Creating a 3D Software Box

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide for creating 3D software box in Boxshot without modelling and any special graphic or art knowledge. All you need is 2D artwork and about five minutes of your time. We'll provide sample artwork for this exercise, so don't worry if you don't have artwork of your own.

Artwork

You need a 2D image. It can be a set of images for all the sides of the box, or simply an unwrapped die-drawing version of your box, Boxshot will work with both. Right-click on this sample set of images and save it to your computer.

This tutorial is based on the Windows version of Boxshot, but the Mac version works exactly the same way and the user interface is also similar, so you can follow the steps regardless of your platform.

Ready? Let's go!

Run Boxshot and add the "Box: Simple" shape to the scene. If you are not familiar with the user interface, review the basic tutorials first, as this tutorial assumes that you know how to use the software.

Unpack the artwork images and drag the front one to the front side of the shape. You'll see it applied immediately:

3D box shape with new texture in boxshot

Now drag the other images to the other sides to make a completely textured box:

3D box shape with new textures in boxshot

Finally, open the shape's settings panel and click the "Fit to images" button to adjust the shape's size according to the dimensions of the images you have just loaded.

Rendering

You're almost done. Rotate the camera to find a pleasing view, then click "Render":

You will see the rendering setup window where you can enter the width and height you need. Then click "Start".

After some time (usually a few seconds for the default resolution), you'll see the rendering of your shape:

Click "Save" to save the image, or you may copy it to the clipboard or share it on Twitter.

And that's all!

Congratulations - you've done a 3D software box literally in just a few mouse clicks. It's a really easy task with Boxshot!

Boxshot Tutorials

Creating a 3D Book Cover - this tutorial shows how to create a 3D book cover from 2D artwork.
Creating a Box Of Books - use built-in shapes to make a box and fill it with books.