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The lines of a dieline
A dieline uses a small set of line types. Cut lines are solid: the knife goes through the board. Crease lines are dashed: a rule presses a groove so the board folds cleanly. Perforations and half cuts appear on some designs.
In the print file the dieline sits on its own layer, in its own spot colours — usually named Cut and Crease — set to overprint. It is there for the die maker and for checking; it must never print on the box.
The parts of a folding carton
A common tuck-end carton has four body panels — front, back and two sides — joined in a tube by a glue tab on one edge. At each end a tuck flap closes the opening, held by two dust flaps. In a straight tuck end both tuck flaps hang from the same panel; in a reverse tuck end they hang from opposite panels, which suits the die layout better on the sheet.
Box sizes are given as length × width × depth, measured inside. The dieline is drawn for a particular board: a thicker board needs more allowance at the creases, so changing the board means checking the die.
Artwork on a dieline
- Bleed: extend the artwork about 3 mm past the cut line on every outside edge.
- Glue tab: keep ink and varnish off the area that will be glued; glue does not hold on varnish.
- Creases: keep small text and barcodes off the folds, where they crack or wrap around a corner.
- Orientation: the dieline is seen from the printed outside. A panel flipped the wrong way ends up upside down on the folded box.
Nesting on the sheet
Cartons are cut by a die, not by a guillotine, so no cut lines are drawn between them on the sheet — every line drawn would print as ink. Marks go only outside the block. The cartons are placed as close as the die allows, often turned 180° so that flaps interlock, and where two cartons touch the bleed between them is reduced so they do not print over each other.
How many cartons fit, and on which sheet, is the same question as with any imposition: the answer is the sheet that costs least paper per carton, not the one with the most up.
Check it folded
Before the die is ordered, print the dieline with the artwork at 100% on plain paper, cut it out and fold it. A mock-up in the hand shows a panel upside down, a flap on the wrong side or a barcode over a fold faster than any proof on screen.