Box Designer

Intermediate · 10 min read · By Chitmunk Team · Updated Oct 18, 2026

The box is the first thing a player holds and the last thing most designers design. The Box Designer is the workspace for designing game box packaging. Boxes have one or more printable sheets (for example outside and inside, or lid and base), each a flat die-cut sheet that folds into the finished box. Chitmunk gives you a face strip to switch between sheets, the print-shop template overlay, and a 3D preview so you can design every sheet without losing context.

Box Component Types

Chitmunk supports all TheGameCrafter box types, including:

• Tuck Boxes: Poker-size, bridge-size and other tuck-fold boxes with flap closures (Inserts work the same way).
• Hook Boxes: Retail-style boxes with a display hook cutout and printed outside and inside sheets.
• Rigid Boxes (including tins): Two-piece lid-and-base boxes: each piece has its own printable flat sheet.
• Box Tops: A single printed lid for a box.
• Packaging: Single printed box faces and other packaging pieces.

Select your box under Card size. The sheets shown update to match the chosen box type.

Side-by-Side Sheets

For boxes with more than one sheet (rigid boxes, hook boxes, tins), Chitmunk displays a side-by-side view showing every sheet on one screen, for example the top (lid) and the bottom (base). You see both pieces at once and can keep colors and branding consistent between them.

Click a sheet to select it (a highlight ring shows which one), then double-click it to edit it with all your tools. The inspector, layers panel, and toolbar actions apply to the sheet you are editing. Click All faces to return to the side-by-side view.

Per-Face Editing

For tuck boxes and hook boxes, a flat die-cut sheet contains all the printable panels (front, back, spine, flap, and walls) arranged in a specific fold pattern. You design the entire flat sheet as one canvas, using the print-shop template overlay to see where each panel falls.

The face strip shows one button per printable sheet, not one per panel:

• Tuck Box: Outside, a single flat sheet containing every panel (front, back, walls, flap). With only one sheet, no navigation strip is needed.
• Hook Box: Inside and Outside, two flat sheets, each containing every panel on that side.
• Rigid Box: Top and Bottom, the lid sheet and the base sheet.
• Tin Box: Top and Back.

Clicking a face button switches the canvas to that sheet. Within a sheet, use the template overlay's fold lines to see where each individual panel (front, back, wall, flap) sits so you can design it in place.

Print-Shop Template Overlay

Chitmunk includes TheGameCrafter's official die-cut overlay images, so they're available instantly with no extra download. These overlays show:

• Pink/coral background: The bleed area that extends beyond the die-cut line.
• Red lines: Die-cut lines where the cardstock will be cut.
• Green lines: Fold lines where the box panels fold.
• Cyan dashed lines: The safe zone. Keep important content inside this boundary.

To toggle the overlay on or off, open the View menu and click Print-shop template. The overlay renders on top of your design at reduced opacity (a Template overlay slider in the inspector sets how much), so you can see both simultaneously.

Face Strip

When you are editing a sheet of a multi-sheet box, the face strip at the top of the canvas lets you move between sheets:

• Click a face button to switch the canvas to that sheet (Inside/Outside, Top/Bottom, or Top/Back depending on box type).
• All faces (top left) takes you back to the side-by-side view.

Box Fold Map Visualization

The 3D preview (on /home, open the Proof stage, All cards, and click your box) renders an interactive 3D model of your box with textures pulled from your flat design at the moment you open it. Each face panel from the flat sheet is automatically mapped to the correct face of the 3D model using Chitmunk's built-in fold map data.

Use the 3D preview to:

• Check that text and logos appear correctly oriented on each face.
• Verify that elements near fold lines won't be awkwardly split.
• See the box from multiple angles before sending it to print.
• Spot inconsistencies in color or branding across faces.

Drag to rotate the 3D model. Scroll to zoom. Close and reopen the preview to refresh it with your latest edits. It doesn't update live while you're still editing the flat design.

Tips & Best Practices

• Extend backgrounds to the bleed edge: The pink bleed zone in the template overlay must be covered. Extend background colors and images to the very edge of the template. Any white areas in the bleed zone will print as white.
• Stay inside the cyan safe zone: Keep all text, logos, and critical imagery inside the cyan dashed line. Anything outside may be cut or hidden at the fold.
• Avoid crossing fold lines with text: Text that crosses a green fold line will be bent at a 90-degree angle and become unreadable. Design text to fit within individual panels.
• Match colors across faces: Save your colors under Deck style, Colors & styles, then reuse the same palette on every face. Consistent color across all faces looks more professional and polished.
• Design the top face first: The top face is the most visible when the box is on a shelf or table. Start there and establish your visual identity before designing the sides and back.
• Check the 3D preview regularly: What looks correct on a flat sheet can be surprising in 3D. Open the 3D preview after designing each major face to catch orientation issues early.