Custom Branded Brown Bags
Custom branded brown bags from 100 — natural kraft shopping bags with twisted or flat paper handles, printed with your logo in one or more colors for shops, cafés, bakeries and takeaway counters.
Plain brown paper with your name on the side
- Paper
- Natural kraft 70–130 gsm; base card and handle patch for heavy loads
- Handles
- Twisted paper, flat paper, die-cut, or no handle
- Sizes
- Small, medium and large retail sizes; wide-gusset food bags
Order online
Order branded brown bags
Starting from $1.10 per unit
Printed to your artwork or plain, sold in runs of 100 up to 5,000 units per product online. Freight to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is inside the price.
How an online order runs
- Add the units you needThen check out with your delivery address. Add other products to the same order on the way.
- A digital proof comes backLaid on the dieline, before anything prints. Change it as often as you need.
- Pay once you approve itPay by PayPal invoice or bank transfer after you approve your digital proof, or cash on delivery in the US and Canada.
- We make it and ship it deliveredYour delivery date is confirmed with the proof, against the spec and your fill date. Freight and customs are handled on the way to you.
Another size, board or finish, or more than 5,000 units? Send the spec for a price instead. Freight by market and our terms cover delivery and remakes.
Get a price for Branded Brown Bags
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Twisted handles or flat handles
| Twisted paper handle | Rope-like grip glued inside the top; the classic retail bag |
|---|---|
| Flat paper handle | Paper strip folded flat; lighter, cheaper, fine for takeaway |
| Die-cut handle | A hole punched through a reinforced top; no separate handle |
| No handle | Flat-bottom grocery or bakery bag carried in the arms |
How ink behaves on brown paper
Kraft is brown and absorbent, so ink sinks in and colors print darker and softer than on white. Black, dark brown, deep green and navy read crisply. Light colors and pale pastels nearly disappear unless they are printed over a white base layer first. Fine type below about 7 pt can fill in, so we suggest a heavier weight of your typeface for small text.
A large logo in one dark color is the most common choice. It costs the least and looks the most at home on the paper.
Sizing the bag to what goes in it
- Small bags for jewelry, cosmetics and single items, around 6 x 3 x 9 in.
- Medium bags for apparel and gifts, around 10 x 5 x 13 in.
- Large bags for shoe boxes and bulky items, around 16 x 6 x 12 in.
- Wide-gusset food bags sized to a takeaway container so it sits level.
Paper weight and load
Bag paper is specified by weight. A light 70 to 90 gsm kraft is plenty for a sandwich or a single garment. A shop bag that carries books, bottles of sauce or several boxes needs 110 to 130 gsm paper, a base card in the bottom and a handle patch inside the top. Tell us the heaviest thing that will go in, and we will choose the paper for that. See our full range of paper bags for white and colored options.
Brown bags for food counters
Takeaway counters use brown bags with flat handles or none, wide gussets and food-safe inks on the outside. A greaseproof liner or a tissue wrap stops oil from fried food soaking through. For hot meals, our guide to packaging hot food to go covers containers, venting and bags together.
Send the items the bag will carry, the handle you prefer and your logo. That sets the size, the paper weight and the print.
Branded Brown Bags — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Paper
- Natural kraft 70–130 gsm; base card and handle patch for heavy loads
- Handles
- Twisted paper, flat paper, die-cut, or no handle
- Sizes
- Small, medium and large retail sizes; wide-gusset food bags
- One to four colors; white base under light colors; food-safe inks
- Finish
- Uncoated natural kraft; optional water-based varnish
- Minimum
- 100 bags
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build branded brown bags on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetalized and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: branded brown bags
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Branded Brown Bags in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about branded brown bags? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What colors print well on branded brown bags?
Dark colors such as black, brown, navy and deep green. Light colors fade into kraft unless printed over a white base.
Are twisted or flat handles better on branded brown bags?
Twisted handles are stronger and feel more like a retail bag; flat handles are lighter and cheaper, fine for takeaway.
How much weight can a branded brown bag hold?
It depends on the paper weight. Heavier kraft with a base card and a handle patch carries books or bottles; light kraft suits single items.
Can branded brown bags be used for takeaway food?
Yes, with wide gussets, food-safe inks and a greaseproof liner if the food is oily.
Can I print on both sides of a branded brown bag?
Yes. Both faces and the gussets can be printed, in one or more colors.
Are branded brown bags recyclable?
Yes. Kraft paper bags with paper handles are recyclable and compostable in most programs.
What size branded brown bag do I need for clothing?
A medium bag around 10 x 5 x 13 in carries most folded garments; shoe boxes need a large bag.
Will small text print clearly on a branded brown bag?
Text below about 7 pt can fill in on absorbent kraft. A heavier font weight keeps small text readable.
Can branded brown bags have a die-cut handle?
Yes. A reinforced top with a punched handle hole needs no separate handle.
Do branded brown bags come with a flat bottom?
Yes. Bags are made with a square flat bottom so they stand open on a counter for packing.
Can branded brown bags be printed in full color?
Yes, though colors print softer on kraft. A white base layer under the artwork brightens a full-color design.
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