Every style is drawn from our own formulas; the ECMA and FEFCO codes are industry labels that tell a die maker which style is meant, and the drawings are ours. A style's status says how far it has been checked:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stable | Built, fold-checked and cross-checked against folded samples of the method. |
| Standard | Built from the same verified rules and gated by the fold check at every size in its range. |
| Beta | Needs a folded sample before it leaves beta: shown with a badge, never used by starter products. |
Note: Beta styles come later
The Beta styles below (crash-lock and 1-2-3 bottoms, the roll-end mailer) aren't in the Box designer yet: each appears, with its badge, once it passes its fold check at every standard size.
Folding cartons#
| Style | Code | Status | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reverse tuck end | ECMA A20.20.03.01 | Stable | Tuck box: cosmetics, pharma, retail |
| Straight tuck end | ECMA A20.20.03.03, ECMA A20.20.01.01 | Standard | Tuck box with both ends on one side: easier to open |
| Tuck top, crash-lock bottom | ECMA A60.20.00.03 | Beta | Tuck top with a bottom that locks as it opens: heavier products |
| Tuck top, 1-2-3 snap-lock bottom | ECMA A55.20.01.03 | Beta | Tuck top with a folded lock bottom: no bottom glue |
| Seal end | ECMA A70.70.00.00 | Standard | Glued ends: cereal and food cartons |
| Four-corner tray | ECMA B40.22.00.00 | Standard | Glued tray: bakery, gift and display trays |
| Sleeve | ECMA A01.01.00.00 | Standard | Open-ended sleeve over a tray or carton |
The crash-lock bottom needs a folder-gluer with a crash-lock section.
Corrugated boxes#
| Style | Code | Status | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular slotted container (RSC) | FEFCO 0201 | Stable | Shipping box |
| Half slotted container (HSC) | FEFCO 0200 | Standard | Shipping box with an open top |
| Full overlap container (FOL) | FEFCO 0203 | Standard | Shipping box with full-width top and bottom flaps |
| Roll-end tuck-front mailer | FEFCO 0427 | Beta | Mailer: e-commerce |
Options#
Each style's options are under Details with their defaults as placeholders; clearing an option returns it to its default, and Show all options lists the rarely changed ones. Option lengths are millimetres. Many defaults follow the size and the caliper, so the placeholder shows the value for your box. The main ones: tuck boxes have a 15 mm glue flap and tuck, a 6 mm lock inset and lock slits cut as knife slits; the RSC has a 35 mm glued lap and a 3/8 in flat joint gap. The table lists the options of the styles in the Box designer today.
| Option | Styles | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Fit clearance | All styles | The play left where flaps meet or slide past each other, so the box closes without binding: 0 to 5 mm (by default 0.5 mm on cartons, 1 mm on corrugated). |
| Glue flap | All styles | The glue flap's width: 15 mm on tube cartons (at most the side panel), the glue corners on a tray, and the glued lap on corrugated (35 mm; under 1-1/4 in may not meet US freight rules). |
| Joint gap | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end; Seal end; Sleeve | Shortens the side panel the glue flap is glued to, leaving a gap at the joint: 0 to 2 mm, 0 by default. |
| Clear width past the tuck | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end | On: the side panels grow by one caliper so the whole inside width stays clear past the tuck. Off (the default): the tuck takes one caliper of the inside width. |
| Tuck | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end | The tuck that slides into the box: 15 mm by default, at most half the depth. |
| Lock inset | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end | How far each side of the tuck is set in from the closure's edge, where the lock slits are: 6 mm by default, at most a quarter of the length, and more than the lock slit width. |
| Closure overhang | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end | How far the closure's ears beside the tuck reach past the far wall: 1.5 calipers by default, 0 to 3 calipers. |
| Dust flap | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end; Seal end | The dust flaps' length, sized from the width (and the tuck): at least 5 mm, at most half the length. On a tuck box, under a third of the width gives a warning. |
| Tuck corners | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end | The shape of the tuck's corners: Chamfered (the default) or Rounded. |
| Lock slit width | Reverse tuck end; Straight tuck end | 0 (the default) cuts the lock slits as knife slits; 0.3 to 1 mm cuts a notch that wide instead. |
| Closures on | Straight tuck end | The body panel both closures hang on: Front panel (the default) or Back panel. |
| Thumb notch | Straight tuck end | A half-round notch in the edge of the panel the tucks close behind, to open the box: 0 (the default) for none, or 12 to 20 mm wide. |
| Inner end flap | Seal end | The inner end flap's length: Full width (the width less the clearance, the default) or Half width. |
| Outer end flap | Seal end | The outer end flap, glued over the inner one: the width by default, up to the width plus a caliper. |
| Glue inset | Seal end | How far the glue area stays in from the edges of the end flaps: 3 mm by default, 0 to 10 mm. |
| Corner fold angle | Four-corner tray | The diagonal crease on each glue corner, so the corner folds flat inwards: 45° by default, 30° to 45°. |
| Clear width past the corner flaps | Four-corner tray | On: the base grows by two calipers so the whole inside width stays clear past the glue corners. Off (the default): the corners take one caliper on each side. |
| Joint | All corrugated | Plant allowances (the default) or Rigid: see Plant or rigid joint under Board, caliper and allowances. |
| Slot width | All corrugated | The slots between the flaps: two calipers by default, from one caliper to 12 mm (two calipers on board over 6 mm thick). |
| Flat joint gap | All corrugated | The gap at the glued joint when the box is folded flat: 3/8 in (9.5 mm) by default, at most half the glued lap; outside 1/8 to 1/2 in gives a warning. |
| Glue tab taper | All corrugated | How much the ends of the glue tab are tapered: 10 mm by default, at most half the glued lap. |
| Flap overlap | Full overlap container (FOL) | The outer flaps' length: the full width by default, so they overlap completely, and at least half the width. A gap of more than 1/4 in between them gives a warning. |
| Inner flap length | Full overlap container (FOL) | The inner flaps' length: half the width by default. Inner flaps shorter than the outer ones need a die or trim knives (a note says so). |
A tray under 17 mm long takes narrower glue corners.
CAD dielines#
A box doesn't need one of these styles: a single-up read from your own CF2, DXF or PDF die file can be the box instead, with its blank as drawn and no options (see Cartons and boxes). The row then shows "CAD" where the style would be, and the gluer class, glue points and grain come from the single-up's box facts.