The lowest-cost way to put your brand on the outside of a box - and the only one that works on a plain carton you have already bought.
Custom printed tape is carton sealing tape printed with your branding or a specific message. It is supplied in polypropylene, vinyl and paper (including recyclable paper tape), in hand and machine widths, printed in one or more colours. It is the cheapest practical way to brand an outer pack, because it brands a plain stock carton rather than requiring a printed carton - which matters if you buy boxes in several sizes. The same tape can carry security wording, handling marks or returns instructions. WSUK supplies printed tape to businesses across the UK from our Midlands base. For print on the box itself, see custom printed packaging.
Printed tape is specified once and works across your whole range of plain cartons - which is why it is usually the first branding step.
Polypropylene for general use, vinyl where the seal has to hold under load or cold, and paper tape where a single-material recyclable pack is the goal.
Brand mark, web address, security wording, orientation and fragile marks, or returns instructions - printed in one or more colours along the tape.
Specified for a hand dispenser or for a case sealer, because the wrong width and core on a machine line stops the line.
Print on a carton means a printed version of every size you use. Print on tape means one line that brands all of them.
Material, message, machine, proof.
Polypropylene, vinyl or paper, specified for the load, the storage conditions and whether a recyclable single-material pack matters.
Brand mark, wording, colours and repeat spacing along the roll.
Width, core and roll length for your hand dispenser or case sealer, so the rolls actually fit what you have.
Artwork proofed and approved, then the run produced and supplied.
Printed tape is supplied from our Midlands Golden Triangle base to businesses throughout the UK - and it is the one packaging change that needs no change to the boxes you already buy.
Custom printed tape is carton sealing tape with your own print on it, and it occupies a specific and useful position: it is the only way to brand an outer pack without changing the pack. That matters more than it sounds. A business despatching in six carton sizes needs six printed cartons to have a branded outer, with a minimum run and a stockholding commitment on each. The same business needs one printed tape to brand all six. The cost per sealed carton, spread across the length of a roll, is a small fraction of the uplift on a printed box. There are three material choices and they are not interchangeable. Polypropylene is the general workhorse. Vinyl costs more and holds better under load, in cold storage and on recycled board with a dusty surface. Paper tape - usually with a reinforced or gummed construction - is the one to specify when the objective is a single-material corrugated pack that a customer can put in kerbside recycling without separating anything, which is increasingly the reason businesses ask. Width and core have to match your equipment: a case sealer takes a specific width and core diameter and will simply not run a hand roll. And the print is worth more than a logo. A seal that says what to do with a return, which way up the box goes, or that the carton has been sealed by the brand rather than opened in transit is doing work on every parcel. Artwork is proofed before production. For print on the carton itself see custom printed packaging, and for the rest of the consumables see packaging supplies.
Specification first, then a quote against it.
Polypropylene, vinyl or paper, specified for the load, the storage conditions and whether a recyclable single-material pack matters.
Brand mark, wording, colours and repeat spacing along the roll.
Width, core and roll length for your hand dispenser or case sealer, so the rolls actually fit what you have.
Artwork proofed and approved, then the run produced and supplied.
Everything you need to know about custom printed tape at WSUK, answered plainly.
Because one printed tape brands every carton size you use, whereas a printed box means a separate print run and stockholding commitment for each size. If you despatch in more than two or three sizes, tape is almost always the cheaper route to a branded outer.
Polypropylene, vinyl and paper. Paper tape is the one to choose if you want a single-material corrugated pack that goes into kerbside recycling without the customer separating anything.
One to three colours is typical and covers most brand marks. Tell us the artwork and we will confirm what reproduces cleanly at tape width.
It will if it is specified for it. Width, core diameter and roll length all have to match the machine - tell us the make and model and we will specify rolls that run.
Yes, because there is a print setup. Tape has a long shelf life and a roll seals a lot of cartons, so the minimum is usually less of an obstacle than people expect.
Yes. A printed seal makes interference visible in a way clear tape does not, which is why it is common on higher-value despatches.
Yes, and it is one of the better uses of the space. A handler and a customer both look at the seal, so wording there gets read.
Reinforced and gummed paper tapes are specified for carton sealing and hold properly when matched to the load. We specify the construction against the weight rather than assuming paper is a like-for-like swap.
Yes - see packaging stockholding. A tape run is a compact thing to hold, so call-off works well.
| What you get | WSUK | Typical packaging supplier |
|---|---|---|
| One printed line brands every carton size you buy | Yes | Rarely |
| Material specified for the load, not just the look | Yes | Rarely |
| Recyclable paper option for single-material packs | Yes | Rarely |
| Width and core matched to your dispenser or case sealer | Yes | Rarely |
| Security, handling and returns wording available | Yes | Rarely |
| Artwork proofed before the run | Yes | Rarely |
Custom Printed Tape is supplied to businesses across the UK from the Midlands Golden Triangle. Pick a location for how supply works locally, or see the full list on the packaging services hub.
Send us your artwork and tell us whether it is hand or machine applied, and we will specify and quote it.