Custom Lamp Boxes
Custom lamp boxes with a cradle for the base, a compartment for the shade and room for the bulb and cable — sized to your lamp from 100, printed for the shelf or plain for the courier. Dieline and price the same working day.
One box, three fragile things that must not touch
- Board
- B flute single wall; BC double wall for table and floor lamps
- Builds
- Compartment carton with cradle and shade cell; retail or shipper; tube for floor stems
- Cradle
- Molded pulp or foam for base; board collar at stem; rim support for shade
Get a price for Lamp 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.
Laying out the compartments
The base sits in a cradle at the bottom — molded pulp or foam shaped to it — with the stem held at the top by a second cradle or a board collar. The shade goes beside or above in its own cell, held at the rim so the fabric or paper is not crushed. The bulb ships in its own small carton in a pocket, and the cable is coiled in a well. Nothing touches anything else, and the box is sized to that layout rather than to the lamp assembled.
Board by lamp size
| Small desk lamp, under 2 kg | B flute, single wall; board or pulp cradle |
|---|---|
| Table lamp, 2–5 kg | B or BC flute; molded pulp cradle; full-depth divider |
| Floor lamp | BC double wall, long format; stem in a tube; base in a separate box or cell |
| Pendant | B flute; shade cradle; cable and fitting in a pocket |
Retail carton or shipping carton
Our household product boxes for the home cover the related cartons for shades, bulbs and small furniture.
- Retail — a white-lined B flute with full-color print, a lit photograph on the front and the lamp on the side; shelved.
- E-commerce — plain kraft or one color outside, print inside if the brand wants an unboxing; travels alone.
- Both — a retail carton inside a plain shipper, which is what a lamp bought online usually arrives as.
The drop test, and what fails
A lamp box is dropped on a corner at the carrier, and the failure is nearly always the base breaking free of its cradle and hitting the shade. A cradle that holds the base at its edges, a collar at the stem, and 25 mm of board between the base cell and the shade cell stops it. We drop a filled sample before the run.
Send the lamp, the shade and the bulb box. A cradle cut from a drawing of the base alone misses the stem and the switch.
Assembly instructions and the inside of the lid
The inside of the lid is the place for the unpacking order — shade first, then bulb, then base — and a line drawing of the assembly. It is seen at the moment it is needed and costs one color of print.
Lamp 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
- B flute single wall; BC double wall for table and floor lamps
- Builds
- Compartment carton with cradle and shade cell; retail or shipper; tube for floor stems
- Cradle
- Molded pulp or foam for base; board collar at stem; rim support for shade
- Pockets
- Bulb carton and cable well
- Full color on white liner for retail; 1 color or plain for shipping; inside-lid instructions
- Test
- Filled sample drop-tested before the run
- 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 lamp 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: lamp 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 Lamp 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 lamp 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.
Can one box hold the base, shade and bulb?
Yes, in separate compartments: a cradle for the base, a cell for the shade held at the rim, and a pocket for the bulb carton and cable.
What board do you use for a heavy base?
B flute for lamps under about 2 kg, BC double wall above that.
Is the cradle plastic-free?
Molded pulp is. Foam is used where a very heavy or irregular base needs it.
Do you make boxes for floor lamps?
Yes, a long BC carton with the stem in a tube and the base in its own cell or a separate box.
Can the box be printed for retail?
Yes, full color on a white liner with a lit photograph on the front. For shipping alone, plain kraft or one color.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Do you drop-test the box?
Yes, a filled sample is dropped on a corner before the run. The usual failure is the base reaching the shade, and the cradle is designed to stop it.
Can instructions be printed inside?
Yes, on the inside of the lid, in one color — the unpacking order and an assembly drawing.
Do I need to send the lamp?
Yes, with the shade and the bulb box. A cradle from a drawing misses the stem and the switch.
Does it ship flat?
The carton and board parts do. Pulp and foam cradles ship as they are and are fitted at packing.
Do you supply the plain shipper too?
Yes, sized around the retail carton, quoted with it.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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