Burger Box Printing Explained: Offset, Digital, Colors and Finishes

Ordering printed burger boxes for the first time means answering questions you may never have been asked: CMYK or Pantone, offset or digital, gloss or matte, do you have a vector file. None of it is hard, but a wrong answer costs a reprint. This guide takes each decision in the order it comes up, with what to choose for a typical burger box.

CMYK or Pantone

CMYK builds every color from four inks, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, laid down as tiny dots. It handles photographs, gradients and anything with many colors, and it is the default for a full-color box. The limitation is that a brand color built from four dots can drift slightly between runs, and some colors, bright orange especially, do not build well from CMYK.

Pantone is a single pre-mixed ink in an exact shade. Your brand red is printed as one solid ink rather than built from four, so it matches your signage and the last run. The trade-off is that each Pantone color is a separate ink on the press, so a design with a Pantone logo and a full-color photograph is five inks, not four.

The usual rule for burger boxes: one or two Pantone colors if the design is a logo and type, CMYK if it has photographs or more than three colors, and CMYK plus a Pantone spot only if the brand color is critical. The custom printed burger boxes page shows examples of each approach.

Offset or digital

Both are used here and the choice is made for you by the run, but it helps to know what each does.

Offset Digital
How it prints Ink from plates onto the board Toner or inkjet direct to board
Best for Longer runs, Pantone colors, large solid areas Shorter runs, fast turnaround, variable designs
Color Pantone and CMYK CMYK, Pantone simulated
Consistency Very even across a long run Even across short runs
Setup Plates per color (no charge here) None

Offset gives the flattest solids and true Pantone, so it suits a long run with a brand color. Digital has no plate setup, so it suits short runs and the first order of a new design. There are no plate charges on offset runs here, so the method does not change the quote. The way quantity moves the unit price is set out under wholesale pricing by quantity.

Printing on kraft versus white

The board changes the print more than the press does.

Kraft is brown, and ink on it is semi-transparent, so every color is darkened and warmed by the board beneath. Black and dark colors print well. The honest approach on kraft is to design for it: black, dark red, dark green, navy, and accept that a pastel will not look like the screen. The kraft burger boxes range shows what a one-color and a two-color print look like on unbleached board.

White SBS board is bleached and smooth, so colors print close to the screen, photographs are sharp and pale tones hold. It is the board for a full-color design or a corporate brand match. It costs a little more per unit than kraft and shows grease marks more readily, so the inside coating matters more. Recycled kraft prints like kraft, with fleck showing through pale areas.

Finishes

A finish is applied after the print and changes both look and durability.

  • Gloss reflects light, sharpens color and wipes clean. Suits full-color designs. Shows fingerprints.
  • Matte absorbs light, softens color and hides marks. Suits kraft and one-color designs.
  • Soft-touch is a matte with a velvet feel. Suits premium builds on white board.
  • Spot UV puts a gloss layer on selected areas only, usually a logo over matte.
  • Foil stamps a metallic layer. Gold or silver on black or kraft, for a logo or a line of type.
  • Emboss / deboss raises or presses the board. Felt rather than seen; strongest on a simple logo.

Gloss and matte are included in the print. Soft-touch, spot UV, foil and emboss are extra steps quoted per job. All of them go on the outside; the inside always gets the grease-resistant food-grade coating regardless of finish, which is explained under how the grease barrier works.

Artwork files

What the press needs, in order of importance:

  1. Vector logo. AI, EPS, SVG or PDF with the logo as paths, not pixels. A logo supplied as a JPEG screenshot will print soft at box size.
  2. Colors specified. Pantone numbers for brand colors, or CMYK values. “The red from our website” is a screen color and will not match.
  3. Photographs at 300 dpi at the size they will print. A web image at 72 dpi prints visibly blurred.
  4. Text as outlines or fonts supplied, so the type does not substitute.
  5. Bleed and safe zone. Artwork extends past the trim line, and nothing important sits within a few millimeters of a fold or edge.

If you have only a logo and a color, that is enough. Design is free, and the artwork is built onto the dieline for you. The branded burger boxes page shows what a logo-led design looks like once placed.

Proofs and what to check

Before printing you receive a 2D proof, the flat dieline with the artwork in position, and a 3D proof, the box assembled. Both are free, as are revisions. Check:

  • The logo is on the lid, not the base, and the right way up on each panel.
  • Nothing important crosses a fold or a score.
  • Type is large enough to read under restaurant lighting.
  • Colors are named as Pantone or CMYK values on the proof, not just shown.
  • The size on the proof matches the size you measured.

