Point thickness and height on a cutting rule

Two dimensions, two separate decisions

Points and height are not interchangeable. The point value sets the thickness of the cut line, and therefore how close two contours can sit. Height sets the cutting depth, the ejection rubber choice and how far the rule enters the material.

One job can want a thin point and a tall rule; the next wants the opposite. That is why a quotation states both dimensions separately instead of a single shorthand number.

How the point scale reads

Points are the trade unit for rule thickness, and the market quotes them in millimetres:

• 1.5 point — roughly 0.53 mm
• 2 point — 0.71 mm
• 3 point — 1.07 mm
• 4 point — 1.42 mm

A thin point lets contours sit close together, which is why narrow label and barcode work prefers it. A heavier point comes up on thicker stock and on more demanding cut lines. The choice is not simply "thinner is better" — the material and the geometry of the cut line are read together.

What drives the height

Height is decided together with material thickness, cut type and the ejection rubber plan. In kiss-cut work the rule must not cut the liner, so height and rubber are calculated together; in through cutting the part is expected to separate completely.

How height is derived from the material is walked through in the guide on rule height and steel rule selection.

Example: the barcode cutting rule

The most common example of the two dimensions read together is the barcode cutting rule: 12 mm height, 1.5 point thickness. The trade shortens this to “a 12”, and that 12 is the height — not a count of labels on a sheet.

The name, use and optional titanium edge coating of that rule are covered on the 12 mm barcode cutting rule page.

One die carries more than one specification

A die does not hold cutting rule alone: creasing rule, perforating rule and cutting rule sit in the same plywood at different heights and thicknesses. Creasing rule does not cut — it leaves a fold impression — so its height differs from the cutting rule.

If the order does not say which dimension belongs to which line, the workshop has to infer it from the drawing. Marking cut, crease and perforation lines separately removes that guesswork.

How to write both dimensions in a quotation

The shorter the notation, the less room for misreading.

• Height in mm: “12 mm height”
• Thickness in points: “1.5 point”
• Which line it belongs to: cutting / creasing / perforating
• Material and thickness, cut type (through cut / kiss cut)
• Ejection rubber expectation on its own line
• Any edge-coating request on its own line