10 Best Packaging Software to Cut Costs & Boost Production Efficiency

Esko ArtiosCAD is a leading structural design software for packaging, offering a comprehensive suite of tools to boost productivity for packaging professionals. It helps you with structural design, product development, virtual prototyping, and manufacturing operations. ArtiosCAD provides a large library of standard die-cuts and integrates with palletizing software to ensure your designs are suitable for shipment.

The software features automated tools that streamline your 2D design phase, including an Automatic Drafting option that handles alignment steps. It also offers robust 3D modeling capabilities, allowing you to visualize designs and apply high-resolution artwork for realistic prototypes.

EngView Packaging Suite is a CAD/CAM solution for the structural design and production of boxes and POP/POS displays. It provides a wide range of tools to accelerate and automate tasks for structural designers, graphic designers, and die-makers. This suite integrates directly with Adobe Illustrator, allowing graphic and structural designers to collaborate on a unified platform.

You can visualize packaging in 3D, apply high-resolution artwork, and generate production-ready files within Illustrator. Recent updates include an enhanced parametric library with new resizable designs, smarter workflows, and greater control over your packaging design process.

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor widely used for creating packaging artwork and designs. While not solely a packaging software, its powerful drawing tools are essential for graphic designers in the packaging industry. You can create precise illustrations, logos, and intricate designs that are scalable without loss of quality, which is crucial for various packaging dimensions.

Many specialized packaging software solutions integrate directly with Illustrator, allowing you to seamlessly apply your artwork to structural designs and visualize them in 3D. This makes it a foundational tool for creating the visual elements that bring packaging to life.

Arden Impact is a comprehensive solution for packaging design, enabling you to create print-ready packaging layouts, displays, and 3D box models. It provides a complete toolkit for structural designers, allowing for efficient creation of various packaging types. You can also utilize its features to realize 3D packaging representations set in virtual shops, helping you compare your packaging against competitors.

Impact includes a die-making function that is particularly useful for die-cut producers. It offers a library of parameterized die-cuts for both folding and corrugated carton, along with complex structures for coated boxes. A plugin allows you to apply graphics created with Adobe Illustrator to your structural designs.

StrataPack offers packaging software for optimizing palletization and truck loading, aiming to reduce shipping costs and material waste. It helps you determine optimal package sizes, product arrangements, and pallet configurations for efficient logistics. This software is designed to improve warehouse efficiency and overall supply chain operations by maximizing cubic utilization.

With StrataPack, you can plan and visualize how products fit into shipping containers, ensuring stable loads and minimizing damage during transit. It provides tools to analyze and improve your packaging processes from a logistical standpoint, ultimately impacting your bottom line through reduced freight expenses.

Packly is an innovative online packaging design software that provides customizable templates, real-time 3D previews, and instant quotes. It streamlines the design process, allowing you to create professional, print-ready packaging quickly and efficiently. Packly is a complete packaging solution that lets you design, preview, and print custom boxes, offering flexibility in order size from one to thousands of pieces.

Its features include an interactive design interface, die-cut templates, and the ability to view a 3D box model with your artwork in real-time. Packly also offers high-quality printing services and fast turnaround times.

Paccurate is a cartonization software focused on minimizing costs associated with packing, from labor and materials to carrier rate incentives. It helps shippers reduce transportation costs and packaging waste by optimizing every stage of the fulfillment process. Paccurate uses real-time data, 3D packing algorithms, and cost-aware automation to determine the most cost-efficient way to pack every order.

Its features include dynamic box selection, 3D bin packing, and multi-carrier rate shopping. Paccurate also offers PacSimulate, a modeling tool to help you determine ideal carton sizes and analyze different packing strategies.

Packsize provides on-demand packaging solutions that help businesses create right-sized boxes, reducing shipping costs and environmental impact. Their technology focuses on improving operational efficiency by producing custom packaging as needed. This approach minimizes wasted space in shipments and reduces the need for filler materials.

By leveraging Packsize solutions, you can streamline your packing operations, enhance product protection, and improve customer satisfaction with optimized packaging. It helps you respond quickly to diverse product dimensions and order volumes, making your packaging process more agile and sustainable.

ManageArtworks is a cloud-based packaging artwork lifecycle management system designed to streamline the entire artwork creation and approval process. It helps regulated industries like Pharmaceuticals and CPG ensure regulatory compliance of their pack labels. The platform connects all stakeholders into an automated workflow, providing sophisticated proofing tools and complete transparency.

It features workflow automation, version control, audit trails, and collaboration tools for real-time comments and annotations. ManageArtworks integrates with Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, allowing you to design error-free artwork. It also offers 3D packaging visualization and a dieline repository.

TOPS Pro is a packaging design and pallet layout software assisting professionals in creating optimal package designs and pallet patterns. You can determine ideal package size, product quantity, arrangement, and pallet layout. The software uses a powerful, real-time 3D graphics engine for realistic visualizations of your designs.

This software helps you perform 'what if' scenarios to optimize corrugated material usage, pallet stability, and freight costs. TOPS Pro also includes features for creating mixed trays and pallets for club store displays, and offers stacking strength analysis to minimize product damage.