Just came across this video for cardboard box designing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QB1LYN8mv8
This is pretty much what I’ll mainly be using mine for. I convinced (quite easily) the boss to get the pro. I make a lot of packaging mockups for work and currently cut everything out with a craft knife (we did look at getting a plotter but they were $60,000+).
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Oh, that’s awesome!! I look forward to seeing what you make with it!
That’s really cool! I never put much thought into the design process that goes into creating packages, but it looks incredibly intricate. Perfect application for a Glowforge!!
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Yeah, I know right!? Its actually quite interesting!
Awesome video, thanks for sharing!! Reminds me a bit of a few origami-inspired tessellation products I did in architecture school- one of which being a package design. I tried etching score lines to speed up the folding process, but trying to get the correct alignment after flipping the material was impossible! Can’t wait to get my glowforge and try again with the help of their camera.
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Yeah!! Its gonna be funnn!!!
Oooooh yeah! Going to have a notebook filled with ideas by the time GF arrives.
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I would love to see Jimmy DiResta get the reins of a Glowforge for a day and see what he does with it. This guy has the most amazing skills set.
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I believe he mentioned on his podcast that he preordered one.
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Oh that’s super exciting!
Any existing resource for die cutting patterns should be a great fit for laser cutting.
My wife has done a lot of packedge and stationary design and she is super excited about having a laser to do prototyping. (think patterns for fancy folded envelopes and paper toys).
She had a custom die made to manufacture these toys product design (available now at Ada’s books in Seattle 
) and I know that if she had a laser I would not have had to provide as many glasses of wine during the prototype phase. 
I have been collecting links to die cut patterns for a while from sites like this:
Packaging Templates
Box Templates
I also found this (somewhat hard to watch) video on how to make your own templates in Illustrator
How to make an illustrator packaging template
And finally THIS!
Template maker
(I love these online parametric generators)
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Well, I see yet another forum badge that is needed; resource person, and @jkopel should get the first one.
thanx!
I LOVE the template maker! I learned how to make a paper box by deconstructing one that my sister had made, though it’s design is quite different that is shown here. This template page is a goldmine for that kind of stuff. Thank you.
Ha, I usually just get called a packrat, but I like your word better!
Wow, thanks @jkopel for all those links!!! The template maker especially is going to be super fun to play with. Lately I’ve been hoarding interesting packaging like nobody’s business- found one for taffy that’s folded to like like a giant candy wrapper! Candy stores are great places for inspirational package design.
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If you’re willing to lay out some cash and you plan on doing a fair number of custom boxes, I thought this application was interesting. I don’t have any experience with it, however, but it’s definitely on the TODO list to check out.
http://www.laserjumpstart.com/boxit-suite.html
Super cool… Expensive though… 
Yeah, it’s not cheap, but I look at it as a consultant: If my time is billable at $150-$200 an hour, and it takes a few hours to create packaging for a client that fits right, I don’t want to diddle around with lining up box edges. There’s a few very generic box maker URLs you can go to, but this is really for custom shapes.
Good point. I’m definitely going to be considering the purchase!