Packaging CAD: tools, designs and exports

Folding cartons, corrugated cases, rigid boxes and displays, drawn as dielines: cuts, creases and perforations, and the die made from them.

Packaging in the help

View plans

What you can design

50 parametric designs come in the library's Packaging folder (File › Run Parametric…): open one, type your sizes and the drawing follows. Open any of them in the viewer to try it.

Archive box with lid flap A file storage box: four panels and a glue flap, slotted bottom flaps and a hinged lid flap View in 3D

Bakery box with tuck lid A cake box: a tray with glued corner flaps and a lid that tucks in at the front View in 3D

Bin box with hand hole An open-top picking or storage bin with a hand hole in the front View in 3D

Bottle carrier with handle A carrier for 4 or 6 bottles in two rows, a crash-lock bottom and a handle View in 3D

Bottle platform insert with hole grid View in 3D

Bottle shipper partitions A slotted divider set: strips slotted half way to cross each other

Carry carton with centre handle A carton with a crash-lock bottom and a handle in the middle of its top View in 3D

Cereal carton with tear strip A seal end carton opened by a tear strip View in 3D

Corner window carton A reverse tuck end carton with a die-cut window in the front or round a corner View in 3D

Counter display tray with header A display tray with a low front, sloping sides and a header card View in 3D

Crash-lock bottom box A box with an automatic bottom and slotted top flaps View in 3D

Crash-lock bottom carton A carton with an automatic bottom and a tuck top View in 3D

Dispenser carton with tear-off front A reverse tuck end carton whose front tears off to dispense View in 3D

Display tray with front window A shelf-ready tray with glued corners and a window in its front wall View in 3D

Divider pad

ECMA Reverse tuck end carton The reverse tuck end carton (ECMA A20.20) View in 3D

ECMA Seal end carton A carton whose ends are closed by glued flaps View in 3D

ECMA Straight tuck end carton A straight tuck end carton: both tucks on the same side View in 3D

FEFCO 0200 Half slotted container A regular slotted container with no top flaps View in 3D

FEFCO 0201 Regular slotted container The regular slotted container (RSC), the everyday shipping case View in 3D

FEFCO 0202 Overlap slotted container A slotted container whose outer flaps overlap View in 3D

FEFCO 0203 Full overlap slotted container A slotted container whose outer flaps are the box's full width View in 3D

FEFCO 0204 Centre special slotted container A slotted container whose inner flaps meet in the middle too View in 3D

FEFCO 0427 Mailer A one-piece mailer, no glue: rolled-in walls and a tucking lid View in 3D

Five-panel folder A book wrap for long flat products View in 3D

Gable-top carry carton A carton with a crash-lock bottom and a pitched top with a handle View in 3D

Gift box with hinged lid A tray with glued corner flaps and a lid hinged on the back View in 3D

Gusset corner tray A one-piece tray with web corners, no glue View in 3D

Half slotted box with lid A half slotted base and a telescope lid View in 3D

Hanging tuck end carton A tuck end carton with a hang tab above the top View in 3D

Hexagonal tuck end carton A six-sided tuck end carton View in 3D

Insert pad with fold-up edges A pad, shelf or divider with edges folded up View in 3D

Lift-out insert pad with ribbon pulls View in 3D

Matchbox drawer and sleeve A drawer and the sleeve it slides into View in 3D

Pillow box A box whose curved ends press in to close View in 3D

Pizza box A one-piece corrugated pizza box with rolled walls and a hinged lid View in 3D

Pyramid carton A base and four triangular sides that meet at the apex View in 3D

Retail sleeve with hang tab A sleeve open at both ends, with a hang tab View in 3D

Roll-end tuck-front mailer A one-piece e-commerce mailer, no glue or tape View in 3D

Self-locking tray A tray set up by hand, its ears locking the walls View in 3D

Shipping case with carry handle View in 3D

Sleeve A wrap open at both ends, to slide over a tray or a product View in 3D

Snap-lock bottom box A box with a 1-2-3 bottom closed by hand View in 3D

Snap-lock bottom carton A carton with a 1-2-3 bottom and a tuck top View in 3D

Telescope base and lid A base and a lid, each a tray with corner flaps View in 3D

Tray with glued corners A four-corner tray View in 3D

Triangular prism carton A three-sided bar carton View in 3D

Wallet folder with tuck flap A wallet for a CD, cards or leaflets, closed by a tuck flap View in 3D

Window carton with film and hang tab View in 3D

Wrap-around case A one-piece case folded round the product on the packing line View in 3D

The trade's tools

For a drawing whose industry is Packaging, the toolbar and Edit › Tool offer these tools beside the general drawing, editing and dimensioning tools. Each is parametric: change a size, or move a point it was drawn on, and what it made follows.

