Guide to the packaging dieline generator
How to make a box template in a few seconds
In quick mode, pick a style from the catalogue, enter the three dimensions and check the drawing next to them. The material sets the starting thickness and the tool already applies centre-line compensation. If the dimensions describe the product, keep "internal"; if they describe the outside of the box, choose "external". Professional mode opens thickness, glue flaps, clearances, process allowances, bleed, safe area and sheet. Advanced mode adds fine parameters for each style, layer names for your machine, revision, notes and variants. Every change recalculates the whole dieline: there are no points to drag, so the outline never drifts away from the dimensions. Undo and redo keep the last sixty changes, and the ready-made examples are starting points for e-commerce, gifts, cosmetics, electronics, trays and shipping.
Internal, external and flat dimensions
A box has three sets of dimensions. Internal is the usable space for the product. External is what the box occupies outside. Crease-to-crease is the distance between two fold lines on the flat dieline. With thickness t, the tool uses the centre-line hypothesis: the panel between creases measures internal + t and the outside measures internal + 2t. An internal 200 mm box in 3 mm board has a 203 mm panel and measures 206 mm outside. This hypothesis is geometric. Every converter uses its own allowances depending on flute, grammage, cutting rule and machine, and the tool does not invent those numbers: enter them under "process allowances". With all allowances at zero, the result is labelled a nominal geometric model; with entered values, a process-adjusted dieline.
Cut, crease, perforation and glue: how the dieline is calculated
Every style is built from polygonal panels in millimetres, placed by formulas, and from hinges that state which panel folds onto which. Lines are not drawn by hand. An edge used by a single panel becomes the cut outline; an edge shared by two hinged panels becomes a crease; an edge shared without a hinge becomes a cut slit, such as between the dust flaps and the walls of a mailer. So when a dimension changes, the outline, creases and slits change together. The checker looks for zero or negative sizes, degenerate panels, overlapping faces, open outlines, creases and perforations outside the piece, glue flaps below the material minimum and safe areas that do not fit. Errors block export and are marked on the drawing; technical warnings stay visible without stopping the work.
Verifiable example: open tray as a cross
To check the geometry, use the open tray with "plain cross, no flaps" corners, zero thickness and compensation off. With a 200 × 150 mm base and four 60 mm walls, the dieline is a cross: the centre panel measures 200 × 150 mm, every wall is 60 mm deep and the four creases lie exactly on the base edges. The bounding rectangle measures 320 × 270 mm, but the material area is smaller, because the four corners stay empty. The table below is calculated by the same code as the page. To manufacture it for real, turn on the corner flaps or use the lock tray, which is validated separately.
| Input | Envelope | Material area | Creases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base 200 × 150 mm, 60 mm walls | 320 × 270 | 72,000 mm² | 4 · 700 |
Material, thickness and allowances
The cardstock, paperboard, kraft, micro-flute and corrugated profiles carry thickness, minimum glue flap and sheet size as editable starting points, not as supplier data. State the grain or flute direction on the dieline and on the sheet so the layout respects that orientation. The tool does not infer strength from thickness and makes no standards compliance claim; if you have a capacity figure, it enters the project as supplied information. The FEFCO 0201 and 0200 codes follow the public description of those styles, without FEFCO certification, and the other styles are generic and labelled as such.
Formats: SVG, DXF, PDF, PNG, CSV, XLSX and JSON
The SVG has width and height in millimetres and a viewBox in the same unit, so one drawing unit is one millimetre in any vector editor; each layer is a named group with no images or external files. The DXF is ASCII R12, declares millimetres, stores the cut outline as a closed polyline with arcs and the creases as lines without duplicates, each type on its own layer. The PDF is vector and carries a legend, material data, date, revision and a calibration bar. The PNG is a preview at the resolution you choose. CSV and XLSX carry dimensions, material, sheets and costs, protected against unintended formulas. The JSON keeps the full, versioned project and rebuilds the same geometry when imported.
Printing at actual size, bleed and safe area
At 1:1 the PDF is never shrunk to fit the paper: if the dieline is larger than the page, it is tiled with a 10 mm overlap, alignment crosses and an overview page. The file asks readers not to scale it, but the printer can still shrink it: choose "Actual size" or 100%, turn off "Fit to page" and measure the 100 mm bar before cutting. Bleed extends the artwork beyond the cut and the safe area marks, on every printed face, where text and logos are protected; use your printer's values, because the tool does not apply profiles it does not know.
Sheet yield, cost and limits
Yield uses the Quima 2D Cutting Optimizer on each dieline's bounding rectangle, with margin, gap between pieces, 90° rotation and grain or flute respected. It is a verifiable heuristic, but it does not prove the optimal layout and does not nest irregular polygons into each other. The result shows sheets needed, dielines per sheet, effective area, purchased area, waste and utilisation. Material cost per package divides the value of the sheets actually needed, including technical loss, by the quantity produced; printing, cutting, assembly and die costs are added only when you enter them. It is an estimate, not an industrial quote. Before production, cut a sample with the real material and equipment.
Frequently asked questions
Is the dieline at actual size?
Yes. SVG and DXF use millimetres, and the 1:1 PDF is never shrunk: dielines larger than the paper are tiled. Print at "Actual size" or 100% and check the 100 mm calibration bar with a ruler.
Should I enter internal or external dimensions?
Enter internal dimensions when you start from the product size and external ones when the box must fit a space. With thickness, the tool calculates both and the crease-to-crease size by the centre line.
Can I use the DXF on a cutting table or plotter?
The R12 DXF carries cut and crease on separate layers, in millimetres, and opens in common CAD software. Every machine has its own import rules, so check the layers in the machine software before cutting.
Does the tool calculate box strength?
No. It generates the geometry but does not assess strength, stacking or standards. If you know the material capacity, record it in the project as supplied data and validate a sample.
Are my projects sent to a server?
No. Calculation, 3D and exports happen in the browser. The local draft is optional, can be deleted with "Clear data", and the JSON backup stays with you.
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