What is a dieline? A plain guide for first-time packaging buyers

What the lines mean

Every dieline uses a small set of line types. In PW Studio previews the colours follow the common convention below; export files put each type on its own named layer so the printer can switch them on and off.

• Cut line (solid blue): the knife cuts right through the board here.
• Crease or fold line (dashed red): a rule presses a groove so the board folds cleanly.
• Perforation (dotted): a broken cut for tear strips and dispenser windows.
• Bleed (dashed green): artwork should run 3 mm past the cut line so no white edge shows if the cut drifts slightly.
• Safe area: keep text and logos at least 3 mm inside cut and fold lines.

The parts of a typical carton

Most folding cartons share the same anatomy, so once you can read one dieline you can read most of them.

• Body panels: front, side, back and side, in a row. These are the faces you see on the shelf.
• Glue tab (manufacturer’s joint): a narrow flap, about 15 mm on folding cartons, glued to the last panel to make a tube. It is mitred at the ends so it does not catch in the folding machine.
• Closure panels: the flaps that close the top and bottom, such as a tuck flap with its tongue.
• Dust flaps: small flaps on the side panels that stop the product slipping past the closure and keep dust out.
• Locks and slots: tabs, slits and tongues that hold a bottom or lid shut without glue.

Why the size has to be exact

A dieline that is half a millimetre short on one panel can stop a tuck from closing or make a carton jam on an automatic folder-gluer. Board has thickness, so panels that wrap around others need a little extra length. PW Studio adds that allowance from the board caliper you choose, for example 0.457 mm for 18 pt SBS.

This is also why you should not scale a dieline up or down to fit a new product. Scaling stretches the allowances along with the panels. Make a new dieline at the new size instead; it takes a few seconds in the studio.

How a dieline becomes a box

The same file travels through every step of production:

• Design: the artwork is placed over the dieline and checked against the safe area and bleed.
• Proof: the printer returns a digital or physical proof showing artwork and lines together.
• Cutting die: a steel-rule die (or a digital cutting program for short runs) is made from the cut and crease lines.
• Printing: the artwork prints on large sheets with several blanks nested on each sheet.
• Die-cutting: the die cuts and creases every blank on the sheet at once.
• Folding and gluing: a folder-gluer folds the blank and glues the side seam, and the cartons ship flat.

What you do with the file

Download the dieline, open it in your design software, and put artwork on a layer above the lines. Keep text and logos at least 3 mm inside fold and cut lines. When you send the file to print, leave the dieline layer in place but set to not print, or follow your printer’s instructions.

Name your layers clearly and do not merge the dieline into the artwork. Printers need to see the lines separately to check alignment, and many print workflows read the layer names.

Common dieline mistakes

These cause most second rounds with printers:

• Artwork that stops exactly at the cut line, with no bleed.
• Barcodes or small text running across a fold.
• Outside dimensions entered where inside dimensions were needed.
• A dieline resized in design software instead of regenerated at the new size.
• Dieline lines set to print as part of the artwork.

Common questions