The Ultimate Guide to Packaging

Packaging has become essential to running all kinds of businesses, from e-commerce companies, skincare brands, to food and beverage sold in supermarkets. Companies across the world invest significantly in packaging. According to this McKinsey report, packaging solutions is a $900 billion market. The packaging industry has enjoyed incredible growth in the past seven years, particularly with the boost in online sales in 2020. Adobe Analytics reports that US online sales went up to $63 billion in August, while the first eight months of 2020 “generated $497 billion in online sales.” Your product’s appearance—whether on the shelf or a customer’s doorstep—helps nudge customers into repeat sales.

Every industry, from logistics, textiles, electronic products, e-commerce, healthcare, to relocation and supplies, uses corrugated cardboard boxes. Food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, household care, cosmetics, and pet food businesses are the dominant users of custom pouches. Food products such as dairy, frozen items, and snacks use packaging sleeves. This simple, cost-efficient branding tool is also popular for personal and home care products, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. How does one narrow down the right choice for their packaging? How does one even start vetting the process to ensure the money is well-spent?

Here’s a comprehensive guide that lays out your best choices and walks you through the entire production process for packaging:

How to Choose the Best Packaging Solution for Your Business Needs

Novice business owners may end up with choice paralysis when they see the expansive variety of packaging available. But it all starts with function and the needs it should serve: 

• • Labels are a staple among food and beverage products. These are required to identify the item and inform customers of the ingredients and nutrition information. 
• • Packaging sleeves can dress up everything from mailer boxes, jars, T-shirts or other apparel, to small products like soap bars. We recommend using this type of packaging for a bulk quantity of plainly wrapped items that need to be branded quickly before shipping. It’s also more affordable compared to custom boxes.  
• • Custom boxes are the staple for packages with several items shipped straight to a customer’s doorstep. These are made of sturdy material designed to protect them from external damage while in transit. You can choose from shipping, product, or mailer boxes, depending on the number and items packed inside.  
• • Pouches are reusable and resealable alternatives to boxes and plastic containers. These have bottom gussets that expand when filled, so they can fit most small to medium sized items like accessories and small gadgets. They come with resealable zippers that allow customers to close and reopen the pouch after every use, perfect for keeping food items fresh. 

 

Getting the Package’s Accurate Specifications

Now that you’ve narrowed down the packaging you need, it’s time to get the exact specifications for your chosen solution. First, you need to get the exact size for your printed packaging design.

How to Accurately Measure Your Packaging Dimensions

Follow this step-by-step guide to get an accurate measurement of your product label:

1. 1. 1. Go to the area where you’ll apply the label. This is most likely the flattest section of the entire container. 
      2. Standard label sizes are shown in width by height. To measure the width, start from the left to the right side of the flat area. You’ll have to measure the circumference for the width of a circular bottle or container. 
      3. Measure the length from the top until the bottom of the jar, bottle, or container. For labels that will wrap around a bottle or a similar container, there should be a 1/8” clearance between the start and end of the label measurement. 

Interior dimensions are the key to a precise measurement of custom boxes. Get the interior measurements or how the box measures from the inside. The interior measurements also refer to the whole box once it is assembled. Here’s how to properly measure the box’s interior dimensions.

1. 1. 1. Length measures the longest side from the top side of the box. 
      2. Width is the shortest side also seen from the top areas of your box. 
      3. Depth measures the length perpendicular to the box’s width and length. 

If your measurements end up with extra space, you’re likely estimating from the outside of your box. The exterior dimensions of your box determine how much space it will consume. Interior dimensions, on the other hand, will be the size of the items that can fit inside the box. 

 

Packaging sleeves can be measured using a piece of paper: 

1. 1. 1. Wrap the paper around the product container. Make sure the wrapped-around paper has enough space for your planned design. 
      2. Mark the ends where both sides of the paper meet.
      3. Remove or add to the first measurement if it does not fit the wrap around. 
      4. Unwrap the paper around the container. Measure the width and height based on the unwrapped sleeve.
          

