Features and Benefits of Kraft Paper Bags

With the acceleration of social and economic development, many environmental problems will appear. Consumers are gradually reducing the use of plastic bags and adopting more environmentally friendly products. Kraft paper bags are not only beautiful but also biodegradable, helping us protect the environment in the best possible way.

What is a kraft paper bag?

The bags are made of kraft paper, a brownish-yellow paper pressed from pulp from different woods, also known as recycled paper. Unlike other packaging products, kraft paper bags can be easily recycled and made into other paper products.

Kraft paper bags are considered the most practical solution to replace today's commonly used plastic packaging. We use too many plastic bags every day, resulting in a large amount of non-biodegradable waste, causing environmental pollution. Kraft paper is a paper with high strength and good water resistance and comes in two main colors: white and brown. Most customers will have the need to use natural brown to make paper bags, because if you want to change to other colors, you need to use bleach, which will pollute the surrounding environment.

The design does not need to be too complicated and detailed, the kraft paper packaging may be simple, but it attracts the attention of many people. Usually the paper bag will be printed with the brand's information or logo, which is also the best way to promote the brand's products.

Why are kraft paper bags so popular with consumers?

At a time when the world is calling for environmental protection, cute bags made from kraft paper have become more useful than ever. The paper bag design is eye-catching, attractive and easy to impress users. Customers receive and use many kraft paper bags because of the following outstanding advantages:

1. Special color

The first thing that catches the eye is that the kraft paper bag has a special color, the brown of natural wood, which attracts the attention of customers. Since then, people's curiosity and interest have been aroused, and people have used it more and more. Each kraft paper bag is tear-resistant, making it easier for customers to carry more items.

2. Environmentally friendly

Because it's a pure brown from wood, don't use color bleach, help us protect the environment in a better way. It also decomposes very easily when the paper bag is no longer used, minimizing difficult-to-decompose waste in the environment. Almost all countries in the world, such as the United States, South Korea and Japan, use recycled kraft paper bags to protect the environment, while also conveying the concept of environmental protection to customers.

3. Simple Design

The paper bag has a single color and has now become a very popular and must-have product in daily life. However, the classic brown paper bag is only suitable for vintage style products, fashion items, handmade, and only these items can highlight and enhance the beauty of the material.

4. Safe kraft paper material

Kraft paper is more durable and tougher than other materials. Therefore, companies and production and operation sites have chosen kraft paper to design different bags, in addition, it can carry heavy objects and take up less space. Kraft paper bags are safe for the user's health and do not change with temperature, so supermarkets and clean vegetable stores often use them to store food.

5. Low cost printing, cost saving

Kraft paper is great for minimalist design elements and is incredibly easy to process. Paper bags use less processed paper, so the price will also be cheaper. The low cost of printing suits the needs and conditions of use in many business units today, delivering cost savings of up to 40% compared to using other materials. Using kraft paper can save a lot of money for yourself and society.

According to statistics, more than 90% of those who have used a kraft paper bag once reused it. As a result, kraft paper bags have become a modern trend that is both snug and retro and classic.

Kraft paper bags play a great role in the promotion of corporate brands, and the information printed on the bags can establish a brand image for companies and businesses. The reason why Gary Paper supplies kraft paper and focuses on producing paper for supply to consumers through business units and enterprises. With the goal of high quality and low price products, we will meet the needs of all customers and work together to protect the environment.

1.Know your target

When it comes to ordering a paper bag, you need set your target first. This is essential for you to choose the right materials, print design and finish afterward. Surely you won’t pick the plain kraft paper materials while you want to promote your brand if you own a fancy fashion clothing boutique.

To know your target, just ask yourself this simple question. What functions would you like the paper bags to perform for you?

The paper bag usually has two primary functions, carrying and marketing. Paper bag help customers carry items easily and conveniently. Also, it is a great marketing tool for business owners to increase their brand recognition, which opens a new window to opportunities.

So which one is your priority?

If you just want to make your customers carry the products easily, it is the strength and durability that you need focus. It would really be a shame if the wine bottle falls out of the bag and breaks just because the bag is not strong enough. Usually, a plain kraft bag would be ok.

However, things will be quite different if you need a high impact paper bag to promote your brand and leave consumers a deep impression. You need take all factors into consideration, including handicraft details, paper materials, rope handles, print design as well the finishes. A little mistake can have a disastrous effect.

2.Create the Dieline and Print Design Artwork

Let the printer provide an accurate and applicable template

Before you have a print designer create the print design for you, you would better ask your printer if they can create a dieline for you, then you can let the graphic designer put the print design on the template.

In China, most manufacturers are reluctant to provide the free decline because they scare that you give the order to some other printers after you finish the deadline. They usually will let you put a deposit of 100-200USD and promise to give you 3-5 pieces color printed sample bags after the design is finished. In Guangjin, we provide our customers the accurate and applicable template without any charges ahead, because we believe that the good long-term business should be built on the mutual trust.

When you let a printer create the template for you, be sure to specify the length, width, and height of the paper bag correctly. A mistake in the size specification can lead to frustration and a terrible waste of time for both. In China, the size is usually specified in the order Length x Width x Height, which is illustrated by the image below.

3.Find a Print designer create the print design

With respect to the print design of the paper bag, knowing the difference between the general graphic design and print design is quite important. Particularly for the long run printing, it may save you tens of thousands of dollars.

The web design adopts the RGB mode while it is CMYK color mode for the printing. A pretty image design created with the RGB mode can have a fantastic display on the computer. However, it may look quite ordinary when printed on the press. It is because the RGB mode has the wider color range than the CMYK color mode.

