Custom Drawer & Slide Rigid Boxes
A tray that draws out of a sleeve — the structure that turns opening into a deliberate, two-handed gesture.
- Sleeve & Tray
- Ribbon Pull
- Fitted Inserts
- Space Efficient
- Foil & Emboss
Overview
A drawer box is a wrapped sleeve with a tray inside it. Opening means holding the sleeve and drawing the tray out, which takes two hands and a second longer than lifting a lid — and that extra second is the whole point. It is the structure brands choose when the reveal matters more than speed.
The engineering sits in the friction between tray and sleeve. Too loose and the tray slides out in a bag; too tight and it needs a tug that feels wrong on a premium product. We set the clearance at sampling, and where the tray is deep or heavy we add a ribbon or die-cut pull so the force is applied where the structure can take it.
It is also efficient in a way that is easy to miss: with no lid overhanging the base, a drawer box uses close to its full external footprint internally, so it fits more product into the same shelf and carton space than a telescoping box of the same size.
Variants
Single Drawer
One tray in a sleeve — the standard, and the most economical of the drawer formats.
Double Drawer
Two trays drawing from opposite ends or stacked, for sets that should be discovered in sequence.
Ribbon-Pull Drawer
A ribbon loop set into the tray face. Necessary on deep or heavy trays, decorative on shallow ones.
Die-Cut Pull Drawer
A finger aperture cut into the sleeve or tray. No hardware, no ribbon, and nothing to snag in transit.
Drawer with Fitted Insert
EVA, card or satin-lined cavities so the contents stay in place as the tray moves.
Selected work
Board & material options
Greyboard
The dense structural core of a rigid box.
Not printed — it is wrapped. Thickness is specified against the weight the box carries and the opening feel you want.
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.
Textured & Felt-Marked
Embossed linen, laid and felt surfaces.
Carries a tactile identity with no extra finishing pass. Print sits softer on texture — fine detail and photographic images lose bite, so it suits type and blind emboss better than imagery.
Leather Grain
An embossed hide pattern on paper.
Used on rigid box wraps where the brief asks for leather without the cost, the weight, or the sourcing questions.
Finishing options
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.
Soft-Touch Lamination
A velvet matte film laminated to the printed surface.
Changes how the pack feels more than how it looks, and hides fingerprints on dark artwork. The most requested finish on premium spirits and skincare.
What you can customise
- Internal dimensions built around your product
- Board thickness against weight and opening feel
- Wrap material, print and finishing combination
- Insert material, cavity layout and lining colour
- Ribbon, closure and hardware detail
- Export carton count and pallet configuration
Specifications
| Minimum order quantity | Typically 500–1,000 units for premium gift boxes with complex finishing |
|---|---|
| Production lead time | 15–20 working days after artwork approval; complex gift boxes 25–30 working days |
| Printing | Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 eight-colour offset — CMYK and Pantone spot colours |
| Box forming | Two Hongming 6418K automated box lines, with hand wrapping and assembly for detail work |
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
Jewellery & Watches
Small drawer boxes with lined cavities, where the draw-out reveal suits the product value.
Beauty & Fragrance
Sample sets and discovery kits presented in sequence as the tray comes out.
Spirits & Gifting
Bottle and accessory sets where the sleeve carries the print and the tray carries the product.
Confectionery
Divided trays holding portions in place, with the sleeve doing the branding.
Why Yuan Packaging
- Two Hongming 6418K automated box lines plus hand finishing on every structure
- Presentation-quality structural sample in 5–7 working days, credited against your first order
- Printing, foil, embossing and lamination applied in-house before wrapping
- Rigid boxes produced for Chinese spirits houses including Guoyuan and Yanghe distilleries
Frequently asked questions
How tight should the drawer be?
Tight enough that the tray cannot slide out in a bag, loose enough that it draws with one steady pull. Clearance is set at sampling because it depends on board thickness and wrap tension — it is not a number that can be specified in advance.
Does a drawer box need a ribbon pull?
On a deep or heavy tray, yes — without one the customer grips the tray edge and eventually damages the wrap. On a shallow tray it is a design choice. A die-cut finger aperture does the same job with nothing added.
Is it more expensive than a lid and base box?
Usually slightly, because the sleeve and tray are two wrapped components that have to fit each other. Against that, the internal volume is better used, which sometimes lets you drop a size.