Loading image...
Separating colors...
This is alpha.
(That means that it's going to get better!)
Start with an image and turn it into a multi-layer stencil pattern than you can cut by hand or on a craft or laser cutter.
1. Select an Image
Crop it so that you have just the details you want most.
2. Separate the Colors
Change the sharpness of the image by sliding the 'Detail' slider to the left. The best stencils have just a few recognizable details. Super-detailed stencils are hard to cut and paint!
You can switch back and forth between grayscale and color. A set of default grays and colors is chosen for you, but you can add or subtract as many colors as you like.
Pick the colors and move the sliders to make that color take up more of the image, or less. You can add colors that are missing. The more colors, the more detail you get. Just keep in mind that three is already a lot of work to cut and paint. Use as few colors as you can.
Add a color. When you click 'Add', the original image appears, and you select a new color by clicking on the color you want in the image.
Adjust each color. If you want the color to 'take over' more of the image, move the slider to the right for that color.
3. Bridge the Stencils
Watch as the stencils are bridged. This can take minutes for complex images. This is where your browser might bog down a little. Keep a stiff upper lip! And check the caveats below...
View all the stencil layers, and download the ones you need. Clicking download gives you the svg (Scalable Vector Graphic) which you can use with any craft cutter worth its salt (Cricut, Silhouette, Brother). Or you can right-click on the image to print or download it for cutting by hand.
Advanced bridging. If you want an extra-stable stencil, you can add more bridges (in the final painting, you will also see more bridges). Also, you can make the bridges wider or narrower, depending on your material and the machine you use to cut.
4. Cut and Paint
Preview the way the stencil will look on the surface after it is painted. This helps you decide what color the surface should be. If the surface color cannot be changed, then you should look for a combination of an image and an already-painted surface color that go together.
Here is an example of a bad choice for a surface color. The orange paint appears as a large block, and the places covered by the bridges show up in the bright blue-white of the surface.
What could go wrong?
Literally everything. Here's a short list.
- Browser freezes up. If you try for too much detail, or if your computer or phone is slow then your browser might get really slow to respond. Just close the browser tab.
- Can't close the browser tab. Kill your browser and start it again. Sorry!
- Browser keeps reloading the page. Argh. This may happen on iPhones with low memory. Best bet is to try on your desktop.
- Bridging looks wrong. Tell me about it! I'm really interested. Send a picture.
- Your usability sucks. Yes! This is alpha software, the interface isn't final, and I'm interested to hear what you think. send feedback
- I can't use the files. What's wrong? What application do you use for SVG? What are you trying to do with them? Send me a description of your problem, and I'll get on it.
- I really want to try this, but my browser freezes.You can get your browser to use a lower resolution image by accessing the site through one of these URLs instead:
- I want to try the highest resolution.Go ahead: melt your computer!
- 500k image (warming up)
- 1000k image (hot metal)
- 2000k image (puddle of metal where your computer used to be)
- (You probably figured out from the URLs above that you can set the resolution to anything you like.)
