Every line on a dieline tells the printer to do one thing to the board: cut it, fold it, perforate it, glue it, or print up to it. Solid lines are usually cuts and dashed lines are usually folds, but colors and dash patterns vary from printer to printer, which is why a good dieline always carries a legend.
The line types at a glance
| Line | What happens to the board | How it is usually drawn | On our templates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut | The knife cuts right through it | Solid line | Solid magenta |
| Crease or score | It is pressed so it folds cleanly | Dashed line | Dashed blue |
| Perforation | It is cut in short breaks so it tears along the line | A dash pattern or color of its own | Not used by any style we have drafted |
| Glue area | Glue goes here, so it stays free of ink and coating | Shaded or hatched area | Orange fill |
| Bleed | Nothing; artwork runs out to it | Thin line outside the cut | Thin green |
| Safe zone | Nothing; text and logos stay inside it | Dotted or thin line inside each panel | Dotted gray |
Cut lines
The cut line is the outline of the finished piece, including every notch, slot and tuck. Anything outside it is trimmed away as waste.
Crease lines
A crease is where the board folds. The die presses a groove into the board rather than cutting it, so the fold lands in the right place and stays straight. Keep small text and fine lines off creases, because they can crack or bend out of shape when the board folds.
Perforations
A perforation is a line of short cuts with gaps between them, so the board holds together until someone tears it. You see them on tear strips, dispenser windows and shelf ready trays. Because they are both a cut and not quite a cut, printers usually give them their own color so they are never mistaken for either.
Glue areas
The glue area is usually a flap along one side, sometimes panels on the base. Ink and coatings stop glue bonding to the board, so the area is left bare. If your background runs across it, the printer will usually leave that area unprinted.
Bleed and safe zone
These two lines are for the designer, not the machine. Bleed shows how far the artwork should run past the cut, and the safe zone shows where text has to stay. Our page on bleed on a dieline covers both.
What color should dieline lines be?
There is no single standard. Most printers want each line type in its own named spot color on a non-printing layer, so their software can separate cuts from creases automatically. If your printer sends a legend, follow theirs over ours.
How to read a dieline in five steps
- Find the front panel. It is often labeled, and it is where the main artwork goes.
- Trace the cut outline all the way round, including notches and tucks.
- Find the creases and fold the box in your head, panel by panel.
- Locate the glue area and check which panel it sticks to.
- Check the bleed and safe lines before you place anything near an edge or a fold.
You can see these lines on a real layout on any of our dieline templates.
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