+ Layouts for Packaging Using perimeter to estimate dieline costs

Learning Goals After completing the activities in this slideshow lecture you should be able to… 1. Identify what a dieline is and what it is used for 2. Breakdown the proper steps to create a professional dieline that will be sent to a diecutter 3. Calculate the amount of metal required to create a physical die (using perimeter) 4. Estimate the total cost of a dieline using perimeter and per inch pricing Layouts for Packaging

What is a Dieline? A dieline is the blueprint for a layout that is formed by either a diecutter, a printer, or a graphic designer. It indicates where cuts, folds, and perforations will be in a finished piece. A dieline is used by a diecutting company to make the wood and metal template that will be used to make complex cuts. A pocket folder is an example of a job that must be cut to size using a dieline. The pockets and glue tabs of the pocket folder must be diecut to size. They can not be trimmed using a regular paper cutter because that only makes straight cuts.

What is a Dieline? Examples of Items Requiring Diecutting:  Pocket folders  Packaging  Fancy business cards  Door hangers  Complex book cover designs  Envelopes

What is a Dieline? Common Dieline Indications:  A straight line or segment indicates a cut  A dotted line indicates a perforation  A dashed line indicates a score for crisp folding These are universal indicators and should be used from the inception of a design from thumbnails, roughs and comps, etc… so that everyone involved in the design understands exactly what is being produced.

What is a Dieline? This is an example of what a typical 2 panel, 1 pocket folder dieline might look like. All of the exterior edges are straight lines indicating they will be cut. The interior lines are dotted indicating that they will be scored for folding.

Creating Your Own Dieline When designing for a job that requires diecutting, one of two things will occur: 1. You will receive a dieline template from your client or a diecutting company that you must designed within. It is usually an Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress file, but may also be a universal file format that can be ‘placed’ into a document. 2. You will create a custom dieline that you will package with your designs so that the diecutter can make a die to your specifications.

Creating Your Own Dieline If you receive a template from your client or from a diecutting company, you can simply open the file, save a copy, and begin designing within the constraints of the template. If you are given the opportunity to design your own diecut piece, you will have to follow the steps outlined on the next few slides to properly create a dieline to send to your printer and/or diecutter.

Creating Your Own Dieline Steps for Creating a Dieline: 1. Dielines should always be created in a page layout program like Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress. Please note that creating a dieline in Adobe InDesign is NOT a requirement for ART 1210, but is for ART 1135, ART 1200, and other graphic design related courses. You may use any program to create your dieline in this course.

Creating Your Own Dieline Steps for Creating a Dieline: 2. Dielines should always be on their own layer. Label the layer ‘DIELINE’ or something that is easy for the printer/diecutter to recognize. Click to create a new layer Double click the new layer to open the Layer Options dialog box. Give the layer a new name and then choose OK.

Creating Your Own Dieline Steps for Creating a Dieline: 3. Create the dieline with a new SPOT SWATCH COLOR that has been renamed ‘DIELINE’ or something easy for the printer/diecutter to recognize. Open the SWATCHES PANEL and select any existing swatch Click to duplicate the swatch Double click the blue swatch icon to open the Swatch Options dialog box

Creating Your Own Dieline Steps for Creating a Dieline: 3. Create the dieline with a new SPOT SWATCH COLOR that has been renamed ‘DIELINE’ or something easy for the printer/diecutter to recognize. (CONTINUED) Change the Color Type to Spot, the Swatch Name to DIELINE, and adjust the color to anything you want. I’ve made mine black, but it doesn’t really matter as long as it is a SPOT COLOR named DIELINE. The circle indicates that this is now a SPOT COLOR. We use a spot color to create the dieline so that we can separate it from the rest of the artwork. We don’t want a bunch of black lines to print of top of our artwork.

Creating Your Own Dieline What is a SPOT COLOR? If you are unfamiliar with the term SPOT COLOR please see the following links for additional information. This concept will be covered in almost all of your graphic design related courses including ART 1135 and ART

Creating Your Own Dieline Steps for Creating a Dieline: 4. Use 1pt straight, dotted, and dashed lines to indicate where cuts, perforations, and scoring folds will be. The Pen Tool and Line Tool work best in Adobe InDesign. Use the STROKES PANEL to adjust the thickness and type of line being used. Pen Tool Line Tool

Creating Your Own Dieline

Steps for Creating a Dieline: 5. Lock your ‘DIELINE’ layer when you are finished creating it so that you do not accidentally edit it (do not make it a ‘non-printing layer’) Click to lock the layer. All contents within the layer will no longer be editable while the ‘lock’ is in place.

Creating Your Own Dieline Steps for Creating a Dieline: 6. Use other layers to design your project. DO NOT INCLUDE ANY ARTWORK ON THE DIELINE LAYER. It will not be part of the final printed piece. Select the Design Layer to design your project. Do not include any artwork on the DIELINE layer.

Perimeter What is Perimeter? Perimeter is the total distance around the outside of a 2D shape or object. Perimeter is calculated by adding the sum of all sides of a 2D shape or object. The perimeter of the square to the left can be calculated by adding 4in + 4in + 4in + 4in= 16in

Using Perimeter to Calculate Dielines Perimeter and simple math can be used to calculate the total amount of metal required to construct a diecutting die. Once a cost estimator knows how much metal is required to produce a die she can estimate the total cost of the die by using the following formula:

Perimeter Example 1 What is the total perimeter of this dieline?

Perimeter Example 1 Answer What is the total perimeter of this dieline? = 69.5in I did not include any of the interior lines in my calculations because perimeter only includes the outer most edges of a 2D shape or object. * A cost estimator would include all lines when calculating the total amount of metal required to produce the die.

Perimeter Example 2 What is the total perimeter of this dieline?

Perimeter Example 2 Answer What is the total perimeter of this dieline? = 96in

Estimating Example 1 What is the total cost of metal to create this dieline if metal is $1.50 per inch?

Estimating Example 1 Answer What is the total cost of metal to create this dieline if metal is $1.50 per inch? = 94.5 inches of metal 94.5 inches of metal x $1.50 per inch= $141.75

Estimating Example 2 What is the total cost of metal to create this dieline if metal is $1.25 per inch?

Estimating Example 2 Answer What is the total cost of metal to create this dieline if metal is $1.25 per inch? =116 inches of metal 116 inches of metal x $1.25 per inch= $145.00

+ What’s Next? HW: Layouts for Packaging Q1: Layouts for Packaging Q2: Layouts for Packaging Extra Credit: Layouts for Packaging