Slipcover for Boxes.

It takes the transit scuffs, so the printed box inside arrives clean. The slipcover is the outer skin, and rubbing inside shipping cartons and on shelves wears the cover first. When the customer slides it off, the host box is in the condition it left the press.

That counts most when the host is a wrapped rigid box, which is expensive to reprint and hard to repair once it's marked.

Yes, both work, and they sit at two different price levels. A folding carton with a slipcover is the economical way to get a two-part presentation. A rigid box with a slipcover is the gift tier, where sliding the cover off becomes the first step of the reveal.

Most covers are made from 16 to 18pt SBS whichever host you choose. Kraft gives a natural outer layer, and textured stocks are there when the cover should feel premium in the hand.

Measure a real, erected host box rather than the numbers on its dieline. Folded board, glue seams and wraps all add thickness that a drawing leaves out. We add 1 to 2mm over the measured box so the cover slides with some resistance and stays put when the box is lifted.

If you can, send us two or three finished host boxes and we'll cut the sample slipcover to those.

Yes, and that's the main reason brands put a slipcover on at all. Keep the host box plain or quietly branded and put the campaign on the cover. A seasonal edition, a retailer exclusive or a holiday version then becomes a new sleeve run while the boxes you already hold stay in use.

A loud cover over a quiet box also reads well on the shelf, because the brand stays consistent underneath whatever the cover is saying that month.

Put the finishing budget on the cover, since that's the surface people see first. Foil, embossing, spot UV and soft-touch on a slipcover cost less than the same work on a wrapped rigid box, and matte or gloss lamination is available as a base.

Printing the inside of the cover is a detail people notice as it slides off. A line of text or a pattern there shows up right at the moment of opening.

Yes, as an open die-cut that frames part of the box underneath. We don't patch film into slipcover windows. The cut shows the host box's print or finish through the opening, so the two layers need to be designed together.

The open ends work in a similar way. Two faces of the host box show at each end, so plan the host artwork to look finished there instead of treating those faces as hidden.

Slipcover runs start at 500 covers. Because the cover carries the campaign, many brands order a fresh batch for each season or promotion and keep the same host boxes in stock between them.

Bigger programmes go up to 100,000 covers. Your fit measurements and die stay on file, so a new design on the same host box doesn't start from scratch.

A sample slipcover takes 5 to 7 business days, and we'd send one before any bulk run. Fit is the thing to check, so slide it on and off your own filled boxes a few times. Production then takes 7 to 10 business days from approval.

Slipcovers can be rushed through in 5 to 7 business days when a launch is close. We take the sample fee off the invoice for the full run.