To create a stencil from a photo, every part of the picture has to become one of two things: paint or no paint. Gray tones have to pick a side. Any piece that would drop out when you cut it needs a thin strip holding it in place.
This guide walks through those decisions using our free Stencil Maker. On November 3, 2026, we read the tool's code and worked out what its settings do at real print sizes, so the numbers below come from that code. We have not cut these stencils in a workshop, and we say so where it matters. Use your own photos, or images you have the rights to.
Everyone says to pick a high-contrast photo. It helps more to know how color turns into gray, because the tool makes that conversion before anything else.
The browser preview weights green most heavily, then red, with blue far behind. Worked out on a 0 to 255 scale, pure green lands at 182, pure red at 54 and pure blue at 18. At the default threshold of 128, a bright green shirt disappears, while red and blue shirts both become solid cut-outs.
So a person in a blue jacket against a dark red wall may melt into one black shape, even though the colors look nothing alike. A good stencil photo has one subject, light from one side and a background much lighter or darker than the subject. Portraits, pets, logos you own and silhouettes all suit this.
- Open the Stencil Maker and upload a JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC file. It needs to be at least 256 pixels on each side. The preview runs in your browser, is free and needs no account.
- Move the Threshold slider. It runs from 20 to 235 and starts at 128. Anything darker than that number becomes a cut-out, so moving it right adds more black.
- Move the Smoothing slider, which runs from 0 to 3 and starts at 1. Higher values blur the photo first, which gives you simpler shapes that are easier to cut.
- Choose 1, 2 or 3 layers. Start with 1 until you like the shapes.
- Leave Bridges on. It is on by default, and you should only turn it off if you have a reason.
- Try Invert if the result looks like a photo negative of what you wanted. It swaps the cut-out and the sheet.
- Choose a print size: 1 sheet, 2 × 2 sheets or 3 × 3 sheets.
- Press download. You need a free account for this step, and the download itself is free. You get a PNG, an SVG and a tiled PDF to print.
A bridge is a thin strip that ties a floating piece to the rest of the sheet. The center of an "O" is the classic case, and the pupil of an eye is another. Without a bridge, those pieces fall out when you cut.
The tool draws each bridge as one straight strip along a short path to sheet that is already held in place. It handles the largest islands first, up to 400 per layer. A very busy photo could go past that limit, so check the small areas in the preview. Raising Smoothing simplifies the shapes, which leaves fewer tiny islands.
Bridges leave a visible gap in the paint. If one crosses a face, you can touch up the gap with a small brush once the stencil is off.
Bridge width and speck removal are both set as a fraction of the picture's long edge. The tool removes any blob smaller than a square about 1/90 of the long edge wide. Bridges are about 1/160 of the long edge wide. That means a small print gets thin bridges, and enlarging the print thickens them.
Here is the arithmetic for a portrait photo with a 3:4 shape, using the tool's half-inch margins and US Letter sheets:
| Print size | Finished stencil | Bridge width | Smallest shape kept |
|---|
| 1 sheet | 7.3 × 9.75 in | about 1.5 mm | about 2.8 mm wide |
| 2 × 2 sheets | 14.6 × 19.5 in | about 3.1 mm | about 5.5 mm wide |
| 3 × 3 sheets | 21.9 × 29.25 in | about 4.6 mm | about 8.3 mm wide |
A 1.5 mm strip of cardstock is easy to tear, so on a single sheet use simple shapes and treat the stencil as a one-time tool. For a reusable stencil or a wall, go up a size. The tiled PDF prints each page with its row and column in small gray text at the bottom. The picture stops at the half-inch margin on each sheet, so trim those margins before you tape the sheets together.
Two or three layers split the photo into tones, and you get a separate file for each one. The cut-off for each layer comes from your threshold. With the default of 128, three layers cut at about 58, 92 and 128. Two layers cut at about 77 and 128.
Those numbers tell you the order. Layer 1 holds only the darkest parts of the picture, and the last layer holds everything darker than your threshold, so the last layer is the largest.
- Spray the last layer first, in your lightest color.
- Let it dry, then spray the middle layer in a darker color, if you have three.
- Finish with Layer 1 in your darkest color.
The files do not include alignment marks, so you need your own way to line up the layers. Cut every layer from sheets of the same size and leave the outer edges uncut. Tape a guide on your surface along one corner, and set each sheet into that same corner.
For hand cutting, print the PDF and tape it to your material. Cardstock suits a single use, and plastic or mylar sheets suit repeated use. Cut with a sharp craft knife on a cutting mat, and pull the knife toward you with your other hand well clear of the blade.
For a cutting machine, use the SVG. The code writes the real size in inches into the file and removes the outline stroke, so only filled shapes remain. It is built for machines such as Cricut and Silhouette, but we have not tested it in their software yet. After you import it, check the size and cut lines, and do a test cut on scrap first.
If you want an outline to trace or color rather than solid shapes, use Photo to Line Art. For a page a child can color, read how to turn a picture into a coloring page.
Other online options work differently. Fotor's stencil maker page describes an AI tool with a prompt field and free credits, and lists JPG and PNG downloads. That page does not mention bridges, layers or SVG, so check for those if you plan to cut the result.
Yes. The preview is free and needs no account. Downloading the PNG, SVG and PDF needs a free account and uses no credits.
No. It runs a fixed series of image steps: blur, threshold, speck removal and bridges. The same photo and settings give you the same stencil.
With a 3:4 photo on US Letter, up to about 21.9 × 29.25 inches on nine sheets. For anything larger, enlarge the SVG in your own design software and test the fit before you cut.
Those parts are lighter than your threshold, or too small to keep. Move the slider toward More black, or lower Smoothing to keep finer detail.
Yes, for a template you trace onto cardstock or plastic. Regular paper alone tends to soak through and buckle under paint.
Last checked November 3, 2026.
