Custom Tissue Paper
Custom printed tissue paper in your colors, from 500 sheets. It costs a few cents, it is the first thing the customer touches, and it does more for an unboxing than most of what it wraps — sized to your box so it folds without bunching.
The cheapest thing in the box, and the first thing they touch
- Weights
- 17, 22, 28–30 gsm; acid-free pH-neutral grades
- Colors
- White, kraft, and dyed to brand colors; colorfast grades for damp goods
- One or two color flexo, repeating pattern; white and metallic inks
Get a price for Tissue Paper
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.
Weight, and what each is for
Most retail tissue is 17 gsm and should be. The heavier grades are for a large or heavy item where thin tissue tears as it is lifted out, and for goods that will be stored in the tissue, where acid-free matters because ordinary tissue yellows and marks fabric over years.
| 17 gsm | The standard wrapping tissue: soft, translucent, folds and drapes |
|---|---|
| 22 gsm | Heavier, more opaque, less prone to tearing when a customer pulls it |
| 28–30 gsm | Substantial, almost a paper; for a large item or a premium set |
| Acid-free 17 gsm | pH neutral, for textiles, prints and anything stored long term |
Printing on something almost transparent
Tissue is printed by flexo in one or two colors, and the ink sits on a translucent sheet, so a printed tissue always reads as a tint rather than a solid. A repeating logo at a size that shows however the sheet is folded is the right brief; a single large mark disappears into a fold. Solid coverage is not possible — the sheet cannot carry that much ink and stay soft — so a design is a pattern, not a background. A colored tissue with a white or metallic ink is the strongest-looking combination and costs the same as any other two-color run.
Ink on tissue can transfer to a damp or pale product. For white garments and unfinished leather, use unprinted acid-free tissue against the item and printed tissue on the outside.
Sizing it to the box
We size the sheet to the box rather than selling a stock size, because the sheet is cheap and a badly sized one wastes the packer's time on every order. The lidded boxes it lines most often are our boutique boxes for store purchases.
- A sheet should be about twice the box footprint on each side, so it wraps up and over and folds closed without being cut.
- For a 10 x 8 in box, a 20 x 15 in sheet; for a 12 x 12 in, a 20 x 30 in sheet.
- Too small and the packer has to use two sheets, which doubles the cost and looks untidy.
- Too large and it bunches, which is the most common complaint from a packing bench.
Where it sits in the pack
Tissue is the layer between the box and the product, and it works with the other inexpensive touches — a sticker to seal it, a card on top, a ribbon under the lid. A plain kraft mailer with brand-colored tissue and a printed sticker reads as more considered than a fully printed box with nothing inside it, and costs a fraction as much. The seal for it is on our die-cut stickers cut to your outline page.
Tissue Paper — 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
- Weights
- 17, 22, 28–30 gsm; acid-free pH-neutral grades
- Colors
- White, kraft, and dyed to brand colors; colorfast grades for damp goods
- One or two color flexo, repeating pattern; white and metallic inks
- Sizes
- Cut to your box: roughly twice the footprint each way
- Grades
- Virgin, recycled, and FSC-certified
- Minimum
- 500 sheets
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to six colors, printed on the outer face only and before any lining goes on.
- Color
- Food-safe inks throughout. Kraft mutes color; a white board or liner is needed for anything photographic.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, and fit confirmed by filling a plain sample from your own kitchen or line.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, kept. Molded pulp needs a tool per shape, which is a longer lead and a larger one-off.
- Food contact
- Every board food-contact grade, with grease resistance built into the sheet and never a PFAS treatment.
- Sustainability
- Aqueous linings and unlined boards repulp with ordinary paper. PE-lined cups need cup collection, and we say which you have.
- 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 tissue paper on
Food packaging is chosen for what the food does to it: grease, steam, heat and time. Every board here is food-contact grade, and none of them uses a PFAS treatment for grease resistance.
Food-grade virgin board
Bleached board made for direct food contact. Clean, bright, no recycled fiber and no mineral-oil risk from recovered paper.
14–24ptGrease-resistant board
Resistance built into the sheet rather than sprayed on. Holds fries, pastry and butter without darkening. PFAS-free.
