Custom Art Print Shipping Boxes

Board Choices for Art Print Shipping Boxes

Most of our art print mailers are made from single-wall E-flute corrugated board, the thinnest grade among our board and finish options. It is thin enough to keep postage size down, yet stiff enough to stop a print bending when the parcel is handled on its edge. For larger sheets, or for framed and mounted pieces, B-flute or a double-wall board adds the extra stiffness that a big flat panel needs.

White board gives clean, bright print and looks gallery-like when opened. Kraft board has a warmer, handmade feel that suits printmakers, illustrators and screen-print studios. Either can be printed outside, inside or both.

• E-flute for A5 to A3 prints that need to stay slim
• B-flute or double wall for A2, A1 and mounted work
• White or kraft outer face, printed in full colour or a single ink
• Optional card pads cut to size to sandwich the print

Printing That Suits a Studio

Artists tend to want packaging that does not shout over the work. A small logo on the lid, a pattern on the inside and a short note on the inner flap is often enough, with a printed thank-you sticker holding the flap shut. Others use the box as a canvas in its own right and print a detail from the artwork across the outside. Both approaches work; the second simply needs higher-resolution artwork from you.

Inside printing is a nice touch for flat mailers, because it is the first thing a collector sees when the lid opens. A line such as how to handle the print, a care note about keeping it out of direct sunlight, or simply your signature and website gives the unboxing a personal feel without an extra insert. A matte laminate on the outside helps the box survive a wet doorstep.

Protecting the Print Inside the Box

The box does most of the work, but a couple of small additions make a big difference. A clear cellophane sleeve sized to the print keeps fingerprints off the surface. Two rigid backing boards, one either side, stop flex if the box is bent in transit. For limited editions, a sheet of acid-free tissue between print and board is a sensible extra that buyers notice.

We can print a 'Please do not bend' message on the outside panel if you want one. It will not stop every careless handler, but in our experience it does reduce the number of parcels that get forced through narrow letterboxes.

• Cello sleeve or glassine envelope for the print
• Backing boards cut to the inside size of the box
• Tear strip for easy opening without a knife near the artwork
• Peel-and-seal strip for quick closing on busy days

Packing Day Tips From Busy Print Shops

When a new edition sells out in an evening, the packing table becomes the bottleneck. Keep boxes flat in their cartons until you need them, then fold a batch of twenty at once so you are not switching tasks for every order, a habit that applies to any custom postal box you run. Pre-cut backing boards and pre-sleeved prints go a long way towards making each parcel take under a minute.

Label placement matters more than people think. Put the address label on the lid rather than across a seam, so the parcel can be opened without tearing it, and so a returned parcel can be relabelled cleanly. If you print a small panel on the lid that is left free of artwork, couriers' labels have somewhere tidy to land and your design stays intact.

Finally, keep a few spare boxes of each size for replacements. Even with the best packing, the odd parcel will be crushed by a heavier item in a van, and being able to send a fresh print the same day keeps buyers loyal.

Send Us the Trimmed Sheet Size, Not the Image Size

The most common mistake on a print mailer order is quoting the image area rather than the paper. A giclée printed at A3 is often trimmed with a border, so the sheet is the number we need, plus the thickness of whatever travels with it: a cello sleeve, one or two backing boards, an edition card. Write those down as a list and note how many prints go in one parcel at most, because a box sized for one sheet will bulge with three. If you sell several sizes, list each one; separate boxes nearly always post cheaper than one large box with padding.

From that list we send a custom quote by email within one working day, with minimums quoted per job so a first edition of fifty does not need a pallet of boxes. A free design proof shows the dieline with your artwork across the folds, production follows in 4 to 7 working days, and free tracked UK mainland delivery lands in 2 to 3 working days. For A2 and larger editions that need a deeper, stiffer box, compare the 24 x 24 x 4 flat kraft box as a starting point.