Print & Packaging · Illustration
From digital drawing to a layered paper shadowbox with Procreate, Illustrator and Cricut
A designer’s portfolio project turns hand-drawn contour lines into cut paper layers stacked into a framed shadowbox.
Done withPProcreateAIAdobe IllustratorCCricut
Designer’s portfolio project
WHAT THEY DID
Josh Palmer hand-drew the contour lines of a hike location in Procreate, kept each elevation band as a closed shape, split them into SVG layers, cut each on a Cricut in graded cardstock, and stacked the layers with foam spacers in a frame.
STEP BY STEP
- Hand-draw the contour lines in Procreate, keeping each elevation band as a closed shape on its own layer.
- Split the illustration into individual SVG layers with paths closed and nested so each layer cuts cleanly and stacks in register.
- Import each SVG into Cricut Design Space, size it to the frame, assign cardstock colours, adjust material, blade pressure and mat, cut and weed delicate cuts by hand.
- Stack layers lowest elevation first with foam spacers and frame.
HOW IT WENT
He reports a finished framed shadowbox and a reusable SVG layer kit; no figures are given.
WORTH KNOWING
A personal project, not client work. Cut tolerances and materials need testing, and the page doesn’t say which steps Illustrator handled.
Rates the entry, not the tool.
Source: Josh PalmerOpen as a page
- Work done: not stated in the source
- Source published: not stated
- On 4TC: added Oct 20, 2026 · checked Oct 20, 2026
About this source
Type: Portfolio project · Firsthand report
- Topographic Shadowbox — Procreate to Cricut | Josh Palmer
Josh Palmer · Josh Palmer · Publication date not stated · Checked Oct 20, 2026
Primary account or publisher hosting the account.
Access: Page text was read during research.
Source check: Spot-checked by the 4TC build team on Oct 20, 2026. Re-read the page; materials and steps as stated. Nobody at 4TC has tested this.
4TC interpretation
Our reading, not something the source says.
A concrete route from screen-based design to physical products.
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