Packaging

Member lesson

Dielines and how to read one

Lesson 3 of 20 in Packaging.

Dielines and Proofs — Packaging Prepress 101 · Shipping Things
Lesson

A dieline is a technical drawing and it is supplied by whoever is making the pack, never drawn by the designer from scratch. It shows cut lines, fold lines and glue areas as separate colours or layers, laid out flat in the orientation the board will actually be printed in.

gluesolid · cutdashed · folddrawn flat, from the outside · panels read mirrored
A carton dieline with cut lines, fold lines and a glue flap.
A flat carton net with an orange sunburst panel and a panel of grey lines folds into a box that stands on a shelf with the grey-lined panel facing a puzzled shopper.
A flat carton net folds up with its busy back panel facing the shopper and the bold front turned to the wall. Check which side of a dieline you are looking at.
Member

The rest of this is for members.

You have read the opening of this lesson. The rest of it comes with a membership.

One membership covers all four courses and Brands.

  • All lessons in the four Learn courses
  • All brand breakdowns in the Brands section
  • All quizzes, flashcards and crosswords
  • An AI teacher on every lesson, for up to 60 questions a day
  • All course material published during the membership

Price

Membership is from $12 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at $144 once a year. Lifetime access is $59, paid once.Membership is from ₹200 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at ₹2,400 + GST once a year. Lifetime access is ₹3,999 + GST, paid once.

Check what stuck

Members only

You can't take this check yet.

Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Artwork comes back from the printer with the ingredients list sitting on the display face. What is the most likely cause?

    • The bleed was set at three millimetres when the printer had asked for more
    • The dieline is drawn from the outside, so the panels are mirrored relative to how you picture the pack
    • Type was placed too close to a fold, so the crease ran through the panel
    • Board thickness was not allowed for, so every panel shifted a fraction at each crease
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Artwork extended past the cut so a small drift on the press does not leave a white sliver.”

    • Minimum order quantity
    • Bleed
    • Barrier
    • Magnification
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The tab that gets adhesive. Ink on it can stop the glue taking.”

    • Legal entity
    • Glue flap
    • Printed mockup
    • Own label tiering

Elsewhere in the library

Hear about new courses.

Leave an email and we will tell you when something new lands. We do not write often.