Custom Glasses Boxes
Almost nobody sells spectacles without a case, and the case — not the frames — is what the box has to hold. It is rigid, curved, varies between suppliers, and it is the dimension most briefs leave out entirely.
- Builds
- Rigid lid and base, folding cartons, drawer boxes
- Board
- 18–24pt folding; 1.5–2 mm grayboard wrapped for rigid
- Sizing
- Hard case measured across its belly with frames in, plus clearance
Get a price for Glasses 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.
Measure the belly, not the base
A hard case is a curved shell, widest across its middle and taller at the hinge than at the lip. Case dimensions quoted by suppliers are usually the base, and a box built to those will not close over the case with frames inside it.
Measure across the widest point with the frames in, because a filled case bulges slightly. Then add clearance, so a case from the next delivery still fits.
If you sell both a hard case and a soft pouch, size to the hard one. The pouch will be comfortable in that box; the reverse is not true.
What else goes in
The cloth is the item most often forgotten and the easiest to plan for. A flat bed stops it being crammed in beside the hinge, where it holds the case open and stops the box closing.
| Microfibre cloth | A flat bed under or beside the case; a few millimeters of depth |
|---|---|
| Care card | Under the cloth or tucked into the lid |
| Prescription slip | Where dispensed; often needs to stay with the box |
| Second lens set | Changes the depth entirely — say so early |
Prescription frames do not need a window
A window sells sunglasses, where the shape and lens color are the purchase. Prescription frames have already been chosen at a counter and are collected after the lenses are made, so there is nothing left for a window to do.
That makes a closed box the right build here, and the budget better spent on the wrap and the finish — the split between the two journeys is set out in our eyewear packaging notes.
How much box a pair of frames deserves
- Below about $50 retail a well-finished folding carton is entirely convincing.
- Above it, a rigid box with a fitted bed starts to be expected.
- The case does most of the perceived-quality work either way.
- A heavy folding carton with a blind deboss competes well against a cheap rigid box.
Posted rather than collected
Direct-to-consumer eyewear arrives by post, and the retail box is not a shipper. Posted alone it arrives with crushed corners even when the frames are fine, and on a gift-priced item that reads as a returned unit.
Ship it inside a corrugated outer with clearance on all six sides, or design the retail box as the shipper from the start rather than discovering the problem in customer photographs.
Glasses 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
- Builds
- Rigid lid and base, folding cartons, drawer boxes
- Board
- 18–24pt folding; 1.5–2 mm grayboard wrapped for rigid
- Sizing
- Hard case measured across its belly with frames in, plus clearance
- Inners
- Flat bed for the cloth; card slot for prescription and care slips
- Outer, lid interior; blind deboss and foil available
- 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 glasses 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: glasses 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 Glasses 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 glasses 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.
What measurement do you need?
The closed hard case at its widest point with frames inside — not the supplier's stated dimensions, which are usually the base.
Do I need a window?
For prescription frames, no. The customer chose them at a counter and collects after lenses are fitted.
Where does the cloth go?
A flat bed under the case. Crammed in beside the hinge it holds the case open and stops the box closing.
Can I post the retail box on its own?
Not well. It arrives corner-crushed even when the frames are fine. Use a corrugated outer.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes, folding or rigid.
Does a second lens set change the box?
Entirely — it changes the depth. Say so early.
What measurement do you need?
The closed hard case at its widest point with frames inside — not the supplier's stated dimensions, which are usually the base.
Do I need a window?
For prescription frames, no. The customer chose them at a counter and collects after lenses are fitted.
Where does the cloth go?
A flat bed under the case. Crammed in beside the hinge it holds the case open and stops the box closing.
Can I post the retail box on its own?
Not well. It arrives corner-crushed even when the frames are fine. Use a corrugated outer.
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