What this template is for
Nested trays that fall open flat the moment the lid is lifted, giving you tiers of walls to decorate. A favourite for photo gifts and memory boxes.
- Photo and memory gift boxes
- Anniversary and birthday surprises
- Scrapbooking and card making
- Proposal and announcement boxes
How to build it
- Type the size you need above, in millimetres, centimetres or inches.
- Download the PDF and print it at 100% — never “fit to page”.
- Cut every solid line and score every dashed line.
- These sides are not glued — they fold up and are held closed by the lid, which is the whole trick. Decorate the inside faces before you assemble anything.
Questions about the exploding box
- What actually makes it explode?
- Nothing is glued along the walls. Each layer is a cross whose sides simply fold up, and only the weight of the lid holds them there. Lift the lid and they all fall open at once.
- How many layers should I use?
- Three is the usual. Each layer steps in by the amount you set, so make sure the smallest layer is still big enough to be worth decorating.
- When do I decorate it?
- Before you fold anything. Every inside face becomes a panel on show when the box opens, and they are far easier to work on while the card is flat.
Print your own design on it
Every template here takes your artwork. Add a picture in the panel on the left — a logo, a photo, a pattern — drag it where you want it on the exploding box, and it prints with the template. It is trimmed to the cut outline automatically, so nothing spills over the edge, and it goes into the PDF as a properly embedded image.
No other free box template site will do that, and your picture never leaves your computer — there is no server here to send it to.