Custom window boxes: where to cut the window, which film, and what it costs

Custom window boxes are printed boxes with a clear panel cut into them, so a shopper sees the actual product instead of a photo of it. They earn their keep when the thing inside is the pretty part, like a bar of handmade soap, a row of decorated cookies, or a candle with the wax showing, and they're a waste of money when it isn't.

This guide covers where to put the window, which film to pick, how the window changes your artwork, and what custom window boxes cost from 100 boxes, with the numbers straight from our price model.

What a window box actually is

A window box starts life as an ordinary folding carton or mailer. The die that cuts the box outline also punches out the window shape, then a sheet of clear film is glued over the opening from the inside. That patch is an extra pass on the machine, which is why a window can add a day or two to a run.

So you're really choosing two things at once: the box style underneath, and the window on top of it. If you haven't settled the first part, our guide to types of folding cartons walks through tuck end, auto bottom, and the rest.

When a window is worth it, and when it isn't

A window is a sales tool. It's worth paying for when the product does the selling.

• Handmade soap, bath bombs, and cookies. Color and texture sell these, and no printed photo matches the real thing on a shelf.
• Candles with a visible pour. A window shows the wax and the wick, so a shopper at a craft fair knows exactly what they're getting.
• Gift sets laid out in an insert. Three items sitting neatly behind film look more generous than a closed box.

Skip it when:

• The product is dull to look at. A white jar or a foil pouch looks like a white jar or a foil pouch.
• The product is light sensitive. A window lets daylight in as well as eyes, so some skincare, teas, and oils are better off in a closed box.
• The box ships on its own. A mailer that travels through a sorting center can take a corner through the film. Windows belong on boxes that go on a shelf or inside a shipper.

Where to cut the window

This is the decision that changes everything else, so make it before anyone designs the artwork.

1. Put the product in an empty box and look at it. Decide which face the shopper sees first. On a boutique shelf, that's usually the front panel; on a table display, it's often the lid.
2. Size the window to what's worth showing. You don't need to show the whole product. A window over the decorated top of a cookie, or the wax line of a candle, is often enough.
3. Leave board around it. A window too close to a fold or an edge weakens the panel and makes the box flimsy. Keep a solid band of board between the window and every crease.
4. Pick a simple shape first. A rectangle or a rounded rectangle cuts cleanly and costs nothing extra in design time. Circles, arches, and custom shapes work too, but check how the edge lines up with your graphics.
5. Mark it on the dieline. The window is just another cut line on the flat layout. If you've never read one, our explainer on what a dieline is shows cut, crease, and bleed lines.

Here's a worked example. Say you sell a 3.5 x 2.5 inch soap bar that's 1 inch thick, and you want it standing upright in a box at a farmers market stall. A box around 3 x 3 x 5 inches holds it with a little room. Put a 2 x 3 inch window on the front panel, centered a little above the middle, and the bar's stamped face sits right behind it, with board left on every side for your logo and the scent name.

How a window changes your artwork

Once the window is cut, part of your front panel is gone, and the product becomes part of the design.

• Treat the product as a color. If your soap is lavender, the purple behind the film sits next to your printed colors. Plan the palette with that in mind.
• Move the logo off the window. Put the brand name above or below the opening, not across it. Text that runs into a hole is the most common window mistake on a proof.
• Keep small type away from the edge. The die can shift slightly on press, so leave a margin around the window just as you would around a fold.
• Use the inside. On some boxes, the shopper can see the inside back wall through the window. A printed pattern or a short message there is a nice touch, though printing outside and inside costs more.

If you're planning ink colors, read CMYK vs Pantone before you send files, because a brand color sitting next to a real product gets compared to it. For laying out every panel, our guide to custom mailer box design covers the rest of the box.

PET or PLA: picking the film

The clear film comes in two common types.

Both look much the same through the window. The difference is what you say about it.

The source for that is the FTC Green Guides at 16 CFR 260.7 (opens in a new tab). For the bigger picture on greener board and film, see our guide to eco friendly packaging materials.

What custom window boxes cost

These are our prices for a window box on white board, printed full color with no finish, for the size typed in inches. Your price changes with your exact size and options, and the minimum is 100 boxes.

Two things to notice. Past 500 boxes the unit price stops falling, because setup is already spread out and the board, ink and film cost the same per box however many you order. And the big jump is from 100 to 250, so if you'll sell 250 by spring, ordering 100 twice costs more than ordering 250 once.

What moves the price from there:

• One color instead of full color. The 3 x 3 x 5 drops from $1.18 to $0.97 at 250. Kraft board with one color is $0.91.
• A finish. On the 6 x 4 x 6 at 250, matte or gloss laminate takes it from .48 to .60, soft touch to .81 and foil on the logo to $2.00.

If you'd rather see it for your own size, type it into the price estimator.

Which box style for which product

• Cookies and baked goods usually sit in a flat box with a window in the lid. Our post on custom bakery boxes covers food safe board and the sizes bakers order, and the food window boxes page prices them.
• Soap and bath products suit an upright tuck end box with a window on the front panel. See soap window boxes.
• Candles often stand in a square box with a window showing the pour. Our guide to custom candle boxes covers inserts for glass jars.
• Cosmetics and gift sets look best laid flat in an insert behind a lid window. The cosmetics window boxes page shows the format.

Another option worth knowing: a printed packaging sleeve can carry a die cut window too, and you can swap the sleeve for each season while keeping the same tray.

Holiday timing

If your window boxes are for holiday gift sets, the boxes need to be on your shelf before Black Friday and Small Business Saturday on November 28, not the week of. Production is 3 to 5 days on press after you approve the proof, plus transit, so approving artwork by early November leaves time for a fix if something on the proof isn't right.

A window also makes a finish choice more visible, since the board around it is the only printed face on the front. If you're weighing a laminate, our comparison of packaging finishes shows what each one does. When you're ready, the custom window boxes page prices any size from 100.

Key takeaways

• Custom window boxes are worth it when the product sells itself by sight, and not when it's plain or light sensitive.
• Decide where the window goes before the artwork is designed, and keep solid board between the window and every fold.
• Keep the logo and small type off the window edge, and treat the product as one of the colors in your design.
• PET and PLA film look alike; only call a PLA window compostable if you say where it composts.
• From us, a full color window box runs about $1.13 to $1.94 each at 250 across common sizes, with a 100 box minimum.

Common questions