Which downloads carry the artwork?

PDF, SVG and PNG all carry it. The PDF embeds the picture as a JPEG image object, the SVG as a data URL, and the PNG is drawn straight onto the canvas at 300 dpi. DXF is the exception: it is a geometry format with no concept of a raster image, so a DXF is always the bare outline. Cut from the DXF and print from the PDF if you are doing both.

Is my picture uploaded anywhere?

No. It is read by your own browser with FileReader, re-encoded to JPEG in a canvas and held in memory on your machine. There is no server here to send it to — the whole site is static files, and the geometry is calculated in your browser too. Close the tab and the picture is gone.

What resolution should the picture be?

Aim for about 300 pixels for every inch it will cover on the finished box. A panel 10 cm across is roughly 4 inches, so around 1200 pixels wide. Anything much less and the print looks soft; anything much more is re-encoded down anyway, so it only makes the file bigger.

Why does my picture stop at the edge of the box?

It is trimmed to the cut outline on purpose, so ink never prints on the part of the sheet you throw away, and never runs off the edge of a panel. Turn off "Trim artwork to the template outline" if you would rather it bled past the cut lines — useful if your printer can bleed and you plan to trim afterwards.

Can I put a different picture on each panel?

Yes. Add as many pictures as you like and drag each one where it belongs. "Place on a panel" drops a picture onto a named panel already turned the right way up for the finished box, which saves guessing which way a side wall will face once it is folded.

Will the design line up once the box is folded?

It will, provided you print at 100% rather than "fit to page". What you see on the drawing is where the ink lands on the card, and the panel labels tell you which face is which. Print one and fold it before you print thirty.

Can I sell boxes I print this way?

Yes. The licence allows commercial use of the templates and of what you make with them, including packaging for things you sell. Your own artwork stays yours; nothing here claims any rights over it.

Print Your Own Design on a Box — Free

The part most template sites leave out

Every free box template site will draw you an outline. What almost none of them will do is put your design on it — so the usual route is to download a bare dieline, open it in something else, line your artwork up against lines you cannot quite see, and hope it lands on the right panel once the box is folded.

The tool above skips that. Add a picture, drag it onto the drawing, and it is part of the template: it prints where you put it, trimmed to the cut lines, on the box you just sized.

How to do it, in four steps

Type your size. The box is drawn from the measurements of what goes inside, so do this first — artwork placed on a box that then changes size has to be moved again.
Add a picture. Use Add a picture… in the panel above, or drop a file straight onto the drawing. A logo, a photo, a repeating pattern, a scan of something you painted — anything your browser can open as an image.
Put it where it goes. Drag it around the drawing, or use Place on a panel to drop it onto a named panel already rotated so it reads the right way up on the finished box.
Download and print at 100%. PDF for printing, PNG at 300 dpi if something else in your workflow wants a raster, SVG if you are going to keep editing it. Never "fit to page", or the box comes out the wrong size.

What happens to your picture

Nothing leaves your computer. The file is read by your browser, re-encoded to a JPEG in a canvas and held in memory — there is no upload, no account and no server to hold it, because the site is a handful of static files and the geometry is worked out by your own browser. That is also why the Copy link button carries your measurements but not your pictures: they are far too big for a URL, and they were never ours to pass on.

Which file to download

PDF for printing: Vector lines with your picture embedded inside. Prints at exactly the size you typed. This is the one to use unless you have a reason not to.
PNG 300 dpi: A flat raster of the whole sheet, artwork included. Use it when something downstream — a print shop's uploader, a Print Then Cut workflow, a design app — wants an image.
SVG: Vector, with the picture carried as a data URL. Open it in Inkscape or Illustrator if you want to keep editing the design after this.
DXF outline only: Geometry for cutting machines and CAD. DXF has no way to hold a raster image, so this one is always the bare outline — cut from it, print from the PDF.

Getting it to look right on card

Printed card is not a screen. Colours come out darker and a little duller, especially on uncoated stock, and a dark flood of ink across a whole panel will cockle thin card and can crack along a fold. If the design matters, print one, fold it, and look at it before you print the rest — it is the cheapest test there is, and it catches things no preview will.

Questions

Which downloads carry the artwork?: PDF, SVG and PNG all carry it. The PDF embeds the picture as a JPEG image object, the SVG as a data URL, and the PNG is drawn straight onto the canvas at 300 dpi. DXF is the exception: it is a geometry format with no concept of a raster image, so a DXF is always the bare outline. Cut from the DXF and print from the PDF if you are doing both.
Is my picture uploaded anywhere?: No. It is read by your own browser with FileReader, re-encoded to JPEG in a canvas and held in memory on your machine. There is no server here to send it to — the whole site is static files, and the geometry is calculated in your browser too. Close the tab and the picture is gone.
What resolution should the picture be?: Aim for about 300 pixels for every inch it will cover on the finished box. A panel 10 cm across is roughly 4 inches, so around 1200 pixels wide. Anything much less and the print looks soft; anything much more is re-encoded down anyway, so it only makes the file bigger.
Why does my picture stop at the edge of the box?: It is trimmed to the cut outline on purpose, so ink never prints on the part of the sheet you throw away, and never runs off the edge of a panel. Turn off "Trim artwork to the template outline" if you would rather it bled past the cut lines — useful if your printer can bleed and you plan to trim afterwards.
Can I put a different picture on each panel?: Yes. Add as many pictures as you like and drag each one where it belongs. "Place on a panel" drops a picture onto a named panel already turned the right way up for the finished box, which saves guessing which way a side wall will face once it is folded.
Will the design line up once the box is folded?: It will, provided you print at 100% rather than "fit to page". What you see on the drawing is where the ink lands on the card, and the panel labels tell you which face is which. Print one and fold it before you print thirty.
Can I sell boxes I print this way?: Yes. The licence allows commercial use of the templates and of what you make with them, including packaging for things you sell. Your own artwork stays yours; nothing here claims any rights over it.

Packaging for a shop you run · Designing the box in Canva instead · Having it printed properly

Print your own design on a box template