Volcano island shadow box SVG
A volcano smoking over a tropical island at sunset, with palms on its shore, a far island against the sun, a paddler in a canoe in the bay, a hut on stilts at the water’s edge and a palm leaning over the sand 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 6, “Sand and palm”, the slowest: at 0.7 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Sand and palm”, fills the most of the view, 30% 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 | 24% |
| 2. Far island and birds | Waves, with: Island silhouette with two palms, Flying bird with raised wings and Swallow in flight | 0.9 mm | 6% |
| 3. Volcano | Waves, with: Volcano island with smoke | over 2 mm | 16% |
| 4. Canoe | Waves, with: Kayak silhouette on the water | 1.8 mm | 8% |
| 5. Hut on the shore | Waves, with: Island with a hut on stilts | 1.9 mm | 12% |
| 6. Sand and palm | A gentle slope, with: Leaning palm tree, Walking turtle silhouette, Conch seashell and Bunch of grass | 0.7 mm | 30% |
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 smoke is part of the volcano and joined to the crater, so the whole island lifts off the mat in one piece. In the sunset colours the cone is orange against a yellow sky; for an eruption at night, cut the back sheet in red and light it from behind. The far palms and the two gulls on the second sheet, at about 0.9 mm at 8 inches, and the shell and the leaning palm at the front, at about 0.7 mm, are the fine cutting.
- 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 dinosaurs?
Yes. In the maker choose Add, then Animals: there are eight dinosaurs. Stand a long-neck on the sand at the front and the island becomes a lost world. For a whole valley of them, see the Dinosaur valley scene.
What holds the birds up?
Each hangs from the top of its sheet on a thread of card 1.6 mm wide, which runs straight up to 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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