Photo Reveal Interactive Card ⭐ Card Making Countdown 2026

Make impressive moving cards with this photo reveal aperture design.

Welcome to Day 5 of the 2026 Card Making Countdown. In this tutorial, we are making clever interactive cards that move when they open to reveal a hidden picture or message inside.

Today’s project is a card that’s really a little bit special because it moves.

It starts out looking like an ordinary gate fold with an opening down the middle, but as the sides are opened up, it pulls apart an aperture in the middle of the card to reveal a hidden image or message.

Download the blank template and see how to fully customize it with your own patterned papers, pictures and photos to make this card truly your own.

Aperture card materials supply list

Here is a list of the materials that are used to make this project.

Please note that some of the links included in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.

• Cricut machine
• Light blue Cricut cutting mat
• Coloured Card (lighter weight works best)
• Patterned paper
• Cricut scoring wheel or scoring stylus
• Glue (I like Bearly Art Glue and Collall)
• Foam squares
• Colour printer and photo paper (or rubber stamps/pre-printed embellishments to decorate the card)

Because of the moving elements within this card, it’s easiest to make with thinner card stock.

For the main structure pieces, I recommend card that’s around 180-210gsm / 65lb. If it’s a little bit thicker, that’s okay. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but don’t use really thick card (i.e. don’t use 300gsm / 110lb).

To decorate my card, I used this Mermaid’s Tail clipart set from Creative Fabrica.

My bee themed card was decorated with images from Cricut Access in Design Space.

This project is suitable for the following types of Cricut machines: Explore series, Maker series and Joy Xtra. It is too large to cut with a Joy or Joy 2.

Foundation learning

If you're new to making papercrafts with your cutting machine, check out these links to get you started.

They include videos on topics such as: which file to use with your type of cutting machine, how to load the files into your cutting machine's software, how to cut cardstock with your type of cutting machine, how to recolor and modify/customize the cut files and tips for displaying your projects.

• Help guides for Cricut machines
• Help guides for Silhouette machines
• Help guides for ScanNCut machines

The following tutorials are Cricut-specific, but many of the ideas will work similarly with a Silhouette or ScanNCut machine and any cut files that are shared in them are compatible with all types of cutting machine.

• How to score with a Cricut (even without scoring tools)
• Print then cut tutorial
• Design Space tools (Combine, Attach, Slice, Weld, Flatten, etc.)
• Pattern fill tutorial (for making backgrounds & cutting images to a specific shape/size)
• Free envelope SVGs that can be sized to fit any card
• Presentation boxes for handmade cards
• How to write inside cards with Cricut pens
• How to cut layered designs at a small size
• Design Space tips & tricks
• Cricut pens tutorial
• How to mount multiple designs in the same frame with magic guides

Moving aperture cards video tutorial

Watch the video below to see how to make this project. Keep scrolling for a written tutorial.

How to make a photo reveal interactive card

The steps below show how to customise the blank aperture card template in Design Space, then put all the pieces together once cut.

Step 1) Download the cutting file & upload to Design Space

Get the files using the box below.

Before you upload the SVGs to Design Space, you need to unzip the download folder that they come in.

• How to unzip a folder on Windows computer
• How to unzip a folder on a Mac
• How to unzip a folder on an iPad/iPhone
• How to unzip a folder on an Android device

After unzipping, upload the SVG file(s) into your cutting machine software.

Not sure how to use cut files with your type of machine? The following links lead to videos on how to open cut files in:

• Cricut Design Space
• Silhouette Studio
• CanvasWorkspace (for ScanNCut machines)

The download folder also contains printable PDF versions of the templates for hand cutting.

If you are using Cricut Design Space, start a new project and then click the “Upload” button on the left of the screen.

You can then either click “Browse” to find the file on your computer, or drag-and-drop it.

Select the file in the “Cutting Machine Versions” subfolder called svg-aperture-card-craftwithsarah

Press “Upload” on the next screen.

