Western ranch shadow box SVG
A ranch out west in the evening: bare hills and a low sun, a wind pump and a barn on the rise, a horse at the gallop with a mare and her foal, a rail fence along the track and a tall cactus at the gate. 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 “Sunset” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 2, “Bare hills”, the slowest: at 1.1 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Grass”, fills the most of the view, 23% 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. Bare hills | A mountain range, with: Flying eagle from the side | 1.1 mm | 8% |
| 3. Wind pump and barn | Rolling ground, with: Farm windmill on a tower, Simple barn for children and Cactus silhouette | 1.2 mm | 11% |
| 4. Horses | Rolling ground, with: Running horse and Mare and foal horses | over 2 mm | 10% |
| 5. Rail fence | A gentle slope, with: 2 × Horse fence with crossed rails and Saguaro cactus with two arms | over 2 mm | 13% |
| 6. Grass | A gentle slope, with: Bunch of grass, Ball cactus with a flower and Grass silhouette | 1.1 mm | 23% |
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 | 1.1 mm | 20 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 wind pump has the finest cutting, in the lattice of its tower and the blades of its wheel: cut that sheet slowly, at 10 by 8 inches or larger. The horses, the fence and the cacti are sturdy shapes and suit thick card.
- 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 use cattle in place of the horses?
Yes. Select a horse in the maker and choose Swap: a bull, a cow and calf, a bison and a highland cow are all under Animals and stand on the same ground.
Can I make it a night scene?
Yes. In the maker, shrink the sun on the back sheet to the size of a moon, add a few stars from Sky and change the colours to Blue dusk.
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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