The Box designer turns a box style and a size into a production dieline: the cut and crease lines of the flat blank, the glue areas, and the folds the 3D preview uses to fold it up. The same dieline prices the box in an estimate and downloads as a PDF, DXF or CF2 file for a die maker or a cutting table.
Open it from Box designer in the Work menu, or from a box row in an estimate (the row's drawer shows a compact version; Open full designer shows everything).
Four decisions#
- Style. Pick the kind of box: a tuck box, a tray, a sleeve, a shipping box. Each card says what it is used for; the ECMA or FEFCO code is in the card's tooltip and under the cards. See Box styles.
- Size. Type the inside length, width and depth in millimetres or inches. Fractions work:
2 3/8. Fits a product takes the size of what goes inside plus a clearance on each side (1 mm for cartons, 1/8 in for corrugated) and works out the inside size for you. - Board. Pick a board from your library (with its sheet size and whether it is priced) or from the catalogue. Standard board is the style's usual board. The caliper under the picker says where it comes from: the board, your library, an override, or the box as it was saved. In an estimate the board is the row's stock, so the picker lists your library only: picking one changes the row's stock.
- Quantity (in an estimate). The line prices as soon as the size and board are set.
Everything else has a default and sits under Details: the size basis, a caliper override, the grain, and the style's options. Each option shows its default greyed out; clear it to go back to the default. Show all options lists the rarely changed ones.
Which side is which#
Focusing Length, Width or Depth marks the panels that size measures on the flat preview. For cartons, Length is the side the last-closing flap hinges on (ECMA's A), Width the other side of the opening (B) and Depth the distance between the end flaps' creases (H). For corrugated boxes, Length is the longer side of the opening (FEFCO's L); a regular slotted container needs the length to be at least the width. Swap L/W swaps the two.
Inside, crease and outside sizes#
Sizes are inside sizes by default. Under Details, Size is also takes Crease (ECMA and FEFCO sizes, crease centre to crease centre) and Outside. Switching the basis rewrites the numbers you typed: the box stays the same size. The other sizes show under the inputs.
Preview#
The flat view follows your typing. It draws cut lines solid, creases dashed, perforations dotted and glue areas hatched, with a legend in words, and lists the blank size, the net area and how much of its bounding box it uses, the rule lengths, the glue seam, the outside and flat-glued sizes and, for corrugated, the MSF per 1,000 boxes. While a size is wrong the last good drawing stays, dimmed, and the field says what to fix; many messages have a button that fixes it, such as Use 60 mm or Swap. Every message is listed under Size and option messages.
See it folded folds the box in 3D in plain board: Open flat, Folded, and Flat-glued (the box as a folder-gluer ships it). A style whose folds are only approximate says Approximate fold. If your device can't show 3D, the flat view keeps working.
Downloads and Files#
Download offers the dieline PDF (for the die maker or cutting table), the artwork template PDF (for your designer), DXF, CF2 and an SVG preview. See Dieline files. Every dieline is fold checked as you work; a dieline whose check fails can't be downloaded as a die file (PDF, DXF or CF2), and the menu says why. It can still be quoted, and the template and SVG stay available.
Save to Files keeps the dieline PDF in Files with its style, size, board and version, when Files is available.
In an estimate#
A box row's drawer shows the compact designer: the style cards, the size, the board, the preview, the blank size, the
MSF per 1,000 for corrugated and the fold check. Open full designer opens everything in a window, on the style and
sizes you typed, even ones that still need fixing; Use in estimate puts the box on the row in one step (undo takes
it back), and Cancel or Esc leaves the row as it was. Opening a row's drawer changes nothing on the row.
A Caliper override under Details stays with the box: a new stock keeps it, and Update takes the stock's caliper again.
Imported dielines#
A single-up dieline imported from a CAD file (CF2, DXF or PDF) into Tools & dies opens in the Box designer read-only: Open in 3D on the dieline opens it here. It is drawn exactly as the file has it, from the printed side, and nothing is regenerated, so there is no style, size, board or option to change.
The view lists the blank size, the area and the rule: cut (outline, windows and inner cuts), crease and, when the dieline has them, perforation, score and partial cut, with the windows and nicks. Below come the box facts entered for it in Tools & dies, such as the gluer, glue points, grain and caliper. mm and in switch the units.
See it folded folds it in plain board for its family (carton, corrugated or label), at its caliper when one was entered, else the family's standard board. Until a fold is saved every crease and score folds to 90° and perforations stay flat, and the view says Default fold: no fold saved yet. To set the fold:
- Click Edit fold, then click a crease on the box. Shift-click adds more creases.
- Type the Crease angle, from -180° to 180°. Positive angles fold the printed side out; Fold the other way turns the selected creases the other way.
- Pick base panel, then click the panel the box stands on.
- Save fold keeps the fold with the dieline, for everyone who opens it. Default fold removes it.
Download offers the dieline PDF (a spot colour per line kind, its trim box on the blank), DXF (R12, in millimetres, a layer per line kind), CF2 (in millimetres, with ArtiosCAD line types), an SVG preview and The original file it was imported from. Every file is drawn from the stored single-up and is the same each time. An imported dieline has no artwork template, because its file carries no glue areas or panel names, and no fold check: it downloads as it was drawn.
Keyboard#
The style cards are one group: the arrow keys move between them and Space or Enter picks one. Tab then moves
through the size, the board, the details and the actions. In the full designer of an estimate, Enter in a field
uses the box in the estimate when nothing needs fixing, and Esc closes without changes (with the Download menu
open, Esc closes the menu first).
Beta styles#
A Beta style is shown only once it passes its own fold check at its standard sizes, and its card has a Beta badge. The first die file of a Beta style in a session asks you to check a folded sample before ordering a die. Beta styles are never used by starter products.