Sample & Quotation Request Guide for Paper, Board & Chipboard

What a supplier actually needs to quote accurately — and what most briefs skip #

When a brand manager sends us a quotation request for paper, board or chipboard packaging, roughly 60% of initial briefs are missing at least one piece of information we need to quote without assumptions. That’s not a criticism — it’s a structural problem. Buyers think in terms of the finished product; suppliers think in terms of production inputs. Bridging that gap is what this guide is for.

The most common omission is board specification. Saying “kraft paper box” tells us very little. We need to know whether you mean a 350gsm SBS carton, a 1.5mm greyboard rigid box, or a 300gsm uncoated folding carton — each routes to a different production line, different tooling, and a different price tier. The second most common gap is quantity: not just total units, but whether you need tiered pricing at, say, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 units, or a single MOQ commitment. We run folding carton jobs from a minimum of 500 units on standard formats; rigid box jobs typically start at 300 units per SKU.

State your board preference explicitly, or ask us to recommend one based on your product weight and unboxing intent. Both approaches work — but “standard cardboard” does not.

Artwork files, structural data and what format actually gets used #

There is a consistent pattern in how file problems create delays. Supplying artwork in the wrong format or at insufficient resolution pushes a 2-day proof turnaround to a week because we need to loop in your designer for corrections before we can proceed.

Artwork file requirements:

For print-ready files, we work with PDF/X-4 or AI (Adobe Illustrator CS6 and above). Resolution for raster elements should be 300 dpi at final size minimum; for surface texture or emboss reference images, 600 dpi is preferred. Supply all fonts embedded or converted to outlines. Color mode must be CMYK — any RGB or Pantone elements need to be flagged with conversion instructions, because we will not assume your intent on critical brand colors. Bleed should be 3mm on all sides for folding cartons; for rigid box wrap panels, supply 10mm bleed to account for wrap overlap and trim variation.

Structural data to include in your brief:

• External finished dimensions (L × W × H in mm, not inches — our tooling and die files are metric)
• Target board caliper or gsm — if unknown, state your product weight and we will recommend a grade
• Whether the structure is a new design or an adaptation of an existing box (if existing, send us a physical sample or a die-line)
• Closure type: tuck-end, auto-bottom, magnetic, ribbon pull, etc.
• Any inserts, trays or foam components that ship inside the box

Structural tolerances for folding cartons on our sheet-fed offset line run to ±0.5mm on cut dimensions and ±0.3mm on crease placement. For greyboard rigid boxes, panel dimension tolerance is ±1.0mm, which is standard for hand-assembled construction. If your product fit is tight — cosmetic bottles, electronics, precision instruments — tell us the clearance you need and we design to that.

The three sample types and when to request each #

White sample (structural prototype): An unprinted box made in the specified board, used to verify dimensions, closure function and product fit. Turnaround on our end is 3–5 working days after structural brief confirmation. Request this first if your structural dimensions are not yet locked, or if you are switching from a previous box format.

Printed proof (color and surface proof): A short-run digitally printed version, usually on the specified board with the intended coating — matte lamination, gloss UV, soft-touch, etc. This is where you validate Pantone color matching against your brand standards. We reference ISO 12647-2 for offset color targets and supply a G7-calibrated proof on request. Turnaround is 5–7 working days after artwork approval.

Production sample (pre-production run sample): Pulled from the first production run using the live die, live printing plates and live finishing line. This is the correct sample to use for final sign-off. Do not sign off on digital proofs alone for high-value packaging — surface finishing behavior (especially soft-touch lamination with spot UV) is not fully predictable from digital output.

For most new packaging projects, plan for at least two sample rounds — one white sample and one printed proof — before production. Budget 3–4 weeks total from first brief to production approval.

The overlooked variable: board lot consistency and how it affects your sample approval #

Here is where decisions made at the brief stage have consequences you will not feel until your third or fourth production order. Board caliper and brightness can vary between manufacturing lots even within the same grade specification. We track this under what we internally call our MRC-04 lot consistency log — for paper and board suppliers, we record caliper deviation per incoming lot against the target spec.

