How do you make a paper snowflake?

Start with a square or circle of thin paper. Fold it in half through the center, then fold the half into equal wedges: 6 wedges of 30 degrees for the classic six-armed snowflake, which makes a packet 12 layers thick. Cut shapes out through every layer, then unfold. Here you can draw those cuts on the wedge first and see the result, then press Print cut template for a guide drawn at your paper size that lists the fold steps for your sector count.

Why do paper snowflakes have six points?

Snow crystals grow with sixfold symmetry, so the classic paper version is folded into 6 sectors. Folded that way, each cut repeats 12 times: mirrored within each of the 6 sectors and rotated in 60 degree steps. This maker also folds into any whole number of sectors from 3 to 12; with 8 sectors each cut repeats 16 times in 45 degree steps.

How do I draw a cut without a mouse?

Tab to the wedge and move the crosshair with the arrow keys, 1 mm per press or 10 mm with Shift. Space places a point, Enter closes the cut once it has 3 or more points, Backspace removes the last point and Escape clears them. You can also type cuts in the Typed cuts box: one cut per line, each point as x,y in millimetres from the center point, for example 10,40 20,55 5,60. A cut may not cross itself; the message says which line or cut to fix.

What is in the SVG and PNG, and do the holes stay holes?

The SVG is sized in millimetres to your paper size and holds the snowflake as one path filled with the even-odd rule, so every enclosed hole and every notch in the edge is empty in the file, and the paper edge is drawn as true circular arcs. It is the same path the preview draws. With Fill the background on, a colored square sits behind it; with Crease shading on, light shading on alternate sectors and the fold lines are added, clipped to the paper. The PNG draws that same path at 1024, 2048 or 4096 pixels square.

How big does the cut template print?

Print cut template prints the folded wedge at the paper size you set, with your cuts shaded gray, the fold steps for your sector count, and a 50 mm scale bar (20 mm for paper under 100 mm across). Print at 100% scale and measure the bar. A template wider than the page, or taller than 245 mm, is shrunk to fit and the bar shrinks with it, so the bar always tells you the real scale.

Why does one of my cuts remove nothing?

Only the part of a cut that lies on the folded wedge, inside the paper's edge, removes paper; the rest cuts air, as scissors do past the edge of a real packet. A cut that lies wholly outside is outlined in red on the wedge and marked Removes nothing in the cut list. A cut only has to reach just past the paper's edge to make a notch.

What do Pieces and Enclosed holes mean?

Enclosed holes counts the holes with paper all the way round them in the unfolded snowflake; notches in the edge are not counted. Pieces counts separate pieces of paper: if a cut runs right across the wedge from fold to fold, the middle comes away from the rest and the preview shows 2 pieces.

Can I undo a cut, and is my design saved?

Undo takes back the last change to the cuts: a new cut, a removed cut, Clear all cuts or Load example, and Redo puts it back. Sector count, paper size and colors are settings you change directly. Once you change something, the design is kept in this browser's local storage and comes back when you reopen the page; nothing is uploaded. Copy cut coordinates copies it as text that the Typed cuts box reads back at the same paper size.

Paper Snowflake Maker

Fold a circle of paper in half and then into equal wedges, and every cut through the packet appears again in every layer. This paper snowflake maker does that geometry for you: draw a polygon cut on the folded wedge by clicking or tapping, by moving a crosshair with the arrow keys, or by typing its corners in millimetres, and the unfolded snowflake redraws at once with the cut mirrored across every fold and repeated around the circle. It works out the exact outline, so it counts the enclosed holes and says when cuts split the paper into separate pieces, and the SVG keeps every hole as a real hole at the paper size you set. Undo takes back the last change, and Print cut template draws the folded wedge at your paper size with a scale bar to check the print, so you can cut the same design from real paper.

Folded wedge: draw your cuts

No points placed. Crosshair at (11.6, 43.5) mm.

Place 3 or more points on the wedge, then Close cut, press Enter or tap the first point. Coordinates are millimetres from the center point: x across the wedge, y up the fold. Points outside the wedge cut nothing; a cut only has to reach past the edge. A design holds up to 60 cuts of up to 60 points each.

Sectors after foldingPaper size (mm across)Paper colorBackground colorFill the backgroundCrease shadingTyped cuts, one per line: x,y points in mm from the center point

Unfolded snowflake: 12 copies of each cut

Unfolded preview of a 150 mm circle folded into 6 sectors: 6 cuts, each repeated 12 times: mirrored within each sector and rotated in 60° steps. The paper stays in 1 piece with 13 enclosed holes and 57% of its area left.

