Custom Mug Tuck End Boxes
Custom mug tuck end boxes from 100 — printed paperboard retail cartons sized to your mug and its handle, with a window or cut-out that shows the glaze, a card liner that keeps the rim from rubbing, and tuck flaps that hold on a shelf or a gift table.
A carton that is shaped by the handle
- Board
- 18–24 pt SBS or kraft paperboard
- Style
- Straight tuck, reverse tuck, or tuck top with crash-lock bottom
- Inside
- Card liner or divider for the rim; optional handle slot
Get a price for Mug Tuck End 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.
Measuring a mug for its carton
- Rim diameter, handle to opposite rim, and height to the top of the rim.
- Width is set by the handle measurement, depth by the rim.
- A few millimeters of clearance on each side so the mug slides in without catching the glaze.
- An 11 oz and a 15 oz mug need different cartons; sharing one leaves the smaller mug loose.
Windows and cut-outs that show the mug
Mugs sell on color and glaze, so many mug cartons show part of the mug. A square or round window in the front panel, usually unfilmed, shows the body; a cut-out shaped like the mug turns the box into part of the design. We keep enough board around the opening that the carton does not fold in when it is picked up by that face.
Tuck closures on a heavy carton
A ceramic mug is heavy for a carton. For anything over about a pound, the bottom flap is a crash-lock or the board is thicker, so the base does not open when the box is lifted.
| Straight tuck end | Both flaps tuck from the front; neat on a shelf |
|---|---|
| Reverse tuck end | Flaps tuck from opposite sides; uses less board |
| Tuck top, crash-lock bottom | For heavy stoneware; the base locks as it is opened |
A retail carton is not a shipper
A tuck carton keeps a mug clean and sells it on a shelf; it will not protect it in a parcel. For online orders the carton goes inside a corrugated outer, or the mug ships in one of our mug shipping boxes with suspension inserts instead.
Mug Tuck End 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 SBS or kraft paperboard
- Style
- Straight tuck, reverse tuck, or tuck top with crash-lock bottom
- Inside
- Card liner or divider for the rim; optional handle slot
- Window
- Square, round or mug-shaped cut-out, filmed or open
- Full color, all sides; matte, gloss or soft-touch
- Sizes
- Sized to your mug: 11 oz, 15 oz, latte, espresso, travel
- 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 mug tuck end 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.
280–350gsmMetalized 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: mug tuck end 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 Mug Tuck End 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 mug tuck end 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.
How do you size a mug tuck end box?
From the rim diameter, the handle-to-rim width and the height, with a little clearance so the glaze does not catch.
Can one mug tuck end box fit 11 oz and 15 oz mugs?
Not well. The smaller mug turns inside the larger carton and rubs. Each size gets its own carton.
Can a mug tuck end box have a window?
Yes, square, round or mug-shaped, filmed or left open, in the front panel.
Will a mug tuck end box hold a heavy stoneware mug?
Yes, with thicker board or a crash-lock bottom so the base does not open when it is lifted.
Can a mug tuck end box be used for shipping?
Only inside an outer carton. On its own it protects the finish, not the ceramic.
Do mug tuck end boxes need an insert?
A simple card liner stops the rim rubbing the board; a handle slot keeps the mug from turning.
Can a mug tuck end box be printed inside?
Yes, which is useful when the window shows the inside of the carton around the mug.
Which tuck style suits a mug carton on a shelf?
Straight tuck, because both flaps close from the front and the back panel stays clean.
Can you make mug tuck end boxes in kraft?
Yes, kraft paperboard prints well in one or two colors and suits handmade pottery.
Can a mug tuck end box hold a mug with a matching coaster?
Yes, with the coaster under a card platform at the base of the carton.
Do mug tuck end boxes come in espresso and latte sizes?
Yes. Every carton is sized to the mug you send us, from espresso cups to tall latte mugs.
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