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Separating colors...
Tap or click on the image to add a color to the palette.
(That means that it's going to get better! If you have problems, you can always visit the stable and popular stencil maker at Bay Stencil.)
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.
Crop it so that you have just the details you want most.
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.
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.
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.
Literally everything. Here's a short list.
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It's just going to take a few more seconds to load for the first time.
We're working hard to support all platforms. If it doesn't work for you on this device, then your best bet is to use Chrome on a computer.
Dave
aka the Stencilizer