Once approved, production is 7 to 10 business days, with rush available. Samples are available on request before you approve. The sizes, styles and boards that can carry a print sit under the burger box packaging range.

What it costs

A printed box starts from $0.20 per unit at a minimum of 100 units, and the unit price falls with quantity. One color on kraft is the lowest-cost print. CMYK on white costs a little more, and specialty finishes add to that. There are no die or plate charges, no artwork fee and no proof fee. Shipping is free to the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and payment is by bank transfer against invoice or cash on delivery. The takeaway burger boxes range is the usual starting point for a first one-color print.

Get a quote

Send the box size, the board, the number of colors and a logo if you have one, and you will get a unit price and a proof back. Start on the burger box quote form.

Need a price for a run? Send the size, style and quantity and we will come back with wholesale pricing and a production timeline — start on the burger packaging quote form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can white ink be printed on kraft burger boxes?

Standard CMYK and Pantone inks are not opaque enough to read as white on brown board, so a design that depends on white areas should go on white board instead. On kraft, treat the brown as a color in the design and print dark inks over it; any white in the artwork simply becomes bare board. Where a bright white panel or pale tones are essential, the white burger boxes for full-color printing give a clean base.

Can the inside of the lid be printed as well as the outside?

Yes, but say so at quote stage. Print on the inside of a lid sits where the food is, so the grease-resistant food-grade coating is applied over the ink rather than onto bare board, and the artwork needs to be set up for that from the start. It suits a thank-you line, a menu or a pattern revealed on opening. Adding it after the proof is approved means a fresh proof.

What does bleed mean on a burger box dieline?

Bleed is artwork that runs past the cut line so no bare board shows at the edge if the cut moves slightly. Any color or pattern that reaches the edge of a panel should extend a few millimeters beyond it, while text and logos stay inside a safe zone away from edges and scores. The 2D proof shows the trim, bleed and fold lines over your artwork so you can check all three.

Will the colors on screen match the printed box?

Close, but not exactly, because a screen shows light and a box shows ink on board. A proof viewed on a bright monitor looks more saturated than the print, and kraft board darkens every color further. To remove the guesswork, give Pantone numbers or CMYK values rather than describing a color, confirm they are named on the proof, and request a sample if the brand color has to be exact.

What counts as one-color printing?

One ink on the press. A logo and text in black is one color, and so is the same logo in a single Pantone green; tints of that ink, such as a lighter gray built from black dots, still count as one. Two Pantone colors make a two-color job, and a photograph or gradient needs all four CMYK inks. One color on kraft is the plainest print you can order.

Can I print a photograph of my burger on the box?

Yes, in CMYK on white SBS board. Supply the photo at 300 dpi at the size it will print; a web image scaled up prints soft. White board keeps the colors true and a gloss finish sharpens them, while kraft dulls a photograph and shifts it brown. Keep the photo on the lid where the surface is flat, and keep the logo clear of it so neither competes.

Does foil or spot UV work on brown kraft board?

Foil does, and it is one of the best finishes for kraft; gold or silver stamped on brown board gives a logo real presence. Spot UV is harder to see on kraft because the board is textured and matte, so it shows best as a gloss logo over matte white board. Emboss and deboss work on either board and read strongest on a simple shape rather than fine lettering.

Is digital print as durable as offset on a grease-resistant burger box?

Yes, for the job a burger box does. Durability comes from the finish over the print and the food-grade coating inside, not from which press laid the ink down, and both offset and digital boxes get the same gloss or matte finish and the same inside coating. Offset gives flatter solids and true Pantone on long runs; digital suits short runs and first orders. Neither wears differently in a bag.

I only have a PNG logo. Is that enough to start?

It is enough to start, and design is free, so send it. The artwork is built onto the dieline from what you supply, and a large, clean PNG will often print well at box size. Where the edges look soft or stepped on the 2D proof, that is the point to ask whoever drew the logo for a vector version, or to have it redrawn, before anything goes to press.

Can the same artwork be used across several box sizes?

Yes. The artwork is laid onto a separate dieline for each size, so a logo and layout designed for the standard 5x5x3 can be carried to the slider, the large and the XL with the elements rescaled and repositioned to each lid. Every size gets its own 2D and 3D proof, and with no die or plate charges there is no setup cost for adding a size to the same design.

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