What a dieline is
A dieline (also die line, cutter guide, keyline or template) is a vector drawing of a pack laid flat, showing where the material will be cut, creased, perforated, glued and folded. It is named for the cutting die, the steel-rule tool that stamps the shape out of board, or the rotary die that cuts labels and pouches. The die is made from the dieline; the artwork is placed on the dieline; the printed sheet is cut by the die. If the three do not match, the pack is wrong.
The dieline belongs to the converter: the carton maker, the label printer, the pouch manufacturer. They produce it for the exact machine, board and process the job will run on. A generic template for a tuck-end box is a starting point for a concept render and nothing more. Every converter's version differs by a millimetre here and a flap angle there, and a millimetre is a misregistered panel.
Reading the lines
| Line or zone | Usual drawing | Meaning for artwork |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | Solid line, often red or black | The edge of the finished pack. Artwork must bleed past it. |
| Crease, score or fold | Dashed line, often blue or green | Where the board folds. Avoid fine type and critical graphics across a crease; expect slight cracking on heavy solids. |
| Perforation or tear strip | Dotted or dash-dot | Partial cut for opening. Do not place barcodes or mandatory text across it. |
| Bleed | Outer boundary, usually 3 mm beyond cut | Extend all background colour and imagery to this line. |
| Safe area | Inner boundary, 3 to 5 mm inside cut | Keep all text, logos and barcodes inside it. |
| Glue flap / glue zone | Hatched or labelled area | No ink, or specific ink only; the adhesive will not hold on a varnished solid. |
| No-print or varnish-free zone | Hatched, labelled | Left clear for coding (batch and date), for a window, or for a seal. |
| Grain direction | Arrow or note | Board grain usually runs parallel to the main creases for clean folds; the dieline is orientated accordingly. |
| Registration and print control | Marks outside the cut | Leave them; the printer uses them. |
Folding cartons and corrugated: the codes
Folding carton styles are catalogued in the ECMA Code (the European Carton Makers Association), a numbering system every carton maker in Australia reads. Corrugated case styles use the FEFCO Code. Specifying a style by code removes a round of drawings.
| Style | Code | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Straight tuck end carton | ECMA A20.20.03 | Cosmetics, supplements, small food |
| Reverse tuck end carton | ECMA A20.20.01 | Pharmacy and personal care; tucks on opposite faces |
| Crash lock (auto) bottom carton | ECMA A55.20 | Heavier products, fast packing lines |
| Tuck top snap lock bottom | ECMA A50.20 | Mid-weight retail cartons |
| Sleeve | ECMA C10 | Trays, multipacks, premium wraps |
| Regular slotted carton (shipper) | FEFCO 0201 | The standard shipping case |
| Die-cut tray with lid, shelf-ready | FEFCO 0427 and variants | Retail-ready display trays for Coles and Woolworths |
| Half slotted carton | FEFCO 0200 | Shipper with lid or tray |
For shelf-ready packaging the retailers add their own requirements (the five easies at Coles and Woolworths) to the FEFCO style: easy to identify, open, shelve, shop and dispose of, which in dieline terms means a tear-off lid, a front that drops to shelf height, a printable front panel and no loose parts.
What to ask the carton maker
- The dieline as a vector file (PDF or AI) at 100 percent with a legend, for the exact board grade and caliper.
- Board specification: grade, GSM or caliper, coated one side or two, FSC status.
- Bleed, safe area and glue zone allowances for their die.
- Grain direction and which panel is the front as the carton is erected.
- Any no-print zones for inkjet coding, windows or seals.
- Whether the inside prints, and if so the inside dieline orientation.
- Nesting: how many cartons per sheet, because an odd size that nests badly costs more per unit.
Labels
A label dieline is simpler and the questions are different. The label printer needs: finished size, shape and corner radius; the gap between labels on the roll; the unwind direction (which edge comes off the roll first, specified as a number from 1 to 8, so the applicator feeds it the right way); roll core and outer diameter; number of labels per roll; and whether it is applied by hand or machine. Wrap-around labels on round containers need an overlap allowance and a check that the join is on the back. Clear labels need a white underprint layer in the artwork. Labels on tapered or squeezable containers need the label shape adjusted to the surface, which the printer will calculate from the container drawing.
Artwork rules are the same: 2 to 3 mm bleed, 2 to 3 mm safe area, mandatory text inside it, barcode away from the edge and the overlap.
Pouches and flexible packaging
A pouch dieline shows the pouch open and flat, with the seal areas, the gusset, the zip position, the tear notch, the hang hole and the registration mark for the form-fill-seal machine. The things that catch designers:
- Seal widths (typically 5 to 10 mm) are no-print or light-print zones, and the heat seal can distort ink.
- The bottom gusset folds inside; artwork across it has to be read as it folds, and the front panel area is smaller than the flat size suggests.
- The zip sits a fixed distance below the top seal and steals front-panel height.
- Printing is on the reverse of the outer film for laminates, so the artwork is supplied mirrored or the printer mirrors it; agree which.
- A white underprint layer behind the artwork on clear or metallised film is a separate separation.
- Eye marks for the packing line sit in a fixed position on the back and must be clear of design.
The dieline checklist before artwork starts
- Confirm the converter and the process. A dieline from one carton maker is not valid at another.
- Request the dieline at 100 percent as a vector file with a legend and the allowances stated.
- Check the dimensions against the product and the retailer's case and shelf requirements.
- Identify the front panel as the pack is displayed, the glue zones and the no-print zones.
- Confirm bleed, safe area and the minimum type size the process holds on that substrate.
- Lock the dieline on its own layer and build the artwork on it, never on a copy.
- Make a white mock-up from the dieline before design development; a flat drawing hides a wrong-way tuck or a seam on the front.
- Send the finished artwork back to the converter with the dieline visible for their pre-press check.
The mistakes that cause reprints
- Artwork built on a downloaded template, then placed on the converter's dieline at the end. Everything shifts.
- Dieline scaled to fit a layout, or the artwork scaled to fit the dieline.
- No bleed, or bleed on some edges only.
- Mandatory text or a barcode across a crease, a perforation or a seal.
- The front panel designed on the wrong panel because nobody made the mock-up.
- Glue flaps printed with a solid or varnished, so the carton will not stick.
- Dieline flattened into the artwork and printed.
- Unwind direction not specified, so the labels arrive and the applicator feeds them sideways.
Questions people ask
The flat vector template of a pack showing where the material is cut, creased, perforated, glued and folded. The converter produces it for the exact tooling and material; artwork is built on it; the cutting die is made from it.
From the printer or converter who will make the pack. Online templates are fine for a concept render but not for artwork; every converter's dieline differs.
Usually 3 mm beyond the cut line on cartons and 2 to 3 mm on labels and pouches. Keep text and barcodes 3 to 5 mm inside the cut, away from creases, perforations and seals.
Standard catalogues of carton styles. ECMA codes cover folding cartons (A20.20.03 is a straight tuck end); FEFCO codes cover corrugated cases (0201 is a regular slotted carton). Quoting the code tells the converter the style without a drawing.
Which edge of the label leaves the roll first, numbered 1 to 8, so the labels feed correctly through the applicator. Specify it with the label order or the applicator will reject the roll.
No. It stays on a separate, locked, non-printing layer (or a spot colour the printer strips) so it can be checked but never appears on the finished pack.
Sources
- ECMA Code of folding carton design styles
- FEFCO Code of corrugated case styles
- GS1 Australia barcode placement guidance
- The retailer artwork submission checklist (Morice&Co. guide)
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