Zombie graveyard shadow box SVG
A graveyard at midnight: an old church on the far hill under the moon, tall iron gates, two zombies walking out between the headstones and a hand reaching up from a grave in 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 “Forest green” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 6, “Long grass”, the slowest: at 0.7 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Long grass”, fills the most of the view, 26% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Moon | A whole sheet with holes for: 6 × Plain disc | over 2 mm | 22% |
| 2. Church on the hill | Rolling ground, with: Old stone church with a square tower and Bare tree with even branches | 0.8 mm | 10% |
| 3. Iron gates | Rolling ground, with: Iron fence gates with spear tops | 1.1 mm | 14% |
| 4. Zombies and bats | Rolling ground, with: 2 × Shambling zombie silhouette, Wide bat for banners and Classic bat with spread wings | 1 mm | 9% |
| 5. Headstones | Rolling ground, with: Tombstone with a crack, Zombie arm rising from the ground, Three tombstones in a row and Bare tree with even branches | 1.4 mm | 12% |
| 6. Long grass | A gentle slope, with: Grass silhouette, Bunch of grass, Gothic tombstone with a pointed top and Tall grass with seed heads | 0.7 mm | 26% |
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
Cut it in greens from pale to almost black for a sickly light, or in black over orange for Halloween. The iron gates have the most fine cutting, so do that sheet first; the zombies and headstones are solid shapes that cut cleanly at any size.
- 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:
- Old stone church with a square tower
- Bare tree with even branches
- Iron fence gates with spear tops
- Shambling zombie silhouette
- Wide bat for banners
- Classic bat with spread wings
- Tombstone with a crack
- Zombie arm rising from the ground
- Three tombstones in a row
- Grass silhouette
- Bunch of grass
- Gothic tombstone with a pointed top
- Tall grass with seed heads
Questions
Is it too frightening for children?
It is a cartoon graveyard: the zombies are plain silhouettes with no detail. For a gentler scene, swap them in the maker for ghosts or dancing skeletons, which are under Figures.
How do the bats stay up?
Each hangs from the top of its sheet on a thread of card 1.6 mm wide, which is hard to see once the box is closed.
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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