Custom Business Card Packaging
Custom business card packaging sized to your card and count — a tuck box for 100 or 250, a rigid case for a premium run, a sleeve for a stack — from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
A business card box is the first thing the client judges
- Board
- 18–20pt boxboard tuck; wrapped grayboard 1.2–1.5 mm rigid; 300 gsm sleeves
- Builds
- Tuck-end carton, rigid case, sleeve or band, dispenser box
- Sizing
- Card plus 2 mm; depth from the caliper and count
Get a price for Business Card Packaging
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.
Sizing to the card and the count
Cards vary in caliper from 300 gsm to 900 gsm duplexed, and the box depth follows. Send a stack of 50 and we measure it.
| Standard 3.5 × 2 in / 85 × 55 mm, 100 cards on 350 gsm | About 90 × 60 × 40 mm internal |
|---|---|
| 250 cards | About 90 × 60 × 95 mm |
| 500 cards | About 90 × 60 × 185 mm, or two boxes of 250 |
| Thick cotton or duplex cards | Depth doubles; check the caliper |
Tuck box, rigid case or sleeve
Our rigid business card boxes for premium runs cover the case in detail.
- Tuck-end carton in 18–20pt board — the print-shop standard; ships flat; printed with the shop's brand.
- Rigid case with a lift-off or hinged lid — for a premium run; the client keeps it on the desk.
- Belly band or sleeve around a shrink-wrapped stack — the cheapest, for cards inside another box.
- A dispenser box with a thumb cut-out — cards pulled one at a time from a drawer or a bag.
Print shops: one box, every client
A commercial printer ships hundreds of card jobs a month. One printed tuck box in two or three depths, with the shop's brand and a label panel for the client name and the quantity, covers every job. It is bought in thousands, costs cents, and is the difference between a job that arrives and a job that is presented.
Brands: the case on the desk
A brand printing premium cards — thick cotton, foil, edge color — puts them in a rigid case with a foil mark that matches the card. The case holds 50–100 cards, sits on a desk or in a bag, and is refilled from a tuck box. The foil die is shared between the card and the case.
A dispenser cut-out on the case lets one card be slid out without opening the lid. It is the feature people notice.
Keeping cards flat and clean
A box with room lets cards slide and dent at the corners. Boxes are cut to the stack plus 2 mm, with a plain interior, and a shrink or a paper band around the stack inside a rigid case. Cotton and uncoated cards mark easily; a tissue layer top and bottom keeps the top card clean.
Business Card Packaging — 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
- Board
- 18–20pt boxboard tuck; wrapped grayboard 1.2–1.5 mm rigid; 300 gsm sleeves
- Builds
- Tuck-end carton, rigid case, sleeve or band, dispenser box
- Sizing
- Card plus 2 mm; depth from the caliper and count
- Full color; foil to match the card; label panel for print shops
- Interior
- Plain; tissue for cotton and uncoated cards
- Options
- Thumb cut-out dispenser; window
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. Both sides as standard on cards, tags and leaflets.
- Color
- CMYK with spot colors for a brand match. Uncoated and cotton stocks print noticeably lighter than coated ones.
- Tolerance
- Trim plus or minus 1 mm guillotined, plus or minus 0.5 mm die-cut. Anything over about 170gsm is creased before folding.
- Tooling
- A die only where the piece is shaped, perforated or drilled, made once and kept. A plain rectangle needs none.
- Food contact
- Food-safe inks on menus and counter print that will be handled where food is served.
- Sustainability
- Uncoated and unlaminated stocks recycle without separation, and FSC papers are available across the range.
- 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 business card packaging on
Sheet print is judged in the hand more than a box is: the weight, the surface and whether a pen works on it. These are the stocks we run for cards, folders, leaflets and stationery.
Coated card 300–400gsm
The workhorse. Sharp full-color print, matte or gloss, laminated where it is handled. Does not take a pen unless the finish is matte.
