Custom Printed Unit Medicine Cartons
A folding unit carton developed around the primary pack, the information hierarchy and the way the finished pack will be filled.
- Primary-Pack Fit
Overview
A unit medicine carton brings the primary container and its printed information into one handled pack. The structure is sized to the actual blister, bottle, tube or vial, with room for any folded leaflet and with panels allocated for the approved information, coding areas and identification system supplied for the destination market.
Fit and repeatability matter more than decorative complexity. The dieline and leaflet fold are reviewed together, then a cut, creased and folded sample is packed with the real components. That establishes whether the carton erects square, the leaflet fits without distorting the panels and the information remains where it is expected after folding.
What to decide for this format
Primary Pack & Leaflet Fit
Size the carton from the actual container and folded leaflet, including how both components are loaded.
Information & Coding Zones
Allocate approved copy, identification and variable-data areas before folds, glue seams and finishing are finalised.
Selected work
Board & material options
Ivory Board (FBB)
Bright folding boxboard with a smooth print face.
The standard carton stock in cosmetics and pharmaceutical work — clean creasing, reliable folding, white enough for small regulatory type.
Coated One Side (C1S)
Coated on the printing face, uncoated on the reverse.
The default carton and wrap board. You are paying for coating only where the print goes, so it is the economical choice whenever the inside face is not seen.
Coated Two Sides (C2S)
Coated on both faces for print inside and out.
Specify when the inside of the box is part of the design — an unboxing reveal, a printed inner lid, or a sleeve seen from both sides.
White Kraft
Strong uncoated white fibre with a natural surface.
Reads honest rather than glossy, and takes one or two spot colours well. Recycled and FSC-certified grades are available where a materials policy applies.
Finishing options
Die Cutting
Custom shapes, windows and cut-outs.
Windows, shaped lids, handle apertures and label outlines. A window can be left open or patched with clear film depending on whether the product needs protecting.
Hot Foil Stamping
Metallic foil applied by heated die, registered to the print.
Gold, silver, copper and coloured foils. Applied flat before any wrapping or forming, so registration is controlled on a sheet rather than on a curve.
Embossing
Raised relief pressed into the surface from behind.
Can be registered over foil for a sculpted metallic mark. Sequence matters: emboss after foil is standard, and reversing it damages the foil surface.
Spot UV
Gloss varnish applied to selected artwork elements.
Highest contrast over a matte or soft-touch base. On a gloss laminate it barely reads — the base finish decides whether spot UV is worth paying for.
Materials
Coated Folding Boxboard
The standard pharmaceutical carton stock — clean white surface for small type, reliable creasing and consistent runability.
Leaflet Papers
Lightweight papers chosen so a long leaflet still folds down to the thickness your carton and cartoner can accept.
Label Face Stocks
Paper and film face stocks for bottles, vials and tubes, with adhesive chosen for the container and storage conditions.
FSC-Certified & Recycled Board
Certified or recycled-content stock with water-based inks where your materials policy calls for it.
Printing & Finishes
Offset Printing
CMYK and Pantone spot colours on the Rapida 106 — 0.1 mm registration is what keeps small regulatory type sharp across a long run.
Batch & Variable Data Coding
Batch numbers, expiry data and serialised codes printed digitally where the specification requires unit-level data.
Matte & Gloss Lamination
Surface protection against handling and humidity, specified where it will not interfere with coding legibility.
Die Cutting, Creasing & Gluing
Automated converting so cartons arrive flat and erect square — a carton that jams your line is a production failure, not a cosmetic one.
