Making reusable stencils with Stencilify

Difficulty: easy. Time: 5 to 15 minutes of design, plus machine time. Best methods, in order: laser cutting, vinyl cutting, 3D printing.

Cut the word HOME out of a sheet and the centers of the O drop straight onto the floor. A stencil font solves that with bridges, and Stencilify applies that treatment to your text automatically: type a word, pick a font, and the tool generates the bridged, cut-ready negative.

The result works anywhere a stencil works: spray-painted crates and signs, etched glassware, painted porch boards, or a 3D printed stencil plate you can rinse and reuse for years.

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What You'll Need

Laser cutting: laser cutter, thin acrylic, mylar, or 3 mm laser-grade plywood for rustic one-off stencils
Vinyl cutting: Cricut or similar, removable or stencil vinyl, transfer tape, weeding tools
3D printing: any FDM printer, one spool of filament; PETG survives solvent cleanup better than PLA

Step 1 - Type your text

Open the tool and enter your wording in Your Text. Pick a sturdy Font; bold faces with thick strokes survive repeated paint passes far better than delicate scripts. The preview shows the bridges holding every island in place.

Step 2 - Size and orientation

Text Width sets the real-world size; check it against the surface you plan to paint, not just your material sheet.
Invert Stencil flips between cutting the letters out of a plate (paint through the holes) and cutting the letters as positives (paint around them for a reverse stencil).
The Units toggle switches between millimetres and inches to match how you measured your project.

Step 3 - Export

Download an SVG for laser or vinyl cutting, or an STL/3MF to print a rigid stencil plate at your chosen thickness.

Choose Your Build Method

Cutting a stencil plate

Import the SVG and cut from 0.5 to 1 mm mylar for a flexible, wipe-clean stencil, or thin acrylic for a rigid one.
Leave a generous border of material around the text so paint cannot sneak past the edge.
For one-time rustic projects, 3 mm plywood works fine and doubles as a gift in itself.
Check the smallest bridges after cutting; if any look fragile, re-export with a bolder font or larger Text Width.
Tape the stencil down, dab paint with a nearly dry brush or light spray passes, and lift straight up.

Make It Yours

Make a porch-board stencil set: family name plus established year in two sizes.
Cut a coffee stencil from thin acrylic and dust cocoa over lattes with a logo or initial.
Use Invert Stencil for reverse stencils: paint the whole board, place the letter positives, spray a second color, and peel.
Stencil crate numbers and labels for matching workshop storage.
Etch glassware by stenciling etching cream onto tumblers with a vinyl cut.
Print a 1 mm flexible stencil for curved surfaces like buckets and planters.
Spray-paint burlap gift bags with a holiday word for fast batch wrapping.
Keep a printed alphabet of single-letter stencils in a drawer for ad-hoc labelling.

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