Medicine Boxes.

Give each strength its own colour and set the strength in heavy type, so the cartons differ at a glance and the numeral is only the final check. Cartons that change nothing but one digit are a known route to dispensing mistakes. Tall Man lettering capitalises the part of a name that separates it from a similar one.

We match strength colours with Pantone inks, so each strength keeps an identical colour on every reprint.

More than most designers expect, because the code needs a clear quiet zone around it as well as the square itself. DSCSA serialisation puts the GTIN, serial number, lot and expiry into one 2D DataMatrix, and on a small blister carton that space has to be designed in from the start.

Print quality matters as much as size. We keep the code on a flat, matte area so it scans first time on the packing line and at the pharmacy.

Yes, and on a folding carton the usual tamper evidence is a glued end with a perforated tear strip that shows once it has been opened. Seals over the flap are another route. For child resistance, a carton lock that takes two actions together can be built in, and it has to pass child-resistance testing before sale.

We'll show you both features on a sample so you can check how an adult opens it.

Matte lamination, CMYK with Pantone matching and a spot UV logo cover most medicine boxes. Matte keeps small type readable under pharmacy lighting, and Pantone holds the strength colours steady from run to run.

Braille can be embossed on the front panel, usually carrying the product name. It needs board that takes and holds raised dots, and the emboss is placed away from folds and glue areas so the dots aren't flattened.

Confirm the folded leaflet dimensions before the carton is drawn, because a leaflet that doesn't fit is the classic error in this category. We size the inside around the blister or bottle plus the leaflet at its folded thickness.

Common starting sizes are 2 × 1 × 3.5 in for a blister carton and 2.5 × 2.5 × 4 in for a bottle. Send us a folded leaflet from your printer and we'll build a sample around it.

Pharma-grade SBS is the standard, chosen for a consistent caliper that runs reliably on high-speed cartoning lines. Folding boxboard gives similar stiffness with more bulk at a lower weight. Kraft and rigid chipboard are also available for specialist formats.

Recycled grades can be used where they've been validated for your application. We'd check the caliper tolerance with your packing line before switching, because a thicker batch can jam the feeder.

Yes, runs begin at 500 cartons. A quantity that size works for a compounding pharmacy or a first launch, and variable data printing lets patient-specific or lot-specific details change across a run.

Larger programmes go up to 100,000 units on one order. A range of strengths can share one dieline with a different colour per strength.

Allow 7 to 10 business days of production after artwork approval, with a rush option of 5 to 7. Regulatory copy is the usual cause of delay, so we'd lock the text before booking press time.

A sample takes 5 to 7 business days and lets you run the carton on your line and check the leaflet fit. The carton sample's fee is credited when the full medicine box run is booked.