Custom Unique Boxes
Custom unique boxes in a shape nobody else on the shelf has — hexagonal, tapered, wedge, pillow, faceted — sized to your product from 100. We draw the dieline that makes the shape fold true and send it with the price the same working day.
When a rectangle is the one thing the brief rules out
- Board
- 16–24pt folding boxboard for one-piece shapes; wrapped grayboard for rigid forms
- Builds
- Hexagonal, octagonal, tapered, pillow, wedge, cylinder, faceted rigid
- Sizing
- Set from the product; sample at finished size before print
Get a price for Unique 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.
Shapes that fold from one sheet
A surprising number of forms cut and fold from a single flat blank: hexagonal and octagonal prisms, pillow boxes, tapered cartons, wedges, triangular tubes. One die, no hand assembly, ships flat. These are the unique boxes that stay affordable at 100 units, because the tooling is one piece and the box glues on a machine.
| Hexagonal prism | Six panels, tuck or crash-lock base; candles, jars, tea |
|---|---|
| Tapered carton | Sloped walls, wider at the top; cosmetics, food gifts |
| Pillow | Curved ends, closes by hand; small soft goods, cards |
| Wedge / triangular | Three panels; snacks, single items, event pieces |
Shapes that need a second piece
Cylinders, cubes with a drop-in lid, faceted rigid forms and anything that must hold a shape under its own weight are built from two or more components — a wound tube and end caps, a wrapped base and a lid, a folded shell over a rigid core. They cost more and ship assembled, and they are what a heavier product or a longer shelf life calls for.
Print wraps around corners now
On a rectangle, artwork sits in panels. On a hexagon or a taper it crosses folds that are not at right angles, and a straight line on the flat becomes a broken one on the box. We proof the artwork on the dieline for exactly this reason, and the dieline marks every fold so you can see where the design crosses one. A flat color or a pattern forgives this; a photograph does not.
Send artwork after you have the dieline, not before. Placing it on the real shape saves a round of corrections.
Sizing a shape to a product
Our guide to measuring for a box covers the basics; for a shape, the plain sample is where the fit is confirmed.
- For a prism, the internal width across the flats and the height; we work out the panel widths.
- For a taper, the top and base dimensions and the height — the slope is set from those.
- For a pillow, the flat length and the item thickness; the curve follows.
- Round items in a faceted box need clearance at the corners, not the flats.
Shelf and shipping behavior of odd shapes
Shapes do not stack like rectangles. A hexagon leaves gaps in a shipper; a taper cannot stack at all without a tray. That affects your freight and your retailer's shelf, and it is worth deciding early whether the box needs an outer or a tray, because the answer changes the cost more than the shape itself does.
Unique 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
- 16–24pt folding boxboard for one-piece shapes; wrapped grayboard for rigid forms
- Builds
- Hexagonal, octagonal, tapered, pillow, wedge, cylinder, faceted rigid
- Sizing
- Set from the product; sample at finished size before print
- Full color; proofed on the dieline across every fold
- Base
- Tuck, crash-lock or glued; rigid base on multi-part forms
- Tooling
- One die for single-sheet shapes, kept for reorders
- 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 unique 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: unique 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 Unique 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 unique 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 shapes can you make?
Hexagons, octagons, tapers, pillows, wedges and triangular tubes from one sheet; cylinders, faceted and lidded forms as multi-part builds. If a shape can be scored and glued, it can usually be made.
Do unique shapes cost a lot more?
One-sheet shapes cost close to a standard carton once the die is made. Multi-part rigid forms cost more and ship assembled.
Will the artwork line up across the folds?
We proof it on the dieline so you can see where every fold crosses the design. Flat colors and patterns are forgiving; straight lines and photographs need placing carefully.
Do they ship flat?
Single-sheet shapes do. Cylinders and rigid faceted boxes ship assembled.
Can I get a sample?
Yes, plain and unprinted at the finished size. On a shape it is the fastest way to confirm the fit and the closure.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Do odd shapes stack?
Not like rectangles. Hexagons leave gaps and tapers need a tray. We can quote an outer or a tray alongside the box if it will be shipped in quantity.
Can a hexagonal box have a window?
Yes, on one or more panels. The window is cut on the same die.
How do I give you the size?
Give the product dimensions and we set the box. For a prism that is the width across the flats and the height; for a taper, the top, base and height.
Can you make a round box?
Yes, as a wound paper tube with caps or a wrapped rigid cylinder. Round boxes are always multi-part.
Is a die needed?
Yes, for any shape. It is made once, shown on the quote, and kept for reorders.
Do you send a dieline?
With the quote and before anything is cut. For a shaped box it is worth waiting for it before placing artwork.
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