Custom Incense Boxes
Custom incense boxes sized to your sticks or cones — a slim carton, a hexagonal tube, a lidded box with a holder — printed and from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
Long, thin, fragile, and sold on scent through a closed box
- Board
- 18–20pt boxboard cartons; wrapped grayboard gift boxes; wound tubes
- Builds
- Slim tuck carton, hexagonal tube, lidded box with holder, window pack
- Sizing
- Stick length plus 5 mm; cone holder with a cell per cone
Get a price for Incense 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.
Formats by product
| Sticks, 8–11 in | Slim tuck carton, about 250–290 × 45 × 20 mm; or a hexagonal tube |
|---|---|
| Cones | Small lidded box or a tuck carton with a holder insert; 10–20 cones |
| Resin and loose incense | A small box with an inner bag or a jar in a carton |
| Gift set | Lidded box with a holder, a selection of sticks and a card |
Keeping sticks unbroken
A stick carton is sized to the stick length plus 5 mm and no more, so sticks cannot slide and hit the end. The bundle is held by a band or an inner sleeve so it does not rattle side to side. 18pt board holds the long narrow box straight; lighter board bows and sticks bend with it. Cones sit in a die-cut holder with a cell per cone, tip up.
Selling a scent you cannot smell
Our candle boxes for scented products face the same problem and use the same answers.
- Name the scent large and describe it in one line — "cedar and smoke", not a paragraph.
- Color-code the range, one color per fragrance family, so a shelf reads as a set.
- A scent strip or a sample stick in a sleeve on the outside, for shops that allow it.
- A small unsealed window that lets a little scent through — accepted in some ranges, not in others.
Print and finish for a shelf of slim boxes
Slim boxes stand upright in a row and show one face. That face carries the scent name, the color and a pattern; the back carries the burn time, the count and the origin. Kraft with one or two colors suits natural and ayurvedic ranges; a coated board with foil suits a premium line. A hexagonal tube with a printed wrap stands out in a row of rectangles.
Incense carries scent oils that can mark a coated board from the inside. A plain kraft interior or an inner sleeve keeps the outside clean.
Gift sets and the holder
A gift set is a lidded box with a wooden or ceramic holder, a selection of sticks in labeled sleeves, and a card. The holder sits in a die-cut cell, the sleeves in slots, and the lid lifts to the whole set at once. It is the format that sells at gift shops and online in the run-up to holidays.
Incense 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
- 18–20pt boxboard cartons; wrapped grayboard gift boxes; wound tubes
- Builds
- Slim tuck carton, hexagonal tube, lidded box with holder, window pack
- Sizing
- Stick length plus 5 mm; cone holder with a cell per cone
- Interior
- Kraft or inner sleeve to stop oil marking the outside
- Full color or 1–2 colors on kraft; foil; color-coded range
- Options
- Scent strip sleeve, small window, gift set insert
- 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 incense 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: incense 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 Incense 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 incense 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 size box do incense sticks need?
The stick length plus 5 mm, and no more, so the sticks cannot slide and snap. Most 8–11 inch sticks need a carton 250–290 mm long.
How do you stop sticks breaking?
A tight length, a band or inner sleeve around the bundle, and 18pt board so the long box does not bow.
Can the customer smell the incense through the box?
Not through a sealed carton. A scent strip sleeve on the outside or a small unsealed window are the two ways to let some scent through.
Can I have a hexagonal box?
Yes, as a folded hexagonal carton or a wound tube with a printed wrap. It stands out in a row of rectangles.
Do you make cone boxes?
Yes, with a die-cut holder that gives each cone its own cell, tip up.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Will the oils mark the box?
They can mark a coated board from inside. A kraft interior or an inner sleeve keeps the outside clean.
Can you make a gift set box?
Yes, a lidded box with a cell for the holder, slots for stick sleeves and a card.
Kraft or coated board?
Kraft with one or two colors for natural ranges; coated with foil for a premium line.
Does it ship flat?
Cartons do. Tubes and rigid gift boxes ship assembled.
Can I color-code a range?
Yes, one die and one print system with a color change per scent, so the shelf reads as a set.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
Same range
