Introduction of Packaging Color Box

Color boxes refer to folding boxes and micro corrugated boxes made of cardboard and micro corrugated paperboard. They are now widely used in electronics, food, beverages, alcohol, tea, cigarettes, medicine, health products, cosmetics, small appliances, clothing, toys, sporting goods and other industries and product packaging supporting industries.

【1】Common materials and grams of color boxes

1. Generally divided into cardboard, corrugated paper, and fine packaging boxes; A, cardboard: generally, 250g, 300g, 350g, 400g, 450g.

B. Corrugated paper: E and F flutes are the most common. The colored paper on the outside is usually 250g powder-gray, and the bottom is corrugated board (corrugated cardboard).

C, high-quality packaging boxes: generally made of grey board, with a gram weight of more than 600g (1mm) grey board wrapping paper; different customer needs. Generally, 950g, 1200g, and 1500g are used for packaging. Generally, it can also be made into cardboard of multiple grams by mounting, such as mounting 600g double grey board into 1200g double grey board. The surface paper is generally double copper paper with 128g or 157g coating.

2. Generally, the materials involved in color boxes can be divided into two categories: facial tissue and corrugated paper.

A. Facial tissue, usually the commonly used facial tissue for color boxes are (Taiwan name): Gray copper paper: the front side is white and can be printed, and the back side is gray and cannot be printed.

White copper paper: one side is smooth and the other side is not smooth, that is, one side is coated and the other side is not.

Single copper paper: a printing paper with bright surface, uniform coating and fast ink absorption.

Gorgeous cardboard: The surface has beautiful texture, different color materials, natural and comfortable sensory enjoyment, and a natural effect.

Gold cardboard, silver cardboard: relatively hard texture, glossy surface, and rich colors.

Laser cardboard: The surface is colorful and gorgeous.

Corrugated paper - corrugated board (corrugated cardboard) is not as good as AB flute cardboard. Some Taiwanese companies (electronics industry) like to use E flute when making single flute beer boxes.

【2】Thickness of commonly used cardboard for color boxes

1. Thickness of cardboard:

• Single pit 3±1MM Common expressions: K3K, K3A, A3A………
• Double corrugation 6±1MM Common expression: K=K, K=A, A=B Triple corrugation 9±1MM Common expression: K three K, K #K are all OK Remarks: 611+T is double corrugation material cardboard, thickness is 6MM, the surface paper is 6 paper (6 paper is slightly worse than A paper), the bottom paper is T paper (T paper is slightly worse than B paper);
• This kind of paper is often used to replace A=B, and the same is true for Y11+Y, except that it is used to replace K=K. K2L, Y+1+Y are single-corrugated cardboards with a thickness of 3MM, which are used to replace K3A and K3K respectively.

2. Make color box paper, glazing, cutting molds, pasting boxes and other processes.

• The glazing options are generally glossy, matte, UV, A-gloss, A-oil, wear-resistant oil, etc.
• The thickness of coated paper below 200 grams (um) = grams X 0.09The thickness of coated paper above 200 grams (um) = grams X 0.12The thickness of white paper with gray background 200-400 grams (um) = grams X 0.12The thickness of white paper with white background 200-400 grams (um) = grams X 0.13The thickness of white cardboard 200-400 grams (um) = grams X 0.14Using this method to calculate, the error will not exceed 3 silks. This is called " Dun's coefficient calculation method".

【Three】Production process

1. The production process is roughly as follows:

paper box structure design → drawing printing outline → decoration pattern design → plate making (film/net drying) → printing → surface treatment (glazing, calendering/polishing, laminating) → mounting → die-cutting (i.e. beer box) → box gluing (folding, nailing) → appearance inspection → packaging. In addition, the parallel work includes: drawing backing processing drawings → engraving backing plates; drawing die-cutting layout drawings → sawing die-cutting plates → clamping presses and cutters → die-cutting boards.

2. Main equipment:

net room, printing press, oiler/polishing machine, (automatic mounting machine), die-cutting machine, (automatic box gluing/nailing machine), among which the printing press has the greatest impact on the price (equipment sharing costs).

3. Key points of the process:

• Film output: color separation, one sheet per color
• Printing: including lithography/offset printing, gravure printing, letterpress/flexographic printing, screen printing, etc., generally using sheet-length lithography, which can be divided into single-color, two-color, three-color, four-color and multi-color according to design requirements.

