BoxTemplate

Pop-Up Card Template

A kirigami pop-up card: pairs of slits across the middle fold that stand up as steps when the card opens. Set how many steps and how deep. A plain backing card hides the holes.

Pop-up card — change shape

Units
Dimensions
Optional parameters
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.

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 pop-up card template, flat and folded

Pop-up card 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.
Pop-up card folded up from the template — the finished piece
The box it folds into.

What this template is for

A kirigami pop-up card: pairs of slits across the middle fold that stand up as steps when the card opens. Set how many steps and how deep. A plain backing card hides the holes.

Also called pop up card · kirigami card · pop-up birthday card · 3d card template — all the same shape, and this is it.

How to use this template

All four downloads are the same pop-up card 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 pop-up card 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 pop-up card 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. CARDBACKING

    Fold, glue and hold

    Cut the slits with a craft knife. Fold the card in half along the middle line, then fold each strip between two slits forwards and back along its dashed lines. Open the card and push each strip through to the inside, so it stands up as a step, and close the card flat to set the creases. Glue the BACKING behind the card, keeping glue off the steps.

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 pop-up card

How deep are the steps?
Each step stands out as far as its slit runs on each side of the fold: a slit that is 60 mm long in all makes a step 30 mm deep and 30 mm tall when the card is open at a right angle. Steps alternate between the deepest setting and two thirds of it.
Why is there a backing card?
Pushing the steps through leaves holes behind them. The backing card is glued behind to cover them; keep glue off the steps.
How many sheets is it?
At the size it opens with, 150 × 200 mm open (150 × 100 mm closed), the card and its backing print on two 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 pop-up card. 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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