Bridge Bridges in a die's rules: where clicked, spread along a rule, or cleared. On the toolbar's Bridge or Tab button

Edge Notch A V or U notch cut into an edge. On the toolbar's Notch button

Tear Strip Two perforations side by side between two points, a strip apart.

Glue Flap A glue flap on an edge, its ends cut in at an angle. On the toolbar's Flap or Seam button

Tuck Flap A tuck flap on a lid's edge: shoulders, rounded corners and lock slits.

Dust Flap A dust flap on an edge, its sides leaning in.

Window with Patch A window, and the outline of the film patch glued over it.

Lock Tab and Slot A locking tab on a flap's edge, its shoulders and rounded head, and its slot in the panel it locks into.

Crease Offset A crease moved square to itself by a number of board thicknesses, on the old one's ends.

Curved Bend A panel that bends along its length into a curve, scored with parallel lines or bent smoothly, and folded as a curve in 3D.

The general tools

Exports

File › Export › Export… lists these formats first for a Packaging drawing:

HP-GL CF2 DDES3 SVG for Cricut and Silhouette Dieline PDF (Print-Ready) Spec Sheet (PDF)

And the formats every trade uses:

PDF SVG EPS and PostScript Adobe Illustrator Pictures DXF and DWG Tiled Print (PDF) glTF, OBJ and STL AR Proofs (USDZ)

Machine profiles

File › Send Using Machine Profile sends the drawing to a machine in one click, with the format, options, layer names and pens it needs. These come with the app:

Emulator: plotter / cutter (HP-GL/2) HP-GL
ParametrIQ machine emulator
Emulator: sample-maker (CF2) CF2
ParametrIQ machine emulator
Emulator: sample-maker (DDES3) DDES3
ParametrIQ machine emulator
Kongsberg table (CF2) CF2
Esko Kongsberg X / C / XN / XP (i-cut Production Console, iPC)
Kongsberg table (DXF) DXF and DWG
Esko Kongsberg (i-cut Production Console, iPC)
Print and cut (PDF, CutContour) Dieline PDF (Print-Ready)
Print-and-cut RIPs: Roland VersaWorks, Onyx, Caldera, SAi Flexi
Printer's dieline (PDF) Dieline PDF (Print-Ready)
Printers, trade shops and packaging designers (Acrobat, Illustrator, prepress RIPs)
Rule bender (CF2) CF2
Automatic rule benders: Lasercomb, Kongsberg/Esko, Serviform, Data Technology, Prima, Suzhou SLD …
Rule bender (DDES3) DDES3
Rule benders and die-making systems that read DDES3
Sample table (HP-GL, a pen a tool) HP-GL
Aristo, Elitron, Valiani, Data Technology and other tables that read HP-GL
Zünd Cut Center (DXF) DXF and DWG
Zünd G3 / S3 / D3 with Zünd Cut Center

About machine profiles

Reports

File › Reports… works these out from the drawing, to save as a web page or as CSV:

Rule lengths and cost
Rule on each cutting and creasing layer, in metres (feet for inch drawings), less the bridges.
Board cost and wastage quote
What a packaging run costs at each quantity asked for (1000, 2500, 5000 …).
Rule bending
The die's rules as a rule bender makes them.
Pack footprint
What a pack takes and leaves behind, for one pack and a run.

About reports

The help's page for the trade describes each tool, design, report and export in full.

Packaging in the help

Industries and tool sets

Other trades

Sheet metal HVAC Pipework Structural steel Gaskets Laser cutting Carpentry Sewing Sign making Picture framing Vinyl cutting Carpets and flooring Labels Leather goods Foam and inserts Glass Stone and tile

Get ParametrIQ CAD

Included in every plan. Install it, activate it, and start with File › New or File › Run Parametric…

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Getting started

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Packaging