Print-ready artwork for custom printed boxes means a single, finished, high-resolution file (ideally a 300dpi PNG with a transparent background) that sits comfortably inside the box's defined print area, with no white ink relied upon and nothing important running to the edges. Get those four things right and your order moves straight to proof. Get them wrong and your job stalls while someone asks you for a better file.
This guide walks through exactly how to prepare artwork for custom printed boxes, what the presses can and cannot do, and the small setup habits that separate a crisp print from a fuzzy, disappointing one.
What "print-ready" actually means
A print-ready file needs no further work before it goes to press. It is not a screenshot of your logo, a low-resolution image pulled from your website, or a Word document with your brand name typed into it. It is finished artwork at the correct resolution, in a usable format, sized sensibly for the area it will occupy.
At Fast Printed Boxes we print full-colour CMYK using water-based digital inkjet directly onto pre-made stock boxes. That is why we can run low order quantities without the plate costs of litho or flexo printing. It also brings a few practical rules your artwork needs to respect.
Accepted file formats
We accept a range of formats, but they are not all equal. In rough order of preference:
- PNG with a transparent background - our first choice. Transparency means the bare board shows through everywhere your design is not, which is exactly how the print will behave.
- Vector files (.ai, .eps, or vector .pdf) - excellent for logos, line art and text, because they scale to any size without losing sharpness.
- PSD - fine, particularly with layers intact and a transparent background.
- JPG - workable, but a JPG cannot hold transparency. Any white in a JPG becomes a solid white rectangle in your file, and because we have no white ink, that area simply prints as nothing while the surrounding shape stays visible. A JPG logo on a brown box almost always looks worse than the same logo supplied as a PNG.
Whichever you choose, supply one completed piece of artwork per print area. If your design needs a logo, a strapline and a web address, combine them into a single finished file rather than sending three separate elements and a note about where they should go. We print supplied artwork; we do not run a design studio, so the layout decisions need to be made before the file reaches us. Full guidance lives on our personalisation information and help page.
Resolution: why 300dpi is the number that matters
Supply artwork at 300dpi at the size it will be printed. That last part trips people up. A 300dpi file measuring 20mm across is not a 300dpi file once it is enlarged to 120mm across; blown up six times, it is effectively 50dpi and will print soft and pixelated.
The safest approach is to build your artwork at, or slightly larger than, its final printed dimensions. If you only have a small raster logo, ask your designer for the original vector version. Vector art has no resolution at all in the traditional sense, so it stays razor sharp whether it prints at 20mm or 200mm.
Colour: CMYK, RGB and the no white ink rule
Screens emit light and use RGB. Presses lay down ink and use CMYK, a subtractive model where the inks absorb parts of the spectrum. Some vivid RGB colours simply sit outside the CMYK gamut, which is why an electric blue or a fluorescent green on your monitor can land noticeably flatter on board. Adobe's explanation of colour models is a useful primer if you want the detail.
Two practical consequences:
- There is no white ink. White in your design is not printed, it is the material showing through. On white board that reads as white. On kraft it reads as brown. A white logo supplied for a brown box will effectively disappear, so pick a colour that has contrast against the stock, or choose white boxes instead.
- Kraft mutes everything. The warm brown base sits underneath every ink you lay on it, so colours come out darker and earthier than they look on screen. Kraft flatters navy, forest green, burgundy and black; it fights pastels and neons. Our guide to kraft versus white cardboard boxes goes into this in more depth.
We cannot guarantee an exact Pantone match. If colour accuracy is critical to your brand, order a sample first rather than committing a full run to a screen approximation.
Print areas, margins and why nothing bleeds to the edge
Digital inkjet onto pre-made boxes prints within a defined area on the lid or top face. It does not wrap around corners, it does not cover the sides or base, and it does not run edge to edge. Every design needs clear unprinted space between it and the nearest edge, fold or glue seam.
Design with that in mind and the result looks deliberate: a clean, centred mark on honest board, which is very much the current e-commerce aesthetic anyway. Check the stated print area for your chosen product before you start, as it varies between a large letter box and a double wall shipper.
A quick pre-flight checklist
- One finished file per print area, not a collection of loose elements.
- 300dpi at final printed size, or vector.
- Transparent background wherever possible.
- No reliance on white ink; check contrast against your chosen board colour.
- Fonts outlined or converted to curves in vector files.
- Comfortable margin to every edge, fold and seam.
- Outlined text and clean logos in preference to heavy solid flood fills, which use a lot of ink and can look blotchy on textured board.
- You own the rights to everything in the file. UK copyright protection is automatic, so an image found online is almost certainly someone else's property.
What happens after you upload
Once your file arrives through the artwork upload page, we check it against the print area and flag anything that will not reproduce well. Nothing goes into production until you have approved a proof by email, so there is a safety net if something has been set up incorrectly. If you are unsure about a file, send it over early and ask.
Frequently asked questions
What file format is best for printed boxes?
A 300dpi PNG with a transparent background is usually the best choice, because transparency lets the bare board show through and avoids the solid white rectangle problem that JPGs create. For logos and text, a vector file such as .ai, .eps or a vector .pdf is even better, as it stays sharp at any size. We also accept .jpg and .psd.
Can you print white on a brown kraft box?
No. Digital inkjet printing has no white ink, so white in a design is simply the absence of print and shows the material underneath. On kraft board that means brown. If your branding is white, either choose a white box so the unprinted areas read as white, or supply an alternative colourway with enough contrast against brown.
Do you print edge to edge or all over the box?
No. Print sits within a defined area on the lid or top face of the box, with an unprinted margin to every edge, fold and seam. We do not offer full-bleed, wraparound or all-over printing, and we do not print the sides or base. Designing a centred mark with clear space around it gives the best result.
What resolution should my artwork be?
300dpi at the final printed size. Resolution is relative to dimensions, so a small 300dpi file scaled up will lose quality. Build the artwork at roughly the size it will appear on the box, or supply vector artwork, which has no fixed resolution and scales cleanly.
Can you match my exact Pantone brand colour?
We print in four-colour CMYK process and cannot guarantee a Pantone match. Most brand colours reproduce well, but some vivid shades sit outside the CMYK gamut, and kraft board shifts colours warmer and darker. If exact colour matters, order a printed sample before committing to a full run.
Will you fix my artwork if it is not print-ready?
We check every file and tell you if something will not reproduce well, and we always send a proof for approval before production. We do not, however, offer a full design service, so redrawing a logo or laying out a design from scratch is not something we can do for you.
Ready to get your boxes printed?
Good artwork preparation is the difference between packaging that looks properly considered and packaging that looks like an afterthought. Spend twenty minutes getting the file right and you will be pleased with the result for every reorder afterwards.
Browse the full range at Fast Printed Boxes, or upload your artwork and we will check it over and come back with a proof.