After uploading, the design should be automatically inserted onto your Canvas.

To hide the left sidebar (to give you more space for designing!), click the arrow that’s about half way down the page.

If the design doesn’t get inserted onto your Canvas, it will show under “Uploads” in your “Recently Uploaded Images”. Click on it and then press “Add to Canvas” to put it onto your Project.

Need help uploading SVGs? Get step-by-step instructions here in our detailed help guides for Cricut, Silhouette and ScanNCut.

Step 2) Check the size and add the score lines

The entire SVG design should load in at 30 inches wide and 20 inches tall. If not, adjust it to match those dimensions.

Click the design and press the “Ungroup” button at the top of the layers panel.

This separates out all of the pieces.

Click the lime green rectangle size guide layer and delete it.

Click the main card template on the top-left of the design.

Open up the group by clicking the chevron arrow in the layers panel.

Click to select the top layer within that group, which looks like a series of vertical lines.

Change this layer to “Score” in the Operations dropdown menu.

Select the group that contains the score line and the base card and click “Attach”. That tells the Cricut to do the scoring on the base card.

Repeat this for the matching base piece on the other side of the design.

Step 3) Customise the design

The lime green and bright pink pieces are designed to be cut from two types of patterned paper.

If you would prefer to use solid coloured card, or to cut them both from the same type of patterned paper, change the colour of the layers to match your intended usage.

Move the red circle to the bottom of the project so it’s easier to work with.

This is the template to use for the image that will appear inside the aperture when the card is opened.

If you are planning to hand-decorate the aperture reveal then you can skip this next part, but change the red circle to white.

Add your chosen image or photo onto the project.

This will most likely be a “print then cut” image.

During the upload process, select “Flat Graphic” as the image type.

Click the red circle and press “Arrange > Bring to Front” to move it above the printable image.

Change the red circle to a “Guide” in the Operations dropdown.

This turns it into a pink outline with a transparent middle.

Position the circle over the image, and resize the image to fit inside.

Do not change the size of the circle!!

You can add other images if desired, to build up more of a “scene”.

Change the circle back to a “Basic Cut” layer in the Operations dropdown.

If you have more than one picture that you’ve used, duplicate the circle in the same place so you have one for each image.

To duplicate in exactly the same place, hover your mouse over the circle then press the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) on your keyboard, then left-click with your mouse.

Hide the layers of your images/circles so that you have one image and one circle showing.

Select both of them and click “Slice”.

Slice will cut the circle out of the image.

Slice will only work if you have exactly TWO layers selected. If your “Slice” button is appearing greyed out and is not clickable then check to make sure you have two layers selected.

Delete the red circle and the outside parts of your image, and now you have it cut into the perfect circle.

Repeat for all other images you are using.

Sometimes it won’t look like a full circle after slicing, if the image layer didn’t completely fill the circle, as shown below.

When all your layers are cut into the correct size, select all of them and press “Flatten” to join them into one image.

The Cricut will then print them on top of each other so it looks like the picture below, and then it will cut a perfect circle around the edge.

If you are using an image that doesn’t fill the whole background of the circle, for example the treasure chest on the right below where you can still see the red circle, then you must follow this next part, otherwise the Cricut will try to cut around the exact sides of your image rather than the circle shape.

If your image DOES fill the whole circle then you can skip this next part.

But if the image does NOT fill the whole circle, change the circle to white.

Select your image and the white circle and press “Flatten”. That will join them together, so now the Cricut will cut around the edge of the circle, which is what we want to happen.

Note that after pressing “Flatten”, the black line around the edge of the circle gets removed.

Don’t worry – it’s still there, you just can’t see it on the screen.

Add any other images or decorations that you wish to add to your card.

I added another mermaid themed image for the front of the card.

This image would not have worked well as a print-then-cut image by default, due to the very thin plant stems and other small elements.

To make it cut better, I clicked the image and then went into “Effects > Offset” to add a border around the edge.

Change the border to white, then select the Offset layer and the image and “Flatten” them together.

