GUIDES
Practical reference material for preparing packaging structures: learn the drawing, measurement, and prepress basics, then decode the FEFCO and ECMA standards behind the catalogue.
A packaging dieline is the flat technical drawing used to cut and crease board before it is folded into a box, tray, sleeve, or bag. It fixes the structure, panel boundaries, flaps, locks, and glue areas; artwork is positioned on top of that geometry rather than drawn independently from it.
Read the guideBox dimensions normally follow length × width × depth. Length and width describe the opening; depth is measured perpendicular to it. The numbers are incomplete until the specification also says whether they are internal or external and identifies the board used to make the box.
Read the guideA cut line separates material; a crease line prepares it to fold. They may share a drawing, but they describe different tooling operations and must remain distinct from each other and from printable artwork throughout design, export, and prepress.
Read the guideAn ECMA code is a standard designation for a folding-carton construction. A short string like A20.20.03.01 identifies the construction without exchanging a drawing. It records the construction group, how the bottom and top close, and which panels carry those closing flaps. Dimensions, board, tolerances and other production details still need to be agreed.
Read the guideA FEFCO code is a four-digit designation for a corrugated box construction. The first two digits place the design in a series, which is the construction principle it is built on. The last two identify the specific design within that series. FEFCO 0201 is the first design in the slotted-box series: the regular slotted container, the most manufactured box style in the world.
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