What this template is for
A window mount for a picture: a frame with an aperture cut in it, sides that fold back to give it depth, and a backing board.
Also called photo mount · window mat · picture mat · shadow box frame — all the same shape, and this is it.
- Photo mounts and picture mats
- Shadow box frames
- Art print presentation
- Certificate and award mounts
How to use this template
Set your measurements above, then download the file that suits whatever you are already working in. All four are the same passepartout, drawn to the same size — only the format changes, and every one of them is free.
- PDF printing at home
- Print it at 100 per cent and cut it out. This is also the file to hand a print shop: say "actual size, no scaling".
- PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate
- Upload it as an image, lock it in place, and design your passepartout on top of it. Works on the free Canva plan and on a phone. Full Canva walkthrough →
- SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity
- Vector, with the cut lines, fold lines and labels on separate layers so you can style or delete them independently. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
- DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters
- Two layers, CUT and FOLD. The free Silhouette Studio Basic opens DXF where it will not open SVG, so this is the one to use there.
Putting your own design on it: you do not need any of those programs for a logo or a pattern — add a picture in the panel above and drag it onto the passepartout. It is trimmed to the cut outline and embedded properly in the PDF, and it never leaves your computer. Getting it printed properly →
Printing it
- Type the size you need above, in millimetres, centimetres or inches.
- Download the PDF and print it at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
- Too big for your paper? Tick Split across several sheets and it prints across as many as it needs, with overlaps and matching letters to tape together.
How to put it together
These pictures are the passepartout itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.
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Cut the solid lines
Every solid line is a cut. Scissors are fine; a craft knife against a steel rule is neater on the straight runs. Cut the inside shapes, like a thumb hole, before you free the outline — the sheet is easier to hold while it is still whole.
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Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds, and they want scoring first: run an empty ballpoint, a bone folder or the back of a butter knife along a ruler. Card folded without scoring cracks along the outside of the bend. Fold each crease both ways, then back — it makes the shape almost close itself.
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Fold, glue and hold
Cut the window, fold the four sides back and glue the corner tabs so the frame stands off the wall. Tape the picture behind the window, then drop the backing board in.
Glue: a glue stick is enough for paper; use white PVA on card and hold each seam for thirty seconds. Tape works on the inside of any seam if you would rather not wait. Let a box dry standing up, not lying on a flap.
Questions about the passepartout
- What is a passepartout?
- The card mount that sits between a picture and its frame — a border with a window cut in it. This one also folds back at the sides, so it stands off the wall on its own without a frame.
- How much should it overlap the picture?
- Three millimetres on each side is standard. That is enough to hold the picture in without the window looking like it is eating the image, and the aperture is worked out from your picture size minus twice that figure.
- Which way up does the border go?
- Traditionally the bottom border is slightly deeper than the other three, which stops the picture looking as if it is sliding down. This tool draws all four the same; add the extra by hand if you want the classical proportion.
Print your own design on it
Every template here takes your artwork. Add a picture in the panel on the left — a logo, a photo, a pattern — drag it where you want it on the passepartout, and it prints with the template. It is trimmed to the cut outline automatically, so nothing spills over the edge, and it goes into the PDF as a properly embedded image.
No other free box template site will do that, and your picture never leaves your computer — there is no server here to send it to.