Packaging Artwork Guide: From Brief to Print-Ready File

Packaging artwork is the printed design laid onto the flat dieline of your box, supplied as a print-ready file that can be reproduced without guesswork. The dependable route is to get the dieline for your exact box first, design every panel as it will be seen once folded, set the file up correctly, and check the proof thoroughly before approving production.

This guide takes you through that route from brief to file. It is written for brand owners, in-house designers and agencies preparing packaging for UK businesses, and it links to shorter guides wherever a topic deserves more depth.

How packaging artwork differs from other print

A leaflet or poster is flat: one page, one reading direction, one trim. Packaging is three-dimensional. Artwork wraps around folds, crosses creases, lands on glue flaps nobody sees, and is printed on board that behaves differently from paper. The designer has to think in panels and in the order a customer will see them, not in pages.

That changes almost every decision, from where the logo sits to how thin a line can safely be.

The route from brief to print-ready file

Every custom packaging job follows the same five stages: enquiry and specification, dieline and artwork, proof approval, production and delivery. Artwork sits in the middle, and its quality decides how smoothly the rest goes.

Specification comes first

The box style, internal dimensions, board, print coverage and finishes all shape the artwork, so they need to be settled before design starts. A reverse tuck end carton and a mailer box of the same size have completely different layouts. If you are still deciding, our guides to what information we need for a quote and how to measure a box are the right starting points.

The dieline

Once the specification is agreed, we supply a dieline drawn to your dimensions and construction. It is the template for everything that follows. Our guide to what a dieline is explains how to read one.

Artwork

Your designer, or our team, lays the design onto the dieline and prepares the file for print. This is where most of the decisions in this guide are made.

Proof approval

You receive a digital proof showing the artwork on the dieline. Production does not start until you have approved it. If you want to see the design on the actual board first, ask about sample options when you request your quotation.

Production and delivery

The job is printed, finished, cut, folded or assembled, and delivered. Delivery is included on every order, and your quotation confirms the delivery address and timing. If you have a launch or event date, tell us your required delivery date and our team will confirm whether the timing is achievable.

Start with the dieline, not the design

Design on the dieline for your job, never on a generic template or a box you measured by hand. The dieline accounts for board thickness, the construction and the tolerances of the cutting and folding process. A template from elsewhere can be out by several millimetres, which is enough to push text over a fold or a logo off-centre on the front panel.

Keep the dieline on its own layer at 100% scale, and do not move, resize or redraw it. If something about the structure needs to change, such as a hang hole or a window, ask us to update the dieline rather than editing it yourself.

How the artwork maps onto the structure depends on the construction:

Planning your panels

Before you place a single element, decide what each panel is for. The front panel, sometimes called the principal display panel, carries the brand and the product name and must work at a glance. Side and back panels carry the supporting detail. On a mailer box the inside lid is often where the brand moment happens, because it is the first thing the customer sees on opening. Our guide to printing inside boxes covers that in more detail.

A sensible order of priority for most packs:

1. Brand name or logo.
2. Product name and variant (flavour, shade, scent, size).
3. Key selling point or short description.
4. Contents, quantity or size.
5. Barcode, contact details and website.
6. Any information your product category must carry, plus recycling information where you use it.

We check files for technical suitability, not for legal content, so confirm separately what your product must say on pack.

Orientation on the flat

On a flat dieline, panels face different ways. Tuck flaps, dust flaps and some mailer panels appear upside down or sideways relative to the front. The fastest way to check is to print the dieline at 100%, cut it out, fold it into a paper mock-up and see where everything lands.

Barcodes

If your product needs a retail barcode, the number comes from GS1 UK. Place it on a flat panel, never across a crease, fold or glue area, and keep the quiet zones either side clear. Print it in black bars on a white or very light background; red bars and low-contrast colours can fail to scan. Supply it as vector artwork at or close to its standard size, and do not shrink it to fit a small panel, because scanners are less tolerant of undersized codes.

Colour: CMYK, Pantone and the board underneath

Printed colour is built in one of two ways. CMYK (four-colour process) mixes cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots to create a full range of colours, and is the right choice for photography, gradients and multi-colour artwork. Pantone spot colours are inks mixed to a specific reference before printing, used when a brand colour must match closely and stay consistent across reprints. Many packs use both. Our guide to CMYK vs Pantone explains the trade-offs.

Two further factors change how colour looks on the finished box:

• The board. White coated folding boxboard reproduces colour most faithfully. Kraft board is brown, so colours print darker and warmer, and anything you design as white will show the kraft through unless a white ink is specified.
• The finish. Gloss lamination deepens and saturates colour, while matt and soft-touch lamination soften it slightly. See our lamination page for the differences.

