The quality of your 3D box shot images and effectiveness of your work much depend upon the capabilities of your box shot making software. We listed just a few of factors that you should be aware when comparing software tools for creating 3D boxshot.

Quality of 3D models and image rendering

Besides other factors the most important one is quality of the output 3D image. This depends upon the 3D rendering algorithms of the software. Many boxshot making programs simply join 3 sides of the box together and consider this is enough. This primitive approach makes final sides to look crappy. Good box shot makers carefully process 3D models like a set of polygons and can render hi-res antialiased graphics with clean folding edges which look really neat both on computer screen and in printed documents. Just look at the image bellow.

Variety of basic 3D objects

When you design a 3D box shot you actually apply or map a texture image to a 3D object which serves as a skeleton. A good 3d box shot making tool should have a collection of many 3D objects that includes at least the following shapes: classic and vista style boxes, book cover, CD, DVD case, screenshot, and member card. Other shapes would be a great benefit while the listed ones completely suit an average software developer's needs.

High resolution images

If you have ever dealt with paper magazines then you definitely know that journalists and editors of IT press usually ask for hi-res graphics - logo, screenshots and box image - to insert them into their articles or reviews about your software. The defacto standard is 300 dpi, i.e. if your actual (72 dpi) box shot image's height is 400 pixels then you must create an image of about 1600 pixels (400 pixels * 300 DPI / 72 DPI) tall for printing. Only a well designed box shot creator can do high resolution images with big DPI not affecting the quality of rendering.

Box shot design templates

Honestly, there is a big problem that many 3D box shot software vendors prefer to keep silent about - 99% of boxshot makers can only render 3D boxes from existing images. So, initially, you have to draw box shot side images yourself in the expensive Photoshop or Corel Draw or pay dollars to a professional designer and only then render 3D box in the specialized utility.

That's why we recommend you to choose a boxshot making software which has wide scalable collection of templates. Typically people with zero or low design skills never get beyond using the templates. Even if you have zero skills in graphical design you actually will be able to make a good box in several minutes. With templates the process will be easy as 'Choose template' - 'Type in product info' - 'Make small optional adjustments' - 'Render'.

Getting started quickly

As soon as we've mentioned users with zero design skills who want to start with preset 3D box shot design templates, we can go even further. If you hesitate to dive into 3D design magic then look for solutions that have Wizard function. The Wizard will gently guide you through the process of 3D box shot design step by step.

Easy positioning of 3D box model

While almost every boxshot making utility allows to rotate and zoom in\out 3D models with sliders you may quickly lose the perception of where the Y or Z axis currently are and what will happen if you rotate the box 36 degrees about X axis.
It's very convenient if along with traditional slider-based positioning interface the box shot making software have an alternative way of rotating, moving and zooming the 3D box model - interactively, with mouse.

3D effects: Lighting

3D effects are very important for creating photo-realistic box shot images. Directional lighting is just a basic technique that helps to create 3D feeling for 2D image. But to make the image looking exceptionally real we need to use a top-notch ray tracing algorithms and specular lighting.

3D effects: Reflection

Another important 3D effect that is very popular in epoch of Web 2.0 is reflection or "wet floor effect". Unlike a standard "reflection" (and the Java "water" effect popular in first-generation web graphics), the wet floor reflection effect involves a gradient and often a slant in the reflection, so that the mirrored box shot appears to be hovering over or resting on a "wet surface". Check if your box shot making software supports this modern effect.

3D effects: Shadow

Many people think that dropping 3D shadows is a trivial task. You may be surprised with a fact that creating proper shadow effect is one of the most complicated parts in 3D box rendering algorithms.

Just compare the shadows produced by different boxshot making programs and you will know what you should pay attention to when selecting a boxshot tool.

2D image editor

Let's back again to the main problem of 3D box shot making: 99% of boxshot makers can only render 3D boxes from existing images which you have to initially draw in a third-party image editor. Not every user can quickly draw a good image in professional package like Photoshop or Illustrator and then seamlessly slice them into box side images.
Having a 2D image editor right in your boxshot maker is a great benefit because you will be able to create your 3D box shot or cover design in a single flat worksheet. You will say goodbye to separate designs for each side. No more design slices in many image files. With the single-sheet concept you can edit all box sides on a single screen while the real time 3D preview immediately shows how your 3D cover output image looks like without switching between different windows or applications.

2D image editor : design objects and shapes

The built in image editor must not be just another primitive MS Paint. It must be function-rich but easy to use as we don't need another Photoshop also. Just look at any box shot samples from different software vendors and you will discover that their designs are made mainly from geometric shapes (lines, rectangle boxes, curves, circles, arcs), text labels and bitmap images (logos, photos, screenshots). That's why a good box shot image editor also must allow you to quickly create your boxshot design mockup from those shapes, bitmaps and text labels.

2D image editor : 2D effects

The design shapes will help you to quickly sketch the design of your box cover. In the same time, an ability to quickly apply various visual effects to those elements will help you make your box shot design really neat.

2D image editor : Clipart

Adding vector images and common signs (DVD format logos, barcodes, recycle signs, etc) to your software box cover will make it looking ultimately real and original. If your box shot making tool includes a preset collection of vector (scalable) shapes and clipart that's a big time and money saver.

This is just a few factors that are very important for creating professional 3D box shots for software products. We could continue this list infinitely telling you about various graphical algorithms, methods of interpolation, filters, image formats, 3D model structure, secrets of lightening and ray tracing, and so on ... and so on ...
We know this science perfectly as it's our job. But you have not to learn this also because we've already made a hands-down tool for you. It incorporates all our knowledge and many years experience.

TBS Cover Editor - a professional tool for creating high quality 3D box shots, with huge collection of free design templates and shapes, and with built-in image editor