Broken Shape

The shape is called broken if after folding its panels are not connected as defined by the dieline.

Simple dielines

The dieline is considered simple if there’s only one path from one its panel to another. Here’s an example of a simple dieline:

Its particular shape doesn’t really matter, what matters is how many ways exist to visit one of its panels from the others. Here are the paths for this dieline:

As you may see, there’s only one way to visit each panel of this dieline from the center one. Same for any other panel of this dieline.

So this is a simple dieline: Origami finds out the folding structure and folds the shape starting from the anchored panel or from the biggest one if no anchor is specified.

As the dieline is simple and the panels are not connected more than once, you will never get the “broken shape” error for such dielines.

Complex dielines

Here’s another dieline which Origami considers being “complex”:

Despite having less panels than the previous one, this dieline is more complex, as there’s more than one way to visit one its panel from another:

The panels make a “loop” and Origami needs to temporary break it somewhere to fold the shape. Origami selects a crease line in the loop and breaks the shape there by temporary replacing it with a cut.

Once the shape is modified this way, it effectively becomes “simple” and can be folded normally.

However, if the dieline is designed properly, even if modified this way it should still be folded well and the separated panels should meet each other when folded.

Origami checks all the separated panels and makes sure that the panels are still connected after folding. If they are not - you get the “broken shape” error.

The dieline above has all the folding angles of 90º and triggers the “broken shape” error, as it is impossible to fold this shape in real life. If you check the 3D view of this shape, you will see the shape is physically broken:

You see that the shape was separated by one of the crease lines and that the panels didn’t match after folding.

What to do?

This error is usually caused by incorrect folding angles or misaligned dieline elements. You need to check both.

The folding angles are usually incorrect in non-square boxes. If you have a complex structure with non-right angles, multiple folds and so on, you need to carefully check the folding angles there in order to avoid this error.

If the box is straight, but you still get “broken shape” error, check for the crease lines that are almost vertical or horizontal (also reported by Origami) as they might easily offset some panels that will end up misaligned, causing the “broken shape” error.

Finally, make sure that the dieline you fold is supposed to be “complex”. If it looks like the “simple” one described above, you shouldn’t get this error. If you get the error, this means that the dieline is likely having misaligned elements and Origami finds more than one way from one panel to another. In this case the problem is not always located where the shape break is reported and you need to carefully check the whole dieline for errors. It usually helps to fix all the errors above this one in the list, as Origami detects a lot of issues that might cause the shape to break.

Want More Hints?

• Almost Vertical/Horizontal — crease line is probably misaligned;
• Broken Shape — shape is broken apart when folding;
• Path Is Not Closed — the dieline needs a solid, continuous outline path;
• Crease Line In Main Outline — the main outline must be made of cuts;
• Intersecting Curved Cuts — it might not be easy;
• Empty Layout — why there is no dieline visible?
• Hanging Element — what if a path goes nowhere?
• Impossible Crease Line — a crease that shouldn't be;
• Inconsistent Crease Lines — similar crease lines must have same angles;
• Invalid Crease — crease lines have limitations;
• Overlapping Lines — cut and crease lines must not overlap, as well;
• Separate Element — the dieline should come in one piece;
• The Points Are Too Close — avoid crowded spaces;
• Z-Fighting — what to do with overlapping polygons.

There's more from the older folding engines:

• Intersecting Holes — holes must not overlap;
• Impossible Shape — some shapes simply don’t exist;
• Outside Hole — all holes must be inside the outline path;
• Misaligned Elements — ends must meet, perfectly;
• Elements Are Too Small — keep dieline paths simple;
• Triangulation Failed — Origami fails to make a 3D mesh of a dieline.

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