Most retail boxes come from a handful of structures. Knowing which one you have tells you where each panel ends up, which flaps show and where the artwork must stop. Here are the styles you will meet most often on a printer's dieline.
By Jérémy Hervo · 14 November 2026
| Style | How it closes | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse tuck end (RTE) | Top and bottom tuck flaps hinge on opposite panels, so they close from opposite sides. | Cosmetics, pharmacy, small retail boxes. Cheap and fast to glue. |
| Straight tuck end (STE) | Both tuck flaps hinge on the same panel (usually the back). | Boxes where both ends should open the same way, for a uniform look on the shelf. |
| Tuck top, auto-lock bottom | Bottom is pre-glued and pops into place when the box is opened. Also called crash-lock bottom. | Heavier products, glass jars, fast packing lines. |
| Tuck top, snap-lock bottom | Bottom flaps interlock by hand, without pre-gluing. Also called 1-2-3 bottom. | Medium weights and short runs, when the gluing line should stay simple. |
| Sleeve and tray | An open tube slides over a tray or a box. | Premium and gift packs, multi-packs, seasonal sleeves over a standard box. |
| Pillow box | Curved creases pinch both ends shut. | Light items, gift cards, jewellery, samples. |
| Seal end | End flaps are glued shut on the packing line instead of tucked. | Cereal, rice, large food cartons. |
| Mailer (roll end tuck front) | Folded from one piece of corrugated board, with a hinged lid and locking ears. FEFCO 0427. | Subscription boxes and e-commerce. |
These two look almost the same flat. The difference is where the tuck flaps hinge. On a reverse tuck end box, the top tuck is attached to the back panel and the bottom tuck to the front panel. On a straight tuck end box, both tucks are attached to the back panel.
Why it matters for the artwork: the two tucks fold in from different panels, so text that reads correctly on one flap may need turning around on the other. The same goes for the dust flaps and for anything printed on the inside. These mistakes are hard to see flat and obvious once the box is folded.
An auto-lock bottom (also sold as crash-lock) is glued at the printer while the box is flat. When the packer opens the box, the bottom falls into place and locks. It carries heavier products and speeds up packing, but the gluing is more complex and the board use is higher.
A snap-lock or 1-2-3 bottom uses interlocking flaps folded by hand, without pre-gluing. It is cheaper to produce, slower to pack, and fine for medium weights.
For the artwork, both bottoms have the same trap: the flaps overlap, so only part of each one shows. Keep text and barcodes off the bottom flaps unless the printer confirms which area stays visible.
A sleeve is a tube with no ends, slid over a tray or a standard box. It is a cheap way to make a seasonal or limited edition over a stock box. Watch the glue seam: it usually sits on the back or the bottom and hides a strip of the artwork.
A pillow box closes with curved creases instead of straight ones. The curve makes the ends pinch shut. Curved creases are harder to judge flat: the artwork near the ends bends in two directions.
A seal end carton is glued shut on the packing line instead of tucked. You find it on cereal and dry food. A mailer is folded from one piece of corrugated board with a hinged lid and locking ears (FEFCO 0427): it is the classic e-commerce and subscription box.
On a reverse tuck end box the top tuck hinges on one panel and the bottom tuck on the opposite one, so the flaps close from opposite sides. On a straight tuck end box both tucks hinge on the same panel. Reverse tuck end usually nests better on the printing sheet, so it uses less board; straight tuck end opens the same way at both ends.
In practice, yes. Both names describe a bottom that is pre-glued flat at the printer and locks into place when the box is opened. A snap-lock or 1-2-3 bottom also interlocks, but it is folded by hand and not pre-glued.
They are standard catalogues of box structures. FEFCO codes cover corrugated boxes (for example 0201 for the regular shipping carton and 0427 for the classic mailer). ECMA codes cover folding cartons such as tuck end boxes. Quoting a code helps you and the printer talk about the same structure.
Start from the product weight, how the box is displayed and how it is packed. Ask your printer or converter early: they will propose the structure their machines handle best and send you the matching dieline.
Waitlist
Launch price €29 instead of €49 for everyone on the list. One email a month at most, unsubscribe in one click.
Your email is only used to tell you when Boxobox launches.