Gable box dieline

About this dieline

A gable box is the paperboard carry box with a handle on top that takeaway lunches, cookies, cake slices and party favours go home in. It is one sheet of board, glued once down the side: the bottom snaps shut by itself when you open it, the two halves of the top fold in flat and stand up back to back as the handle, and the rounded ears at the ends of the handle lock through slits in the end flaps, so the top needs no glue.

Enter the length, width and height of the box and the board thickness, and download a print-ready PDF with cut and crease lines. The handle, the hand hole and the end flaps are sized from the box, so any size closes and carries.

Common stock sizes, length × width × height: about 102 × 64 × 64 mm (4 × 2½ × 2½ in) for sweets and favours, 152 × 102 × 102 mm for a small lunch, 203 × 124 × 133 mm for a lunch box and 254 × 178 × 203 mm (10 × 7 × 8 in) for a small cake or a family meal.

Is the handle part of the height?

No. Height is the walls, from the bottom to the flat top. The handle stands a third of the height above that, with a hand hole along its bottom edge.

How does the top stay shut?

Fold the two halves of the top in, bring the handles up back to back, then fold the end flaps in over them: the rounded ears at the ends of the handles push through the slits and hold. No glue or tape.

Is the size inside or outside the box?

Crease to crease, the way box makers quote it: an 8 × 4⅞ × 5¼ in gable box is 203 × 124 × 133 mm here. The clear space inside is a little smaller. Check the allowances with your printer, or print one at 1:1 and fold it first.

Gable box sizes: carry boxes with a handle, treats to family meals →