PHOTO STENCILS

Photo to Stencil

Turn a portrait, a pet photo, or a favourite landscape into bold, high-contrast stencil art — the look of hand-cut street art, made in your browser in seconds.

Live threshold — watch the photo become shapes
Photos stay on your device, always
Free PNG & SVG download

Choosing a photo that converts well

The threshold turns every pixel into black or white. Some photos are ready for that; some need help.

LIGHT

Strong, single-direction light

Side-lit portraits split cleanly into light and shadow, which is exactly what a stencil needs. Flat, even lighting turns to mud at any threshold.

BACKGROUND

Plain backgrounds only

A busy background merges into your subject when thresholded. Crop tight, or pick shots against sky, walls, or seamless backdrops.

SMOOTHING

Let smoothing eat the noise

Skin texture, grass, and film grain become speckle after thresholding. One or two steps of smoothing melts it away without losing the big shapes.

What people make with photo stencils

01

Canvas wall art

Spray through the stencil onto canvas for a one-of-a-kind portrait — the classic pop-art look.

02

Pet memorials

A pet's silhouette on wood or slate. Outline mode gives a fine engraved-style line for laser work.

03

Travel scenes

Skylines and mountain ridges reduce beautifully to two tones — try the Mountain sample above.

04

Gifts & cards

Small stencils dabbed with ink personalise cards, notebooks, and wrapping paper.

Photo stencil questions

My portrait lost the face detail. What do I do?

Move the threshold slowly around the midpoint — faces live in a narrow band. If it's still muddy, the photo is too evenly lit; try one with stronger shadows, or use Auto as a starting point.

Can I get the multi-layer spray-paint look?

This tool makes single-layer stencils. For a two-layer effect, download twice at different thresholds — a dark layer and a mid layer — and spray them in register.

Is this AI? Will it change my photo?

No AI. It's deterministic image maths — the same photo and settings always produce the exact same stencil, and nothing is generated or invented.

What resolution should my photo be?

Anything over about 1000 px on the long side is plenty. The editor processes up to 1200 px and exports SVG if you need infinite scaling.

More stencil makers

Convert your photo now

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