4. Surface treatment:

• Glazing: refers to applying, spraying or printing a layer of colorless transparent coating on the surface of printed matter, and forming a thin and uniform transparent coating on the surface of printed matter after leveling, drying and calendering;
• The gloss layer increases the surface gloss and three-dimensional effect, making it more delicate and beautiful and effectively protecting the printed images. Commonly used coatings include water-based varnish, solvent-based varnish, UV varnish, etc.
• Calendering/polishing: refers to applying a layer of polishing oil on the surface of the printed product, and then calendering it with a high-temperature steel plate. Polished products must be placed on a drying rack and can only be used after the product has completely cooled;
• Lamination: A layer of PVA film is applied on the printed product to improve the surface gloss and make the color firm. The disadvantage is that the paper product cannot be recycled and is prone to cause white pollution;
• Mounting: mounting core paper and inner paper;
• Die cutting (i.e. beer box): using a die cutter to cut the impression and shape the paper box;
• Glue the box: No glue or staple.

【IV】Material knowledge

The raw materials of color boxes include surface paper, inner paper and core paper:

1. Most of the facial tissues are made of cardboard with a thickness of 0.4-0.8mm and a fixed weight of 220-400g/m2. Cardboard is divided into regular size, large size, special size, etc. according to size. The reference price is (unit: rmb/ream)

Note: The quotation unit for paperboard is usually ream, 500 full sheets of paper is one ream, and the weight of each ream of paper is the ream weight, which can be calculated using the simple formula: A=K·W. The calculation result is rounded to one decimal place, and the ream per ton is rounded to three decimal places, such as: 52g 787×1092mm paper ream weight A=K·W=0.4297×52=22.3 (kg/ream)

Appendix: Commonly used paper standard ream weight, ream number per ton conversion table (I)

2. The inner paper is generally A, B, C, and the reference price is (unit: rmb/thousand square inches):

3. The core paper is generally E-pit, high-pit, and ordinary-pit, which are selected according to the design requirements (strength, impact resistance, etc.). Ordinary color boxes generally use E-pit. The reference price is (unit: rmb/thousand square inches):

【V】 Basic knowledge of printing

1. Units of paper:

A. Gram: The weight of one square meter (length × width ÷ 2) = g is the weight

B. Ream: 500 sheets of paper are called ream (factory specifications)

C. Ton: The same as the usual unit 1 ton = 1000 kilograms, used to calculate the price of paper.

2. Paper specifications and names:

A. There are four most common specifications of paper:

(1) Standard paper: 109.2 cm long and 78.7 cm wide

(2) Large paper: 119.4 cm long and 88.9 cm wide

(3) Self-adhesive label: 765 cm long and 535 cm wide

(4) Carbonless paper: There are regular and large sizes, but there are upper, middle and lower paper types, and the paper prices are different (see paper price classification).

B. The most common names for paper:

1. Copy paper: 17g standard size: used for VAT invoices, gift inner packaging, usually pure white.
2. Typing paper: 28g standard size: used for forms and tables, available in seven colors: white, red, yellow, blue, green, light green, and purple.
3. Glossy paper: 35-40g standard specification: one side is glossy, used for forms, tables, notes, and is a low-grade printing paper.
4. Writing paper: 50-100g, regular size, used for low-end printed materials. Most of them are domestically produced.
5. Offset paper: 60-180g, large size, regular size available, used for mid-range printed products, commonly domestic, joint venture and imported.
6. Newsprint: 55-60g roll paper, regular paper, newspaper.
7. Carbonless paper:
8. 40-150g large and regular sizes are available, with direct copy function, divided into upper, middle and lower paper,
9. The upper, middle and lower papers cannot be swapped or reused. The paper prices are different and there are seven colors. They are commonly used for forms and tables.
10. Coated paper:
11. A. Double copper 80-400g, regular size and large size are available, used for high-end printed products.
12. B. Single copper: used for paper boxes, cartons, hand bags, medicine boxes, etc.
13. Semi-coated paper: 105-400g is used for elegant and high-end color printing.
14. White paper with grey background: above 200g, with white top and grey background, used for packaging.
15. White cardboard: 200g, double-sided white, used for mid-range packaging.
16. Kraft paper: 60-200g, used for packaging, cartons, document bags, file bags, envelopes.
17. Specialty paper: generally imported paper, mainly used for printing covers, decorations, handicrafts, fine products, etc.

