How does the box hold its curve?

The card does it on its own. Only the four corners are creased; the two long faces are left unscored so the paper takes a smooth bow between them. Curl the strip over a table edge before you glue it and it settles into shape.

Can it curve inwards instead?

Yes — give the bow a negative figure and the two long faces pinch in, which gives you a waisted box.

Does the bow make the box deeper than I asked for?

No. The depth you type is the depth at the widest point, with the bow already in it — a 120 by 70 box measures 120 by 70 on the shelf however hard it bows. The bow is taken out of that depth, so the straight ends come in as the faces bow out. Set the bow to zero and it is a plain rectangle.

Why is there no crease on the curved faces?

A crease would fold the curve flat at that line and you would end up with a many-sided box instead of a curved one. If your board is too stiff to bend, use a thinner card rather than scoring it.

Curved Box Template — Free Bowed Front Box, Any Size

The curved box template, flat and folded

Curved box template — free printable dieline with cut and fold lines, any size — The printable dieline at its standard size. Type your own size above for yours.

Curved box folded up from the template — the finished box — The finished curved box, made from it.

What this template is for

Rectangular in plan but with the two long faces bowed out — or pushed in, if you give the bow a negative figure. The depth you type is the depth at the widest point, bow included. Cosmetics, confectionery, display packs.

Also called bowed box · curved front carton · convex box · waisted box — all the same shape, and this is it.

Cosmetics and skincare packaging
Confectionery and chocolate boxes
Shelf display packs that stand out
Candle and diffuser boxes

How to use this template

All four downloads are the same curved box at the same size — only the format changes.

PDF printing at home: Print at 100 per cent, or hand it to a print shop as "actual size, no scaling".
PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate: Upload, lock it in place and design your curved box on top. Free plan and phone included. Full Canva walkthrough →
SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity: Vector, with cuts, folds and labels on separate layers. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters: Two layers, CUT and FOLD — and the one free Silhouette Studio Basic will open.

Getting it printed properly →

Printing it

Type your size above, then download the PDF.
Print at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
Too big for the paper? Pick your paper size and leave Fit the pieces to the page ticked: each piece gets its own place on a sheet and the PDF comes out with every page in it, nothing cut in half and nothing to tape.

How to put it together

These pictures are the curved box itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.

Cut the solid lines
Every solid line is a cut. Do the inside shapes first, while the sheet is still whole and easy to hold.
Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds. Score each one first — an empty ballpoint against a ruler — or the card cracks along the outside of the bend.
Fold, glue and hold
Only the four corners crease; the two long faces stay curved, so do not score them. Curl the strip over a table edge first, glue it into a loop round the base, then fix the tabs down.

Glue: a glue stick for paper, white PVA on card — hold each seam thirty seconds, and let it dry before you use it.

Questions about the curved box

How does the box hold its curve?: The card does it on its own. Only the four corners are creased; the two long faces are left unscored so the paper takes a smooth bow between them. Curl the strip over a table edge before you glue it and it settles into shape.
Can it curve inwards instead?: Yes — give the bow a negative figure and the two long faces pinch in, which gives you a waisted box.
Does the bow make the box deeper than I asked for?: No. The depth you type is the depth at the widest point, with the bow already in it — a 120 by 70 box measures 120 by 70 on the shelf however hard it bows. The bow is taken out of that depth, so the straight ends come in as the faces bow out. Set the bow to zero and it is a plain rectangle.
Why is there no crease on the curved faces?: A crease would fold the curve flat at that line and you would end up with a many-sided box instead of a curved one. If your board is too stiff to bend, use a thinner card rather than scoring it.

Print your own design on it

Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the curved box. It is trimmed to the cut outline, embedded properly in the PDF, and never leaves your computer — most free template sites hand you the outline and stop there. How printing your own design works.

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