2025 Packaging Design Software Guide (Pro Insights and Tips)

Looking to level up your product packaging without investing in a full-time designer? In today's fast-paced world, your packaging serves as your brand ambassador, and packaging design plays a crucial role in this regard. Only the right packaging design software can create professional, attention-grabbing visuals in minutes.

From 3D mockups to price estimations and customization, these tools do it all for you. The best part? You don't need advanced design skills to use them. In this guide, we will break down the top packaging design software options and share pro tips to help you choose the best fit for your business. Let’s get started!

What is Packaging Design Software?

A software for packaging design is a tool that enables you to create innovative, functional, and aesthetically appealing packaging for your products. It allows you to upload your designs, or you can personalize them manually by adding various elements.

At this point, Custom Product Packaging offers you the freedom to design your packaging online using its tools and templates, creating a visually appealing design that aligns with your unique brand identity and sets your brand apart from the rest.

Top 4 Reasons to Choose 3D Packaging Design Software

Packaging software for designing is essential for several reasons. They are beneficial in many ways, including customization, real-time preview, and automation. Giving a clear picture of your product packaging design saves time. Let’s explore its pros and how it can help designers.

1. Customization Freedom

The software packaging tools are capable of creating the packaging design in different sizes, shapes, fonts, texts, colors, and graphics. They allow many printing businesses to customize the product packaging, reflecting their brand value. Plus, they give you seamless control of customizing boxes from every aspect.

2. Faster and Efficient

It is speedy and efficient in streamlining the design process.

3. Advanced 3D Modeling Features — Live 3D Preview

The tools are built with state-of-the-art 3D modeling features. The real-time preview of packaging design allows customers to visualize the box while customization and see how it looks before and after personalization, reaching to maximum satisfaction level.

4. Design Price Estimation

Based on customized packaging design, packaging design software offers an approximate cost of the tailored design. The more features you add, the more significant the price increase you will see. This enhances your customer experience and gives customers a pricing idea. Once you are satisfied with the design, you step ahead with printing.

10 Top Packaging Design Software

Here are the top 10 packaging design software tools used by professionals today. Whether you are a beginner or a pro and want to design boxes or packaging mock-ups, they can help.

1. Adobe Illustrator

This design tool features a vector-based design compatible with other Adobe products. Highly customizable and supports 3D mockups. Best for professional designers.

2. Esko Studio

This online packaging design tool has advanced 3D modeling and photorealistic rendering features. It is an expensive tool, but it can be integrated with CAD tools. Ideal for creating prototypes and high-quality visuals.

3. Adobe Dimension

Another creative design tool from Adobe. It helps designers to create customized 3D designs for packaging and cartons. It allows you to design, adjust, and render realistic 3D images easily. You can find plentiful cartons, food packaging templates, and mockups. This saves designers' time. Perfect for creating realistic 3D mockups of packaging.

4. Canva

This online packaging design tool contains limited 3D features. But it has a library of pre-made templates. It allows you to choose a template and modify it the way you want. You can just drag and drop the interface. A great option for creating simple designs, but less suitable for complex packaging.

5. Boxshot

An advanced visual photo studio software for creating 3D models. A library of free templates, such as brochure design is available. The best thing about this tool is, it features high-quality rendering, customizable shapes, and real-time previews. It helps designers create realistic images of cartons and boxes.

6. Impact

Impact is a digital and CAD packaging design software for designers and die makers. This design software offers an extensive design library of reusable parametric design styles, including FEFCO, ECMA, and POS displays. It enables 3D modeling and visualization of packaging design. You can create virtual 3D samples easily and share them with your customers.

7. ArtiosCAD

ArtiosCAD is a powerful structural packaging design tool. It is widely used for two-dimensional and three-dimensional design of corrugated boxes, folding cartons, and POP/POS displays. This design program features 2D and 3D design tools and helps graphic designers create a 3D packaging design easily. You don't need to perform difficult calculations to render complex shapes.

8. Strata

Strata is a perfect 3D modeling software that is integrated with Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. It is a popular tool among graphic designers and is used in packaging for creating high-quality 3D models. This packaging design software allows you to create and manipulate 3D objects with precision. The user-friendly interface of this software helps you visualize and share your folded package design.

9. Box It Now

Box It Now is a digital packaging design software that helps you create and share 3D packaging prototypes and designs. It allows you to access the software from different devices, like desktops or tablets. This cloud-based software offers more than 150 box styles, a real-time graphics application, and virtual prototyping. Ideal for graphic designers and businesses to simplify the packaging creation.

10. PrintQ

PrintQ is a cutting-edge packaging design tool for designers (beginners or pros). It streamlines the design process to manage printed materials online. This user-friendly software is perfect for businesses and graphic designers to create customized print products like business cards with ease.

The beginners can add different images and logos easily by dragging and dropping the objects. The pro can use this tool to render 3D views of the printed material and download a 2D dieline. You can place images on flaps, panels, and overlapping corners. It automatically sets the image in the right position when added to the overlapping corner.

A Brief Comparison Between the 10 Best Packaging Design Tools

Look at the table below to compare different packaging design software tools that can help you choose a tool wisely.

What to Consider When Buying a Packaging Design Software?

You must keep in mind these key points when it comes to purchasing design software.

Define Your Project Goals

Set your project goals before you delve into the packaging design software process. Determine the measurements, material, and printing option. You must know your target audience to convey your message and keep in mind your budget.

User-friendly Interface

Choose a reliable packaging design software that is easy to use and simplifies your creative workflows. Make sure the software is compatible to share your design easily and collaborating with different design tools.

Pricing

Purchase a packaging design software that comes within your budget to meet your needs.

Collaboration and Feedback

Explore a packaging design tool that collaborates through different features, such as cloud-based storage. Choose a tool that allows you to share your design easily with clients and team members, ensuring everyone is on the same page in the design process.

Third-party Integration

Look for a tool that is easy to integrate with top design software like Adobe Illustrator to reduce manual work and improve efficiency.

Conclusion

This blog discussed how custom packaging design software can assist packaging businesses by catering to their unique customer needs. While there are many packaging solutions available, Custom Product Packaging brings the best tool for packaging design with advanced features such as real-time pricing estimation, seamless integration, and end-to-end customization. Get a free demo today by sending us an email at orders@customproductpackaging.com and learn how it can boost your business.

FAQs

1. Which software is best for packaging design?
Adobe Illustrator is a top choice.

2. What Adobe software is used for packaging design?
Adobe Illustrator is the best tool for packaging design and 3D mockups.

3. Can I use Canva for packaging design?
Yes, you can use Canva for creating packaging design.

4. What software is used to create a 3D packaging design?
Plentiful software like Esko Studio, ArtiosCAD, Adobe Substance 3D, Boxshot, and Blender are the right options for creating 3D packaging designs.

5. What are the four software that can be used in doing digital sculpting product package design?
Blender, ZBrush, Autodesk Mudbox, and 3D-Coat.

6. Can I use Photoshop for packaging design?
Yes, you can use it.

7. How do I create a design package?
Define the product and its design first. Get a dieline template or create it. You can use Adobe Illustrator or Canva software. Add information and branding elements like logos. Create a 3D mockup and export to print.

8. How to make packaging design in Figma?
Set canvas dimensions for your packaging. Create a design using vector-based tools. You can use mockup templates from the Figma community and modify them. Now, export your design for printing.