Stencil lettering is the only graffiti family where the letterform is designed around the tool rather than the other way around. That constraint is what gives the style its look, and it is also the entire technical challenge.
Step 1 — Draw the letter solid
Start with the filled letter, exactly as you would in any other style. Ignore the stencil question completely at this stage. You cannot design a subtraction from a shape you have not drawn yet.
Step 2 — Find the islands
An island is any part of the letter that is not connected to the rest of the card. If you cut away everything around it, it would fall out.
- Letters with enclosed counters have islands. O has one. B has two. A, D, P, Q and R have one each.
- Letters with no enclosed space have no islands and can be cut as a single piece. I, L, T, V, X, Z, C, S and U are all in this group.
- Numbers behave the same way. 0, 6, 8 and 9 have islands; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 usually do not.
Count the islands in your word before you cut anything. It takes thirty seconds and it is the difference between a usable stencil and a pile of loose paper.
Step 3 — Cut bridges
A bridge is a strip of uncut card connecting an island to the rest of the letter. Every island needs at least one, and a bridge needs to be wide enough to survive handling.
As a working rule, make each bridge roughly the same width as the outline stroke of the letterform. That width reads as a design decision; two or three different bridge widths in one word read as an accident.
Step 4 — Place the bridges well
Where a bridge goes matters as much as how wide it is. Place it on the side of the letter that will be read last, and keep it inboard so the outer silhouette stays clean.
| Letter | Bridge placement |
|---|---|
| O | Top or bottom of the counter. Top is usual, because the counter reads as an O either way. |
| A | The triangle counter needs a bridge across its base or one of its sides. Across the base is more common. |
| B | Two islands, so two bridges — usually one per counter, on opposite sides so the letter stays balanced. |
| P, R | One bridge, placed on the outer edge of the bowl so the stem side stays solid. |
| D, Q | One bridge. On D it usually goes across the counter; on Q, the tail can serve as the connection. |
Choosing and cutting the card
- Mylar or acetate for anything you intend to reuse. It resists paint, wipes clean and does not absorb moisture.
- Thin card for a one-off. It cuts easily and holds its shape well enough for a few uses, but it will soften once it takes paint.
- Cut with a fresh blade, held vertically, and cut away from your fingers. A dull blade tears the card and produces a ragged edge that shows in the print.
- Cut the inside shapes first, then the outside. It is much easier to hold a big sheet steady while cutting small details than the other way around.
Spraying
Hold the stencil flat and spray perpendicular to it. Spray from an angle and paint creeps under the edge, which blurs the outline and — worse — can seal an island to the surface.
Use several light passes rather than one heavy one. A heavy pass will bleed under the bridges and the whole point of the design disappears. Light passes also dry faster, so the card lifts cleanly.
Getting the shape out of the generator
The generator’s Stencil style already draws its strokes with the cut gaps in mind, so what you export is closer to a cuttable shape than a plain block letter would be. Export as SVG and scale it to your card size before printing — vector output means the bridges still measure correctly at any size, which matters because a bridge that works at 100 mm may tear at 300 mm.
Print onto the card directly if your printer allows it, or print onto paper and fix the paper to the card. Either way, keep the bridges at the printed width rather than adjusting them by eye during the cut.
Questions
Which graffiti letters can be cut as a single-piece stencil?
Letters with no enclosed counter: C, I, L, S, T, U, V, X, Z. Everything with a closed counter — A, B, D, O, P, Q, R — needs at least one bridge to hold the island in place.
How wide should a stencil bridge be?
Roughly the same width as the outline stroke of the letterform, and consistent across the whole word. Too narrow and it tears; too wide and it changes the letter, for example turning an O into a C.
What material is best for a graffiti stencil?
Mylar or acetate if you want to reuse it, since it wipes clean and resists paint. Thin card is fine for a single use.