SolutionA custom paper bag is really two decisions: the bag itself, and the print on it. Most buyers get the bag right and lose money on the print — usually because they picked a method that could not reproduce their artwork, or because nobody told them the tooling cost was separate. Here is how the main printing methods differ, what actually drives the price, and how to prepare a file that comes back right the first time.
The short answer
- 1–3 bold colours on kraft, 5,000–20,000 pcs → screen printing. Low setup, strong solids, and white ink that actually reads white on brown paper.
- Full-colour or photographic artwork on white card → offset litho. The best fidelity, and it needs volume to be worth it.
- 30,000+ pcs of a simple design → flexo. The lowest unit cost on roll-fed paper bags.
- A metallic or tactile accent → hot foil, emboss or spot UV, added on top of any of the above.
If two methods come out close on price, choose on the artwork — not on the last decimal of the unit price. A method that cannot reproduce your logo cleanly is the most expensive option available.
The five methods that matter
Screen printing
Ink is pushed through a fine mesh screen, one screen per colour. The ink film is thick, so colours sit on the surface instead of sinking in — which is exactly why screen printing is the standard for kraft bags. White ink genuinely reads white, and single-colour logos look sharp and confident. Setup is cheap (a screen per colour), so it is the practical workhorse between 5,000 and 20,000 pieces. Gradients and photographs are not realistic with this method.
Offset litho
Ink is transferred from plates via a blanket, normally onto coated white card. Photographic artwork, smooth gradients, fine serif type and small print all reproduce cleanly — this is why luxury retail bags and printed cartons are offset. Plates and make-ready carry a real fixed cost, so it wants volume: worth pricing from around 3,000 pieces, and at 10,000+ it is usually the best-looking option available at a competitive unit price.
Flexographic printing
Roll-to-roll printing with rubber or photopolymer plates. It is the natural fit for kraft bags made from paper rolls, and it runs fast and cheap once it is set up. Detail is coarser than offset and setup is higher than screen printing, so it wins on very high volumes of a simple design — think supermarket and takeaway programmes rather than boutique retail.
Hot foil, emboss and spot UV
These are accents, not whole designs. Hot foil makes a logo or a line of type look metallic; embossing and debossing make it tactile; spot UV adds a glossy highlight on a matte surface. Each needs its own die or screen, so each adds a one-time cost and an extra pass through the press. Used sparingly they lift a bag from good to premium — used everywhere they just cost money without reading as luxury.
Digital printing
Full colour with no tooling at all, which makes it excellent for samples, prototypes and very short runs — and expensive per piece in production, because the unit cost does not fall with volume. Treat it as a sampling tool, or a route for genuinely small quantities, rather than a production method.
Methods side by side
| Best for | Colour range | Setup cost | Economical from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen print | Spot-colour designs, kraft bags | 1–3 colours, strong solids | Low — one screen per colour | ~5,000 pcs |
| Offset litho | Photography, gradients, fine type | CMYK + Pantone | Medium — plates + make-ready | ~3,000 pcs (best value 10,000+) |
| Flexo | Simple designs at very high volume | 1–4 colours, coarser detail | High | ~30,000 pcs |
| Hot foil / emboss | Premium accents | Metallic and tactile, no CMYK | Medium — die per position | Any, as an add-on |
| Digital | Samples, very short runs | Full colour | None | Short runs only |
What actually drives the price
- Number of colours — every colour means another screen, plate or print station.
- Ink coverage — a full-bleed dark panel costs more than a centred logo.
- Paper — coated white card costs more than kraft; heavier board costs more than lighter.
- One-time tooling — screens, plates, foil and emboss dies, die-cut forms, handle tooling.
- Finishing — lamination (matte, gloss, soft-touch), spot UV, foil, window patching.
- Quantity — the setup is fixed, so unit cost falls as volume rises.
How to prepare your artwork
- Send vector files — AI, PDF or EPS. JPEG and PNG are references, not production files.
- Outline your fonts, or send the font files together with the artwork.
- Work in CMYK, and give Pantone references for any colour that must match your brand exactly.
- Add 3–5 mm bleed past the trim line, and keep type at least 10 mm inside the edge.
- Supply or request a dieline — panel widths, gusset, height, handle position and depth.
- Use rich black (roughly 40/40/40/100) for printed blacks, and build it deliberately.
- Name the files clearly and state which panel carries which design — front, back, gusset, base.
If all you have is a logo and a photo of a bag you like, that is enough to start. The dieline can be drawn from your product dimensions — send the item you need to fit, or its measurements.
Five mistakes that cost real money
Choosing on unit price alone
Unit price hides tooling. A quote that looks 15% cheaper can be 15% more expensive once the screens, dies and make-ready are counted — and it cannot reproduce your artwork anyway.
Expecting kraft brown to print like white paper
Ink on an unbleached base shifts. Bright colours need an opaque white under-print, which is an extra screen and an extra cost. Tell your designer the substrate before they finalise the palette.
Sending a 72 dpi file from the website
A logo pulled off a web page will never print cleanly at bag size. Go back to whoever designed your brand and ask for the vector original — it saves a rebuild later.
Treating the pre-production sample as a formality
The sample is the cheapest checkpoint in the whole project. Approve it in writing after checking colour, size, handle and print position — changes after mass production are expensive.
Leaving print decisions until the launch date is fixed
Sampling, tooling and label approvals all take days. Deciding the print method four weeks before a launch is how buyers end up paying for air freight.
How we run a print order
We are the export team behind a publicly listed Chinese paper packaging manufacturer, and we specify, sample and inspect every order before it ships. In practice that means we check the method against your artwork before quoting, produce a pre-production sample (usually about 7 days), wait for your written approval, then run the order on our manufacturing partner's lines — with on-line inspection and a final check before packing. MOQ from 5,000 pcs; a written quotation with tooling shown separately within one working day.
Send us your artwork — get a print-ready quote.
Your logo, your dimensions and your quantity are enough. We will come back with the right method, a sample plan and a price you can compare.
More buying guides
- Kraft vs White Card Bags: Which Should You Choose?— materials
- Paper Bag Handle Types Compared— components
- FSC® Certification: What Buyers Need to Know— sustainability
- Why MOQ Exists — and How to Order 5,000 pcs Smartly— ordering