How to carve a pumpkin from a photo
- Choose a photo with strong light and shadow. Faces and pets work best when they are lit from one side and fill the frame.
- Check the glowing preview. White parts will glow brightest, orange parts glow softly and dark parts stay as skin. Use Darkness to cut more or less.
- Set the width to the flat face of your pumpkin, usually 6 to 8 inches for a medium pumpkin, and print at 100%.
- Transfer the pattern. Tape the printout to the pumpkin, then poke along the lines with a pin tool or a thumbtack every few millimeters. Remove the paper; the dots show where to carve.
- Carve from the center out: cut the black parts all the way through with a small saw, then scrape the gray parts with a loop tool, leaving about a quarter of an inch of flesh so light shines through.
Cut, shave and leave
Pumpkin patterns use three tones. Black means cut all the way through: these parts glow brightest. Gray means shave off the skin only, so the light glows softly through the flesh. White means leave the skin. Choose "Cut and leave" for a classic jack-o'-lantern look, or "Cut, shave and leave" for faces and detailed pictures.
Carving tips
- Pick a pumpkin with a smooth, flat side and a sturdy stem. Scrape the inside wall on the design side down to about an inch thick.
- Keep the bridges: every bit of skin needs to stay connected to the rest of the pumpkin.
- Rub petroleum jelly on the cut edges to keep the pumpkin fresh for longer, and use a battery candle inside.
- Children should draw and poke the pattern while an adult does the cutting.