Pouches are measured according to width, height, and gusset. The bottom gusset expands once you fill the pouch with your items, so it’s important to account for your product’s size. 

1. 1. 1. To measure the width, start from the left side edge until the edge on the right side. 
      2. For the height, measure from the edge of the pouch’s bottom until the top area. 
      3. The bottom gusset dimension refers to when the pouch is opened and filled with your item. It is approximately two times the measurement from the outside bottom edge until the maximum depth of the pouch

 

How to Select the Best Material for Your Packaging 

Each packaging type offers several materials that have their advantages over one another. Before you choose cardstock over corrugated cardboard for appearance’s sake, prioritize the safety of your items. Most items are shipped and will be exposed to external impact. For online businesses, the packaging is the first tactile experience of your brand. It will determine the impression you make and justify why they made that purchase. Other packaging solutions, like labels or sleeves, will be exposed to outdoor elements. The table below helps narrow down the best material for your chosen packaging type:

Invest in a Design That Sustains a Memorable Customer Experience

Once you’ve settled the foundation of your packaging’s function and material, you can fully focus on how the design will achieve the final form. All materials come with protective laminations that elevate the overall look.

• • Matte adds an elegant, subdued touch that suits pastel or neutral colors. The best choice for product labels with long ingredient lists and other details as this coating makes the text easy to read. 
• • Gloss gives that extra shine and a pop of color to bright designs. Recommended for product packages that need to stand out from afar and are perfect for highlighting important details like your product name or logo. 
• • High gloss offers the brightest shine and highest reflection under a light. Your best bet for bold designs and daring color palettes. 
  
  

You can also add other small but significant touches to enhance or highlight specific design elements. Check out the available options for each packaging solution:

• • Mailer boxes primarily used for subscription and gift box services can be fitted with custom inserts. The inserts are built to maintain the shape and provide extra protection for more fragile items like skincare products in bottles or jars. 
• • Product boxes come with premium printing options such as spot UV, embossing, foil stamping, and soft touch. Use these to emphasize specific areas like your logo, product name, or product details.  Foil gives text or images a metallic shine, spot gives images that extra shine, embossing elevates details from the background, while soft-touch adds a luxurious texture. 
• • Stand-up pouches include additional functional features such as resealable zipper, tear notch, or hang hole. Add any of these features if you are displaying the pouch on a hanger or are packaging an edible item. Child-resistant stand-up pouches are also available for products that are hazardous to kids.

It also helps to add a subtle, personal touch to your packaging. Something as simple as a thank you note or a personalized greeting on the mailer box. You can also wrap the items in elegant wrapping paper to make the items feel like a gift they gave to themselves. The customer may love these little touches so much that they record and share the experience as an unboxing video. Your brand gains free advertising without having to pay for the exposure. 

Preparing Your Packaging Design for Production 

There are other technical points to review and check before submitting your package design for production. Use the checklist below when double-checking the files submitted for pouches, packaging sleeves, and labels:

1. 1. 1. Set the color mode to CMYK. 
      2. All elements, especially visual ones, should be in 300 dpi. 
      3. Submit the file in the following preferred formats: PDF, AI, PSD, PUB, or JPEG/JPG. 
      4. Follow the bleed and other printing guidelines. The bleed is the edge of the entire design and until where you need to extend the background. It measures 1/8” from your actual artwork. Check out this blog for more information on printing guidelines.

While UPrinting doesn’t accept files for custom boxes, a 3D online design tool can be accessed via the product page. The intuitive tool shows the flat layout of your box, the correct panels, and how each area will appear in 3D. It gives a complete picture of how the design will appear once manufactured.  

If you have a print-ready file ready for production, you can request a dieline on the custom box page. You will receive a file showing the flat PDF layout of your box specifications by email. Use this as a reference for correctly applying the design on the corresponding box sections.

Customize Your Packaging Solution Today

Bring your design to life on any of our packaging solution pages. Choose from three kinds of custom boxes, indicate a custom size, or download a print-ready template for accurate production. 

         E-Commerce Shipping and Packaging                                           Label Printing                                                                            Custom Boxes