What this template is for
A tray whose walls lean outwards so a pile of them nest instead of jamming. Give the draft angle and it reports how tall the stack grows per tray.
Also called stacking tray · draft angle tray · nesting tray · tapered storage tray — all the same shape, and this is it.
- Stacking storage and parts trays
- Nursery and seed trays
- Food service and bakery trays
- Shelf-ready retail trays
How to use this template
Set your measurements above, then download the file that suits whatever you are already working in. All four are the same nestable tray, drawn to the same size — only the format changes, and every one of them is free.
- PDF printing at home
- Print it at 100 per cent and cut it out. This is also the file to hand a print shop: say "actual size, no scaling".
- PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate
- Upload it as an image, lock it in place, and design your nestable tray on top of it. Works on the free Canva plan and on a phone. Full Canva walkthrough →
- SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity
- Vector, with the cut lines, fold lines and labels on separate layers so you can style or delete them independently. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
- DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters
- Two layers, CUT and FOLD. The free Silhouette Studio Basic opens DXF where it will not open SVG, so this is the one to use there.
Putting your own design on it: you do not need any of those programs for a logo or a pattern — add a picture in the panel above and drag it onto the nestable tray. It is trimmed to the cut outline and embedded properly in the PDF, and it never leaves your computer. Getting it printed properly →
Printing it
- Type the size you need above, in millimetres, centimetres or inches.
- Download the PDF and print it at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
- Too big for your paper? Tick Split across several sheets and it prints across as many as it needs, with overlaps and matching letters to tape together.
How to put it together
These pictures are the nestable tray 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. Scissors are fine; a craft knife against a steel rule is neater on the straight runs. Cut the inside shapes, like a thumb hole, before you free the outline — the sheet is easier to hold while it is still whole.
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Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds, and they want scoring first: run an empty ballpoint, a bone folder or the back of a butter knife along a ruler. Card folded without scoring cracks along the outside of the bend. Fold each crease both ways, then back — it makes the shape almost close itself.
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Fold, glue and hold
Fold the four walls up; the two long walls carry the tabs. Glue each tab behind the neighbouring wall, and let one dry fully before you stack the next inside it.
Glue: a glue stick is enough for paper; use white PVA on card and hold each seam for thirty seconds. Tape works on the inside of any seam if you would rather not wait. Let a box dry standing up, not lying on a flap.
Questions about the nestable tray
- Why do the walls lean outwards?
- So a stack of them nests instead of jamming. Straight-sided trays wedge into one another and have to be prised apart; a few degrees of draft means each one drops in and lifts out cleanly.
- What draft angle should I use?
- Five to eight degrees suits card. Below about three the trays still stick; above about twelve you lose a lot of shelf height, because each tray in the stack rises by roughly the board thickness divided by the sine of the draft angle. The tool prints that figure under the drawing.
- Is this the same as the tapered tub?
- Same family of dieline, set up differently. The tapered tub asks for the top measurements; this one asks for the draft angle, which is the number that decides whether a stack nests.
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 nestable tray, 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.