Custom Corrugated Cardboard Inserts
Custom corrugated cardboard inserts from 100 — die-cut cradles, platforms, end caps and suspension builds that hold a product still inside its box, replacing foam and loose fill with one recyclable material and making the pack faster at the bench.
The part of the box that does the protecting
- Board
- Corrugated E or B flute; kraft or white; printable
- Types
- Cradle, platform, end caps, suspension, divided
- Design
- Drawn from your product and drop-tested on a sample
Get a price for Corrugated Cardboard Inserts
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.
Four ways an insert holds a product
| Cradle | A die-cut cavity the product drops into; bottles, devices, jars |
|---|---|
| Platform | A raised deck with a cut-out; lifts the product for display |
| End caps | Two pieces at each end of a long product; lamps, rails, tubes |
| Suspension | Holds the product in the center with space on every side; ceramics, glass |
Drawn from the product
Inserts are drawn from the product itself, not from a stock shape. A sample, or a drawing with the critical dimensions, lets us cut a cavity that holds firmly without scuffing. The first sample is tested by packing the real product, closing the box and dropping it; the fit is adjusted from that, not from the drawing alone.
Corrugated against foam
For those cases, our foam inserts for delicate products are the alternative.
- Recycles with the box, so the customer has one material to deal with.
- Ships flat and folds up at the bench; foam takes space in storage.
- Holds shape under stacking; soft foam can compress over time.
- Foam still wins for very delicate electronics and irregular shapes.
Flute and finish
E flute makes neat, thin inserts for retail and subscription boxes and takes print; B flute gives more cushion for heavier products. A white or printed insert turns the inside of the box into part of the presentation, which is why premium mailers often print the insert rather than the outside.
Corrugated Cardboard Inserts — 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
- Corrugated E or B flute; kraft or white; printable
- Types
- Cradle, platform, end caps, suspension, divided
- Design
- Drawn from your product and drop-tested on a sample
- Plain or printed, 1–2 color or full color
- Pairing
- Supplied with a matching box or for your existing box
- Delivery
- Flat, folds at packing
- Minimum
- 100 inserts
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to four colors straight onto the liner; litho-lamination where the box needs full color or a photograph.
- Color
- Flat colors on kraft. Full color needs a white top liner or a laminated sheet, because brown shifts every color warm.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1.5 mm. The flute compresses, so corrugated runs wider than folding board.
- Tooling
- No die on a regular slotted box, which is cut on a slotter. Die-cut mailers and trays need one, made once and kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade liners and a vented build where the box carries hot food.
- Sustainability
- High recycled content through liners and flute as standard, and the box recycles whole if it is sealed with paper tape.
- 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 corrugated cardboard inserts on
Corrugated is a fluted sheet glued between two liners, and the flute decides nearly everything: how it prints, how it dents, how high it stacks. These are the grades we run.
E flute
About 1.5 mm. Prints well and folds crisply; dents under a stack. Retail boxes, mailers and light shippers.
1.5 mm, single wallB flute
About 3 mm. The working default for parcels — takes print reasonably and stacks reasonably. Most shipping boxes are B.
3 mm, single wallC flute
About 4 mm. More cushioning than B, slightly less stacking strength per weight. Common on grocery and produce cases.
4 mm, single wallBC double wall
B and C glued together, about 7 mm. Heavy or fragile goods, pallet stacking, anything over roughly 15 kg.
7 mm, double wallKraft liner
Brown, strong, absorbent. One or two flat colors flexo print well on it; photographs drink into the brown and go muddy.
Outer and inner linerWhite top liner
A bleached outer liner for full-color print on corrugated. Costs more and marks more easily than kraft.
Outer liner onlyRecycled-content corrugated
High post-consumer fiber through liners and flute. The default for shippers; a slightly grayer brown and no loss of strength at grade.
All flutesCoated and water-resistant
A coating or a wax-free barrier liner for damp stores and cold chains. Check the recycling stream before printing a claim on it.
B and C fluteNot 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.
Corrugated takes fewer finishes than folding board, and the ones it takes it takes well.
Flexo on kraft
One or two flat colors straight onto brown. Cheap, fast, honest.
Litho-lamination
An offset sheet glued to the flute: full color and photographs on a shipper.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance with no film, so the box still recycles whole.
White top print
Full color flexo on a bleached liner; brighter, and it marks more easily.
Inside print
A second pass on the inner liner — the panel a customer sees first.
Printed tape seal
The brand applied at the last moment, on paper tape that recycles with the box.
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 corrugated box against the carrier, not the catalog: corrugated cardboard inserts
Corrugated is cut to your internal size, so the box goes round the product rather than the product going into a stock size. That is where the money is: a box 20 mm smaller each way is often a whole postage band cheaper.
- Internal dimensions
- Length, width and depth of the space you need. Board thickness is added outside that, and the flute is thicker than people expect.
- Clearance and void fill
- 5–10 mm a side for a rigid product. Size it properly and you need no void fill at all, which is cheaper and better received.
- Stacking
- Tell us how high the boxes stack on a pallet or a shelf. Edge crush grade is specified from that, not guessed.
- Weight
- The contents weight sets the flute and the liner grade. Over about 15 kg we move to double wall.
- Score allowance
- Corrugated needs more room at the folds than boxboard. The dieline accounts for it; a box drawn from flat dimensions comes out tight.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1.5 mm on corrugated, wider than folding board because the flute compresses.
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 Corrugated Cardboard Inserts 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 corrugated cardboard inserts? 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 is a corrugated insert?
A die-cut piece of corrugated board inside a box that holds the product still.
Can inserts replace foam?
For most products, yes. Very delicate electronics may still need foam.
Do you design the insert from my product?
Yes, from a sample or drawing, then we test it by packing and dropping.
Can the insert fit my existing box?
Yes, give us the inside dimensions of the box.
Are corrugated inserts recyclable?
Yes, with the box.
Can inserts be printed?
Yes, plain, one or two colors, or full color.
What is a suspension insert?
One that holds the product in the middle with space on every side, for fragile goods.
Which flute should I use?
E flute for neat retail inserts; B flute for heavier products and more cushion.
Do inserts slow down packing?
Usually they speed it up, because nothing has to be wrapped or stuffed.
Do inserts ship flat?
Yes, and fold up at the bench.
What is the minimum order for corrugated inserts?
100 inserts per design, with or without a matching box.
How long do custom inserts take?
Sampling and a drop test come before the run. We give a date with the quote.
Same range
More corrugated boxes we make
20x20x20 Cardboard Boxes
100 boxes
Cardboard Boxes
100 boxes
Cardboard Boxes with Handles
100 boxes
Cardboard Boxes with Lid
100 boxes
Corrugated Box Dividers
100 sets
Corrugated Carriers Boxes
100 carriers
Double Wall Corrugated Boxes
100 boxes