Custom Photography Boxes
Custom photography boxes sized to your prints, USB drive or album, from 100 — rigid presentation or folding delivery box, foil-stamped with your studio mark. The dieline and price come back the same working day.
The client sees the box before they see the photographs
- Board
- Wrapped grayboard 1.5–2 mm rigid; 20–24pt boxboard folding
- Builds
- Lift-off lid rigid, magnetic flap, folding delivery box, USB and album inserts
- Sizes
- Set to 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14 in and custom print formats
Get a price for Photography 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.
Sized to the print, with room for the tissue
Every size above allows 2–3 mm a side for tissue or a glassine interleave. Give us the print size and the maximum count and we set the depth; a box that is half empty lets the prints slide and mark.
| 4×6 in prints | Internal 106 × 156 mm; depth for 50–200 prints |
|---|---|
| 5×7 in prints | Internal 132 × 182 mm |
| 8×10 in prints | Internal 208 × 258 mm; rigid recommended |
| 11×14 in and larger | Rigid with a full-depth lid; fine-art prints ship flat inside |
Rigid for presentation, folding for delivery
A wrapped rigid box with a lift-off lid is what most studios hand over in person: it holds its shape, takes a foil mark cleanly, and is kept by the client. A folding box in heavy boxboard costs a third as much, ships flat, and suits a mail-order print service where the box travels inside a shipper. Many studios run both — rigid for weddings, folding for sessions.
USB and album boxes with a fitted insert
The insert is drawn from the drive or album dimensions, and our inserts made to hold a product cover the board and foam options if you want to compare them.
- A die-cut board or foam insert that holds a USB drive so it cannot rattle or scratch prints.
- A recess for a small album with a ribbon lift, so it comes out without prying at the edges.
- A combined insert — prints in one well, drive in another — for a wedding or portrait package.
Materials that will not mark a print
Prints sit against the box for years, so the inside matters more than on most packaging. Unbleached kraft, uncoated boards and cheap adhesives can transfer or yellow. We build print boxes on white or black lined boards with neutral adhesives, and add a glassine or tissue interleave where the client will store prints in the box.
Say if the prints are fine-art or fiber-based — those need a lignin-free interleave, and we specify it.
A studio mark, not a full-color wrap
Photography boxes almost never carry full-color print. A blind deboss or a single foil mark on a colored wrap is the convention, because the box should not compete with the work inside. Foil and emboss dies are made once for the artwork and kept, so a small studio ordering 100 a year pays for them once.
Photography 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
- Wrapped grayboard 1.5–2 mm rigid; 20–24pt boxboard folding
- Builds
- Lift-off lid rigid, magnetic flap, folding delivery box, USB and album inserts
- Sizes
- Set to 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14 in and custom print formats
- Interior
- White or black lined; neutral adhesive; glassine or tissue interleave
- Finishes
- Foil, blind deboss, soft-touch or linen-texture wrap
- Inserts
- Die-cut board or foam for USB drives and albums
- 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 photography 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: photography 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 Photography 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 photography 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 sizes of print box do you make?
Any print size. The common ones are 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 and 11×14 inches, with depth set to the number of prints you deliver.
Rigid or folding?
Rigid for boxes handed to a client and kept; folding for boxes that travel inside a shipper on a print-order service. Many studios use both.
Can the box hold a USB as well as prints?
Yes, with a die-cut insert that keeps the drive in its own well so it cannot scratch the prints.
Will the box damage the prints over time?
Not if it is built for them. We use lined boards and neutral adhesives, and add an interleave for prints that will be stored in the box.
Can I have my logo on the lid?
Yes. A foil stamp or blind deboss is the usual choice, and the die is kept so reorders do not pay for it again.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Can I order different sizes together?
Each size is its own die and its own line on the quote, but a studio ordering two or three sizes in one run is routine.
Do rigid boxes ship flat?
No, they arrive assembled. Folding boxes ship flat and fold up at the studio.
Can the inside be a different color?
Yes. Black-lined interiors are common for print boxes; white where you want the prints to read brighter on opening.
Do you make album boxes?
Yes, sized to the album with a ribbon lift or a thumb notch so it comes out without prying.
Can I get a sample?
A plain sample at the finished size is available on request, which for a print box is worth having to check the depth against your usual delivery count.
Do you send a dieline?
With the quote, before you commit, and it is yours whether or not you order.
Same range
