Custom Folding Carton Inserts
Custom folding carton inserts from 100 — die-cut and folded paperboard platforms that sit inside a printed carton and hold bottles, tubes or a set of products upright and apart, made from the same board family as the box.
The folded card that keeps a bottle standing inside its carton
- Board
- SBS boxboard 16–24 pt to match the carton; kraft board on request
- Styles
- Platform with cut-outs, slotted card, folded riser, divided tray
- Fit
- Cut-outs drawn from the measured product
Order online
Order folding carton inserts
Starting from $1.20 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 Folding Carton 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.
Three insert shapes we fold most
| Platform with cut-outs | A raised deck with round or shaped holes; bottles and jars sit in it |
|---|---|
| Slotted card | Flat card with slots for tubes, sachets, vials or brushes |
| Folded riser | Lifts a small product toward the opening so it fills the view |
| Divided tray | Separate bays for a set of two to six items |
Cutting the holes to the actual product
Bottles of the same nominal size vary: a 30 ml dropper bottle from one supplier can be several millimeters wider than another. We draw each cut-out from the real container, measured at its widest point, so it grips without forcing. For a set we lay out the items in the order you want them seen, usually the largest in the middle.
Send two or three samples of each item if you can. Glass and molded plastic both vary within one batch.
Same board as the carton, or not
Most inserts are cut from the same SBS boxboard as the carton, so the two match in color and recycle together. A thicker board holds heavier glass better, and kraft board suits brands with an uncoated look. Where a product is fragile enough to need cushioning, paperboard reaches its limit and a foam or molded pulp insert is the better choice; our packaging inserts collection covers those.
Printing what is seen when the lid opens
- The top face of the insert can be printed in full color to match the carton or contrast with it.
- A short line beside each cut-out can name the product, the step in a routine or the shade.
- Foil or spot UV can be used on the insert just as on the box.
- Leaving the insert plain white or kraft keeps the focus on the product itself.
Products that often come in a carton with an insert
Skincare: serums, ampoules and dropper bottles that must stay upright. Fragrance samples and roll-ons sold in sets. Lip and eye products in a gift trio. Supplement vials, tinctures and small jars. Hair care tubes and trial-size kits. Each one benefits from being held straight, and each one looks more deliberate when it opens into a fitted space. The cartons themselves are in our range of printed folding boxes.
Inserts that move with the lid
An insert can also be fixed to the lid so the product rises as the box opens. That build suits a single hero product and is made as a straight tuck carton with rise-up insert.
Folding Carton 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
- SBS boxboard 16–24 pt to match the carton; kraft board on request
- Styles
- Platform with cut-outs, slotted card, folded riser, divided tray
- Fit
- Cut-outs drawn from the measured product
- Plain, one color or full color on the top face
- Finish
- Lamination, foil and spot UV available
- Minimum
- 100 inserts per design
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 folding carton inserts 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: folding carton inserts
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 Folding Carton 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 folding carton 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 are folding carton inserts?
Die-cut and scored paperboard pieces that fold into a platform or tray inside a carton and hold the product upright and in place.
What products need folding carton inserts?
Anything that would rattle or lean in its carton: serum and dropper bottles, jars, tubes, vials and sets of several small items.
Are folding carton inserts made from the same board as the box?
Usually, so they match in color and recycle together. A thicker board or kraft can be used if the product calls for it.
Can folding carton inserts hold more than one product?
Yes. A divided tray or a platform with several cut-outs holds a set of two to six items side by side.
How accurate are the cut-outs in folding carton inserts?
They are drawn from your actual container, measured at its widest point, so the product sits firmly without being forced.
Can folding carton inserts be printed?
Yes. The top face prints in full color, and each cut-out can be labeled with the product name or step.
Are folding carton inserts recyclable?
Yes. Paperboard inserts go into paper recycling with the carton, since there is no foam or plastic in them.
When are folding carton inserts not enough?
For very fragile or heavy glass, paperboard may not cushion enough. A foam or molded pulp insert protects better in that case.
Do folding carton inserts need glue?
Most fold and lock with tabs. Some trays have a glued side so they hold their shape when the carton is filled on a line.
Can I order folding carton inserts without the carton?
Yes. Send the inside dimensions of your existing carton and samples of the product, and we cut the insert to fit.
Can a folding carton insert lift the product when the box opens?
Yes, if the insert is attached to the lid. That rise-up build suits one main product rather than a set.
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