BoxTemplate

Paper Chain Template

Strips for a paper chain, each exactly long enough to loop to the size you choose plus its glue overlap. Number them for a countdown chain: tear one link off each day. Christmas, Advent, Ramadan, birthdays and classroom garlands.

Paper chain — change shape

Size mm
Only here Your own design

Put a logo, photo or pattern straight onto the box — most free template sites give you the outline and stop there. Drag it where you want it; it is trimmed to the cut lines so nothing prints off the card, and it stays in your browser.

Advanced settingsunits, flaps, board, paper, lines
Units
Shape settings
Page

Bigger than the paper? Each piece prints whole on its own sheet. A single piece is never split: pick bigger paper or a smaller size. More about printing

Template

cutfold

Drop a picture anywhere on the drawingTap “Add a picture” below to print your own design on this box.

Print at 100% (“actual size”), never “fit to page”, or the box comes out the wrong size.

The paper chain template, flat and folded

Paper chain template — free printable dieline with cut and fold lines, any size
The printable dieline at its standard size. Type your own size above for yours.
Paper chain folded up from the template — the finished piece
The box it folds into.

What this template is for

Strips for a paper chain, each exactly long enough to loop to the size you choose plus its glue overlap. Number them for a countdown chain: tear one link off each day. Christmas, Advent, Ramadan, birthdays and classroom garlands.

Also called paper chain strips · countdown chain · christmas paper chain · advent chain — all the same shape, and this is it.

How to use this template

All four downloads are the same paper chain at the same size — only the format changes.

PDF printing at home
Print at 100 per cent, or hand it to a print shop as "actual size, no scaling".
PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate
Upload, lock it in place and design your paper chain on top. Free plan and phone included. Full Canva walkthrough →
SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity
Vector, with cuts, folds and labels on separate layers. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters
Two layers, CUT and FOLD — and the one free Silhouette Studio Basic will open.

Getting it printed properly →

Printing it

  1. Type your size above, then download the PDF.
  2. Print at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
  3. Too big for the paper? Pick your paper size and leave Fit the pieces to the page ticked: each piece gets its own place on a sheet and the PDF comes out with every page in it, nothing cut in half and nothing to tape.

How to put it together

These pictures are the paper chain itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.

  1. Cut the solid lines

    Every solid line is a cut. Do the inside shapes first, while the sheet is still whole and easy to hold.

  2. Score every dashed line

    Dashed lines are folds. Score each one first — an empty ballpoint against a ruler — or the card cracks along the outside of the bend.

  3. glueCHAINglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglueglue

    Fold, glue and hold

    Cut the strips. Glue the first strip into a loop with the glue end under the other end. Thread the next strip through it and glue that into a loop too, and so on. For a countdown chain, link them in number order so 1 is at one end, and tear off the link at that end each day: the links left are the days to go.

Glue: a glue stick for paper, white PVA on card — hold each seam thirty seconds, and let the box dry standing up.

Questions about the paper chain

How long is each strip?
The loop’s round — 3.14 times the width across you choose — plus the glue overlap. A 45 mm loop with a 15 mm overlap takes a strip 156 mm long.
How do I make a countdown chain?
Turn on numbering and set the number of links to the number of days. Link them in number order and tear one off each day; the links left are the days to go.
How many sheets is it?
At the size it opens with — 24 links, 20 mm wide — the strips print on three A4 or US Letter sheets.

Print your own design on it

Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the paper chain. It is trimmed to the cut outline, embedded properly in the PDF, and never leaves your computer — most free template sites hand you the outline and stop there. How printing your own design works.

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