Where to get a custom overslip printed?

September 29, 2005 2:47 PM

I ordered something recently that came in a standard-looking cardboard box with a custom printed sleeve that slipped over it (Actually, I think it's called an overslip), making the whole deal look very professional. Where could I order something like that?

Google is full of spam on this topic for some reason. The only company that seems at all legit (and them only barely) is koolprint, and they only make one size. I need something much bigger than a software box.

posted by Nothing to media & arts (7 comments total)

I don't know what you are looking for, but I am inerested in seeing it, can you post a picture?
posted by riffola at 2:50 PM on September 29, 2005

Riffola - bought an iPod? It's the box with no top and bottom they slip over the 'actual' box. Think about how Hershey's bars used to be before the one-piece abomination they are now.
posted by phearlez at 2:59 PM on September 29, 2005

I don't have a camera handy, but here is a small image. It's essentially a box made of thin cardboard and without ends, made to slip over a standard cardboard package.
posted by Nothing at 3:00 PM on September 29, 2005

You should be able to get this done at any local printer that can do a die cut. I suppose it would depend on what kind of quantity and what size "bigger than a software box" you actually need.

Unless there's something more complex about the concept that I'm missing. It seems to me like it's simply four scores and a glued tab, right?
posted by bcwinters at 3:37 PM on September 29, 2005

Yeah, that's about it. Low quantities right now. Size (flat): 16 x 29 inches. Thanks, I will call some local places!
posted by Nothing at 3:41 PM on September 29, 2005

Yay! Another question for the token Mefi box guy. (Though bcwinters has some of the lingo down; maybe he's a box guy, too?)

Now I work with corrugated cardboard and not paperboard, so terminology may be different, but if I were describing the object you in question, I would call it a tube (and, yes, tube is the technical name for this type of box, at least out of corrugated cardboard), and I would measure the dimensions as length x width x height, where the height is measured with the tube stood on an open end.

Maybe a local printer can make that, maybe not. I don't know. It ought not be die-cut, in any case, because there's nothing to it but scores and a glue joint.

If I were you, I'd check the yellow pages for local manufacturers of "paper boxes" (not corrugated packaging). You're in California, so I have no suggestions, but here in Portland there are companies with names like Portland Paper Box and Northwest Paper Box that would be happy to do something like this.

Also, your two determining factors on cost here are going to be quantity and printing. What kind of quantity is "low"? 10? 100? 1000? Whoever you call is going to want to know. Printing a box can get quite expensive, especially if a printing die is required. If you're fortunate, bcwinter's printer suggestion will pan out, because I think that'll be much less expensive than having to get a printed box...
posted by jdroth at 4:26 PM on September 29, 2005

I've worked on and designed several pieces like what has been described. Pacific Southwest Container (http://www.teampsc.com/) created the printed the outer sleeve on flat stock and folded/glued so it could slip over a standard carboard box.

We've also done something similar in plastic that slips over a clamshell for a retail display.
posted by loyd at 10:04 AM on September 30, 2005