16–24ptPE-lined cupstock
Board with a polyethylene film for hot and cold liquid. Microwave-safe for reheating; recycled only where cup collection exists.
260–350gsmAqueous-lined cupstock
A water-based lining instead of PE. Repulpable in ordinary paper recycling in more places, and compostable; a slightly shorter hold time.
260–320gsmGreaseproof and glassine
Dense, calendered paper that resists fat through the fiber. Wraps, liners and interleaves; breathable, so pastry stays crisp.
30–55gsmFood-grade corrugated
E and B flute with a food-contact liner, vented where steam has to leave. Pizza, catering and anything hot and heavy.
E and B fluteMolded pulp and bagasse
Fiber pressed into a shape. Holds heat, resists grease with no lining, composts, and takes only an embossed or one-color mark.
Molded to shapeRecycled board
Post-consumer fiber. Used for outers, sleeves and anything that does not touch food directly — not for direct contact.
Non-contact onlyNot 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.
Food finishes are limited by what may touch food, and that is the point.
Food-safe inks
Printed on the outer face only. Every food pack we make uses them, laminated or not.
Uncoated kraft
No coating at all. Breathable, so pastry stays crisp, and it takes one or two colors.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance without a plastic film, so the pack still repulps.
Molded emboss
A logo pressed into pulp or bagasse. No ink, nothing to rub off, and it survives grease.
Grease-resistant face
Not a finish you can see. It is in the sheet, it is PFAS-free, and it is why the print stays clean.
Matte lamination
Available on outers and sleeves that never touch food — a cake box lid, a carrier, a gift sleeve.
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 food packaging around a portion, hot: tissue paper
Food is sized by serving, not by dimensions, and it is served hot, heaped and in a hurry. Send us the portion — or better, the box you use now with the food in it — and we size to how it is actually filled.
- Portion, heaped
- Fries, popcorn and salad are served above the rim. A box sized to a level fill looks mean and spills in a bag.
- Lid clearance
- Enough that a loaded burger or a topped cake does not touch the lid. This is the single most common complaint about a food box.
- Venting
- Hot food steams. Vents in the lid keep pastry and fries crisp; a sealed box is right only for cold food.
- Grease path
- Where the fat sits decides the board. Say if the food is fried, buttered or sauced, and whether it is held for minutes or an hour.
- Stacking in a bag
- Delivery boxes are stacked five high on a bike. The lid has to hold the box above it off the food below.
- Sample fill
- A plain box filled from your kitchen settles the size in one try, and we send one before the run.
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 Tissue Paper 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 tissue paper? 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.
Which weight should I use?
17 gsm for standard retail wrapping. 22 gsm if customers tear it lifting the product out, and acid-free for textiles or anything stored in it.
Can I print a solid color?
Not as ink — the sheet cannot carry that much and stay soft. Use a dyed tissue in your color and print a pattern or logo on it.
What size sheet do I need?
About twice the box footprint each way, so it wraps up and over. For a 10 x 8 in box, roughly 20 x 15 in.
Will the ink rub off on the product?
It can transfer to damp or pale items. For white garments or unfinished leather, put unprinted acid-free tissue against the item.
Is it acid-free?
The acid-free grade is. Ordinary tissue yellows and can mark fabric over years, so use acid-free for anything stored in it.
Can I have my brand color?
Yes, dyed to your color, which looks stronger than printing a color onto white. Add a white or metallic logo on top.
Is it recyclable?
Yes, and compostable. Recycled and FSC-certified grades are available.
Will the color run if it gets wet?
Standard dyed tissue can bleed. Ask for the colorfast grade if the product might be damp or the box might get wet.
How many sheets per box?
One, if it is sized correctly. Needing two sheets is a sign the sheet is too small, and it doubles the cost.
What is the minimum order?
500 sheets. Flexo print set-up is small, so a printed run is practical at that level.
How long does production take?
Short — tissue prints and cuts quickly. We give a date with the quote.
Will you send a sample?
Printed samples in your color and weight, sized to your box, so you can wrap a real product before the run.
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