300–400gsmUncoated card
No clay coat. Colors read softer and warmer, a deboss goes deeper, and it writes on with anything. Photographs lose punch.
300–400gsmCotton and textured card
Soft, thick and fibrous. Takes a deep blind deboss and reads as an invitation. Foil sits beautifully; four-color does not.
400–700gsmDuplexed card
Two sheets bonded, often with a colored core, for a very thick card with a visible colored edge. The heaviest thing we print.
600–900gsmText paper 100–170gsm
Leaflets, folder inners and booklet pages. Folds without cracking and takes a full-color print on both faces.
100–170gsmManila and kraft paper
Unbleached, tan, and cheap. One or two colors read well; white ink gives a light mark. Envelopes, folders and tags.
90–300gsmSynthetic stock
Polypropylene sheet for tags and cards that get wet, torn or handled outdoors. Prints like paper and does not soften.
200–400 micronBoard-backed
A printed face laminated to grayboard, for a rigid card, a folder back or a display that has to stand up on its own.
1–2 mm boardNot 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.
Sheet print takes the widest range of finishes of anything we make.
Matte lamination
Soft, fingerprint-resistant, and it still takes a pen. The default on anything handled.
Gloss lamination
Maximum color depth. Shows every fingerprint and refuses a ballpoint.
Hot foil
Gold, rose gold, silver, holographic or a color. The block is small so the die is cheap.
Emboss and deboss
Deepest on uncoated and cotton stocks; shallow and prone to cracking on gloss coated.
Spot UV
A gloss shape on a matte laminate. Best on a dark ground where the contrast reads.
Edge paint and colored core
Color on the cut edge of a thick or duplexed card. Only seen when the card is picked up, which is the point.
Soft-touch
A velvet laminate on a cover or a folder. Marks on white; excellent on dark.
Uncoated and textured
No film at all. Writes on, debosses deeply, and reads as considered rather than cheap.
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 printed sheets, folds and the grain: business card packaging
A printed piece is specified flat and finished folded, and the difference between the two is where mistakes live. Send the finished size you want and we work back to the flat.
- Finished size
- The size after folding and trimming. A6, A5, A4, DL, US letter and legal are standard; anything else is cut on its own die.
- Bleed and safe area
- 3 mm of artwork past every trim edge, and nothing important within 4 mm inside it. The guillotine drifts by a fraction on every stack.
- Grain direction
- Paper folds cleanly along the grain and cracks across it. We set the grain to the fold, which is why a sheet is not simply cut from the biggest sheet available.
- Fold allowance
- On a roll fold or a gate fold, the inner panels are cut a millimeter or two shorter so the piece closes flat.
- Creasing
- Anything over about 170gsm is creased before folding. Without it the fold cracks and the coating flakes along the line.
- Trim tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm guillotined, plus or minus 0.5 mm die-cut.
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
Spec your Business Card Packaging
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a stock 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 business card packaging? 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 size box do 250 business cards need?
About 90 × 60 × 95 mm for standard 350 gsm cards. Thick cotton or duplex cards need up to twice the depth, so send a stack of 50 to measure.
Can I have one box for all my clients?
Yes, a printed tuck box with a label panel for the client name and quantity, in two or three depths.
Do you make rigid cases for premium cards?
Yes, with a foil mark to match the card and a dispenser cut-out if wanted.
Can the box hold 500 cards?
Yes, in a deep box or as two boxes of 250, which is easier to handle.
Will the cards dent in the box?
Not in a box cut to the stack plus 2 mm. Room is what lets cards slide and dent.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Does it ship flat?
Tuck boxes and sleeves do. Rigid cases ship assembled.
Can the case have a window?
Yes, on a tuck box or a case, over the top card.
Can I get cards out without opening the lid?
Yes, with a thumb cut-out on the case that lets one card slide out.
Do you match the foil to the cards?
Yes. The same foil die and color are used on the case and, if we print them, the cards.
Can the box be branded for a print shop?
Yes, with the shop's brand printed and a panel for each job's details.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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