Baby jungle animals shadow box SVG
Four baby animals in the jungle on a sunny day: the sun over far palms, a baby elephant beside a tall palm, a tiger cub on the slope with a little monkey hanging above it, a leopard cub sitting among ferns, and a fern, a tuft of grass and a small frog at the front. 6 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.
6 sheets at 8 × 8 in, zipped, with a note on putting them together.
Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.
The 6 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 6 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Forest green” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 5, “Leopard cub and ferns”, the slowest: at 0.8 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Fern and frog”, fills the most of the view, 24% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 25% |
| 2. Far palms | Rolling ground, with: Three palm trees and Double palm tree | 1.1 mm | 10% |
| 3. Baby elephant and palm | Rolling ground, with: Baby elephant silhouette and Palm tree with coconuts | over 2 mm | 16% |
| 4. Monkey and tiger cub | Rolling ground, with: Monkey hanging from a branch and Tiger cub | 0.9 mm | 11% |
| 5. Leopard cub and ferns | Rolling ground, with: Leopard cub sitting, Ferns growing in a clump and Fern frond with fifteen pairs of leaflets | 0.8 mm | 10% |
| 6. Fern and frog | A gentle slope, with: Fern silhouette, Small simple frog and Bunch of grass | 1 mm | 24% |
Measured from the files at 8 × 8 in. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.
Will it cut at your size?
The download is 8 × 8 in. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.
| Frame opening | Each sheet | Narrowest part | Depth needed | Fits a 12 × 12 in mat | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 6 in | 152.4 × 152.4 mm | 0.6 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.8 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.8 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 0.9 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 1 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
Made for a nursery. The monkey hangs from the top of its sheet on one thread of card about 1.6 mm wide, joined to the branch it swings from. The baby elephant is a bold shape with nothing under 2 mm at 8 inches. The stripes of the tiger cub and the spots of the leopard cub are cut through, so the sheets behind show in them: the tiger cub’s sheet is about 0.9 mm at its finest and the leopard cub’s about 0.8 mm. The far palms are about 1.1 mm and the fern at the front about 1 mm. Cut it in greens, or give each animal’s sheet a colour of its own.
- Cut all 6 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
- Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
- Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 6.
- Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.
The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 6 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.
The parts, on their own
Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:
Questions
How is this different from the Baby animals and rainbow scene?
This one is a jungle, with palms, ferns and a monkey overhead, and its animals are an elephant, a tiger cub, a leopard cub and a monkey. The Baby animals and rainbow scene has a rainbow and bunting, with a giraffe, an elephant, a lion cub, a hippo and a rabbit.
Can I change the animals?
Yes. Select one in the maker and choose Swap: a lion cub, a baby giraffe, a baby hippo, a baby rhino, a baby panda and a sloth are under Animals.
Can I sell boxes I make with it?
Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.
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