Basics3 min readUpdated
Kinds of packaging
Most packs belong to one of a few families: bags and pouches of film or paper, boxes folded from board, and flat printed paper pieces. What goes in, how it travels and where it is sold decide which one suits you. Here is a map of the families, with the guides that go deeper.
Three layers
Packaging is often described in layersPrimary, secondary and tertiary packaging The three layers of packaging: the pack that holds the product, the box that groups several, and the bulk load on a pallet.. The first holds the product itself, and it is the one the customer picks up: a pouch of coffee, a box of tea. The second groups several of those, to ship them or to stand them on a counter. The third moves goods in bulk: boxes stacked on pallets and wrapped.
We draw the first two, from a stand up pouch with zipper to a shipping box or a display box, but not pallets. One box can play both parts: a mailer box is often the pack the customer opens and the box it travels in.
Bags and pouches
Pouches are made of film and sealed along their edges. They are light, take the shape of what is inside, and can carry a zipper, a spout or a hang hole. Coffee, snacks and powders often go in them.
Bags are film or paper. They range from a T-shirt bag at the checkout to a paper bag with handles or a pinch bottom paper bag for pastries.
Neither has a board thicknessBoard thickness How thick the board is, in mm, also called caliper. Type it into a box's dieline and the details around the folds follow it. to choose: you type the size of the finished bag lying flat. Box dimensions explains how that differs from a box.
Boxes
Most boxes are folded from one of two boards:
- PaperboardPaperboard Thin, stiff board in one solid sheet, well under a millimetre thick. It folds cleanly and takes fine print: the board of shop shelves. is thin, smooth and stiff, and takes fine print. Boxes for a shop shelf are made of it, such as the tuck box. See Folding cartons and Paperboard basics.
- Corrugated boardCorrugated board A wavy sheet, the flute, glued between flat liners. Light, stiff and hard to crush: the board of shipping and mailer boxes. has a wavy layer glued between flat papers, so it is thicker and stiffer. Boxes that travel are made of it: the shipping box, the mailer box, the pizza box. See Corrugated board.
Most of our boxes ask for the board's thickness, and the dieline fits the folds to it (see how thick the board should be). Rigid gift boxesRigid box A gift box glued up from grey chipboard and covered in printed paper. It is made another way, and we don't draw it., grey chipboardChipboard Grey, stiff board with no white face, not made for print. Rigid gift boxes are glued up from it and covered in printed paper. covered in printed paper, are made another way, and we don't draw them; see Recycled and kraft-back board.
Paper goods
Paper goods aren't containers, but they are still cut from a dieline, and most of them folded too: a cup sleeve, a hang tag, an envelope or a pocket folder.
Where to read on
- Size charts: typical sizes for each kind, by product. Every row opens as a dieline.
- Materials: which paperboard or corrugated to pick, and how thick.
- Print & finish: how packs are printed and what goes on top, from varnish to foil. How many you order often decides the printing method.
- Box styles: how boxes close, lock and stand, with the codes printers use.
New to the word? Start with What is a dieline? When you are ready, the New dieline page lists every shape, and you can browse by product too.