The Black and White of Custom Printed D2C E-commerce Boxes
A quick visit to our www.SalazarPackaging.com web site and gallery shows a wide variety of bright and pastel colors that we print for companies’ subscription and e-commerce boxes and mailer envelopes. Two of the most popular colors remain black and white. As a printing and color guide we are providing some of the advantages and disadvantages of these basic colors.
White printing on D2C boxes
There are only two standard available colors of corrugated board as provided by the mills: Kraft (brown) or white. As a result, we rarely print a flood coat or heavy ink coverage of white. We use the natural, available (white) board as the background color and we print any additional color over it. Even white copy is reverse printed, so the white is solid and opaque. Using the white board as a color also minimizes the number of plates and inks required, reducing cost of the boxes and print plates.
The only real down side of white flood coat boxes is that they tend to arrive looking dirty. We love their clean, pristine look when they are shipping out but by the time they arrive they tend to show every finger print and smudge acquired in shipment. We will be glad to provide white samples for test shipping if you are uncertain which color you prefer.
Black printing on D2C boxes
Black copy on a Kraft or white board background always looks great. It stands out and the contrast it creates makes your graphics pop.
For a black background, using a flexographic print process, we always recommend that we over print black on white board. The purpose of that is to provide the black ink a high-quality substrate to adhere to that is solid, with minimal color variations. A close look at any Kraft box will show the different shades of brown that are visible, and they can make any color printed over it to vary as well.
If you want a shiny black surface, it cannot be created using standard flexographic printing. That glossy finish can be produced on specialty flexographic equipment, many digital printing systems, and with litho label finished over corrugated. Unfortunately, all three of the high gloss black options can be quite a bit more expensive compared to flexo (1,000 MOQ), and the minimums are typically 3,000 to 5,000 or more.
One word of warning on glossy black finishes. The higher the gloss level, the more likely they are to show fingerprints and smudges. This may not deliver the classy look you are trying to create.
The best advice I can provide is seek guidance from someone like us who knows how to print on corrugated board. Most graphic artists can create beautiful designs, but they may not be familiar with the limitations of flexographic printing. We know what prints well and what does not. In many cases, a little tweak of the design can save money and result in a much more attractive finished product.
Contact Salazar Packaging or call us at 630-551-1700. Our experienced branded packaging advisors will be glad to review your graphics and help you determine the best and least expensive way to get them printed.
Related posts:
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/for-a-unique-d2c-e-commerce-shipping-box-try-triple-white-board/
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/the-cost-of-custom-printed-branded-d2c-packaging/
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/reduce-cost-e-commerce-d2c-shipping-boxes/
