Custom Shipping Tags
Custom shipping tags on heavy card or tear-proof synthetic, with a reinforced eyelet and string or wire, printed with your brand and the fields you fill in — numbered if you need it — from 100. Proof and price the same working day.
A tag goes where a label will not stick
- Stock
- Card 300–500 gsm manila or white; PP or PE synthetic
- Formats
- Standard, pallet, return, numbered control; custom sizes
- Eyelet
- Paper or metal reinforced
Get a price for Shipping Tags
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.
Tag formats
| Standard tag, 45 × 90 to 70 × 140 mm | The parcel and garment tag; card; a string |
|---|---|
| Pallet and freight tag, 100 × 200 mm and up | Card or synthetic; a wire or a cable tie; fields for the consignment |
| Return tag | A pre-printed tag with the return address and an order field; sent in the parcel |
| Numbered control tag | Sequential numbers, a stub, a perforation; for tracking and checking in |
Card or synthetic, string or wire
Our address labels for boxes cover the stick-on formats for surfaces a label will take.
- Manila or white card, 300–500 gsm — the everyday tag; dry conditions.
- Synthetic PP or PE tag stock — tear-proof and waterproof; yards, cold rooms, outdoors.
- A reinforced eyelet — a paper or metal ring — so the tag does not tear off the string.
- Cotton or polyester string, elastic loop, wire tie, or a plastic loop lock.
Fields that are written on
A shipping tag is filled in by hand or with a printer, so the fields are printed as boxes and lines with a matte surface that takes ink: to, from, weight, contents, order number, a checklist. Both sides print, and a second language is added where a consignment crosses a border.
A gloss finish does not take a pen. Tags that are written on are matte or uncoated.
Numbering and control
Sequential numbers on the tag and a tear-off stub give a check-in record — the stub stays with the paperwork, the tag with the item. Barcodes or QR codes per tag tie the item to a system. Numbering is digital, in any range, and the file is kept for the next batch.
Who uses shipping tags
Freight and logistics, textile and garment makers, furniture and machinery, returns departments, events shipping crates, and shops sending goods to a workshop. A hundred is a batch; a thousand is a quarter. Tags ship strung or unstrung, boxed in hundreds.
Shipping Tags — 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
- Stock
- Card 300–500 gsm manila or white; PP or PE synthetic
- Formats
- Standard, pallet, return, numbered control; custom sizes
- Eyelet
- Paper or metal reinforced
- Fastening
- String, elastic loop, wire tie, plastic loop lock
- Both sides; fields on a matte face; sequential numbers, barcodes, QR
- Supply
- Strung or unstrung; boxed in hundreds
- Minimum
- 100 tags
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to four colors straight onto the liner; litho-lamination where the box needs full color or a photograph.
- Color
- Flat colors on kraft. Full color needs a white top liner or a laminated sheet, because brown shifts every color warm.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1.5 mm. The flute compresses, so corrugated runs wider than folding board.
- Tooling
- No die on a regular slotted box, which is cut on a slotter. Die-cut mailers and trays need one, made once and kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade liners and a vented build where the box carries hot food.
- Sustainability
- High recycled content through liners and flute as standard, and the box recycles whole if it is sealed with paper tape.
- 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 shipping tags on
Corrugated is a fluted sheet glued between two liners, and the flute decides nearly everything: how it prints, how it dents, how high it stacks. These are the grades we run.
E flute
About 1.5 mm. Prints well and folds crisply; dents under a stack. Retail boxes, mailers and light shippers.
1.5 mm, single wallB flute
About 3 mm. The working default for parcels — takes print reasonably and stacks reasonably. Most shipping boxes are B.
3 mm, single wallC flute
About 4 mm. More cushioning than B, slightly less stacking strength per weight. Common on grocery and produce cases.
4 mm, single wallBC double wall
B and C glued together, about 7 mm. Heavy or fragile goods, pallet stacking, anything over roughly 15 kg.
7 mm, double wallKraft liner
Brown, strong, absorbent. One or two flat colors flexo print well on it; photographs drink into the brown and go muddy.
Outer and inner linerWhite top liner
A bleached outer liner for full-color print on corrugated. Costs more and marks more easily than kraft.
Outer liner onlyRecycled-content corrugated
High post-consumer fiber through liners and flute. The default for shippers; a slightly greyer brown and no loss of strength at grade.
All flutesCoated and water-resistant
A coating or a wax-free barrier liner for damp stores and cold chains. Check the recycling stream before printing a claim on it.
B and C fluteNot 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.
Corrugated takes fewer finishes than folding board, and the ones it takes it takes well.
Flexo on kraft
One or two flat colors straight onto brown. Cheap, fast, honest.
Litho-lamination
An offset sheet glued to the flute: full color and photographs on a shipper.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance with no film, so the box still recycles whole.
White top print
Full color flexo on a bleached liner; brighter, and it marks more easily.
Inside print
A second pass on the inner liner — the panel a customer sees first.
Printed tape seal
The brand applied at the last moment, on paper tape that recycles with the box.
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 corrugated box against the carrier, not the catalog: shipping tags
Corrugated is cut to your internal size, so the box goes round the product rather than the product going into a stock size. That is where the money is: a box 20 mm smaller each way is often a whole postage band cheaper.
- Internal dimensions
- Length, width and depth of the space you need. Board thickness is added outside that, and the flute is thicker than people expect.
- Clearance and void fill
- 5–10 mm a side for a rigid product. Size it properly and you need no void fill at all, which is cheaper and better received.
- Stacking
- Tell us how high the boxes stack on a pallet or a shelf. Edge crush grade is specified from that, not guessed.
- Weight
- The contents weight sets the flute and the liner grade. Over about 15 kg we move to double wall.
- Score allowance
- Corrugated needs more room at the folds than boxboard. The dieline accounts for it; a box drawn from flat dimensions comes out tight.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1.5 mm on corrugated, wider than folding board because the flute compresses.
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 Shipping Tags 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 shipping tags? 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.
When should I use a tag rather than a label?
When the surface will not take a label — fabric, wood, wet or dusty crates, pallets, machinery — or when the tag has to be moved with the item.
Are the tags waterproof?
On synthetic stock, yes, and tear-proof. Card tags suit dry conditions.
Can I write on them?
Yes, on a matte or uncoated face with printed fields. Gloss does not take a pen.
Can they be numbered?
Yes, sequentially in any range, with a stub if you want a check-in record.
Do they come strung?
Strung or unstrung, with string, elastic, wire or a plastic loop lock.
What is the minimum order?
100 tags.
Will the string tear through the tag?
Not with a reinforced eyelet, paper or metal, which is standard.
Can I have a barcode on each tag?
Yes, a barcode or QR code per tag, printed digitally.
Can both sides be printed?
Yes, and a second language is added for cross-border consignments.
Can I make a return tag for customers?
Yes, pre-printed with the return address and an order field, sent in the parcel.
How are they packed?
Boxed in hundreds, strung or flat.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
Same range
