How to Choose Paperboard for Retail Packaging
Grammage, stiffness, print surface and cost — matching the board to the product it must carry.
The board is the skeleton of retail packaging. Choose it after the product and before the graphics — the wrong board makes good artwork look cheap or fail structurally.
Grammage: The First Approximation
Light retail cartons run 250–300 gsm; standard product cartons 300–350 gsm; heavier or larger boxes 350–450 gsm. Weight correlates with stiffness but is not stiffness — fiber type and coating matter as much.
Stiffness and Product Weight
Ask for board stiffness data (or samples) matched to your product weight. A cosmetic carton holding 30 ml survives at lower grammage than one holding a 500 ml glass bottle — the same design can need a different board per SKU size.
Print Surface
Coated boards (FBB, art paper) deliver the crispest CMYK and hold spot UV and foil best. Uncoated kraft gives an eco look but softens colors and detail — design differently for it, don’t just reuse the same artwork.
When to Move to Greyboard
When the box must feel rigid, keep its shape under load, or present as a gift box, wrapped greyboard (1–3 mm) is the tier above folding carton. It ships pre-assembled and costs more in freight — budget for it.
Practical Advice
Ask suppliers for sample packets covering board grades. Test the actual product fit and feel before committing — board choice is cheap to change on paper and expensive to change after printing.
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