What you can customise
- Carton structure sized to the blister, bottle, tube or vial
- Information layout, minimum type size and language versions
- Leaflet size, fold pattern and paper weight
- Batch, expiry and serialisation coding
- Matching primary container label
- Export case pack, labelling and pallet configuration
Specifications
| Minimum order quantity | Standard cartons from 1,000 units |
|---|---|
| Production lead time | 15–20 working days after artwork approval |
| Printing | Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 eight-colour offset — 0.1 mm register at 18,000 sheets per hour |
| Quality management | ISO 9001 quality management, ISO 14001:2015 environmental management, ISO 45001 |
| Colour consistency | Pantone spot colours with a physical reference retained between repeat orders |
| Components supplied | Unit carton, patient leaflet, primary container label and outer shipping case |
Terms for this specification
- Sampling
- Presentation-quality sample in 5–7 working days. The sample cost is credited against your first approved production order.
- Colour matching
- Pantone references and physical samples are used where the selected print process supports them. The approval method follows the substrate, artwork and process.
- Certifications
- ISO 9001, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 45001 and China Environmental Labelling (Ten-Ring). ISO 22000 applies to eligible food-contact work.
- Sustainable options
- FSC-certified or recycled-content paper and board, water-based inks and adhesives, and fibre-based fitments are available where the selected construction supports them.
What drives the cost
We do not publish a price list, because no two specifications are alike. The levers that decide a quote are consistent, though.
Quantity
Most of the cost of a print job is set-up — plates, dies, make-ready, the first good sheet. Doubling a run rarely doubles the price, which is why it is worth asking for two or three volumes on the same quote.
Structure
A rigid box is formed, wrapped and often assembled by hand; a folding carton is die-cut and glued in one pass. Structure is usually the single biggest difference between two otherwise identical packs.
Material
Board grade and wrap stock. Specialty and textured papers cost more per sheet, but can replace a finishing pass — sometimes the cheaper route to the same effect.
Finishing passes
Each of foil, emboss, spot UV and lamination is a separate pass through a machine. Two effects cost roughly twice one, so the question is always which effect earns its place.
Tooling
Dies, emboss plates and foil blocks are one-off costs carried by the first order and reused on every repeat. Repeat runs of an approved specification are materially cheaper than the first.
Design & artwork
From an artwork check, through a dimensioned dieline and print-ready files, to a full concept package across a range — done by the factory that will make it.
Applications
Prescription Medicines
Unit cartons with leaflets, batch coding and the information hierarchy the market requires.
OTC & Consumer Health
Retail-facing cartons that keep regulatory discipline while competing for attention on a pharmacy shelf.
Injection & Hospital Products
Printed cases and cartons for injection products — the work behind our Changshu Leiyunshang case production.
Supplements & Nutraceuticals
Health-product packaging that needs pharmaceutical consistency with brand-led design.
How it is made
Component & compliance review
Which components you need — carton, leaflet, label, case — and what the destination market requires on each.
Structure, dieline & fold pattern
Carton dieline sized to the product and your cartoning line; leaflet fold pattern confirmed against it.
Artwork & legibility check
Minimum type size, contrast and coding areas checked before plates — the cheapest place to catch a legibility problem.
Sampling
Cut, creased and folded samples in 5–7 working days, with the leaflet folded and inserted so the fit is proven.
Production & coding
Offset printing with Pantone control, then converting, with batch and variable data applied where specified.
Inspection & export packing
Print, fold, glue and code inspection against the approved sample, then case packing and shipping documents.
Why Yuan Packaging
- Pharmaceutical is long-standing business on both our label and carton lines, not an occasional job
- Carton, leaflet and primary label produced together under one specification and one approval trail
- Rapida 106 at 0.1 mm registration — what keeps regulatory small type sharp across a long run
- ISO 9001, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001 management systems across all production
Frequently asked questions
Can the carton and patient leaflet be developed together?
Yes. The leaflet fold pattern affects the space inside the carton, so both are reviewed against the primary pack and proven together in the physical sample rather than treated as unrelated components.
What do you need before drawing the unit-carton dieline?
Provide the actual blister, bottle, tube or vial dimensions, the leaflet requirement, packing method and the approved information requirements for the destination market. Those inputs establish the structure before artwork is placed.