Templates, dimensions and structural options

Design → Templates, or Advanced → Structure → Change

Style and common-size presets

A style chooses the parametric construction: its panels, hinge graph, closure, supported materials and adjustable fields. A common-size preset supplies a starting size for that style.

When it helps most

Choose by opening method and physical job before visual appearance. A lid-and-base gift box needs two parts; a sleeve needs the object it will slide over; a divider may use the containing case as its reference.

Impact and trade-offs

Changing style or size can change panel identities, blank bounds and available controls. Reinspect every artwork placement and all sheet parts. A preset name does not establish supplier tolerances or prove compatibility with your contents.

Print setup → Size; also in the calculator and generator

Units: mm, cm and in

Changes how physical lengths are displayed and entered. The physical design uses the same underlying dimensions; changing a unit is not a scale operation.

When it helps most

Use the unit on the measurement source. Millimetres work well for most dieline work; inches help when transcribing a supplier specification.

Impact and trade-offs

Avoid interpreting an inch measurement as a millimetre measurement. If the source says 4 in, enter 4 with in selected, or 101.6 with mm selected. Repeatedly rounding converted values can introduce small differences.

Worked example

60 mm = 6 cm ≈ 2.3622 in. Switching display units should leave the same box; typing 60 after selecting in would request a very different box.

Print setup → Size → dimension mode

Inside, Outside and Mfg

Selects the meaning of your entered dimensions. The other two sets are calculated using the current structure, material and converter profile.

Inside

The intended product-space reference. Include the fit clearance required around the real contents; a nominal product dimension with zero allowance may be impractical.

Outside

The assembled external reference. Useful for shelf, transit and case fit. A fixed outer size can reduce usable inside space when board thickness increases.

Mfg

Manufacturing or score-to-score reference. Useful for matching a converter’s drawing. It is not automatically the finished inside or outside dimension.

When it helps most

Use Inside when the product must fit; Outside when a finished pack must fit a case or shelf; Mfg when the receiving drawing supplies score-to-score dimensions.

Impact and trade-offs

The conversion is structure-specific. Do not apply one universal “add twice the thickness” rule to lids, multi-wall structures, inserts or imported dies. The app displays the resolved sets and panel sizes so you can inspect the actual construction.

Worked example

For a 60 × 40 × 100 mm required cavity, enter those values in Inside. Record the calculated outside envelope separately when planning an outer shipping case.

Structure → Production or Material → Caliper; 0.05–10 mm in the editor

Caliper (T), Auto and measured caliper

Caliper supplies board thickness to the structure. Auto uses an applicable converter measured caliper before the board preset. A directly entered project caliper overrides that automatic choice.

When it helps most

Use the supplier’s measured stock thickness when producing a dieline. Keep Auto for exploration. Selecting a board resets a direct caliper override, even when reselecting the current board; check the resolved value afterward.

Impact and trade-offs

Thickness changes can rebuild scores, panels and the blank. It is not the same as grammage or a surface-finish setting. A thicker visual material may also alter artwork alignment and nesting; recheck those after the change.

Worked example

Enter a 0.50 mm override to use that measured thickness. Selecting a stock again clears this override and returns thickness to the applicable automatic source. Re-enter a measured override only when it is correct for that selected board.

Structure → Production → Converter

Converter profile and custom board family

Selects the plant assumptions used alongside the structure: score allowance, closure clearance, measured caliper, kerf and stated finished-size tolerance. Custom lets you record supplier-specific values and a name.

When it helps most

Use when matching an approved converter sample or moving a design between production processes. Set the board family correctly so applicable measured-caliper assumptions can be resolved.

Impact and trade-offs

Profiles are starting assumptions, not a supplier approval. A board/profile mismatch is a reason to review the setup. An imported dieline retains its original scores, so score allowance does not rebuild those imported coordinates.

