What this template is for
A paper ball built from gores — the orange-peel segments a globe is made of. No folding at all: the paper takes the curve on its own.
Also called paper ball · globe template · gore template · paper lantern — all the same shape, and this is it.
- Paper globes and world maps
- Hanging decorations and lanterns
- Christmas baubles
- Model planets for school projects
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 sphere, 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 sphere 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 sphere. 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 sphere 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 every gore. Glue them edge to edge, each one lapping over the marked line on its neighbour, working right round until the last meets the first. Leave the final seam till the ball has taken its shape.
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 sphere
- What is a gore?
- One orange-peel segment of a sphere. Its width at any point is the circumference of the ball at that height divided by the number of segments, so a set of them wraps the true surface — no folding and no faceting.
- How many gores should I use?
- Eight is the usual compromise. Fewer and the paper has to stretch round the middle; more and you spend the whole afternoon lining up seams. Twelve or more is worth it only on a big ball.
- What is the dashed line down each gore?
- The true edge of the segment. The strip of paper beyond it is the overlap — glue the next gore so its edge lands on that line, and the finished ball comes out at the diameter you asked for.
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 sphere, 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.