Custom Kraft Drawer Boxes
Custom kraft drawer boxes — a tray that slides out of a sleeve — in unbleached board, from 100 units. The slide is the experience, the kraft is the look, and one color of ink on brown is most of what the print needs.
A tray, a sleeve, and the slide between them
- Board
- 18–24 pt unbleached kraft; recycled-content kraft; chipboard for rigid trays
- Build
- Paperboard tray and sleeve; rigid tray in paperboard sleeve; rigid both
- Slide
- Tray 1 mm under the sleeve per face, rounded lead edge, stop tab or thumb hole
Get a price for Kraft Drawer 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.
Getting the slide right on unbleached board
Kraft board is unlaminated and slightly rough, and it grips more than a coated stock. A drawer tolerance that works on a laminated white box binds on kraft. We build the tray a full millimeter under the sleeve on each face and round the leading edge of the tray so it does not catch on the sleeve mouth. The tray also needs a stop — a small tab or a thumb hole in the sleeve — so it cannot slide out the back.
A ribbon pull glued into the tray front makes the drawer open with one finger and is the small detail customers mention.
| Paperboard tray and sleeve | 18–24 pt kraft, both parts die-cut and glued; the retail version |
|---|---|
| Rigid tray, paperboard sleeve | A chipboard tray for weight, a printed kraft sleeve |
| Rigid tray and sleeve | Both parts wrapped in kraft paper; the gift version |
Print on brown
Kraft is not a white surface, and ink on it behaves accordingly: white ink is opaque and reads as a stamp, black is crisp, and colors go muted and warm. One color of black or white on kraft is the classic and the cheapest, and it looks deliberate. A full-color photograph on kraft looks dull. If the product needs a photo, a white patch label on the sleeve is the honest way to do it. For the wider question of what a finish does on an uncoated board, our guide to choosing a finish for the board covers foil, emboss and varnish on kraft.
A blind emboss — no ink, just the impression — is the one finish that looks better on kraft than on white. The fiber shows the relief.
What goes in a drawer
What does not suit a drawer is anything tall. The sleeve height sets the tray height, and a deep drawer is hard to slide and shows nothing until fully open.
- Jewelry, with a slotted or flocked insert in the tray.
- Soap bars, candles, and cosmetics sets, with a die-cut platform.
- A phone case or a small electronics accessory — the drawer suits a flat product.
- Chocolates and macarons, in a cell insert, on the lines of our macaron boxes with a cradle insert.
Sustainability, honestly
Unbleached kraft is recyclable as paper, and a drawer box with no lamination, no window and no magnet is one of the simplest packages to put in a paper bin. A ribbon pull is the one part to think about; a paper or cotton ribbon keeps the pack in one stream. Kraft also comes in a recycled-content grade, which is a little darker and less even, and it reads as more natural, not less.
Kraft Drawer 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
- 18–24 pt unbleached kraft; recycled-content kraft; chipboard for rigid trays
- Build
- Paperboard tray and sleeve; rigid tray in paperboard sleeve; rigid both
- Slide
- Tray 1 mm under the sleeve per face, rounded lead edge, stop tab or thumb hole
- One or two color on kraft; blind emboss; foil; white patch label for photos
- Extras
- Ribbon pull, slotted or flocked insert, cell insert, die-cut platform
- 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 kraft drawer 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: kraft drawer 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 Kraft Drawer 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 kraft drawer 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.
Does the drawer slide smoothly on kraft?
Yes, if it is built for kraft. Unlaminated board grips, so we cut the tray a millimeter under the sleeve on each face and round the leading edge.
Can the tray fall out the back?
Not with a stop. A tab on the tray or a thumb hole in the sleeve holds it; we build one in as standard.
Can I print in full color on kraft?
You can, and it looks muted. One or two colors — black, white, a single spot — is what suits kraft. For a photo, a white patch label on the sleeve.
Does white ink show on kraft?
Yes, opaque and crisp, like a stamp. It is one of the best-looking things you can put on brown board.
Can I have a ribbon pull?
Yes, glued into the tray front. A paper or cotton ribbon keeps the box recyclable in one stream.
Is it recyclable?
Yes, as paper, with no lamination or magnets. It is one of the simplest boxes to recycle.
What size can it be?
From a 2 in ring drawer to about 12 × 8 × 3 in. Deeper than 3 in and the drawer is hard to slide; taller products suit a lidded box.
Can the tray be rigid?
Yes, a chipboard tray in a paperboard sleeve for a heavier product, or both parts rigid and wrapped in kraft paper for a gift.
Can I have an insert?
Yes — a slotted, flocked or die-cut insert cut to the product. Send us the item and we fit the tray to it.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes. Both parts are die-cut and run many-up on a sheet.
How long does production take?
It depends on the build and the print. We give a date with the quote rather than a number before we have seen the spec.
Will you send a sample?
An unprinted tray and sleeve in your size, so you can check the slide with your product in it before print.
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