Fold-Out Paper Shadowbox

[JoWatts]

The course An Introduction to Design through Making provides a hands-on introduction to maker education. Course modules can be found at the link below:

Make to Learn

This forum strand focuses on the fold-out paper shadowbox project.

A shadowbox is a display case with enough depth between its front glass and back panel to hold objects or create a layered scene. Papercraft adapts this principle by holding cut paper panels at different depths in a frame.
The folding shadowbox card is a portable version. Its frames lie flat when closed and separate as you unfold the card.

[Moses (Kumenya)]

I started by downloading elements to bring my composition to life. I downloaded images of a crane and a sunset. To create images for the mountain and the stream, I used the pen tool in Inkscape to draw the path by clicking to place individual nodes on the canvas, then used the “make selected nodes smooth” option. Next, I ran the Trace Bitmap feature on the downloaded images to convert them into vector outlines and saved the output as .svg files.

Project build:

I started a new project in Inkscape and used the rectangle tool to set up a 4x4-inch frame and drew a circle inside it to act as the inner window. Then I aligned the shapes on the vertical and horizontal axes.

Using the Node tool, I broke the paths at the corners of the square frame and deleted the vertical sides, leaving just the top and bottom borders. I then drew two new 1/4-inch rectangles for the tabs, converted them to paths, and snapped them onto the sides. By breaking the paths at the intersection points, I kept the fold lines distinct from the cut lines so our cutting plotter could tell them apart. Finally, I used the Combine command to lock the tabs and horizontal edges together into one template.

To make sure the silhouettes weren’t just floating inside the frames, I overlapped them with our frames and used the Fracture tool. This broke the paths apart at every intersection, allowing me to delete the unwanted pieces outside the borders and merge the crane, river and mountain directly into the frames. After finalizing our designs, I exported each panel as a .dxf file. I made sure to de-select the “Use LWPOLYLINE type of line output” option in the settings and matched the base unit to our workspace so the dimensions would transfer perfectly.

Finally, I loaded the files into silhoutte studio and cut each layer out of different colors of cardstock. By scoring and folding the side margins of the paper, the layers naturally step forward from one another.

[siisaprecious]

Siisa precious & Kuloba Emma

Hello everyone! We wanted to share our Fold-Out Paper Diorama project, which we recently completed in our Innovations class at Hawthorne-Scribner High School.

Our process started with searching online for images. We downloaded a few different images: a leaping antelope, native savanna grass, trees, a glowing sun animated image, and the iconic figure of the Bushman with his bow and arrow from the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy”.

Once we had our images, we brought them into Inkscape to build our frames. We started with a basic 4x4 inch square template and drew an inner circle for our scene window. To make the diorama self-standing, we used the Node tool to break the paths at the corners of the square and deleted the vertical sides, leaving just the top and bottom borders. Then, we drew two 1/4-inch rectangles for side tabs, converted them to paths, and snapped them onto the edges. By keeping the fold lines distinct from the cut lines, we ensured our cutting plotter could tell them apart.

Next, we used the Combine command to lock the tabs and horizontal borders into one template.Next, we brought our downloaded images into the templates. We ran the Trace Bitmap feature to convert our images into clean vector paths. To lock our silhouettes into the frames, we overlapped them with our templates and used the Fracture tool. This broke the paths at every intersection, letting us delete the unwanted rogue pieces outside the borders and cleanly merge our antelope, trees, grass, and bushman directly into their respective frames as layers.After finalizing our designs, we exported each panel as a .dxf file. We made sure to de-select the “Use LWPOLYLINE type of line output” option in the settings and matched the base unit to our workspace so the dimensions would transfer perfectly.

Finally, we loaded the files into Silhouette Studio and sent them to our Portrait 3 die cutter. We chose vibrant colors of cardstock to capture the savanna atmosphere. By carefully scoring and folding the side tabs, the paper layers naturally stepped forward from one another, creating their own built-in depth and support structure.

[Moses (Kumenya)]

To create this layered water buffalo shadowbox, I began in Inkscape by setting up a 4x4-inch frame with a centered circular window. I hand-drew the winding river and mountain paths using the Pen tool, making the nodes smooth for a natural look, and used the Fracture tool to merge these background elements cleanly into the frame structure. For the physical assembly, I designed 1/4-inch side tabs to separate the fold paths from the cut lines so the plotter could differentiate them, before exporting the layers as .dxf files.

