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Task Guide: Constructing a Loose-Leaf Tea Tin Label and Carton Die-Line

These instructions describe the checked VectorCraft foundation as of 14 October 2026. XiVector Alpha is free; public installer availability and XiKey integration are not yet verified.

Scenario

You are a packaging designer for a mountain botanical tea roastery. You need to build a two-artboard vector document in millimeters: Artboard 1 holds the wrap-around tin label, and Artboard 2 holds the folding paperboard carton die-line with cut lines, crease folds, glue flaps, and a 3 mm bleed path.

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Set Up Millimeter Artboards and Spot Die-Line Swatches

  1. Press Ctrl+N (Cmd+N) to open File ▸ New, set units to Millimeters (mm), create 2 artboards (220 × 95 mm for the wrap label and 320 × 260 mm for the flat carton), and set Bleed to 3 mm.
  2. Open the Swatches panel and create two Spot Color swatches: DIELINE-CUT (100% Magenta) and DIELINE-CREASE (100% Cyan) then confirm colour separations with the printer.
  3. In the Layers panel (F7), create two layers: Artwork on the bottom and Structural Die on top; lock it after drawing.

2. Construct Tuck Flaps with the Shape Builder and Pathfinder

  1. Select the Structural Die layer, press M for the Rectangle Tool, and draw the four main carton panels (65 × 120 mm each) snapped edge-to-edge with Smart Guides (Ctrl+U / Cmd+U).
  2. Draw the top dust flaps and curved tuck tab using the Rectangle (M) and Ellipse (L) tools.
  3. Select the overlapping flap shapes and press Shift+M to activate the Shape Builder Tool. Drag across the regions you want to merge into a single dust-flap contour, and Alt-click (Option-click) unwanted corner overhangs to subtract them.
  4. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the interior fold segments, move them to the DIELINE-CREASE swatch, and enable a 4 pt / 2 pt dashed pattern in the Stroke panel (Ctrl+F10).

3. Generate the Outer Bleed Contour with Offset Path and Export Press PDF

  1. Select the outer cut perimeter, open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+/ / Cmd+Shift+/), and run Offset Path (3 mm outset) to generate the exact outer bleed boundary for your background botanical pattern.
  2. Place your botanical line work inside the bleed boundary using a Clipping Mask (Ctrl+7 / Cmd+7).
  3. Inspect the artwork in Outline View (Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Y), export a PDF and review bleed, colours and cut-line requirements with the printer. DXF export is not confirmed.

Shape Builder has documented region-detection limits. Inspect the result and use Pathfinder if a region cannot be selected reliably.

Sources