How long does custom packaging take, from artwork to delivery, honestly
Plan on three to four weeks from a finished brief to packaging at your door. The quote and dieline usually come back within one business day of a complete brief, and the digital proof within one business day of your artwork. Production is 10 to 14 business days after proof approval for most products, 5 to 7 for labels and stickers, and up to 18 for displays and advent calendars; each product page states its own. Transit inside the US adds one to five business days.
The stages, and who controls each one
The clock has four parts, and only two of them are ours. The first is the brief and dieline: you send dimensions, quantity and style, and we return a dieline and a quote, usually within one business day of a complete brief. The second is artwork: you place your design on the dieline, or send it to us to place, and we return a digital proof, usually within one business day of receiving the artwork. Every round of changes is another day, and this stage takes anything from one day to three weeks depending on how settled the design is. The third is production, which starts the business day after you approve the proof and is the number we publish. The fourth is transit.
So when someone asks how long a box takes, the honest answer is that we know our part to the day and your part is up to you. The fastest projects are the ones where the artwork is finished before the dieline is requested, and the slowest are the ones where the logo is still being redrawn on day nine.
Production time by product
Every product page states its own lead time. These are the ranges across the catalog.
| Product type | Production after proof |
|---|---|
| Labels and stickers | 5 to 7 business days; shrink sleeves 8 to 10 |
| Printed inserts, tags, tissue and sleeves | 5 to 14 business days, depending on the item |
| Pouches, bags and food packaging | 8 to 14 business days for most styles |
| Mailer boxes | 10 to 14 business days |
| Folding cartons | 8 to 14 business days for most styles |
| Rigid boxes | 12 to 14 business days for most; cigar and game boxes 14 to 16; advent calendars 16 to 18 |
| Floor displays | 14 to 18 business days |
| Physical prototype | Available on request; timing confirmed in the quote |
| Reorder, any product | Same production time as the first run; the proof and dieline are already approved |
| Transit | Ground inside the US, 1 to 5 business days by zone |
Where the days go
Production is not one long process. The first two or three days are pre-press and any tooling: the cutting die, the foil die, the plates if the job is offset. Printing is a day. Lamination or coating is a day, and it needs to cure overnight before die-cutting. Die-cutting and stripping is a day. Gluing is a day, and glued cartons sit under weight for a night. Rigid boxes add the wrapping and assembly, which is hand work and is why they run longer. Packing and booking the freight is the last day. That is where a 10 to 14 day lead time comes from, and it does not compress much, because the curing steps are chemistry rather than effort. Labels skip most of these steps, which is why they run in 5 to 7.
A physical prototype is available on request, and its timing is confirmed in the quote. It comes before production, so it adds to the schedule. It is worth it for a fitted insert or a new size, because you should see and hold the box before 200 of them are made. It is not worth it for a reorder, and we will say so if you ask for one.
An illustrative timeline
Illustrative schedule, not a client order.
Say a skincare brand emails on a Monday with dimensions for a 2.25 by 2.25 by 5 inch straight tuck end carton, 250 units, 18pt SBS, soft-touch, foil logo. The dieline and quote go back Tuesday. Their designer places the artwork and sends it Thursday, and the proof comes back Friday with one note, say that the ingredient list crosses the safe area. They move it and approve the following Monday, one week after first contact. Production starts Tuesday and, at 10 to 14 business days for this carton, the cartons ship in the third week. Ground transit to a neighboring state adds a day or two.
First email to cartons on the bench: roughly four weeks. If the artwork were ready on the Monday, the proof could go back Tuesday and be approved that day, which takes most of a week off. That week is the cost of one round of changes on a design that was nearly done. On a design that is still moving, that stage can take a month on its own, and nothing on the production side can win that back.
How to make it faster
Have the artwork finished before you ask for a dieline, and have it in the right form: a PDF with fonts outlined, images at 300 dpi, CMYK or named Pantone colors. Approve the proof the day it arrives, or send every change in one reply rather than three. Choose a size we already have a die for, which we will tell you on the quote, and the tooling days drop out. Choose one finish rather than three. Ship to one address. None of these shorten the production lead time, but together they take a week or two off the whole.
What does not work is asking us to skip the proof. The proof is the last cheap place to catch a mistake, and a reprint costs far more time than a day of looking at a PDF. It also does not work to order 200 now and 500 next week to save time on the first batch, because both orders run through the same steps and the second one will not be any faster for having a sibling ahead of it.
Questions people ask
Can you rush an order?
Ask before you approve the proof, not after. On a plain mailer or carton without lamination or foil, a faster slot is sometimes possible if the production schedule allows, and we confirm it in writing before you approve. Rigid boxes and anything with a prototype rarely can be, because the curing and hand assembly take the time they take. Labels and stickers already run in 5 to 7 business days.
When does the lead time clock start?
The business day after you approve the digital proof in writing. It does not start when you send artwork, when you pay a deposit or when you send the brief, because none of those tell us the job is final. If you approve on a Friday afternoon, day one is the following Monday.
How long does shipping take inside the US?
Ground reaches neighboring states in one to two business days and the far side of the country in four to five. Flat cartons ship in bundles and rigid boxes ship assembled in cartons. We ship to the US and Canada. Tracking is sent when the order ships; for a large order, ask how it will travel.