The buffalo layer required a custom workflow to capture its detailed coloring. Inside Silhouette Studio, I imported the original high-resolution picture of the buffalo and perfectly aligned it with the vector trace from my .dxf file to prevent any overlap. I then enabled the registration marks under the Page Setup panel and printed the buffalo image onto cardstock using a color printer. After the Silhouette plotter scanned the printed marks and precisely cut the silhouette, I cut the remaining background and foreground layers from solid colored cardstock. Scoring and folding the side margins allowed the finished panels to step forward naturally, creating a beautiful sense of three-dimensional depth.

[ClaireMills]

Claire Mills and Julia Skinner:

East African hippo with a sunset

As we created the illusion of a three-dimensional papercraft shadowbox, we knew we wanted to continue with our hippo scene but add more 3D features to it. We decided that adding clouds and birds to the already established hippo and sunset would allow the dimensionality to shine as well as fill in the overall circle. The colors we chose portray the sunset from our previous project. We intentionally set the hippo as the focal point in front of the other layers to highlight our focus. We had a great time designing this! It was very cool to see the dimensionality come to life!

[GennyHwang]

We (Noreen and Genny) created a folding papercraft shadowbox inspired by our previous 2D collage of Uganda’s landscape with a giraffe silhouette. Each layer of the card represents one component of the original collage, and when assembled, the layers come together to form a complete image. The card folds out in an accordion style, with each frame connected by gluing tabs along the edges.

Although we reused many of the silhouettes from our 2D collage, we had to make several adjustments in order to adapt them to the papercraft format.

Our first challenge was creating the base papercraft frame, which is a square with a hollowed-out circular area that highlights the part of the Ugandan landscape we wanted to feature. This was fairly easy to execute in Inkscape by following the instructions, but sizing proved to be more difficult. We had to carefully adjust the hollowed-out circle so it was large enough to clearly display each landscape element, such as the grass, acacia tree, and giraffe. Because of this limited space, we chose to simplify our design by removing the layers of dirt, and include only one giraffe instead of two.

The most difficult part of the process was ensuring that all landscape elements were securely attached to the papercraft frame. The giraffe and tree were easier to attach because they had clear connection points. The grass, however, was more challenging. We did not want it to curve with the circular opening, as that would disrupt the flat ground effect typical of a Ugandan landscape. To solve this, we placed the individual grass pieces on a flat rectangular base and combined the grass with a flat ground layer.

Lastly, we decided on the order of the layers and the color choices. We arranged the layers so that the smallest elements appeared toward the front, preventing them from being visually overwhelmed by larger background pieces. We kept the same color palette as our original collage, but lightened the shade of green for the grass so it would not blend in with the acacia tree leaves.

Overall, we think the papercraft turned out aesthetically appealing and successfully captured the vision of our original collage, while adding depth through the layered, three-dimensional format. If we were to do this project again, we would consider adding a sun or clouds to make the blue sky feel less plain.

[BillyGanbold]

Crowned Crane Sunset

By: Billy Ganbold and Rocio Pineda

We created a 3D folding paper craft using some inspiration from our 2D project by sticking with the theme of sunsets and grass. However, this time we wanted to add the sun beaming with a single orange background. We also wanted to pivot from using a tiger and tree print out to a crane and vines, so our projects are differentiated from each other. We noticed the more layers we added to our paper craft, the more 3-dimensional it appeared, which is why we chose to go with 5 layers. We ran into a quick error when we printed our first cut out because we forgot to add the dotted line, which allows us to fold and glue each piece together. Luckily, it was a quick fix in Silhouette and we were able to successfully complete our 3-dimensional project.

[JadeAguilera]

East African Leopard

For our folding papercraft shadowbox project, my partner, Yujin Seo, and I decided to build upon our previous work featuring the East African leopard. We were really attached to the original composition, so we chose to stick with the same design while adapting it to fit a three-dimensional format. This transition required several significant adjustments to the structure, specifically because every element of the scene had to be physically attached to the border of the box to remain stable.

To make the depth work without losing the aesthetic of the original image, we had to get creative with our layering. We ended up creating an entirely separate layer for the leopard and the bird. For the leopard specifically, we designed a smaller, secondary branch that remained hidden directly behind the primary branch. By attaching the leopard to this smaller support, we were able to layer the pieces so that it still appeared to be lounging naturally on the main tree limb, just as it did in our initial 2D design.

The digital preparation for this project was the most challenging phase, as we ran into numerous technical issues within Inkscape. We spent a significant portion of our time struggling with the scaling and layering of the images to ensure everything would line up once cut. Despite these frustrations with the software, seeing the finished product come together was incredibly rewarding. The final shadowbox has a charming, nostalgic quality that reminds us of the layered illustrations in the children’s books we grew up with.

[AnnalisePadilla]

Kennedy and I first created a 2D collage of two African Bush Elephants and one Lilac-breasted Roller bird.

