The mailer box template, flat and folded
What this template is for
The one-piece postal box every online shop uses: double side walls that fold over the ears and lock into the base, and a lid whose lip tucks into the front. No glue anywhere.
Also called shipping box · postal box · ecommerce mailer · roll end tuck box · bakery box — all the same shape, and this is it.
- Ecommerce and subscription shipping
- Etsy and small shop orders
- Gift and unboxing presentation
- Sturdy postal packaging for prints and books
How to use this template
All four downloads are the same mailer 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 mailer 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.
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 mailer box itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.
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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.
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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.
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Fold, glue and hold
Cut the four small slots in the base. Fold the front and back walls up and their ears in. Fold each side wall up over the ears, then fold its lining down inside, over the ears, and push the two lock tabs into the slots in the base. Load it, bring the lid over and push the lip down inside the front wall. If you set a window border, cut the opening out before you fold anything, and tape a piece of acetate or cellophane over it on the inside — the frame is thin, and it tears far more easily once the box has been creased.
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 mailer box
- Why is a mailer box better than a plain carton for posting?
- It is one piece, so nothing can come apart in transit, and it needs no glue or tape to hold its shape — the lip locks into the front wall. It also opens flat, which is why it is the standard for unboxing.
- What board should I use?
- For real posting, single-wall corrugated at about 3 mm. Set the thickness field to match: the lid is drawn one thickness deeper than the space it covers, because it has to reach over the top of the back wall and down the front.
- What are the ears for?
- The small flaps on the front, back and lid panels. They fold inwards and are trapped behind the side walls, which is what stops the box splaying open under load.
Print your own design on it
Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the mailer 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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