Free shadow box template

Paramedic and ambulance shadow box SVG

A paramedic standing beside the ambulance with a kit bag in hand, the hospital with its cross behind, the city beyond it under the moon, and a street lamp and a bench on the pavement at the front. 5 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.

Paramedic and ambulance shadow box: 5 layered sheets seen from the front

Download the SVG files

5 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 5 sheets

Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 5 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 “Blue dusk” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 5, “Pavement”, the slowest: at 1.1 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Pavement”, fills the most of the view, 29% of it.

Sheet	What is on it	Narrowest part	Seen from the front
1. Moon and stars	A whole sheet with holes for: 8 × Plain disc	over 2 mm	33%
2. City	Flat ground, with: Five skyline buildings in a row and Office building for a skyline	1.4 mm	11%
3. Hospital	Flat ground, with: Hospital building with a cross	over 2 mm	11%
4. Ambulance and paramedic	Flat ground, with: EMT silhouette with an ambulance	over 2 mm	15%
5. Pavement	Flat ground, with: Lantern on a lamp post, Park bench with a slatted back and Round tree silhouette	1.1 mm	29%

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	0.8 mm	17 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
20 × 20 cm	200 × 200 mm	1.1 mm	17 mm	Yes	Cuts easily
8 × 8 in	203.2 × 203.2 mm	1.1 mm	17 mm	Yes	Cuts easily
23 × 23 cm	230 × 230 mm	1.2 mm	17 mm	Yes	Cuts easily
25 × 25 cm	250 × 250 mm	1.4 mm	17 mm	Yes	Cuts easily

Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.

Making this one

Made as a gift for a paramedic or an ambulance crew. It is sturdy: nothing is under 1 mm at 8 inches, and the street lamp and the bench on the front sheet are the finest parts. In white card with a light behind, the hospital windows become lit windows on a night shift.

Cut all 5 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 5.
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 5 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 a name, a station or a call sign?

Not inside the maker yet. Cut it from the lettering in the library and glue it to the bottom border, or write it on the side of the ambulance by hand.

Is the ambulance a real model?

No. It is an invented vehicle, drawn for cutting, with no badge or livery of any service, so it can stand for any crew.

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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