Custom Kraft Packaging

Kraft is a board, not a box style

Kraft is a paper, not a shape. It is the brown board used to make mailers, cartons, sleeves and displays.

The name comes from the kraft pulping process, which leaves long, strong fibres. Because the pulp is not bleached, the board stays brown. Those fibres are why kraft resists tearing and folds well compared with many whiter papers of similar weight.

Kraft appears in several forms. It can be a solid board, a liner on corrugated, or a thin paper wrapped around something else. Strength and print behaviour differ a lot between them, so tell us what the box is for and we match the form to it.

• Solid kraft board, used for cartons and sleeves
• Kraft liner on corrugated, for mailers and shippers
• Clay-coated kraft back: white printable face, brown reverse

Natural kraft or recycled kraft?

Natural kraft is stronger and more even in colour. Recycled kraft is greyer and more variable, and it carries recycled content.

Natural kraft comes mainly from fresh fibre. It is stiffer and more consistent from batch to batch. Recycled kraft is made from reclaimed paper, so the fibres are shorter and the board can show flecks and small colour shifts across a run.

Neither is better in every case. Recycled kraft suits brands that want the recycled content and the rougher character. Natural kraft suits heavier contents and tighter print. The difference shows most across large areas of flat colour and under heavy contents.

• Natural: stiffer, more even colour
• Recycled: speckled, slightly softer, visible recycled content

Weight, thickness and grain

Kraft board is chosen by weight and thickness, and the right pair depends on panel size and what sits inside.

A larger panel needs stiffer board or it bows. A small carton can use thinner board without trouble. Heavier contents call for thicker board or a corrugated form, because solid kraft has no fluting to take a load.

Grain direction matters as well. Board folds more cleanly with the grain than across it, and a fold across the grain can crack, most visibly under dark ink. A good dieline runs the main folds along the grain wherever it can.

Kraft or white paperboard?

White board gives exact colour and fine detail. Kraft gives a natural look and a quieter style of print.

White paperboard such as SBS is the choice for photographs, gradients and brand colours that must match a swatch. It has the brightest surface and the sharpest edge on small type.

Kraft suits products that want to look natural, and it hides some dirt and scuffing in handling. The trade-off is range. If a brand's identity depends on a pale or very saturated colour, kraft will fight it, and a coated white board is the more honest answer.

Ink, white ink and texture

Ink on kraft is translucent, so the brown shows through every colour. Plan the artwork around the board, not against it.

Dark inks such as black, navy and deep green read strongly on kraft. Pale and bright colours turn muddy. One-colour artwork, with the brown doing half the job, is the most reliable result and needs less ink than full coverage.

White ink printed as an underlayer lets other colours show closer to true. It is an extra pass, so we add it to the specification before the proof. Uncoated kraft also absorbs ink, which softens fine lines. A water-based varnish can reduce rub marks, but it changes the feel of the surface.

• Dark inks and bold shapes work best
• White underprint restores lighter colours
• Uncoated surface softens fine detail

Plain kraft or a coated finish?

Plain kraft is the pick for dry goods, a natural look and bold, simple print. A coated or laminated surface is the pick when contents are greasy or damp, or the finish has to shine.

Kraft is not automatically strong or waterproof. It is a weak choice where a glossy photographic finish is expected or where contents are greasy or damp, because plain kraft soaks up moisture and oil. A barrier coating, a liner or lamination solves that, but each can change how the pack is recycled.

Kraft is not automatically green either. Recyclability depends on the coatings, films and adhesives added to the board, so be careful with environmental claims, and we go through the full specification with you before any claim is printed on the pack.