Spec sheets are full of jargon that wastes buyer time. This guide is the plain-language version we use with customers every day — what each material is, what it costs relative to alternatives, and when it is the wrong choice.
Every style is made to your dieline — size, wall thickness and closure are engineered around your product, not picked from a catalog.
Flute height is the trade between print surface and strength: E for crisp brand print, C for shipping economy, double wall for heavy or fragile.
Rigid box feel scales with board thickness: 1.0–1.5mm for small boxes, 2.0–3.0mm for lids that must not flex. Tolerance ±0.1mm.
C1S for best print, FBB for stiffness at lower weight, kraft for eco stories. Same design reads differently on each.
Metric buyers use gsm, US buyers use points. 350gsm ≈ 16pt. We quote both so internal specs never get misread.
Varnish < lamination in protection; soft-touch lamination adds the velvet feel buyers associate with premium brands.
Foil, emboss and spot UV are the three levers of perceived value — usually one well-placed accent outperforms three.
The five grades that cover 95% of custom packaging decisions.
| Material | Weight / Thickness | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| C1S (coated 1 side) | 250–400 gsm | Best print surface for cartons and bags; slightly lower stiffness than FBB. |
| FBB / GC1-GC2 | 250–350 gsm | Ivory back, high stiffness-to-weight; premium retail default. |
| Kraft | 120–350 gsm | Natural or bleached; eco positioning, food-contact options, bold single-color print. |
| Greyboard / chipboard | 1.0–3.0 mm | Rigid box core, wrapped with printed or specialty paper. |
| Corrugated (E/B/C/BC) | 1.5–7.0 mm | Shipping and mailers; white-top liner available on all flutes. |
FSC-certified equivalents exist for every grade above — ask for them in the quote if certification matters to your market.
Every finish below runs in-house — no outsourcing means consistent color across reorders.
Matte lamination plus one foil accent on the logo. It photographs well, survives shipping, and costs little more than plain print. Add spot UV once the brand can justify it.
Most soft-touch films are thin polypropylene and are accepted in mixed-paper streams in major markets, but not universally. If recyclability is a hard requirement, use varnish or uncoated stock instead — we will flag it on the quote.
Yes — we mail a free swatch book with board, paper and finish samples worldwide. Request it through the inquiry form and mention "swatch book".
Share your specs and target quantity — you will get a detailed quote, not a generic brochure.