【Six】Price calculation

Price components: material cost (generally accounting for 70% of the quotation, including three materials: face paper, core paper, inner paper, the price is relatively transparent and can be obtained from the material market), processing cost including profit according to the implemented process (see the table below for details), additional costs including film cost (divided by color, one sheet per color, price calculated by area, generally 100 rmb /1000 inches) and die cutting cost (generally 300-500 rmb) (when the order is continuous and the quantity reaches a certain amount, the additional cost is generally not included). Special note: the price of color boxes is closely related to the quantity.

Case description: The design size of a color box is 8.5*3.75*9 and 1/2 (unit: inch), the material is 250g powder gray paper + B9 corrugated paper, the process requires 4 colors and polishing, the order quantity is 3000, and the unit price is calculated as follows (amount unit: rmb):

1. Material cost

① The paper area of each box of facial paper is: (8.5*2+3.75*2+ 1)* 9 and 1/2*2=25.5*19 (square inches), and large paper (35*47) 3 open is used, then the number of facial paper required = 3000÷3×110%=1100 sheets Number of reams = 1100 sheets ÷ 500 reams/sheet = 2.2 reams Cost = 735 rmb/ream × 2.2 reams = 1617 ② Corrugated paper: area = 1.645 thousand square inches/sheet × 1100 sheets = 1809.5 thousand square inches Cost = 1.00 rmb/thousand square inches × 1809.5 thousand square inches = 1809.50

2. Processing costs

① Printing cost = 2.2 reams × 4 colors × 50.00 rmb/color ream = 440 (start-up fee is calculated as 1000 rmb) ≈ 1000 ② Polishing cost = 2.2 reams × 270 rmb/ream = 594 ③ Mounting cost = 2.2 reams × 180 rmb/ream = 396 ④ Beer machine cost = 300 rmb + 2.2 reams × 150 rmb/ream = 630 ⑤ Gluing box cost = 3300 pieces × 0.05 rmb/ream = 165

3. Total cost = material cost + process cost (1617+1538) + (1000+594+396+630+165) = 6211.50

4. Product unit price = 6211.50 rmb ÷ 3000 pieces = 2.07

[VII] Professional terminology for printed matter imposition

1. Bleed

After the printed product is printed, the uneven edges must be trimmed to make the finished product look neat. The trimmed edges generally need to have a certain width, which is the "bleed". When designing printed products, designers generally leave 3mm outside the finished product size (if there are special requirements, they can leave more "bleed") to prevent the paper color (white edge) from being exposed when the finished product is cut too little, and the layout content will be cut off when the finished product is cut too much. Leaving "bleed" is a must for designers during the design process.

2. Hold the mouth

of the paper gripping during printing is called the bite. Content cannot be printed on the bite. The general bite size is 10mm-12mm. During the imposition process, this size must be considered when calculating the paper size and page position. Add the bite width when setting the page size.

3. Incision

Width refers to the distance from the image area of the finished product to the other edges of the finished product except the binding edge. It is usually set to at least the same size as the bleed. For example, if the " bleed" is 3mm, the incision width is at least 3mm.

4. Order

The binding edge refers to the binding edge of the printed product. The binding width refers to the distance from the image area to the binding edge of the finished product. Generally, when the binding is done by perfect binding or saddle stitching, the binding width is the same as the width in the opening direction. If the binding method is flat binding or perfect binding, the binding width should be slightly wider than the cutting width because a certain width is required for binding . In this way, the blank space on both sides of the finished product will be consistent.

5. Paste

When arranging pages into a book, all the face codes on a piece of paper (regardless of size) form a sheet. (Commonly known as a band)

6. Line

Line is the indicator line when trimming the finished product.

7. Figure Edges

The edge line of the image refers to the indicator line of the effective printing area.

The center line is the horizontal and vertical dividing line of the printed product. The center line can be used for front and back overprinting when printing on both sides. It can also be used to position the printing plate when printing the first color and to position the printing plate for subsequent colors.

9. Contour lines

It is generally used as a die-cutting line and is one of the post-processing methods of packaging containers.

10. Printing sheets

A piece of paper with many pages printed on it is called a printed sheet. The paper is often printed in specifications such as 4 pages, 8 pages, 12 pages, 16 pages, 32 pages, and 48 pages. That is, there are 4 pages, 8 pages, 12 pages, 16 pages, 32 pages, and 48 pages on a piece of paper, that is, there are 4P, 8P, 12P, etc. on a piece of paper (P is the abbreviation of Page in English).