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Packaging production guide

How to make a dieline a printer can use

A dieline is a set of instructions for cutting and folding. The artwork is only useful when those instructions describe the box you intend to make.

Make your dieline

By DielineMaker · Updated

Printed folding carton with its top tuck flap closedFrom flat to finished.

Quick answer

To make a box dieline, start with the finished inside dimensions and board material, choose a structure, generate the flat cut and crease layout, add bleed and a safe area for artwork, then fold a proof in 3D and confirm the final drawing with your printer. Keep cut, crease, and perforation on distinct named layers.

Start with the box, not the sheet

Measure the product at its widest points, including caps, inserts, and anything that protrudes. Decide how it should be removed from the pack. A folding carton, mailer, tray, and sleeve may fit the same object, but they open differently and use very different amounts of board.

Give the printer the finished inside length, width, and height unless they request another convention. Board thickness changes the outside size and the score positions. If a supplier gave you score-to-score dimensions, do not silently treat them as inside dimensions.

InsideScore to scoreOutside
Board thickness makes these three dimensions different. The cross section exaggerates caliper to show the distinction.
Convert inside, outside, and score dimensions

Build the flat layout

Pick a proven structure close to your intended closure, then enter the size and material. For a simple tuck end carton, the blank needs four body panels, a glue tab, and top and bottom flaps. A mailer also needs enough board for roll-over walls and a lid that actually reaches its lock.

Put the knife outline on a cut layer, folds on a crease layer, and any tear features on a perforation layer. The cut path should close around the whole blank. Where two panels meet, use a crease, not a cut. Remove construction lines and outlined text from these layers.

Folded
A real reverse tuck end structure. Drag to inspect how its panels and flaps close.
Choose a dieline template and set its size

Place artwork with room for production

Extend background colour and images beyond the trim edge into bleed. Keep small type, barcodes, QR codes, and legal copy away from cuts, creases, glue areas, and folds. Check each panel in its final orientation: one of the quickest ways to spoil a run is a back panel that reads upside down after folding.

Bleed and safe area are different. Bleed is artwork outside the cut that protects against a white sliver. A safe area is space inside the cut that protects important content. Ask your printer for its specific allowance; a common starting point is 3 mm bleed, then adjust to the press and cutting process.

YOUR BRANDKeep essential copy in hereBleedTrimSafe area
Bleed fills beyond the cut; the safe area protects content inside it. Confirm the required allowances with your printer.

Proof the fold and export the right files

Fold the blank on screen to inspect closure, panel orientation, seams, and the position of front-facing artwork. A 3D preview catches obvious mistakes, but it does not replace a physical sample when fit, friction, or a locking tab matters.

Send a vector dieline plus the approved print artwork, and tell the printer which lines cut, crease, or perforate. DielineMaker exports PDF, Illustrator, SVG, DXF and CF2 dielines with die lines on spot separations, as well as a print PDF with artwork and bleed. Check the final profile and file convention with the supplier before production.

  1. Measure

    Record product size, desired clearance, and material.

  2. Generate

    Choose a structure and build its cut and crease layout.

  3. Design

    Add artwork with bleed, panel orientation, and code placement in mind.

  4. Check

    Inspect the fold and request a physical sample for fit-sensitive packs.

  5. Handoff

    Export vector dieline and approved artwork in the printer’s requested format.

1Measure2Generate3Design4Proof5Export
Confirm size and structure before artwork; check the fold before the production handoff.
Create a sized dieline

Common questions

Can I make a dieline without drawing every flap?

Yes. Start from a parametric structure, enter your dimensions and board, then inspect the generated blank and folded result. A bespoke closure still needs a packaging engineer or die maker to check the mechanics.

Is a dieline the same as print artwork?

No. The dieline describes cuts and folds; the artwork describes what gets printed. They can travel in one print PDF, but their layers and spot colours should remain identifiable.

Which file should I send to a printer?

Ask what the supplier expects. PDF is common for print artwork, while PDF or DXF is often used for die lines. Include dimensions, board specification, and a proof of how the finished pack should fold.

Put it into practice.

Start with the structure, check the fold, and make the file your printer needs.

Make your dieline