Silhouette cutout

Turn a photo into a detailed silhouette: one sheet of cut paper over a contrasting backing.

Photo of a golden shaded cat looking up under palm leaves — Your photo

The same scene redrawn as a red silhouette cutout on white — The style, made with an AI image tool

The red papercut cat cut from paper, framed and standing on a wooden desk — Cut from 3 sheets (room mockup)

Best for: Anything with a clear outline: pets, people, plants
Sheets: 2, sometimes one more to hold loose pieces
Finished size: 150 mm, 6 mm border
Needs: An AI that makes images, such as ChatGPT or Gemini

STEP 1

Pick a photo

A subject with a clear outline against its background
Good light, so the main shapes are easy to read
Busy backgrounds are fine: leaves and patterns turn into cut-out shapes
Keep the subject large. Small details are lost when they become paper

STEP 2

Turn it into the style

Use ChatGPT, Gemini or any other AI that can make images.

Prompt + your photo

Prompt

Copy the prompt
Attach your photo
Paste the prompt and send

Redesign the attached image as a single-layer papercut stencil.
Keep the EXACT original canvas size, aspect ratio, framing, crop, and composition. Do not resize, extend, crop, zoom, or reframe the image.
Use exactly two flat colors:
red = paper remains,
pure white = cut away.
Use one single, uniform solid red for all remaining paper areas. Do not use black, dark red, multiple shades of red, or any additional colors.
Preserve the original subject, pose, placement, proportions, and recognizable features, but simplify aggressively into a few large, bold, smooth shapes.
Merge texture and small details into large masses. Use only a few essential internal cutouts.
The red paper must form one connected, physically cuttable piece. Avoid floating islands, tiny holes, thin slivers, fragile bridges, and fine lines. If a detail cannot survive as a strong shape, remove it.
Use silhouette and large positive/negative shapes rather than outlines or texture.
No gradients, shading, texture, transparency, or fine linework.
The result must contain ONLY:
one flat solid red
and pure white.
Bold, minimal, clean, recognizable, physically cuttable, and SVG-friendly.

STEP 3

Generate the layers

Drop the new picture into the generator. It opens with the recommended settings for this style, and you can still change them:

2 colors
Width 150 mm
6 mm border
Dark color in front

Open the generator with these settings

One sheet is cut and one sits behind it. Any two colors with strong contrast work, like the red on white and navy on white below. Try other pairs in the editor before you cut.

Made in this style

Golden shaded cat under palm leaves, silhouette cutout — Golden shaded cat under palm leaves

Girl with a Pearl Earring, after Vermeer, in navy and white, silhouette cutout — Girl with a Pearl Earring, after Vermeer, in navy and white

A hiker looking out over a mountain lake, silhouette cutout — A hiker looking out over a mountain lake

If it doesn't come out right

The picture depends a lot on the AI you use. The same prompt can come out quite differently in different tools, or even twice in the same one, so it is worth asking again or trying another tool.

Pieces would fall out: Parts that float free of the sheet need support. The generator adds a sheet to hold them, or you can ask the AI to keep every red area connected.
Too many thin strokes: Fine fur lines and whiskers are hard to cut. Ask for fewer, bolder shapes and no fine lines.
It came out in more than two colors: Ask again for one flat red and pure white only, with no darker reds or extra colors.
It doesn't look like the photo: Use a photo where the subject is large and clearly outlined, and say what the subject is in your message.

Clean it up in the free editorRemove stray specks, merge sheets, adjust bridges Want the whole photo instead? →Color block: landscapes, people, or a pet with its surroundings