Stencil maker with automatic bridges
Cut a stencil straight from a design and the middle of every O, A, B, D and R drops out. Makerfern finds each island and connects it to the sheet with the shortest possible bridge.
What this preset does
These are the starting values when you open this page. They are Makerfern's defaults, chosen to be sensible for the job, not a manufacturer specification. Every one is adjustable in the settings panel.
| Setting | Starts at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge width | 2 mm | Wide enough to survive handling on mylar or vinyl at sign sizes. Increase it for spray paint and large stencils. |
| Width | 6 in | Bridges and the piece limit are measured at this size. |
| Smallest piece | 2 mm | Tiny cut-outs clog with paint and tear the sheet. |
| Thin warning | 1.5 mm | Thin strips of stencil sheet between cuts are flagged; they are the first thing to lift or tear. |
Cutting and using the stencil
- Drop the design and check the preview: every bridge is outlined, so you can see where it went.
- If a bridge crosses an important detail, increase the width or simplify the design and convert again.
- Download the SVG and cut it from stencil film, freezer paper or adhesive vinyl.
How the bridges are placed
The stencil sheet is the part you keep, and the design is what you cut away. Any piece of sheet completely surrounded by the design is an island and will fall out. For each one, Makerfern searches outward for the shortest path through the cut-away area to the rest of the sheet, and leaves a strip of sheet along that path at your chosen width. It repeats until nothing is left floating, largest islands first, so one bridge can serve several nested shapes.
The shortest path is usually the least visible one, but not always the prettiest. Read the stencil bridges guide for when to move a bridge by hand in your design software.
Stencil fonts
If you are stenciling text and you have the choice, a stencil typeface already has its bridges designed in. Makerfern is for everything else: logos, drawings and lettering that wasn't made with a stencil in mind.
Questions
What happens to a design with no islands?
Nothing is added. The report shows 0 bridges.
Can I stencil a photo?
Yes, as a single-color stencil. It works best with a high-contrast photo. Expect many islands, and raise Smallest piece to keep the bridge count reasonable.