Sample Kit
There are three different things people mean by a sample, and they answer three different questions. Asking for the right one saves a round trip.
- Three sample types
- Test with real product
- Tell us what you need to verify
Three kinds of sample
Each answers a specific question. Requesting the wrong one is the most common reason a sample turns out not to help.
| Sample | Answers | Does not answer |
|---|---|---|
| Material swatches | How a board or a label stock looks and feels; how holographic film shifts in real light | Whether your product fits, or how your artwork prints |
| Plain structural sample | Whether your container fits with the right clearance, how the carton stands and closes, whether the insert holds | Colour, finish or how the print will look |
| Printed proof or production sample | Colour on the actual stock, foil and spot UV position, whether small type is legible | Little else — it is the final check before a run |
Material swatches
Useful early, when you are still deciding between board grades or considering a specialty stock.
A swatch tells you things no image can. Kraft board is warmer in the hand than it looks on a screen. Soft-touch lamination is the difference between a pack that feels mid-market and one that feels expensive. Holographic film behaves completely differently under store lighting, daylight and a phone camera flash, which is why we recommend swatches of rainbow, mirror and pearlescent side by side before committing to anholographic lip gloss boxes.
Tell us which decision you are trying to make and we will send the relevant swatches rather than a generic pack of everything.
Plain structural samples
The single most valuable sample in a packaging project, and the one most often skipped under time pressure.
A plain unprinted sample is cut and creased from the approved die line in the specified board. It exists to answer one question: does this carton work with your product. For a rigid box the equivalent is an assembled white sample, which also lets you judge proportion, lid fit and magnet strength.
Test it with your real product, not empty. A fit that works on paper sometimes fails with a slightly pillowed sachet, a lacquered lipstick case that measures marginally larger than its drawing, or a paper tube with more surface friction than a plastic one. Then check four things:
- Does the container go in and out without forcing, and without rattling?
- Does the carton close cleanly, and would it do so quickly on your packing line?
- Does it stand upright, and does the base hold when you lift it by the top?
- If there is an insert, does the product stay put when the box is shaken?
Printed proofs and production samples
The last check before a run. What you approve here is what production is measured against.
A calibrated digital proof is enough on plain coated white board with process colour. On kraft, metallised, holographic or black-through stock it is not, because none of those substrates behaves the way white paper does, and an on-screen approval will not predict the printed result.
Where the job carries foil, embossing or spot UV, ask for a production-standard sample rather than a flat proof. Position and register on those finishes need physical checking, and the raised or reflective effect cannot be judged from a printed simulation. What each finish does is set out on the coating and finish options.
Check spot colours under daylight rather than office lighting, read the smallest type at final size, and if the pack carries a shade swatch, hold it next to the actual product. Then approve in writing and keep the proof.
How to request samples
Two things make a sample request genuinely useful.
- Say what you need to verify. "Does my tube fit" and "does this board feel premium enough" need completely different samples.
- Send the container if you have one. Posting a filled sample to us means the structural sample is built around the real thing rather than around a nominal dimension, which removes most fit risk in one step.
Sample availability, cost and lead time vary by type and by how far a project has progressed, and we will confirm all three in writing when you ask. Use thequote request form and note the sample you want in the additional details field, or the short form on any product page.
What a sample cannot tell you
Worth being realistic about, so a sample is not asked to carry more weight than it can.
- A single sample does not represent production variation. A run has tolerance across it, particularly on hand-assembled rigid boxes.
- A digital proof on white paper does not represent colour on a different substrate, however good the proofing device.
- A sample cannot verify your regulatory compliance. That is your review to run, as described in theartwork guidelines for print files.
- A structural sample does not test long-term shelf behaviour. If you are putting a soft balm in a paper tube, that needs a proper stability test over time rather than a fit check.
Tell us what you need to check
Say which question you are trying to answer — does it fit, does it feel right, or does the colour work — and we will send the sample that answers it.
Price starts from $0.30 per piece for large-volume orders. Final pricing depends on size, material, printing, and quantity.