Fishing lake shadow box SVG
A bass leaping out of a lake at sunrise, with far peaks and a cabin among the pines on the far shore, an empty canoe drifting, a duck on the water and a frog among the bulrushes 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 “Sunset” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 3, “Far shore”, the slowest: at 0.7 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Reeds”, fills the most of the view, 27% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Rising sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 28% |
| 2. Far peaks | A mountain range | over 2 mm | 5% |
| 3. Far shore | Rolling ground, with: Pine forest on a hill and Cabin silhouette in the pines | 0.7 mm | 11% |
| 4. Leaping bass | Waves, with: Bass fish silhouette | 1.8 mm | 12% |
| 5. Canoe | Waves, with: Canoe with a paddle and Mallard duck standing | 0.8 mm | 9% |
| 6. Reeds | A gentle slope, with: 2 × Pond grass with cattails, Frog silhouette and Bunch of grass | 0.9 mm | 27% |
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
The fish is the picture, so give its sheet a colour of its own, dark against the rising sun. It joins its sheet where its tail meets the water, and nothing on that sheet is under 1.8 mm at 8 inches. Nothing hangs on a thread. The far shore, with its pines and cabin, is the finest cutting, at about 0.7 mm.
- 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 fish?
Yes. Select it in the maker and choose Swap: the other fish are under Sea life. Keep its tail overlapping the water, and the check tells you if it would fall out of the sheet.
Is there a fisherman?
No. There is no angler among the parts yet. The empty canoe leaves room for one: cut a small figure of your own and glue it in, or fix a real fly or lure to the foot of the frame.
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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