Custom Packaging Inserts

How an insert holds a product in place

An insert is cut to the shape of the product, then dropped into the box to hold it in place.

Cardboard and corrugated inserts are die cut from flat sheets and folded or slotted together. They ship flat and are assembled by hand or on the line. Foam inserts are cut from solid sheets of foam, with a pocket for each item, and arrive ready to drop into the box.

Every cavity is a hole or pocket sized to a particular item. The insert controls where the product sits, how it is kept off the walls, and what the customer sees first when the lid opens.

• Cardboard and corrugated: die cut, folded, ship flat
• Foam: cut from solid sheet, ready to use
• One cavity per item, sized to that item

Cardboard, corrugated or foam?

Pick on weight and fragility: cardboard for most retail, corrugated for transit, foam for fragile items.

Cardboard is thin, clean-looking and the lowest-cost choice. It suits light, regular shapes and most retail products, and it can be printed. Corrugated adds cushioning and strength, so it is the usual choice for heavier items and anything that ships. Both are easy to recycle.

Foam gives the firmest, softest hold. It absorbs knocks and grips glass, electronics and awkward shapes that cut board cannot hold well, and a dark foam set into a rigid box looks premium. It costs more than board and is harder to recycle, so it earns its place on fragile or high-value products.

• Cardboard: low cost, most retail products
• Corrugated: stronger, protects in transit
• Foam: best protection for fragile items

Fit tolerance and cavity count

A snug fit stops movement. A cavity that is too tight scratches the product and makes packing slow.

Measure the product at its widest point, including any label, cap or raised detail. The cavity is then cut a small amount larger. Too little clearance and the item has to be forced in. Too much and it moves, which defeats the insert.

Each added cavity makes the die or tool more complex. Multi-piece sets need every item measured, and the layout has to leave enough material between cavities to stay rigid. Send us each item's measurements and the order they are packed in, and we lay out the cavities on the dieline for you to check.

Fitted insert or loose void fill?

Paper crumple, air pillows and bubble wrap fill any space. A fitted insert holds one product in one exact place.

Void fill is flexible and needs no setup, so it works for orders that vary every time. It settles during transit, though, and leaves gaps that grow as the parcel is handled.

A fitted insert does not settle. It keeps every unit in the same position and makes packing quicker and more consistent. It suits a product that ships many times in the same form, which is also where the setup effort pays back.

Plain or printed inserts?

Most inserts are left plain, but a cardboard or corrugated insert can be printed so it matches the inside of the box.

A printed insert has its sheet printed before it is cut and folded, usually in the same colours as the box's inside print, so a pattern runs from the lid straight into the tray. Only the faces that show are printed. We lay the artwork out on the insert's flat dieline, so it lines up with each cut-out and fold.

Cardboard takes fine detail. Corrugated prints more coarsely and shows its fluting at the cut edges, so it suits bold, simple artwork. For delicate surfaces such as glass or polished metal, a cut board edge can leave dust, so some products are wrapped or bagged before they meet the cavity.

• Printed before cutting, visible faces only
• Artwork laid out on the flat dieline
• Cardboard for detail, corrugated for bold print

Printed foam: a card top on foam

Foam itself is not printed, but a printed card or paper sheet can be laminated onto its top face, giving a printed look over foam's soft hold.

The card is bonded to the foam and the two are cut together, so the cut-outs in the print and in the foam line up exactly. When the box opens, the customer sees the artwork with the product sitting in its cavity; underneath, the foam cushions it. Electronics, accessories and other high-value items are often packed this way.

The foam's colour still shows at the cut edges and inside each cavity, so choose a foam colour that suits the artwork. Plain foam is chosen by colour and its smooth cut face is the finish; the card top is what turns it into a printed insert.

• Printed card laminated on top
• Cut together, so cavities line up
• Foam colour shows at the edges

Fitted insert or a stronger outer box?

An insert is the pick when the damage comes from movement. A heavy duty box is the pick when it comes from crushing or punctures.

An insert stops movement, but it cannot make a weak outer box strong. If the damage comes from crushing or punctures, the fix is a stronger carton, such as a double-wall shipping box, not a fitted tray. A well-cut insert inside a thin box still fails when parcels are stacked on it.

Inserts are also poor value for items that vary in size, for one-off orders, or for very light and flexible goods that do not need holding. In those cases a simple wrap or paper fill does the same job with less planning.