Custom Sliding Drawer Rigid Boxes
Custom sliding drawer rigid boxes — a wrapped chipboard tray inside a wrapped chipboard sleeve — from 100 units. The drawer glides on a laminated wrap, stops before it falls out, and opens on a ribbon pull; the sleeve carries the print and the tray carries the product in a fitted insert.
A drawer built from board, and the glide that makes it
- Board
- 1200–1800 gsm chipboard, tray and sleeve, wrapped in 120–157 gsm paper
- Glide
- Laminated wrap on the sliding faces; tray 1 mm under the sleeve
- Styles
- Open-back, closed-back, double drawer
Get a price for Sliding Drawer Rigid 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.
Two wrapped parts, one tolerance
The sleeve is a four-sided rigid tube, open at both ends or closed at the back; the tray is a five-sided rigid box that slides into it. Both are wrapped in paper, and the fit between them is set after wrapping, not before, because the paper adds a thickness to every face. We build the tray a millimeter under the sleeve's inside dimension on width and height, and we laminate the wrap so paper slides on paper without grabbing. The unlaminated version of this — lighter, cheaper, more grip — is the one on our kraft drawer boxes in unbleached board page.
| Open-back sleeve | The tray can push out from either end; lightest, needs a stop |
|---|---|
| Closed-back sleeve | Tray pulls out one way only; the back wall doubles as a stop |
| Double drawer | Two trays in one sleeve, stacked; sets and collections |
Stops, pulls and the thumb notch
The stop is not optional. A rigid drawer with a fitted insert has some weight, and without a stop it leaves the sleeve in one motion and lands on the product.
- A stop tab folded from the tray back that catches the sleeve lip, so the drawer cannot slide out onto the floor.
- A ribbon pull glued into the tray front, the standard way to open a rigid drawer.
- A thumb notch cut in the sleeve front, so the tray can be pushed from behind.
- A finger hole in the closed back, for a sleeve that is pulled from the front and pushed from the back.
The tray is where the product lives
Because the tray is rigid, it takes a fitted insert as well as a lidded box does: a flocked cavity for a watch, a foam bed for an instrument, a slotted platform for a set of pens or a run of chocolates. The tray floor can also be printed or lined in a contrasting paper, which is seen as the drawer opens and is one of the cheaper ways to make the box feel considered. The drawer suits a product presented flat; for a tall product, the shoulder or the lidded construction is better.
A rigid drawer box is opened many times. A ribbon pull glued on the surface lifts within a month; we set it into a slot in the tray front so the glue line is not the thing being pulled.
Print on the sleeve, and the end panels
The sleeve is a wrap around four faces, so the print runs continuously around it with one seam, and the two end faces of the tray are the only other visible surfaces when the box is closed. A foil logo on the sleeve top and a printed tray front is the usual layout. Soft-touch on the sleeve is fine — it is the inside of the sleeve and the outside of the tray that need to slide, and those are kept in a plain laminate. For the finish choice on the visible faces, our guide to choosing a finish for rigid boxes covers foil, emboss and lamination.
Sliding Drawer Rigid 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
- 1200–1800 gsm chipboard, tray and sleeve, wrapped in 120–157 gsm paper
- Glide
- Laminated wrap on the sliding faces; tray 1 mm under the sleeve
- Styles
- Open-back, closed-back, double drawer
- Hardware
- Stop tab, slotted ribbon pull, thumb notch, finger hole
- Insert
- Flocked, foam or paperboard, fitted to the product; lined tray floor
- Finishes
- Foil, emboss, soft-touch on the sleeve; plain laminate on sliding faces
- 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 sliding drawer rigid 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: sliding drawer rigid 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.
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Build your Sliding Drawer Rigid 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 sliding drawer rigid 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.
Does the drawer slide smoothly?
Yes — the sliding faces are wrapped in a laminated paper and the tray is a millimeter under the sleeve on each face, so paper glides on paper without grabbing.
Can the drawer fall out?
Not with a stop tab, which we build in. It catches the sleeve lip before the tray leaves the box.
How does it open?
A ribbon pull set into a slot in the tray front, or a thumb notch in the sleeve so the tray is pushed from behind. Most boxes have both.
Will the ribbon pull come off?
Not if it is set into a slot. A pull glued on the surface lifts within a month; ours is anchored inside the tray front.
Can it hold a watch or a pen?
Yes, in a flocked cavity or a slotted platform cut to the product. The rigid tray takes any insert a lidded box does.
Can I have two drawers?
Yes, two trays stacked in one sleeve. It suits sets and collections.
Can I print inside the tray?
Yes, or line the floor in a contrasting paper. It is seen as the drawer opens.
Does it ship flat?
No — both parts are glued rigid and ship assembled, tray inside sleeve.
What sizes do you make?
From about 3 × 3 × 1 in for jewelry to 12 × 9 × 3 in for a set. Deeper than 3 in and the drawer is hard to slide.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes. Both parts are hand-wrapped, so the set-up is in the dies and the print.
How long does production take?
Longer than a carton — two wrapped parts and a fit check. We give a date with the quote.
Will you send a sample?
A white sample so you can slide it a hundred times and check the fit of your product before print.
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