Next, we created a 3D folding collage, which was a new version of our 2D paper collage of our two African Busch Elephants and Lilac-breasted Roller bird. Instead of putting two elephants we chose to use one to highlight the elephant’s figure. We also decided to highlight the bird and baobab tree by making them bigger. It was definitely more of a challenge to create our 3D folding collage because of the folding part, but once we understood that the papers folded like an accordion/a zigzag pattern the process flew by!

-Annalise

[Moses (Kumenya)]

“Buffalo at the Waterhole” Fold-Out Shadowbox

Building on the original flat paper collage, I adapted the buffalo scene into a fold-out circular shadowbox to give the piece a sense of depth and dimension. I started in Sangala Studio by taking the traced elements from the original collage — the buffalo, trees, grass, and hillside shapes — and reworking them to fit within the shadowbox circular frame design.

I designed the shadowbox as a series of nested rings and layers: an outer square card base in lavender-gray cardstock, followed by concentric circular borders in turquoise, gray, and tan to frame the scene and create a tunnel-like sense of depth as the eye moves inward. Within the circle, I layered the interior elements — a pale blue sky background, purple acacia trees at varying depths, a tan hillside, and grass tufts — each cut separately and staggered front to back to create dimensionality when viewed from an angle.

The buffalo itself was resized and repositioned to sit centrally within the circular window, cut from a soft cream/white cardstock so it stands out clearly against the layered backdrop behind it.

Each shape was sent individually to the die cutter and cut from its respective cardstock color, then assembled by layering and gluing the pieces in sequence — background first, then midground elements like the trees and hills, then foreground grass, and finally the buffalo — building up the scene with enough spacing between layers to create a real sense of depth within the circular opening.

[JoeDaniels (Joe D)]

Dylan and I mostly kept our original design, just moving each element into a position that made sense for the new format. To fabricate, we made a “master template” with each layer included, then deleted all but one layer. Here is our master template:

While fabricating, we had the idea to have a multi-layered background. We applied the same principle, with a master template:

Now for our final product. We thought that adding a blank first layer to act as a cover would make it look more refined:

On the carabao layer sits the boy and plow, both glued on. We did this as one layer to reduce the layer count and to make sure they lined up in the way we wanted. Our clouds sit on seperate layers, however, in an attempt to add some distance between them. Overall, we are very happy with our product.

-Joe & Dylan

[nheny (NatashaHeny)]

I wanted to share the result (this shadow box) of the “extras” that Eli and I worked with as we collaborated on a design. I found the way we collaborated on the project to be worth talking about because there are so many challenges to working on an artistic project with a partner. We both wanted to learn how to use Sangala Studio and the die cutter, so we worked in tandem creating images that we could ultimately glue together–for example, in our “real” version (the one that ELi will post), I created the layers with the armadillo and the clouds while he worked on the other layers

The problem was that, by accident, I created a different size frame and all my images didn’t fit in our 4"x4" shadow box. This shadowbox is the result of that mistake of mine! In retrospect, I would like it to have more layers to give it more depth.

[Umar (Umar Luqman)]

We created a collage using our race car and mountain background image. We began with fewer layers — just the car, road, mountain, and sun. We then added the cloud, and upon seeing the amount of white space, we added two of our lesser mountains to show more detail. We had some trouble when combining the images, but were able to get through them well enough.

We played around with the ordering and background. We ended up adding a sunset orange in the background, making sure it was different from the golden sun. After figuring out how to connect the tabs, glueing was pretty easy. We are really happy with how this turned out, and are looking forward to the next project.

[Louis_sanchez]

For my fold-out, I created 4 layers for the dragon. We initially took some time to redesign the artwork, since there were a lot of different elements. One big decision we made was to remove the rocks and to make the sun a lot bigger. Then, using ChatGPT, we finished the more intricate details for each layer. Specifically for the Sun, we had to make sure the nodes were simple enough for the paper cutter. That was a hurdle we had to tweak a lot. As with the Dragon’s tail. After creating each layer in Sangala, we played around with the colors to make sure each would contrast and complement the others. One major choice was changing the background to black to complement the yellow sun and gray dragon.

Afterwards, we printed each layer in Sangala, then overlaid them to see if we wanted any changes. Then, we took a picture and glued as carefully as we could to ensure there was no color showing where it shouldn’t be. If we were to redo the project, I would have perhaps started with a bit simpler design to make this stage of the project simpler.

[Anusha_Devisetty]

Hello, I wanted to share how Willimiah and I made this shadow box of a panda with a bamboo and mountain background. For the curved arch in the center of the box, we combined a circle and rectangle to create the shape. We then placed that shape in the center of a square and used the Difference tool in Silhouette Studio to create the outline. We then took each layer and placed it on top of the base and used the Combine tool to create each layer. After making each layer, we added tabs to both sides to connect the layers together. A marker was then used to add the green line details to the bamboo, and glue was used to connect the tabs of each layer together.

