Convert an Image to a Stencil
Turn an image into a cut-out stencil where the dark areas become holes and the light areas stay as material.
Free preview · No signup · ~10 seconds
Drop an image with a clear subject
PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG — up to 20 MB
Drop several at once — you can edit them all together in the app.
Runs entirely in your browser. Your image is never uploaded.
What makes a stencil different from a silhouette
The inverse of a silhouette
A silhouette keeps the dark half as a solid shape. A stencil does the opposite: the dark areas are punched out as holes and the light areas remain as the material you would physically cut from.
The cut-off decides the holes
Everything below the cut-off becomes a hole. Raising it opens more of the image up; lowering it keeps more material. The default of 128 splits the range down the middle, which suits a normally exposed photograph.
Islands are the real constraint
A physical stencil falls apart if a region is completely surrounded by holes — the middle of an O, for instance, has nothing holding it. Software will happily produce a design that cannot exist. Check for floating islands before cutting anything.
Simple subjects work best
Stencils carry information through hard edges and connected material. High-contrast subjects with bold shapes translate well; fine gradients and busy texture turn into speckle that is neither readable nor cuttable.
Transparent output
Holes are genuinely transparent rather than white, so you can preview the stencil over the surface it will be applied to before committing to a cut.
How to convert an image to a stencil
Upload the image
Drop in a high-contrast image with bold, simple shapes.
Set the cut-off
Drag until the holes and the remaining material give a readable design. Watch for regions that end up floating.
Download
Take a free preview, or download the full-resolution transparent PNG with one credit.
Where stencils are used
Physical stencils
Prepare artwork for cutting from card, acetate, or vinyl.
Spray and screen work
Produce the mask a spray or screen process needs.
Laser cutting
Give a cutter an unambiguous map of material and void.
Graphic effects
Use the stencil look as a design treatment in its own right.
Or just ask
Describe the edit in your own words
Type what you want changed and the assistant does it on the canvas — each step lands as a layer you can reopen, so nothing it does is baked in.
No edits yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Tools
Guides worth reading
How to Fix Blurry or Fringed Edges on a Transparent PNG
Why your transparent PNG has a white halo, a grey fringe or soft edges — the four real causes, how to tell them apart in seconds, and the fix for each.
SVG vs PNG for Logos: Which File Do You Actually Need?
What SVG and PNG really are, where each one wins, why your developer keeps asking for the SVG, and the three files that cover almost every request.
How to Make a Duotone Image in Figma (Building One From Blend Modes)
Figma has no duotone effect. You assemble one from a desaturated image and two blended rectangles — here is the layer stack, the order that matters, and an honest account of what it costs to maintain.
Make a stencil
Upload, set the cut-off, and download the cut-out.