Custom packaging

Custom Snack Bags

A snack bag is bought on impulse and eaten in two sittings, so it has to catch the eye at arm's length and then reclose without a fight. Fill volume, not fill weight, is what decides the size.

Skip the blank page

You already know what you are packaging, so there is nothing to set up. This opens the design engine with the stand-up pouch structures on screen — then you type your own dimensions and the dieline is generated at that exact size.

Start with a stand-up pouchGenerate a dieline free

The structures snack bags actually ship in

Every one of these is a construction TWOFORM generates a real production dieline for, at your own dimensions — not a template you have to fit your product into. Each opens the engine already on that package type.

Stand-Up PouchThe multi-serve snack default: it faces forward on a shelf or a clip strip and takes a zipper for the half that gets eaten later.Typical: 3.5 oz · 5 × 8in + 3in gussetDesign a stand-up pouchSee the dieline →
Pillow / Back-Seal PouchSingle-serve and impulse sizes, where the bag is torn open once and never reclosed — the back seam takes nothing away from shelf presence when the bag lies in a basket.Typical: 1.5 oz · 4 × 6.5inDesign a pillow / back-seal pouchSee the dieline →
Flat Pouch / 3-Side SealSampling and trade-show giveaways of the same recipe, at a size that fits a hand and a mailer.Typical: 0.75 oz · 3 × 4inDesign a flat pouch / 3-side sealSee the dieline →

Settle this before you design

Size the bag by volume, then check the weight

Snack foods run from about 0.15 g/ml for an extruded puff to 0.6 g/ml for a dense nut mix, so two products at the same declared weight can differ fourfold in the space they need. Work out the litres your fill actually occupies, add roughly 25% headspace so the bag can be sealed and so the product can settle, and only then pick width, height and gusset.

The mistake that costs a print run

Designing the front panel as if the bag were flat

A stand-up pouch loses the bottom band of the front panel into the gusset fold and curves away at both vertical seals. Logos centred on the flat artboard end up sitting low and bending at the edges. Keep type and logo inside the middle two-thirds of the panel height, and treat the bottom gusset as structure rather than as design space.

How you actually make it

  1. Open the structure above and type your real dimensions. The dieline is generated at that exact size and validated against real manufacturing limits as it draws — if a size cannot be folded, glued and shipped, it says so before you design anything on it.
  2. Describe your brand and the AI designs the artwork directly onto that dieline — not onto a picture of a package.
  3. Place your own logo, barcode and any required panel yourself. The AI leaves them exactly as placed unless you ask it to change them.
  4. Fold it in live 3D to check it, then download print-ready files to use with any printer — or have TWOFORM manufacture it.

Questions about custom snack bags

What size bag do I need for a 3 oz snack?

It depends on the density, not the ounces. Measure the volume your 3 oz actually fills — a measuring jug is enough — add about a quarter for headspace, and build to that. A 3 oz puffed snack and a 3 oz nut mix are not the same bag.

Do I need a zipper on a snack bag?

Only if the pack holds more than one sitting. A zipper takes about half an inch off the usable height and adds a rigid band across the top of the artwork, so on a single-serve size it takes more than it gives.

Can one bag size cover my whole snack range?

It can if the recipes have similar densities, and it usually cannot if they do not. Group the range by volume per unit rather than by declared weight, and expect one bag per group.

Related packaging

Custom Chip BagsThe bag is inflated on purpose, so build in the headspaceCustom Popcorn BagsWork in litres, not ouncesCustom Granola BagsA heavy fill decides the film thickness before design startsCustom Gummy PouchesMoisture moves both ways, and the zipper decides which

← All custom packaging by product