Swimming pool shadow box SVG
A swimming pool on a summer day: palms behind, a water slide and the lifeguard’s high chair under its sunshade, a diving board over the water with a swimmer on the starting block, and a sun lounger, a parasol and a beach ball on the poolside. 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.
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 “Sea” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 5, “Poolside”, the slowest: at 0.9 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Poolside”, fills the most of the view, 29% 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 | 31% |
| 2. Palms | Flat ground, with: Three palm trees, Straight palm tree silhouette and Round tree silhouette | 1.5 mm | 13% |
| 3. Slide and lifeguard chair | Flat ground, with: Pool water slide and Lifeguard chair by the pool | 1.7 mm | 12% |
| 4. Pool | Waves, with: Pool diving board and Swimmer silhouette on the starting block | over 2 mm | 13% |
| 5. Poolside | Flat ground, with: Beach lounge chair with a sun hat, Umbrella silhouette and Plain disc | 0.9 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 | 0.7 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.9 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.9 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 1 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 1.1 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
The water is the fourth sheet: cut it in the brightest blue you have and the rest in pale blues and white, and it reads as a pool at once. The slide, the chair and the diving board all stand on their sheets, so nothing hangs on a thread. The rungs of the ladder on the slide and the frame of the lounger are the finest cutting, at about 1 to 1.7 mm at 8 inches.
- 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
Is it suitable for a swimmer or a swimming teacher?
Yes. Write the name of the club, a personal best or the date of a first length on the bottom border. The swimmer on the block can be swapped in the maker for a lifeguard from Figures.
Can I take the slide out?
Yes. Select it in the maker and choose Remove, or choose Swap and put a palm or a second chair in its place. The pool and the diving board stay where they are.
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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