It is one of the first questions we get asked, and it is the one most packaging suppliers are vague about: can you print across the whole box?
The honest answer is no, and understanding why will make your packaging look considerably better.
Why we print in pre-defined areas
Most custom packaging companies manufacture a box from flat sheet, printing it before it is ever folded. That allows full coverage, but it is why their lead times run into weeks and their minimum orders run into thousands.
We work the opposite way round. We hold thousands of pre-manufactured stock packaging products (boxes, mailers, bags) and print your full-colour artwork directly onto them, in-house, on our own equipment. That is precisely how we deliver some of the fastest turnarounds in the UK, with same-day local delivery available, next day, or a standard 3-5 day service.
The trade-off is this: because we are printing onto an already-formed product, our systems print into pre-defined print areas rather than across every panel and edge. We cannot print the entire outside of a box.
We would rather tell you that plainly than let you design artwork that cannot be produced.
Where you can print, product by product
The available print areas differ by product, but broadly:
- Postal and cardboard boxes - printed internally and externally, within the defined areas on each panel.
- Book and magazine wrap mailers - printed internally and externally.
- Paper mailing bags - printed on both sides of the bag.
- Paper carrier bags - printed on both sides of the bag.
The exact printable zone for any given product is shown in our artwork upload tool. Hover the red ? icon on the product page and the print area is mapped out for you before you commit to anything.
This is a design constraint, not a limitation
Here is the part worth internalising: the brands whose packaging looks most expensive are rarely the ones printing edge to edge.
A crisp logo, centred, on honest brown kraft, reads as far more premium than a busy full-bleed design fighting the corrugation. Restraint photographs better, it survives the knocks of the courier network better, and it is cheaper. It is the same reason a single colour can look more premium than full colour, and why printing the top of your box still makes such a big impact. The lid is the first thing a customer sees, and it is doing most of the work.
Two things that catch people out
Large areas of solid block colour. Avoid them. We are printing onto an uneven, pre-manufactured surface, and heavy blocks of flat colour tend to print inconsistently. Line work, logos and type hold up far better. This is doubly true on brown and manila materials, where slight colour variance is more visible.
Exact colour matching. We print in full colour, but we cannot guarantee an exact Pantone match, and nobody printing digitally onto kraft honestly can. If colour accuracy is critical to you, order a single printed sample first and use it as your reference.
You will never be surprised by the result
We do not print a full order until you have approved a printed sample, by email, by video, or as a physical sample through the post. You can amend it as many times as you like until you are completely happy. If you are not satisfied with the printed sample, we refund the order in full, no quibble.
You can also order a blank sample for a couple of pence, simply to feel the base product before you design anything at all. For a broader run-through of what to sort out before ordering, our branded packaging checklist covers the lot, and if you are still deciding on format, how to choose the right printed packaging is the place to start.
The short version
You cannot print everywhere on a box. You can print, in full colour, into generous pre-defined areas (inside and out on boxes and mailers, both sides on bags) and if you design with that in mind, you will end up with packaging that looks sharper, prints more reliably, and reaches you in days rather than weeks.
Any doubt about what will work, check our FAQs or send your artwork to info@fast-printed-packaging.co.uk and we will tell you honestly whether it will print well.