[ElijahNachlas]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the late post. Here are a few photos of our shadowbox:

Overall, the creation process was smooth and relatively easy. It was quite fun thinking about how we wanted the end product to look and how we could achieve that through our layers. The trickiest part was figuring out how to have the images appear to be “floating” in the frame while remaining attached to an edge, but by creating additional layers I believe that we were able to capture that effect and give the shadowbox a bit more depth. We pivoted slightly from our original collage to accommodate the requirements of the shadowbox, and because of the format, having each layer be at a different depth rather than having multiple items on one layer was helpful. The gluing process was a bit tedious, but I found that alternating flaps (gluing inside to outside and then vice versa) made for a structurally sound product. I also pressed each layer flat with a rubber mat before gluing the next to ensure that each layer was lined up evenly. It was unintentional, but my favorite part of our shadowbox is the armadillo; I love how when folded up it looks like it’s hiding behind a layer, but when opened up, the armadillo pops out on top of the landscape. I look forward to continuing to work on our mosaic and to see what everybody else has been working on!

[tyfrancis (Tyler)]

This shadow box was inspired by my 3D paper project. I took many of the same elements that I used for the 3D paper project and copied them to a separate project on Sangala Studio. The design process consisted of me working with Jo on how to make the different layers. I learned how to use the “front” and “back” commands in order to provide depth for the image. I am happy with what I was able to produce.

My artistic goal was to have a swimmer in the background swimming in the sunset. This is a vivid memory I have from when I started to learn how to swim. Additionally, my color choice was made from how well the colors would blend with the blue water colors. This shadow was created with much thought about my childhood and favorite hobby, swimming.

I had some trouble with printing out from the die cut. This was because I did not allow the printer to finish making the side markings in order to fold each layer. I had to make sure to glue them properly so that they would be able to fold correctly. Overall, it was a great project, and I enjoyed it very much.

[bremanakwekwe]

BY NAKWEKWE BREMA AND WAMONO EZRA

“AN ELEPHANT AND THE CALF” FOLD-OUT SHADOW BOX

Building from the collage, we adapted the elephant and the calf into a shadowbox to give it piece of sense of the depth and dimension. We started in Sangala Studio by taking the traced images from the original collage (the elephant, trees, grass, and the calf). Working on them to fit within the shadowbox circular frame design.

We designed the shadow box as a series of rings and layers, firstly we made rectangular frame of 5.64inches followed by a circular window of 4.78inches to make sure every image fit’s in it. After we had finished to create the shadow box, we started to insert our images.

Later on, when we had finished to insert the images in the shadow box, we introduced the dicutter and we started to cut out every image with its frame. Then after cutting, we joined the different frames containing the different images to make a complete shadow box.

During time of cutting, we face some challenges and these include; Difficulty in cutting shapes, it was hard to cut the calf since it was too small. And the other one was difficulty creating the 3D effect-Placing the different layers at the correct distance.

[keturahmatanda]

BELINDA NAMONO AND KETURAH MATANDA

A PARADISE IN NATURE

Our artwork is a safari-themed shadow box titled “A paradise in nature” we created it to represent the beauty of African wildlife and nature. The shadow box shows a safari environment with a giraffe, tree, grass and a mountain. We chose this theme because African wildlife is an important part of our natural wildlife and provides inspiration for many pieces of art.

To create the shadow box, we used card stock and arranged them in layers to give the artwork a shadow effect appearance. We carefully placed the giraffe, mountain and plants on different cards so that some objects appear closer while others appear farther away. We also used different shapes and shades to make the scene more realistic and attractive. The layering technique helped create a sense of depth, which is one of the main components of the shadow box.

Through this artwork, we wanted to show the beautiful relationship between wildlife and the natural environment. The safari scene represents the beauty of nature and reminds us of the importance of protecting animals and their habitats. We enjoyed creating the artwork because it allowed us to use our creativity while learning how materials, space, depth, and arrangement can be combined to produce an awesome piece of art.

[EmmaKutosi]

SIISA PRECIOUS AND KULOBA EMMA
GIRAFFE IN THE WILDERNESS
We were able to come up with our shadow box in the sangala studio . First we got our shape that is the rectangle and the circle to make our frame and window for the images . we then inserted our shilluoetes one at a time then we cut them out. We then joined them using staple wires to make it a shadow box.
We got difficulties when using some cardstock papers like the one of the giraffe which was hard to cut out but we solved the change by cutting twice