In our experience, 40% of commercial-grade folding board lots arrive with caliper variation of ±0.05mm against nominal, which is within acceptable tolerance for most carton grades. But for premium rigid box greyboard at 2.0mm nominal, we have seen lot variation reach ±0.12mm, which is enough to affect magnet closure gap and lid fit on tight-tolerance designs.

What this means for your quote comparison: if one supplier quotes you based on 1.8mm greyboard and another quotes on 2.0mm, the price difference is real — but so is the structural performance difference. A board caliper specification in your RFQ forces all suppliers to quote the same material and eliminates this hidden variable. Per TAPPI T411 (caliper measurement of paper and board), specify your target caliper with an explicit tolerance band, not just a nominal value.

Some buyers accept whichever board the supplier has in stock. Others specify the exact grade and source. Our practice is to confirm board grade and caliper with the buyer before production starts for any rigid box or premium folding carton job — this is standard in our QC-07 incoming material review procedure.

Implementation notes — what to evaluate when samples arrive #

When you receive a white sample, check these in order:

• Product fit with actual product inside the box (not estimated clearance)
• Closure engagement — tuck tabs should seat without finger pressure; magnetic closures should pull at first contact
• Score line quality: clean creases fold flat at 180° without cracking for SBS board; for greyboard above 1.5mm, a hairline surface crack on the fold is acceptable if the substrate is intact

When you receive a printed proof, check against Pantone Matching System swatches under D50 illuminant (the standard viewing condition per ISO 3664). Check lamination adhesion at corners — peel resistance should hold at ±0.3N/mm minimum per ASTM F88 modified for film-to-board bonds. Surface finishing anomalies (bubbling, delamination, uneven gloss) found at proof stage are far cheaper to address than at production.

Plan your sample evaluation within 5 working days of receipt and return consolidated feedback in one round. Multi-round feedback from different stakeholders is the single biggest driver of project delays on our end.

Specification Notes for Brand Partners #

When you brief us on paper, board or chipboard packaging, the most useful information you can give us upfront is: finished box dimensions in mm, target board grade or gsm, your product weight, closure type, print colors (Pantone references or CMYK builds), surface finish preference, and quantity tiers needed for pricing.

The gap that most commonly causes a requote is missing quantity tiers. Tooling (die cost) is a fixed one-time charge — it amortizes differently at 500 units versus 5,000 units, which changes the unit cost significantly. If you send us a single quantity, we quote to that quantity. If your actual order could be 3x that volume in six months, we cannot have optimized your pricing structure from the start.

Our standard sampling timeline is 3–5 working days for a white sample and 5–7 working days for a printed proof, from the date we receive a complete brief and approved structural confirmation. Incomplete briefs restart the clock. If your timeline is under 3 weeks to production, flag that upfront so we can assess whether expedited tooling or pre-approved board stock can close the gap.

How do I compare quotes from different suppliers when the board specs differ?

Normalize the spec first. Ask every supplier to requote against an identical board caliper and gsm — for example, 350gsm C1S for a folding carton or 2.0mm greyboard for a rigid box. Quotes based on different board weights are not comparable. The price difference you see is partly material and partly margin, and you cannot separate them without a normalized spec.

What is the minimum information needed to get a ballpark quote?

External dimensions, board type or product weight, closure style, print color count, surface finish, and quantity. With those six inputs we can issue a budgetary estimate within 2 working days. Without any one of them, the estimate range is too wide to be useful for budgeting.

How many sample rounds should I expect before production approval?

It depends on whether your structure is new or adapted. An adapted design from an existing die usually needs one white sample round and one printed proof. A fully new structure with tight product clearance or a novel closure mechanism should budget for two white sample rounds. On our end, the average from first brief to production sign-off is 18–22 working days for a standard folding carton project, and 25–32 working days for a rigid box with custom structural elements.

Can I request samples without committing to a full production order?

White samples and printed proofs are charged separately from production. Tooling costs (die cutting and printing plates) are invoiced at the sample stage and credited against the first production order above a minimum quantity threshold. If you do not proceed to production, those tooling costs are not refundable — that is standard practice across the industry and applies to our quotes as well.

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Planning a packaging project? Contact our team to request a complimentary specification review and sample quote.