Modular Toy

Layer Studio

Turn any picture into a layered papercut.

Split a picture into sheets of cardstock, stack them with the backing each one needs to hold together, and export smooth cut files for your cutting machine.

Coming to the App Store Coming to Google Play

iPhone and iPad (iOS 15+) · Android · coming soon

Tell me when it’s out

Illustration: a papercut shadow box of seven stacked sheets, an evening sky with a moon, three rows of hills, pine trees and a small cabin, seen through an arched front mat.
An illustration of a seven-sheet shadow box, the kind of piece Layer Studio plans for you.

How it works

From a picture to a stack of cut sheets

Paint a picture into papercut layers, or drop in the layers you already have. Every sheet gets the backing it needs to hold together, ready to cut.

  1. 1Start with a picture

    A photo, a drawing, a pattern you love. Already have layers? Drop in 2 to 16 transparent PNGs and carry on from there.

  2. 2Split it into sheets

    By depth: near things in front, far things behind, foam between. By colour: each colour its own card. Up to 16 sheets.

  3. 3Touch it up

    Pick out: tap a thing, a person, a wheel, a cup, and it’s outlined for you. Then paint, erase, fill, or move a piece to another sheet.

  4. 4Stack it, then cut

    See the stack in 3D before you cut a thing. Then export the cut files at real size, every sheet on its own mat.

What’s inside

Everything a layered papercut needs

The fiddly parts, worked out for you, and every part still yours to change.

Split by depth or by colour

Up to 16 sheets, automatically. By depth for photos, with near things in front and far things behind. By colour for flat art and crafts, each colour its own card.

Pick out with a tap

Tap a thing in the picture, a person, a wheel, a cup, and it’s outlined for you, ready to move onto its own sheet.

Touch up by painting

Brush, eraser, same-colour wand, a lasso you draw round, fill, and move a piece to another sheet. Join adds bridges so loose pieces don’t fall out.

Backing, worked out

Each sheet carries its own art plus everything in front of it, so no floating piece is left without card behind it.

See the stack in 3D

Orbit it, reorder, recolour. Try paper finishes, from smooth and linen to kraft, metallic, glitter and vellum, set the foam spacing, and light it up in a light box with warmth and glow.

A shaped opening

Give the front sheet a border with a rounded, arched, oval, circle or scalloped opening, and see it on the stack straight away.

Or start from nothing

Design from scratch with shapes, text (with a warning when a stroke is too thin to cut), symmetry and kaleidoscope, and stamps.

An assembly guide

A glue order for putting the stack together. Your work saves itself as you go, and the app works offline.

Works with your cutter

Clean cut files, at real size

A picture is made of pixels, and an outline traced from pixels is a staircase. Layer Studio fits smooth curves to every edge instead, so the blade follows a curve instead of a staircase, and a sheet comes out the size you planned.

  • SVG: one file with every sheet on its own mat, for Cricut Design Space and other cutting software.
  • DXF: opens in Silhouette Studio.
  • PDF: for printing, one page per sheet.
  • PNG: a picture of each sheet.

Layer Studio makes the files; you cut them from your machine’s own software, the way you always do.

Diagram: on the left, a cut line traced pixel by pixel steps like a staircase; on the right, the fitted curve Layer Studio exports runs smoothly over the same pixels. Traced pixel by pixel Fitted curve Steps become notches One smooth curve

Your picture never leaves your device

The models that judge depth and outline things run on your phone or tablet. They download once, about 55 MB, and then work offline. No account, no ads, no analytics. Read the privacy policy

Coming to iPhone, iPad and Android

Layer Studio is on its way to the App Store and Google Play. Drop us a line and we’ll write back once, the day it’s out.

Tell me when it’s out

Questions

Before you get the glue out

Which cutting machines does it work with?

Any machine whose software opens SVG or DXF files. Layer Studio exports one SVG with every sheet on its own mat for Cricut Design Space, and DXF files that open in Silhouette Studio. It doesn’t drive the cutter itself: you open the files in your machine’s software and cut as usual. There’s also a PDF to print, one page per sheet.

Do I need an account, or the internet?

No account. The first time you split a picture, the app downloads the models that read depth and outline things, about 55 MB. After that, everything works offline, and your pictures never leave your device.

What paper or cardstock should I use?

Whatever your machine cuts well. Layered papercuts are usually cut from smooth, solid-core cardstock, with foam pads or foam tape between the sheets for depth. Before you cut, you can try finishes like linen, kraft, metallic, glitter or vellum on the 3D stack and set the foam spacing to see how it will look.

How many layers can a piece have?

Up to 16 sheets. Splitting a picture lets you choose how many sheets you want, and you can add sheets and reorder them afterwards.

Can I bring layers I made somewhere else?

Yes. Drop in 2 to 16 transparent PNGs, ordered back to front by filename, and Layer Studio stacks them, adds the backing each sheet needs and lets you touch them up.

Does it cost anything?

Pricing is announced at launch. There are no ads.

iPad or phone?

Both: iPhone and iPad on iOS 15 or later, and Android. It was built with the iPad in mind, where the bigger screen makes painting sheets comfortable, and it works on a phone too.

Cricut and Cricut Design Space are trademarks of Cricut, Inc. Silhouette Studio is a trademark of Silhouette America, Inc. Layer Studio is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.