Ocean cruise shadow box SVG
A cruise ship passing a tropical island, seen from the beach: rocky islets and a palm island on the horizon, the liner in the middle of the bay, a sailing boat nearer in, and a palm, a sunshade and a chair on the sand. 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 10 × 8 in, landscape, 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 “Sea” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 6, “Sand and shells”, the slowest: at 0.7 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Sand and shells”, fills the most of the view, 22% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sun and clouds | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc, Long flat cloud and Fluffy cloud | over 2 mm | 32% |
| 2. Islands | Waves, with: Mountain range silhouette and Palm tree on an island | 1 mm | 5% |
| 3. Cruise ship | Waves, with: Cruise ship with four decks | over 2 mm | 13% |
| 4. Sailing boat | Waves, with: Sailboat silhouette and Flying bird with raised wings | 1.1 mm | 12% |
| 5. Palm and sunshade | A gentle slope, with: Leaning palm tree and Beach chair and umbrella | 1.2 mm | 12% |
| 6. Sand and shells | A gentle slope, with: Scallop seashell, Starfish silhouette, Crab silhouette and Bunch of grass | 0.7 mm | 22% |
Measured from the files at 10 × 8 in, landscape. 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 10 × 8 in, landscape. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 8 in, landscape | 254 × 203.2 mm | 0.7 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 ship has rows of small portholes and rails, so cut its sheet slowly and weed the windows before you lift the sheet. Cut the ship in white and the sea in blues, and it stands out as it would on a postcard.
- 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 add the name of our ship or the year?
Not in the maker yet. Cut the name and the date from a lettering design in the library and glue them to the front border, which is 12 mm wide at this size.
Can I use it for holiday keepsakes?
Yes. Leave out the front sheet and there is a strip of space behind the glass, along the bottom, for sand, small shells or a folded ticket.
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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