When I was a kid, my parents & I went to a carnival where a man was hand-cutting silhouettes of the side profiles of carnival-goers. I was fascinated by the process–how he was able to simply study someone for a minute or two & then accurately capture their silhouette cut into a piece of paper. Although I am nowhere near that level of awesomeness, I tried to capture the magic of a silhouette made from a photo in an anniversary piece I made for my husband incorporating our vows. The following tutorial describes how to create a silhouette from a photo. I also include the steps for how I used the silhouette to create a sentimental wedding vow design.
Supplies
For this project, you only need a couple of supplies since you’ll be making the majority of the pieces:
- White cardstock for the background – I printed the vows on mine with a laser printer
- Colored cardstock for the silhouettes – I used varying shades of grey and black
- An iPad and the Procreate app (or similar photo editing software) to create the silhouette from a photo
- A sticker machine (or glue equivalent) to attach the pieces together – I used a Xyron Creative Station Lite
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The Basics
A silhouette can be easily made from a photo by erasing all parts of the photo you don’t want to be a part of the silhouette and then changing the settings on the photo so the space remaining is black. This silhouette can then be imported to Silhouette Studio, and an offset can be added for cutting. Then it’s simply cutting, printing your vows/first song & assembling!
Instructions
To make your own silhouette from a photo, use the following steps:
- Open a new canvas in Procreate (you can also do this in any other photo editing software that allows erasing and brightness adjustments).
- Import the photo from which you’d like to make a silhouette.
- Select your “erase” brush and begin erasing all sections of the photo you do not want to be part of the silhouette.
Pro Tip: Use the “select” tool to select large portions of the photo you do not want, then select the photo layer in the layer menu and “clear” the selected portion. - Once you have only the areas of the photo you’d like made into a silhouette remaining, ensure you have your photo layer selected. From the “Adjustments” menu, select the “Hue, Saturation, Brightness” option to adjust.
- Adjust the “Brightness” to the darkest setting. As you do, you can watch your photo turn into a silhouette.
- Voila! That’s it! You’ve made a photo into a silhouette. Now you can marvel at your amazing work or proceed to the next steps to make a fun wedding vow project with your newly created silhouette! See the video below of my silhouette making.
To make a wedding vow design from your silhouette, use the following steps:
- Get all your materials together.
2. Export the silhouette you designed in the first section as a PNG with a transparent background to a Dropbox or email it to yourself to import to Silhouette Studio.
3. Fire up Silhouette Studio and import your silhouette.
4. Use the “trace” tool to trace your silhouette.
5. Select your traced outline.
6. Select the “offset” tool and adjust to your desired distance.
7. If you’d like a third layer as shown in my project, select the offset you just created and repeat Step 5 to create a third offset.
8. Cut each layer into your desired color cardstock. I used light gray for the largest layer, medium grey for the middle layer and black for the original silhouette for the greatest contrast.
Pro Tip: If you have limited space for your Silhouette Cameo, open the drawer & extend the legs to help support your mat while cutting.
9. Print your vows in your desired size and font.
10. Assemble your piece! I used my handy Xyron Creative Station Lite to make stickers out of the silhouettes & then assemble them together as shown in the video below. You can also use double-sided adhesive or even glue.
There are so many projects these techniques could be used on to incorporate silhouettes from photos into designs. I love how easy it is to make a silhouette and how thoughtful the gift it creates is. Let me know if you try your hand a silhouette project! I would love to see the results! Be sure to tag @bysabrinamarie on Instagram with your project and let me know in the comments if you have any questions!