Tube Size Guide

Large cardboard tubes generally start at 3″ internal diameter and run up to 12″, with lengths to 48″ on standard tooling. Anything between 1½″ and 3″ is medium, and anything under 1½″ is small.

In practice, large means 3″ to 4″ for rolled posters and 4″ to 6″ for apparel, banners and wide-format prints.

Thick refers to the wall, not the diameter. A standard wall is 1.0 to 1.5 mm; a thick or heavy-duty wall is 1.5 to 3.0 mm, built from three to five plies; industrial cores go above 3 mm.

For craft use, a thick cardboard tube usually means the 1.5 to 3.0 mm range — rigid enough to cut, drill and stand upright without deforming.

For one or two rolled posters, 1½″ to 2″ internal diameter is normal. For heavier stock, several prints together, or anything you do not want tightly curled, move up to 2″ to 3″. Canvas and fine-art prints usually want 3″ to 4″.

Make the tube 1″ to 2″ longer than the rolled artwork so the print is not bearing against the end caps.

Internal, for every paper and cardboard tube on this site. It is the dimension the product has to pass through, and quoting on external diameter is the most common cause of a tube arriving that will not accept the product.

Plastic squeeze tubes are the exception and are ordered by outside diameter and fill volume.

A toilet roll core is about 1⅝″ (roughly 42 mm) internal diameter and about 4″ long. A kitchen towel core is the same diameter at about 11″ long. A wrapping paper tube is usually about 1½″ internal diameter at 30″ to 40″ long.

These are the standard consumer sizes and we supply plain cores in them, but almost all custom work uses a diameter chosen for the product rather than one of these.

Our standard minimum is 500 pieces, at any size in this guide. We can produce smaller runs — from around 100 pieces — at a higher per-piece cost, since setup and printing are fixed regardless of quantity. Per-piece cost drops significantly as quantity increases.

Share your size, material, printing and quantity and we will send a quote.

Measure the vessel, not the candle. A standard votive or tin sits in a 2½″ to 3″ internal diameter tube; a pillar or a large jar usually wants 3″ to 4″. Add 1 to 2 mm of clearance so the pack is not a fight to open.

Candles are heavier than they look, so specify a wall that does not flex when the pack is picked up — 1.5 mm or more at these diameters — and a telescoping lid or metal ends rather than a light plug cap.

Roll it the way you actually intend to ship it, then measure the roll — not the flat sheet. Rolling tighter fits a smaller tube but sets a curl into the material that never fully relaxes.

Then add 1 to 2 mm of diametric clearance, and make the tube 1″ to 2″ longer than the roll so nothing bears against the end caps in transit. Those two allowances prevent most damage complaints on rolled goods.

12″ internal diameter and 48″ long on standard tooling, which covers rolled artwork, wide-format prints, textiles and most industrial cores.

Larger diameters and longer lengths are possible but move onto non-standard tooling, which changes both the cost and what is practical at low quantities. Tell us early if your product needs one, because it is better designed around than discovered late.

Not the internal diameter, which is what your product has to fit through — that stays what you specify. What printing changes is the flat artwork dimension, because the wrap has to go all the way round plus an overlap at the seam.

So a design laid out for a 2″ tube will not fit a 3″ one. Ask for the flat dimensions for each size before laying artwork out, and keep critical type clear of the seam on every one.

Yes. Samples can be provided to confirm sizing, material selection and design details before full production begins, so you can check the structure and the print in your hand rather than on screen.

Free design support comes with it — artwork preparation, layout help, bleed and print-ready file setup, and 3D mockups before manufacturing starts. For a first order it is worth using both, because the two things that go wrong most often are a diameter chosen without the product to hand and artwork laid out before the flat dimensions were confirmed.

Processing takes 3 to 5 business days, which covers printing, packaging and quality checks, and orders are processed Monday to Saturday. Transit is a further 3 to 5 business days, for a total estimated delivery time of 6 to 10 business days.

Timelines vary a little with the destination city and courier workload, and a tracking link is emailed once the order ships. Embossing adds to production time, so allow extra if your build includes it.

Yes — free standard shipping to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Those are the destinations the policy covers, so it is worth checking it applies to yours before you plan around it.

The full terms, including processing and transit times, order tracking and what happens if a shipment is delayed or lost, are set out on the shipping policy page.