Holidays / 01
Pumpkin Carving Stencil Maker
Make a pumpkin carving stencil from a classic face, your own words, or a photo, with bridges added so no piece falls out, and print it at the size of your pumpkin.
Pumpkin Carving Stencil Maker: The page turns the picture into a stencil of parts to carve through, parts to leave, and for photos an optional shaded tone to scrape thin. It removes crumbs too small to carve, and finds pieces of skin that cut-out would surround completely, like the middle of an O, joining each to the rest with a bridge about 4 mm wide so it stays in place. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Home & family tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Choosing a pumpkin and a size
Pick a pumpkin with a smooth, flat side and no soft spots, and measure across the side you will carve. Set the stencil width a few centimetres narrower, so the design sits on the flattest part, where the paper lies closest and the knife cuts straight. A design that wraps far round the curve gets stretched at the edges.
Scrape the inside wall of the carving side down to about 2–3 cm thick before transferring the stencil. Thinner walls are easier to carve and let more light through, and the shaded areas of a portrait need a thin wall to glow at all.
Carving so it lasts
Carve the smallest, most detailed parts first, while the pumpkin is still firm, and the large openings last. Push pieces out from the inside rather than pulling them, which tears the edges. A carved pumpkin dries out in a few days; a thin coat of petroleum jelly on the cut edges slows it, and an LED light avoids the heat of a candle. To count down to the night itself, use the countdown.
How to use it
- Start from a ready-made face, type a name or a word, or choose a photo.
- Adjust the carved and kept parts, and see how it looks lit from inside.
- Set the width to fit your pumpkin, download the PDF, and print it at actual size.
Privacy & limitations
Everything runs in your browser. Photos are turned into a stencil on your device and never uploaded.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
How do I transfer the stencil to the pumpkin?
Tape the printed stencil to the cleaned-out pumpkin, smoothing the paper over the curve; small cuts in the paper edges help it lie flat. Then prick along every line with a pin or a poking tool every few millimetres, take the paper off, and carve along the dotted outline.
What are the bridges for?
A piece of skin with cut-out all the way around it, such as the middle of an O or an eye inside a face, has nothing to hold it and falls out when you carve. A bridge is a narrow strip left uncut that joins it to the rest of the pumpkin, as stencil lettering does.
Which photos work best?
A clear subject against a plain background: a face in profile, a pet, or a silhouette. Busy photos turn into many small pieces. Move the brightness slider until the main shapes read clearly, and swap carved and kept parts if the background is being carved instead of the subject.
What does the shaded tone mean?
Grey areas are not cut through: you scrape away the orange skin so the flesh is thin, and it glows more dimly than the carved parts. It adds depth to portraits, but takes a little more skill than straight carving.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required