Although lattina and scatola can both mean "can," it's worth taking a look at the differences in usage between these two nouns.  

Note we say in scatola to mean "canned," in other words, "in a can." We're talking about how these goods are packaged, not where they are at the moment.   

E puoi trovare tutto quello che non ha una scadenza breve, come sale, pasta, olio, salsa di pomodoro, legumi in scatola, farine,

And you can find everything that doesn't have a short shelf life, like salt, pasta, oil, tomato sauce, canned beans and lentils, flour,

Captions 48-51, Vocaboliamo Supermercato - Part 4

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If, while I am cooking, I can't find the beans to add to my soup. 

Dove sono i miei fagioli (where are my beans)?

The answer does not use in scatola in this case, but rather nella scatola. We're not talking about how they are packaged, we're talking about where the beans are. 

I fagioli sono ancora nella scatola (the beans are still in the can). 

—because I haven't taken them out yet. 

Sometimes a can is small, such as those for tuna or cat food. In the example below, Marika tells us the tuna is canned (in scatola) to distinguish it from tonno fresco (fresh tuna). Then she mentions it being small and uses a diminutive: scatoletta. 

Del tonno, semplice tonno in scatola sottolio. Questa è una scatoletta di duecentocinquanta grammi...

Some tuna, simple canned tuna, in oil. This is a small can of two hundred and fifty grams...

Captions 45-46, Marika spiega L'insalata di pasta - Part 1

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Although, as we mentioned above, una scatola can be a can, especially when referring to canned goods, it's also, or even primarily, "a box." In the next example, scatola means "box," We can imagine a box, such as a cereal box. But it could also be one of those round (or square) tins of butter cookies. 

Quantità: "Abbiamo mangiato una scatola di biscotti in due".

Quantity: "We ate a box of cookies between us."

Caption 14, Marika spiega Preposizioni semplici - Part 2

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 In this next example, la scatola is a large, oblong cardboard box that contains a wedding gown.  

Quando lo metti nella scatola, lo devi stendere... -Permesso?

When you put it in the box, you have to lay it flat... -May I come in?

Caption 1, Sposami EP 5 - Part 10

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Scatola is a fairly generic term. 

Non facevamo prima a prendere una scatola di cioccolatini?

Wouldn't it have been quicker for us to get a box of chocolates?

Caption 33, Un medico in famiglia Stagione 1 EP5 Lele, ti presento Irene - Part 2

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Speaking generically, we might use the noun scatola for a cardboard box, but we can also say una scatola di cartone, because cartone means cardboard. But sometimes, we just say un cartone to mean "a cardboard box." 

The noun la lattina comes from la latta (the tin [the metal], the metal sheet). These days, una lattina is usually made of aluminum and is very lightweight compared to una scatola for beans or tuna. For items such as bulk olive oil, we can talk about una latta da 3 kg (a three-kilo can).

In this next example, the speaker uses the noun latta to let us know that the jingles on a tambourine used to be made from the top of a can, but especially that the can was made of metal, likely tin, since she is talking about earlier times.  

E questo perché, eh, viene applicate... vengono applicati i sonagli, o cimbali, detti, eh... che una volta originariamente, pensate, erano proprio presi per... dalla latta per le sardine.

And that's because, uh, jingles, or so-called cymbals are attached, uh... that at one time, originally, imagine, they were actually taken for... from a tin for sardines.

Captions 8-10, Eleonora suona il Tamburello

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The upshot is that if you are looking for a soft drink or a beer, la lattina is the word you are looking for.  If it's beans, then you'll want una scatola or una scatoletta if it's on the small side. And it's good to keep in mind that una scatola is not necessarily made of metal.

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In a future lesson or video lesson, we'll discuss other types of containers.