Structure → Production → Converter → Custom; parametric styles only

Score allowance

Adds the specified board allowance at scores beyond the model’s half-caliper contribution. The source implementation preserves the requested dimension mode while rebuilding the dependent geometry.

When it helps most

Use the converter’s tested allowance when a score process needs more or less material than the standard structural assumption.

Impact and trade-offs

This is a geometry change, not a label on the specification. It can move artwork alignment, change the flat size and change sheet yield. It is hidden for imported dies because their scores are fixed by the file.

Worked example

After changing a test allowance from 0 to 0.2 mm, compare the displayed panel sizes and blank dimensions. Do not assume the whole blank changes by only 0.2 mm; several scores may contribute.

Structure → Production → Converter → Custom

Closure clearance

Records the converter’s recommended room per side for closures such as tucks, lids, sleeves and inserts. Tighter style settings can be flagged by checks.

When it helps most

Useful for slip fits, a lid over a base, or a sleeve around a product when the receiver specifies fit clearance.

Impact and trade-offs

A clearance recommendation is not an instruction to enlarge every panel indiscriminately. Check which style parameters control the actual fit and inspect the warning’s location. Test the real materials where friction or assembly matters.

Structure → Production → Converter → Custom

Knife kerf and Tolerance ±

Knife kerf describes material removed by the cutting process. Tolerance records the finished-size variation that the plant holds and appears in the specification.

When it helps most

Use a confirmed kerf for the intended cutter; the UI describes zero for steel-rule/knife work and cutter diameter for a router. Enter tolerance from the manufacturer when the fit brief depends on it.

Impact and trade-offs

These values communicate production assumptions; entering a tight tolerance does not make the cutter more accurate. Do not invent a value to clear a warning or confuse a 1 mm tolerance with 1 mm extra product space.

Structure → Parameters; fields vary by style

Automatic structural parameters and manual overrides

The style derives values such as flaps, glue tabs, tucks, clearances or openings from the main size and board. Entering an override fixes that parameter until it is reset to automatic.

When it helps most

Keep automatic relationships for ordinary resizing. Override only when a drawing or physical prototype calls for a specific tab, slot, overlap or closure dimension.

Impact and trade-offs

A value that works at one size can become invalid after shrinking the box. Watch build errors and structural warnings; a longer flap can enlarge the blank or collide with another part. Parameters not shown by the current style are not available on that construction.

Worked example

If you lengthen a tuck for a test fit, then halve the carton height, revisit that tuck. Reset to Auto to restore the style’s derived relationship instead of trying to repair every downstream dimension manually.

Structure → Production; Bleed 0–10 mm, Safe 0–20 mm

Bleed and Safe guides

Bleed defines artwork extension outside the cut. Safe defines an inset for critical objects. These are separate distances with different purposes.

When it helps most

Use printer-specified bleed for edge colour/photos and a suitable safe area for wording, logos and codes. The artwork still needs to reach the bleed boundary and important content still needs to be positioned inside the safe region.

Impact and trade-offs

Increasing a guide does not invent pixels or automatically move every layer. Bleed can affect export bounds and layout spacing. A safe area does not guarantee protection from every crease, glue region, closure or irregular contour.

Worked example

On an illustrative rectangular 60 × 100 mm face, 3 mm bleed around all four sides needs a 66 × 106 mm covered area; a 3 mm safe inset leaves a 54 × 94 mm core. Actual tabs and irregular panels need their own inspection.

Structure → Production → Print view and Panel sizes

Print side, Die side and Panel sizes

Print/Die side changes the side from which the flat structure is viewed. Panel sizes lists score-to-score measurements rather than repeating the product-space dimensions.

When it helps most

Use Print side to align artwork as viewed from its printed side; use the die-maker’s requested side for tooling review. Use Panel sizes when reconciling a specific score interval with a supplier drawing.

Impact and trade-offs

Changing a viewing side is not a substitute for exporting the correct side setting. The final dieline or sheet export has its own options; confirm them again and inspect asymmetric features such as a glue flap.