KerfPress

Free online tool

Turn an SVG into a shadow box

Most colored SVGs, including AI vector art and the layered SVGs sold for Cricut, are built by stacking solid shapes. A shadow box needs each layer as a full sheet with holes. Drop in your SVG and KerfPress rebuilds it that way, in the file's own colors.

How it works

  1. Drop in your SVG. Art from an AI vector tool, a layered file from a design shop, or any drawing in flat colors.
  2. Each color becomes a sheet. The generator reads the colors in the file instead of guessing them, cuts every sheet so the ones behind show through, and adds bridges for pieces that would fall out. Max colors starts at the file's own count; lower it to merge the closest colors and use fewer sheets.
  3. Check, then download. Look at the stack in 3D, fine-tune any layer in the editor, and download the sheets as SVG or PNG.

Stacked shapes or cut sheets

In a stacked SVG the face is drawn over the head, the eyes over the face, and so on. On screen it looks finished. Cut it as it is and you get a solid head, a solid face and two loose eyes. That works for layers glued on top of each other, but not in a frame, where every sheet is the full size of the frame and holds its shapes in place.

A shadow box layer is the opposite: a full sheet with holes where the layers behind should show. KerfPress works out those holes from what is visible at each point of your design, so the finished stack looks like the drawing you started with.

Questions

Which files work?

SVGs drawn with filled shapes: art from AI vector tools such as Recraft, layered files from design shops, and drawings in flat colors. Outlines thick enough to cut count as color. An SVG that only wraps a picture is treated like a photo.

What if my file only has cut lines?

A file of thin lines has no colors to read, so it can't say which parts are paper. KerfPress offers to open it in the editor instead, where you choose paper or holes for each layer.

Will my colors change?

No. Each sheet takes a color from your file. If you lower Max colors, the closest colors are merged and the one that covers more of the design is kept. A gradient becomes one flat color, the average of its stops.

Is it free?

Generating, previewing and editing are free and need no account. Downloading the sheets uses your free allowance, a single download or a subscription. See Pricing.

Is my file uploaded?

No. It opens in the generator in your own browser, and the work happens there.