Color Space for Human Eyes, CMYK and RGB

When the artwork is done, it needs to be converted to the CMYK mode if it works in the RGB mode. Actually, the RGB color has the bigger color space than the CMYK. A perfect RGB mode artwork might lead to the very dull printing effect because the CMYK has limited color space. Some colors in the RGB range cannot be reproduced by the CMYK printing.Below is the diagram to show the color space for human eyes, CMYK and RGB.

In one word, the professional designer knows how to choose the safe colors within the CMYK color space to create the appealing design and how to reduce the costs by using solid colors instead of the process colors. A print designer makes the whole printing process go more smoothly.

When the artwork is finished off, the PDF format is preferred, which represents the most universally adopted standard today.

In addition to the format, be sure to outline all the texts in the artwork in case there are any special fonts involved to create the design. If the printer’s computer lacks this font, the texts will be displayed quite weirdly, which makes the printer’s life quite hard.

About the font issue, some designers may have a different opinion, insisting that a PDF format is enough. And the Adobe Acrobat can display the text quite well even if the text is missing. However, who knows the printing better than the printer? You would better listen to the advice of your printer. Sometimes, an outlined artwork is completely imperative when the artwork is terribly created mixing the print design with the dieline together. It may become the printer’s nightmare when the designer has nothing to provide but a JPEG image with very low resolution.

4.Choose the Proper Paper Material

Gorgeous paper bag begins with the right paper material that will deliver performance, quality, and dependability of the product it holds and carries. Whether it be an exquisite shopping bag with the prominent spot UV varnished logo or a plain brown Kraft food bag, choosing the proper materials is critical to the marketing and visual effect.

How do we choose the proper paper materials?

Paper Types for the Paper Bag

Three types of paperboards are mostly used in the paper bag printing, SBS C1S ( Solid Bleached Sulfate, coated on one side), CUK ( coated unbleached kraft paperboard) and specialty paper.

SBS C1S ( Solid Bleached Sulfate, Coated on One Side)

SBS paper is a coated paper and contains at least 80% natural bleached virgin wood. It has the incredible physical properties, like brightness, whiteness, and smoothness to make it very suitable for the high graphics printing of the paper bag. The study suggests that nearly 90% paper shopping bags are made of the SBS C1S paper thanks to its splendid printing quality on the litho offset press. Major industries that use SBS:

• Cosmetic and beauty products packaging bag
• Gift and jewelry bag
• Clothing packaging bag

In Australia, Hong Kong, and China mainland, the C1S SBS is often referred to as the ivory board or art paper. And the art paper is slightly different from the ivory board. In the United States and Canada, people prefer to use the term C1S SBS. We will use the term art paper in the description below.

CUK (Coated Unbleached Kraft paperboard)

Also known as the white Kraft paper, it is made of the solid unbleached board coated with a thin layer of kaolin clay, which contains at least 80% natural bleached virgin wood. It is extremely durable and is very suitable to make the heavy-duty packaging and carrying bags. Besides, it is very eco-friendly because it is 100% recyclable. The main usages include:

• Frozen food packaging bag
• Heavy duty packaging and carrying
• Beverage carrying bag

Specialty Paper

One typical specialty paper is the black specialty paper with the matte black color. With either silver hot foil stamping or the spot UV varnishing, the paper bag made of this paper looks really gorgeous with a luxurious quality feel. Once before, we helped ProspektSupply in Canada produce a unique luxury paper bag. We printed the logo (ProspektSupply) in black color and applied the spot UV varnishing on it, which turned out great. Also, we use the black specialty paper to produce the paper bag for a well-known bank in China with the silver hot foil stamping for the texts, which looks terrific too.

Besides the black specialty paper, there are actually a lot of types to choose with various patterns and texture.

Paper Grammage and Thickness

Usually the more prestigious the packaging bag, the thicker the paper. Also, the grammage and thickness of the paper material have a huge impact on the bag’s endurance.

Usually, 157gsm (6-8pt), 210gsm (10-11pt) paper is recommended for the paper bag. And 300gsm (15-17pt) or above art pape can be used when a heavy duty packaging and carrying bag is in need.

The units to represent the paper grammage and thickness are quite confusing. People in China, Australia would like to use the grammage to measure the paper thickness, while the unit pt is used in North America.

5.Select Appropriate Paper Bag Handles

The handle plays an important role in the bag’s performance, aesthetically and functionally. With a good handle, the paper bag can be used for months to a year sometimes thanks to its amazing endurance. There are usually two types of handles are used, the grosgrain ribbon handles and the rope handles.

For rope handles, 3 types of materials are mostly used, the nylon, cotton and the paper. Among these materials, the nylon has the best durability and endurance; the cotton rope handle is the most popular handles used for the paper bag, which has the most wonderful touch in hand; and the paper rope handle can make the paper bag like a piece of great artwork with the help of the top packaging designers.

With respect to the price, the nylon usually costs more than the paper. The cotton handle is the cheapest at around one cents. Generally, the cotton rope is mostly used which has the best hand feel.

Besides, when the paper bag is particularly big, we need use the rivets to fasten the handles to the paper bag.

6.Apply the Proper Finish

The printing finish adds a luxurious quality feel, turning the ordinary paper bag into an extraordinary artwork.

I have published a post on our blog before about the finishing. You can learn more there. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/basic-guide-choose-print-finishes-nick-wong/

Every finish can have a splendid effect on the paper bag if they are used in the right context. Therefore, each finish is just different but no less at all.

Guangjin printing is a professional paper packaging products manufacturer, which can provide you the best packaging solution with the upscale and luxury feel. Email at nick@guangjinprint.com to learn more.