Farmyard shadow box SVG
A farm on a summer morning: a windmill on the far hill, a barn with its silo, a tractor in the yard, cows in the meadow behind a picket fence and a hen with her chicks among sunflowers 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 4, “Tractor”, the slowest: at 0.7 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Hen and sunflowers”, fills the most of the view, 28% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc, Fluffy cloud and Long flat cloud | over 2 mm | 28% |
| 2. Far hill and windmill | Rolling ground, with: Dutch windmill, Round tree silhouette and Oak tree with a broad crown | 0.9 mm | 8% |
| 3. Barn | Rolling ground, with: Barn with a silo and Oak tree with a broad crown | 1.2 mm | 14% |
| 4. Tractor | Rolling ground, with: Tractor from the side and Wheat field border | 0.7 mm | 8% |
| 5. Cows and fence | Rolling ground, with: Dairy cow with patches, Grazing cow silhouette and Picket fence with pointed tops | over 2 mm | 12% |
| 6. Hen and sunflowers | A gentle slope, with: Sunflower silhouette, Chicken hen and chicks, Three sunflowers on stems and Bunch of grass | 0.9 mm | 28% |
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 | 0.5 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Too fine: choose a larger size |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.7 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.7 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 0.8 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 0.9 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
Cut the barn sheet in red and the rest in greens and the farm reads from across a room. The finest cuts are in the wheat beside the tractor and in the windmill sails, a little under 1 mm; the animals and the barn are solid and easy.
- 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
Can I change the animals?
Yes. Select one in the maker and choose Swap: horses, pigs, sheep, goats, a rooster and a turkey are under Animals, all drawn to stand on the same ground.
Is it suitable for a nursery?
Yes. It has no small loose parts once it is framed behind glass or acrylic, and the animals are big, simple shapes a small child can name.
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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