Custom Rigid Magnetic Boxes
A magnetic box closes with a sound and opens with a thumb, and that is the entire reason it costs what it does. Get the magnet strength wrong and you lose both — a lid that drifts open in transit, or one the customer has to fight.
- Build
- Rigid hinged lid with concealed magnetic closure; foldable version available
- Board
- 1.5–3 mm grayboard, wrapped
- Magnets
- Specified by pull strength and position against lid size and depth
Get a price for Rigid Magnetic 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.
Magnet strength is a specification, not a default
Magnets are chosen for pull strength, and the right strength depends on the size of the lid, the weight of the board and how far the magnets sit from the hinge. A magnet that holds a small box perfectly will let a large lid lift at the far corner.
Too strong is the opposite failure and it is worse, because the customer experiences it directly. A lid that needs two hands and real force to open undoes the whole point of the closure.
Ask for a sample at the finished size before signing off. Magnet feel cannot be judged from a specification.
Where the magnets go, and how many
Magnets are concealed under the wrap, so their position is invisible and permanent. Getting it right on the first tooling matters more here than on almost any other build.
| Small box, under 150 mm | Two magnets at the front edge |
|---|---|
| Medium, 150–300 mm | Two stronger magnets, or four at the corners |
| Large, over 300 mm | Four minimum; the lid will bow between them otherwise |
| Deep lid | Magnets on the side walls as well, or the lid twists open |
The hinge is board, and board creases
There is no mechanism in the hinge — it is the wrap paper and the board fold, reinforced. That is why it never breaks in the way a plastic hinge does, and why it does wear: the fold softens with repeated opening and eventually the lid sits back a little further than it used to.
A reinforced hinge and a heavier wrap paper both slow it. For a box opened daily rather than occasionally, both are worth specifying.
It cannot be flat-packed, and that costs you
For a large or seasonal order the logistics saving from a foldable build is usually larger than the difference in unit price.
- Rigid magnetic boxes ship made up, so freight is priced on air as much as product.
- Storage is the same problem, ongoing, for as long as you hold stock.
- A foldable magnetic build ships flat and sets up into the same closure.
- The foldable version feels slightly lighter, which is a real trade in this category.
What goes inside it
A magnetic box is opened slowly and deliberately, with the whole interior in view at once. A bare gray insert in a beautifully wrapped box is the most common mismatch we see.
A printed inner tray, a layered card platform or a matched-color insert costs a fraction of the box and changes the moment entirely — the insert options are set out in our insert material notes.
Ribbon pulls, and when they are functional
On a deep box with a close-fitting lid, a ribbon under the contents lets the customer lift everything out without tipping the box. That is a real function, not a decoration.
On a shallow box it is decoration, and a well-chosen one. Either is fine — it is worth knowing which you are buying.
Rigid Magnetic 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
- Build
- Rigid hinged lid with concealed magnetic closure; foldable version available
- Board
- 1.5–3 mm grayboard, wrapped
- Magnets
- Specified by pull strength and position against lid size and depth
- Hinge
- Board and wrap, reinforced; heavier wrap for frequent opening
- Inners
- Printed trays, layered card platforms, matched-color inserts, ribbon pulls
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- The wrap is printed offset as a flat sheet and applied to the board, so the print quality is that of a sheet rather than a box.
- Color
- CMYK on the wrap with spot colors for a brand match. A textured or soft-touch wrap mutes a solid color slightly.
- Tolerance
- Board cut plus or minus 0.5 mm. Lid fit is set on a sample and held on the run, with an allowance for the delivery climate.
- Tooling
- No cutting die on the box itself. The tooling is the wrap print and any foil or emboss die, made once and kept.
- Food contact
- A food-grade liner or an inner tray where a rigid box holds unwrapped food.
- Sustainability
- Board and paper recycle together. Magnets, ribbon and foam come out first, and the spec says which the box has.
- 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 rigid magnetic boxes on
A rigid box is two materials: the grayboard that holds the shape and the paper wrapped around it. The board decides the feel; the wrap decides everything a customer sees and touches.
Grayboard 1.2–1.5 mm
The light rigid box: jewelry, small cases, card boxes. Heavy in the hand for its size without thick walls on a small cavity.
