How to Make a Spray Paint Stencil

Most of us came across letter stencils in our childhood, by which we could reproduce the letters of the English alphabet on a sheet of paper by using a pencil. It’s easy to do this, especially since you have the stencil already.

But the idea of playing with images and donning the role of a customer stencil maker of sorts might have never occurred to us due to the fact that the process of being able to make our own stencils might have been a difficult one at the time.

Since images are mostly used on T-shirts, mugs, wall murals, etc., there is now a simpler way by which you can create your own stencil in an array of colors and layers. Of course, the colors and layers part depends on the creativity of the stencil maker.

Here are a few steps by which you can make a spray paint stencil:

Step #1: Image Selection

Finding images that will look the same after stenciling and will suit the process of stenciling can make the job much easier than it looks. Images that require extensive shading will make the process of stenciling harder, so the idea of making a stencil out of the waves or the clear sky is not so good.

Step #2: Use of a Photo-editing Program

The use of a photo editing program, where you increase the contrast of the image so that it is only in black and white and still resembles the original picture, is what will determine whether or not you will be able to create a good stencil. While color stencils might be more realistic, this requires more work as you will have to create layers.

Step #3: How You Should Cut the Stencil Out

Make sure that you cut out the parts of the stencil where you might want the paint to reach. For a simple black and white picture, you’d only have to do this once, but for multi-layered stencils, you have to ensure that each stencil only uses one color.

Step #4: It’s Painting Time

Once you have all the stencils cut out, place some heavy objects on the sheet that you intend to paint on using the stencil and spray away! And while spraying, keep some distance and remember to be conservative with the paint.