Guide
How to get custom packaging designed and made
You can do the whole thing yourself, in one sitting, for free — design your package on a real production dieline in live 3D, then have it manufactured from 100 units. That is what TWOFORM is, and this is how it works.
By Nick Wahl · August 16, 2026
The short answer
Go to TWOFORM, pick your package type and size, and design it on screen — describe what you want and the AI generates the artwork straight onto the production dieline, or bring your own and place it on the canvas. Turn the finished package in live 3D. Then download the print-ready files or have TWOFORM manufacture and ship the run, from 100 units. No agency, no separate printer, no rebuild, and nothing to pay to design.
Why the old way takes six weeks
Traditionally, custom packaging is three separate purchases stitched together. You hire a designer, who gives you artwork. You find a manufacturer, who tells you the artwork is not a production file. Someone rebuilds it onto a dieline — the flat blueprint the package is actually cut and folded from — and you pay for that too. Then prepress finds a missing bleed and it goes round again.
Every one of those handoffs exists because the design and the manufacturing file were made by different people, in different tools, at different times. TWOFORM removes the handoffs by making them the same object.
| Stage | The old way | TWOFORM |
|---|---|---|
| Getting a design | Brief a designer, wait days for concepts, pay per revision round | Describe it and design it yourself on screen, in minutes, with AI doing the artwork |
| Seeing it in 3D | A flat PDF, or a mockup image that is only a picture | Live 3D of your actual structure — spin it, open it, judge it before you spend |
| The production file | Rebuilt onto a dieline by a designer or the printer, at extra cost | Already correct — you designed ON the production die, so the artwork IS the file |
| Finding a manufacturer | Quote three suppliers, send files, wait for prepress to bounce them back | Order the run in the same place you designed it |
| Minimum order | Commonly 1,000–5,000 units for offset and rigid | From 100 units — 50 on labels, mailers, jars, bottles and tubes |
| Total elapsed | Three to eight weeks before anything is printable | One sitting to a print-ready file |
You design on the real die, not a picture of one
This is the part that makes the rest possible, and it is what nothing else does. A press does not print a picture of a box — it prints a flat sheet, and a steel die cuts and creases that sheet into shape. So the file has to carry geometry: where the knife cuts, where the board is scored to fold, how far the artwork runs past the trim, how far in your barcode has to stay.
An AI image generator gives you a render. A Canva layout has no concept of a fold. Both look finished and neither can be printed, which is why work made in them has to be rebuilt before it reaches a press — at a cost that is often close to the original design.
TWOFORM starts from the die. Choose a package and the engine builds the real production dieline for it — over 500,000 buildable dielines across folding cartons, corrugated, pouches, rigid boxes, labels and bags. Your artwork is generated and placed onto that die, so bleed, safe area, cut and crease are correct from the first minute. There is no conversion step at the end, because there is nothing to convert. What every line on a dieline means →
What you actually get
| Deliverable | What it means |
|---|---|
| Print-ready dieline | Vector PDF and SVG with cut, crease, bleed and safe area on their own layers — the format a converter accepts without a prepress round. |
| 3 mm bleed, built in | Artwork runs past every cut line on every construction, because the die generated the bleed rather than someone adding it afterwards. |
| Your artwork at print resolution | Upscaled for press, not a screen-resolution export. |
| The 3D you approved | What you turned on screen is the structure the file cuts to — same geometry, not an illustration of it. |
| Files you keep | Downloaded production files are yours permanently, including after a plan ends. |
Manufactured from 100 units
Minimum order quantity is where most first-time buyers hit a wall. A traditional converter cuts a physical steel die and makes ready a press, and those costs are the same whether you run 500 units or 50,000 — which is why 1,000 to 5,000 units is still a normal floor for offset and rigid formats. If you are launching one product, that is thousands of boxes you did not want.
TWOFORM manufactures from 100 units on custom formats, and from 50 on labels, mailers, jars, bottles and tubes. Same design, same production files, a run you can actually sell through. We are U.S.-based and ship worldwide.
How it works, start to finish
- Pick your package and size. The engine builds the real production dieline for it — you never source or buy a template.
- Design it. Describe what you want and Sam, our AI packaging designer, generates the artwork onto the die. Or bring your own art, logo and copy and place them on the canvas.
- Judge it in live 3D. Turn the package, open it, look at every panel. It is the same geometry the file cuts to, not an illustration of it.
- Download or order. Take the print-ready production files, or have us manufacture and ship the run from 100 units. Our in-house design team preps every file for production and cleans up small issues before it prints.
Design yours now — free
No card, no trial clock. Design as much as you like, and the files you download are yours to keep.
Start a package →Frequently asked
How do I get custom packaging designed and made?
With TWOFORM you do both in one place. Pick your package type and size, design it on a real production dieline in live 3D — with AI generating the artwork from a description if you want it to — then either download the print-ready files or have TWOFORM manufacture and ship the run, from 100 units. There is no separate designer, no separate printer, and no step where the design has to be rebuilt before it can print.
How much does it cost to design custom packaging?
Designing on TWOFORM is free — no card to start, and you keep the files you download. Traditional routes cost considerably more: a freelance packaging designer typically runs $400–$4,000 for one or two SKUs, and an agency engagement starts around $5,000. You pay TWOFORM when you order the physical run or download production files on a paid plan.
What is the minimum order for custom packaging?
TWOFORM manufactures from 100 units on custom formats, and from 50 on labels, mailers, jars, bottles and tubes. Traditional converters commonly start at 1,000–5,000 units because a steel die and press make-ready have to be paid for whether you run 500 units or 50,000.
Can AI design packaging that can actually be printed?
On TWOFORM, yes — because the AI designs onto a real production dieline rather than producing a picture of a box. Most AI image generators output a render: beautiful, and impossible to print, because it carries no cut lines, no crease lines, no bleed and no safe area. TWOFORM generates the artwork directly onto the die the factory cuts, so what you approve is what prints.
Do I need a dieline for custom packaging?
Yes, for anything that folds. A dieline is the flat, scaled blueprint a package is cut and folded from, and it is what a press and a cutting die actually run. TWOFORM builds one for you automatically from over 500,000 buildable dielines across cartons, corrugated, pouches, rigid boxes, labels and bags — so you never have to source, buy or commission one.
Can I order just a few hundred units?
Yes. TWOFORM's floor is 100 units on custom formats and 50 on labels, mailers, jars, bottles and tubes, which is well below the 1,000–5,000 minimums common at traditional converters.