1.2–1.5 mmGrayboard 2–3 mm
The full rigid box. Resists crushing, bends poorly — thickness is chosen from box size so a wide lid does not sag.
2–3 mmArt paper wrap
Printed coated paper, matte or gloss laminated. Full color, photographs, any design. The most flexible wrap and the least tactile.
128–157gsmSoft-touch wrap
A velvet-feel laminate over printed paper. Reads expensive, shows fingerprints on white, and scuffs at the corners before anywhere else.
128–157gsm laminatedLinen and textured wrap
Texture woven into the paper, so it cannot scuff off. Takes foil and deboss beautifully; breaks up a solid print.
120–140gsmLeather-grain and specialty
Embossed grain papers, metallics and colored stocks. One color and a foil mark, not a photograph.
120–160gsmFlocked and velvet liners
A short-fiber or woven pile for the interior and the insert. Holds a product without marking it and sets the color the piece is seen against.
Applied to board or foamMagnets and hardware
Neodymium magnets under the wrap, ribbon pulls, and hinges built from the wrap itself. Each is a line on the quote.
Per closureNot 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.
On a rigid box the wrap is the finish, and the corners are where it is judged.
Soft-touch wrap
Velvet in the hand. The category default, and it scuffs at the corners first.
Linen and laid
Texture woven into the paper; hides marks and cannot rub off.
Hot foil
Stamped into the wrap. Small block, cheap die, large effect on a lid.
Blind deboss
Shape with no ink. On a textured wrap it is the quietest premium mark there is.
Spot UV on matte
A gloss shape on a matte field; a pattern that only shows at an angle.
Colored liner
A wrap on the inside face, seen for a second as the lid lifts. The cheapest thing that changes an opening.
Leather-grain
Embossed grain paper. One color and a foil mark, never a photograph.
Ribbon and hardware
A pull under the product, magnets under the wrap, a hinge built from the paper.
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 rigid box, where the wrap is part of the wall: rigid magnetic boxes
A rigid box is built up rather than folded, so the internal size is set first and the board and wrap are added outside it. The lid is then made to fit the base, and that fit is the thing people judge.
- Internal dimensions
- The product plus its insert, at the widest point. Everything else is built outward from this number.
- Wall build-up
- Each wall is the grayboard plus the wrap on both faces — roughly 2.5 mm on a 2 mm board. A small box gains noticeably in outside size.
- Lid clearance
- A few tenths of a millimeter. Set on a plain sample: a slow, air-cushioned lift, not a lid that drops off or has to be prised.
- Insert depth
- The tallest item plus 2 mm. On a two-layer box, this sets the total height and the ribbon lift.
- Humidity
- Board takes up moisture and a lid set snug in a dry factory can bind in a damp shop. We allow for the delivery market.
- Tolerance
- Plus or minus 0.5 mm on a rigid box, tighter than folding board because nothing springs back.
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 Rigid Magnetic 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 rigid magnetic 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.
My lid lifts at the corner — why?
Not enough magnets for the lid size. Anything over 300 mm needs four, or the lid bows between them.
Can a magnetic box ship flat?
A foldable magnetic build can, saving substantially on freight and storage, with a slightly lighter feel.
Will the hinge wear out?
It softens rather than breaks. A reinforced hinge and heavier wrap paper slow it considerably on a box opened daily.
Is the ribbon pull just decorative?
On a deep box it genuinely lifts contents out. On a shallow one it is decoration.
What is inside a magnetic box hinge?
Board and wrap, reinforced — there is no mechanical part, which is why it wears rather than snapping.
Can the magnets be felt through the wrap?
Properly specified, no. A visible bulge means the magnet was chosen too large for the board thickness.
My lid lifts at the corner — why?
Not enough magnets for the lid size. Anything over 300 mm needs four, or the lid bows between them.
Can a magnetic box ship flat?
A foldable magnetic build can, and it saves substantially on freight and storage. It feels slightly lighter in the hand.
Will the hinge wear out?
It softens rather than breaks. A reinforced hinge and heavier wrap paper slow it considerably on a box opened daily.
Is the ribbon pull just decorative?
On a deep box it is genuinely useful for lifting contents out. On a shallow one it is decoration.
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