Custom Cardboard Shoe Boxes
Custom cardboard shoe boxes with a lift-off lid, sized to your shoe and its size run, printed on the lid and labeled on the end, from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
The box a customer keeps under the bed for a decade
- Board
- E flute white or kraft liner; B flute for boots
- Builds
- Two-piece lift-off lid, one-piece hinged, shallow-lid sneaker box
- Sizing
- Two or three box sizes across the size run; tissue and form included
Get a price for Cardboard Shoe Boxes
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 shoe and the size run
A brand runs two or three box sizes across its size range rather than one per size. The largest shoe in each band sets the box, and the smaller sizes sit with tissue.
| Women's flats and sneakers, sizes 35–42 | About 300 × 180 × 100 mm |
|---|---|
| Men's sneakers and shoes, sizes 40–47 | About 330 × 200 × 120 mm |
| Boots | About 340 × 230 × 150 mm and up; sized to the shaft |
| Children's | About 220 × 140 × 80 mm |
Lid and base
- Two-piece: a base tray and a full-depth lift-off lid — the standard, stacks, keeps its shape.
- One-piece hinged: the lid attached at the back — cheaper, ships flat, less premium.
- A shallow lid on a deep base for a sneaker box that shows the shoes on opening.
- Locked corners on the base so it is folded at the factory or at the bench without glue.
Board for the stack
Shoe boxes stack ten high on a stockroom shelf and are pulled from the middle. E flute with a white or kraft liner for most; B flute for boots and heavy shoes. A single-wall boxboard box bows under a stack and is not used above children's sizes. Our shoe boxes in every construction cover the drawer and window formats.
The end label, and the lid print
The end panel is what a stockroom reads: style, color, size, barcode. It is printed as a blank panel and labeled, or printed per size where the run justifies it. The lid carries the brand, full color or one color on kraft, and the inside of the lid is a place for a message or a care note.
Tissue, a shoe form and a silica sachet are the usual contents beside the shoes, and the box is sized with them in.
Shipping shoe boxes
A shoe box is not a shipper. It goes to a customer inside a mailer or a plain carton with 15 mm of clearance, and to a store in a case of 6 or 12. Both outers are quoted with the box.
Cardboard Shoe Boxes — 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
- E flute white or kraft liner; B flute for boots
- Builds
- Two-piece lift-off lid, one-piece hinged, shallow-lid sneaker box
- Sizing
- Two or three box sizes across the size run; tissue and form included
- Full color or 1 color on lid; inside-lid print; end label panel
- Corners
- Locked, no glue; folds at the bench
- Outer
- Mailer or plain carton for direct; case of 6 or 12 for stores
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
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 cardboard shoe boxes 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.
280–350gsmMetallised 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: cardboard shoe boxes
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 Cardboard Shoe Boxes 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 cardboard shoe boxes? 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.
Do I need a box for every shoe size?
No. Two or three box sizes cover a size run, each set by the largest shoe in its band.
Two-piece or hinged lid?
Two-piece for stacking and a premium feel; hinged for a cheaper box that ships flat.
Will the boxes stack in a stockroom?
Yes, on E flute, ten high. Boxboard alone bows under a stack and is not used above children's sizes.
Can the end panel be labeled per size?
Yes, printed as a blank panel for a label, or printed per size on a large run.
Does it ship flat?
Yes, with locked corners that fold without glue at the bench.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Can the inside of the lid be printed?
Yes, a message or a care note in one color.
Is a shoe box strong enough to post on its own?
No. It goes inside a mailer or a carton, which we quote with it.
Kraft or white?
Kraft with one color for a natural brand; white for full color.
Do you make boot boxes?
Yes, in B flute, sized to the shaft height.
Do you keep the dies?
Yes, per size, so a reorder or a new print skips the tooling.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
Same range