PNG size

Rotation step: 60°

Copies of each cut: 12

Cuts: 6

Paper: 150 mm, 6 sectors

Pieces: 1

Enclosed holes: 13

Cuts on the folded wedge

Cut 1: 3 points, (-3.75, -3.75) (15, 0) (0, 16.5) mm
Cut 2: 5 points, (19.5, 39) (15, 54) (16.13, 90) (67.5, 75) (45, 26.25) mm
Cut 3: 3 points, (22.5, 46.5) (5.25, 52.5) (22.5, 60) mm
Cut 4: 3 points, (22.5, 63) (6.75, 67.5) (22.5, 75) mm
Cut 5: 3 points, (-7.5, 90) (7.5, 90) (0, 67.5) mm
Cut 6: 4 points, (7.5, 27) (11.25, 32.25) (7.5, 37.5) (3.75, 32.25) mm

Worked cases

Symmetry6 sectors, one cut
repeats every 60°, 12 copies
Symmetry8 sectors, one cut
repeats every 45°, 16 copies
Undothree cuts, Undo once
2 cuts remain, the last one removed

Common questions

How do you make a paper snowflake?: Start with a square or circle of thin paper. Fold it in half through the center, then fold the half into equal wedges: 6 wedges of 30 degrees for the classic six-armed snowflake, which makes a packet 12 layers thick. Cut shapes out through every layer, then unfold. Here you can draw those cuts on the wedge first and see the result, then press Print cut template for a guide drawn at your paper size that lists the fold steps for your sector count.
Why do paper snowflakes have six points?: Snow crystals grow with sixfold symmetry, so the classic paper version is folded into 6 sectors. Folded that way, each cut repeats 12 times: mirrored within each of the 6 sectors and rotated in 60 degree steps. This maker also folds into any whole number of sectors from 3 to 12; with 8 sectors each cut repeats 16 times in 45 degree steps.
How do I draw a cut without a mouse?: Tab to the wedge and move the crosshair with the arrow keys, 1 mm per press or 10 mm with Shift. Space places a point, Enter closes the cut once it has 3 or more points, Backspace removes the last point and Escape clears them. You can also type cuts in the Typed cuts box: one cut per line, each point as x,y in millimetres from the center point, for example 10,40 20,55 5,60. A cut may not cross itself; the message says which line or cut to fix.
What is in the SVG and PNG, and do the holes stay holes?: The SVG is sized in millimetres to your paper size and holds the snowflake as one path filled with the even-odd rule, so every enclosed hole and every notch in the edge is empty in the file, and the paper edge is drawn as true circular arcs. It is the same path the preview draws. With Fill the background on, a colored square sits behind it; with Crease shading on, light shading on alternate sectors and the fold lines are added, clipped to the paper. The PNG draws that same path at 1024, 2048 or 4096 pixels square.
How big does the cut template print?: Print cut template prints the folded wedge at the paper size you set, with your cuts shaded gray, the fold steps for your sector count, and a 50 mm scale bar (20 mm for paper under 100 mm across). Print at 100% scale and measure the bar. A template wider than the page, or taller than 245 mm, is shrunk to fit and the bar shrinks with it, so the bar always tells you the real scale.
Why does one of my cuts remove nothing?: Only the part of a cut that lies on the folded wedge, inside the paper's edge, removes paper; the rest cuts air, as scissors do past the edge of a real packet. A cut that lies wholly outside is outlined in red on the wedge and marked Removes nothing in the cut list. A cut only has to reach just past the paper's edge to make a notch.
What do Pieces and Enclosed holes mean?: Enclosed holes counts the holes with paper all the way round them in the unfolded snowflake; notches in the edge are not counted. Pieces counts separate pieces of paper: if a cut runs right across the wedge from fold to fold, the middle comes away from the rest and the preview shows 2 pieces.
Can I undo a cut, and is my design saved?: Undo takes back the last change to the cuts: a new cut, a removed cut, Clear all cuts or Load example, and Redo puts it back. Sector count, paper size and colors are settings you change directly. Once you change something, the design is kept in this browser's local storage and comes back when you reopen the page; nothing is uploaded. Copy cut coordinates copies it as text that the Typed cuts box reads back at the same paper size.

Geometric symmetry preview; not a physical cutting-safety guide. Use original shapes and artwork.