For more on why your screen and your box will never look identical, read why screen colours differ from printed colours, and for brand colours on board, Pantone colour matching.

Setting up the file

A print-ready file is one that can go to production without anyone having to fix it. The detail is in our step-by-step guide to preparing print-ready artwork, but the essentials are these:

• Work at 100% scale on the dieline we supply.
• Use CMYK colour mode, plus named Pantone spot colours where needed.
• Keep logos, text and line work as vector; see vector vs raster files for why.
• Place photographs at 300 dpi at the size they will print.
• Outline all fonts.
• Extend background colour and images into the bleed, and keep important content inside the safe area; our guide to bleed, trim and safe areas gives typical values.
• Put the dieline and each finish on their own clearly named layers.
• Export a high-quality print PDF with nothing downsampled below 300 dpi.

Typical set-up values for most carton and mailer work:

Artwork for finishes

Finishes such as foil blocking, spot UV and embossing are not printed with ink, so they need their own artwork. Each one goes on a separate layer, drawn as solid vector shapes in a named spot colour (for example "Foil" or "Spot UV") at 100%, positioned exactly where it should appear over the print. Do not use tints, gradients, shadows or effects on finish layers.

For an overview of which finishes suit which boxes, see our guide to luxury packaging finishes.

Proofing and approval

The proof is your last chance to catch a problem before it is printed thousands of times. A digital proof shows layout, content and the position of artwork on the dieline. It is not an accurate guide to colour, because every screen displays colour differently.

Check every proof for:

• spelling, grammar, prices and any product information;
• correct panel orientation, especially the back, base and tuck flaps;
• barcode position, size and number;
• finishes sitting exactly where you intended;
• Pantone references and colour notes;
• the dimensions and style shown against your specification.

If colour is critical, or the design uses an unusual board, ask about sample options when you request your quotation. Our guide to when a physical sample is needed explains when it is worth it.

Once approved, the dieline, artwork and specification are kept on record against your job, so a reorder of the same box follows the same specification.

If you only have a logo

You do not need finished artwork to start. If you only have a logo, our team helps prepare print-ready files on the dieline for your box. To make that quick and accurate, send:

• your logo as a vector file (AI, EPS or PDF) if you have one, or the highest-resolution version you can find;
• your brand colours, with Pantone references if you know them;
• brand guidelines or font names, if you have them;
• the text for each panel, checked and final;
• reference images or packs you like, with a note on what you like about them.

You can include these with your quote request or email them to quotes@customboxez.co.uk, and our team is available on +44 7446 230747 during 10:00–18:00 UK time. The Artwork and Pre-Press topic collects every guide in this series.

Print-ready artwork checklist

Run through this before you send files:

• The artwork is built on the dieline supplied for this job, at 100% scale.
• The dieline sits on its own layer and has not been moved or edited.
• The document is in CMYK, with Pantone colours named by reference.
• Photographs are 300 dpi at print size and embedded.
• Logos, text and line work are vector.
• All fonts are outlined.
• Background colour and images run into the bleed.
• Text, logos and barcodes sit inside the safe area and clear of creases.
• Glue areas are left clear where the dieline marks them.
• Foil, spot UV and embossing are on separate, named vector layers.
• Every panel reads the right way up once folded (checked on a paper mock-up).
• Small text and fine lines meet the minimum sizes for your board.
• The barcode is at a scannable size, on a flat panel, in dark bars on a light background.
• The file is exported as a print-quality PDF, or supplied as AI or EPS with linked images included.

Common mistakes

Designing before the structure is settled. Changing the box size or style after artwork is finished means rebuilding every panel. Fix the specification first.

Using a generic or old dieline. A template for a similar box is not your box. Always design on the dieline drawn for your job, and on the latest version of it.

Supplying RGB files. Colours shift on conversion, often noticeably. Convert to CMYK yourself so you can see and approve the result.

Low-resolution images. An image taken from a website looks fine on screen and soft or pixelated in print. Use originals at 300 dpi at print size.

Text too close to edges and folds. Anything in the bleed or across a crease risks being trimmed or split. Keep it inside the safe area.

Forgetting the flaps are upside down. A paper mock-up takes minutes and catches this every time.

Printing on glue areas. Ink and lamination on a glue flap can weaken the joint. Leave glue areas clear where the dieline marks them.

Treating the digital proof as a colour proof. Screens vary. Judge colour against physical references, and ask about sample options if colour is critical.

Fine detail in foil or reversed text. Hairlines and very small reversed type fill in. Keep finish artwork bold and within the minimum sizes.