging.
Our debossing technique imprints unique graphics into your packaging, creating a refined and tactile effect.
Our matte finish reduces the visibility of fingerprints and smudges, keeping your packaging looking clean and refined.
We apply a soft-touch lamination that adds an extra layer of protection, preventing toner chipping.
Getting Your Artwork Right the First Time
Brookings has a mix of businesses that mostly design their own packaging SDSU spinouts, small food and agricultural producers, ecommerce sellers and local retailers. Many are working with a designer for the first time, or acting as their own.
This page covers what we actually need from you and what causes the most rework.
Step 1: Get the Dieline First
Do not design the artwork before you have the dieline. This is the single most common cause of wasted design time.
A dieline is the flat template of your box, showing every panel, fold, glue tab and cut line. Artwork designed on a rectangle and then forced onto a dieline afterwards almost never fits correctly.
We produce your dieline free, based on your product dimensions. Send us your product size, or the product weight and type if you are unsure, and we will build the template before you or your designer starts work.
Step 2: File Formats
Best: AI, PDF or PSD with layers intact.
Acceptable: CDR, SVG, high-resolution PNG or JPG.
We accept up to 10 files. If your artwork exists only as a screenshot, a social media image, or a low-resolution logo pulled from a website, tell us. Free design support includes rebuilding artwork so it prints properly.
Step 3: Resolution
300 DPI at actual print size. Not 300 DPI at thumbnail size scaled up.
The most common problem we see is a logo that looks sharp on screen and prints blurry, because the file was 72 DPI screen resolution. If your logo is a vector file (AI, EPS or SVG), resolution does not apply and it will print sharp at any size. That is always the better option.
If you only have a raster logo, send us the largest version you have.
Step 4: Colour Mode
Set your file to CMYK, not RGB.
Screens use RGB. Printing uses CMYK. Bright screen colours especially vivid blues, greens and oranges cannot be reproduced exactly in CMYK, and converting an RGB file at the print stage causes colours to shift, usually duller than expected.
If your brand colour must match exactly across every reprint, use a PMS spot colour rather than CMYK. Full colour CMYK carries no per-colour charge. PMS costs extra because each spot colour is a separate ink, but it is the only way to guarantee an exact match.
If you are printing on kraft: brown board changes everything. Blues read muddy, and white will not print white without white ink. Ask for a proof on the actual stock before committing.
Step 5: Bleed and Safe Zones
Bleed means extending your background artwork past the cut line, usually by 3mm or an eighth of an inch. Cutting has small tolerances, and without bleed you get thin white slivers along the edges.
Safe zone means keeping important content logos, text, barcodes well inside the cut line. Anything sitting close to an edge risks being trimmed.
Folds matter as much as edges. Do not place a logo or key text across a crease. It will distort when the box is folded.
Glue tabs are hidden once the box is assembled. Any artwork printed there disappears.
Step 6: Text and Barcodes
Outline or embed your fonts. If fonts are not embedded, they substitute at our end and your layout changes. In AI, use Create Outlines. In PDF, embed all fonts on export.
Check text at actual size. Proofs are usually viewed enlarged. Zoom to real print size and confirm that ingredient panels, warnings and small print are still legible.
Barcodes need a quiet zone — a clear margin around the code with no artwork. Print barcodes in solid black on a light background, not in a brand colour, and not over a pattern.
QR codes should be at least 20mm square, black, on a clear area. Small QR codes printed in colour or over artwork frequently fail to scan.
Use matte lamination on dense text panels. Gloss reflects store lighting and makes small type harder to read. This matters for food, supplement and any product carrying regulatory text.
Step 7: Review the Proof Properly
Your 3D digital proof is free and takes ten minutes to check. Almost every expensive mistake is visible here.
Go through this list:
- Is any text or logo sitting on a fold?
- Is anything printed on a glue tab?
- Are front, back and side panels where you expect them?
- Is the barcode placed correctly, with clear space around it?
- Is all text legible at actual size?
- Are spellings, weights, contact details and web addresses correct?
Ten minutes here costs nothing. The same error found after 2,000 boxes have printed means paying twice.
Common Reasons Orders Get Delayed
Low-resolution logo. Fixable, but it takes a round of rework. Send vector if you have it.
RGB files. Colours shift on conversion, which usually means a new proof.
No bleed. Requires the artwork to be extended before production.
Missing fonts. Layout changes when fonts substitute, so the proof has to be redone.
Artwork designed without a dieline. The most expensive one, because it often means starting again.
Late changes to text. Adding an ingredient, a warning or a second language after approval usually means resizing the panel and reproofing. Decide your copy before layout, not after.
Materials and Specifications
| Stock | Thickness | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Cardstock | 18pt–24pt | Retail cartons, cosmetics, gifts |
| Kraft | 18pt–24pt | Food, bakery, agricultural and natural products |
| E-flute corrugated | 1.5mm | Light mailers |
| B-flute corrugated | 3mm | Heavier or fragile shipping |
| Double-wall corrugated | 6mm+ | Freight and heavy goods |
| Rigid board | 2mm+ | Premium gift and presentation |
Printing in CMYK with no per-colour charge, or CMYK plus one or two PMS colours. Finishing includes matte, gloss and soft touch lamination, spot UV, foil stamping, embossing and debossing. Die cutting, gluing, scoring and perforation are included.
Terms
- Minimum: 50 boxes
- Standard production: 8 to 12 working days after proof approval
- Rush: 4 to 6 working days
- Capacity: 500,000+ units monthly
- Included: dieline, design support, 3D digital proof, no die or plate charges
- Physical samples on request for bulk orders
Send your product dimensions or product weight and type, plus quantity and any artwork you have. We will return a dieline and an itemised quote within 24 hours.