The Cricut will now cut around the edge of the white rather than the precise edges of the mermaid tail, which is much better.

I changed some of the colours to match my printable images a bit better.

Please note that the white square is to write your message on.

Step 4) Cut out all the pieces

When you’re happy with how the project is looking in Design Space, click “Make” and follow the instructions on-screen to cut out all the pieces.

The print then cut layers will look like this:

New to print then cut? Scroll to the top of this page to the “Foundation Learning” section for a separate step-by-step tutorial on how to print then cut with a Cricut.

To change the paper size, go into the dropdowns over on the left side of the screen and choose the paper size that you want to use. You need to change it for every single colour.

To save space on your cardstock, you can move things around by clicking and dragging. Make sure when you’re moving things about that nothing overlaps because otherwise, it won’t cut out properly.

However, be careful NOT to rotate any patterned paper pieces, otherwise they will not cut with the pattern the correct way up when you put the card together.

TIP: New to using cardstock with your cutting machine? Check out these machine help guides for Cricut, Silhouette and ScanNCut that go through every step of the process, including tips for getting the best quality cuts from your machine.

Step 5) Glue the decoration pieces together

My favourite glues to use on papercraft projects are Bearly Art Glue and Collall All Purpose Glue.

These are great because they don’t “warp” or bend the cardstock like some glues do. You can use as much of it as you want and the card stays perfect – and it dries perfectly clear too!

Bearly Art Glue comes with a tiny nozzle to make it easy to apply glue to small areas of card. The Collall glue doesn’t come with this, so it’s easiest to decant it into needle tip applicator bottles so that you have more control.

Glue the smaller rectangles and square onto their matching mat layers.

Step 6) Build the card structure

Take the structure piece with the flat/triangles shape on the right side and fold as per the below.

The two small vertical score lines do not get folded – these are a guide to show where to put the glue in the next step.

M = Mountain Fold (fold with the point at the top)

V = Valley Fold (fold with the point at the bottom)

Repeat for the opposite side piece.

Glue these decoration pieces on top of each structure piece.

Fold back the flag piece on the left structure piece.

Add glue on the two ends up to the score lines.

Glue the square piece with the circle cut from the middle onto the structure piece, carefully lining it up with those guide score lines.

Repeat for the other side.

Turn the card upside down.

Add glue as shown below.

Fold the left and right edges inwards and glue to the back of the card.

It’s ok if there is still glue showing in the middle – that will get covered up later on.

Add glue in the middle of the design and up to the first vertical score lines on each side.

Stick the message panel onto the card.

This is what the card looks like from the front at this point:

Fold the sides of the card inwards to make a gate fold card.

Open the card and add glue into the middle circle shape.

Stick your picture in the middle.

Position the flag/triangle shapes so that the top of the left flag overlaps the top of the right flag.

Alternate it on the bottom, so the top of the RIGHT flag overlaps the top of the LEFT flag.

Add foam squares along the top and bottom edges of the back of the cover piece.

It’s important to use foam squares for this part because the “gap” they create is what allows the card to open and close properly.

Stick this onto the middle of the card.

The card will now reveal the picture when it’s opened, and hide it again when the card is closed.

Step 7) Final touches

Decorate the front of your card to your liking.

If you are using pictures that overlap the fold, like my mermaid, make sure to only stick it to ONE side of the gate fold, otherwise your card will not open!

Finally, go over the card firmly with a brayer to press all the score lines, or flatten it under something heavy for a couple of hours.

Step 8) Add a belly band (optional)

As this card ends up very thick with the mechanism pieces inside, you may find that it struggles to stay closed which makes it hard to put in an envelope.

To help with this, make a belly band to slide over the top to hold it shut.

Cut a thin strip of card that’s 12 inches long. Or cut two smaller pieces and glue them together – if you do this, make it around 12.5 inches in width as that gives you more room for sticking.

Fold the strip tightly around the card so that it scores where the edges of the card are.

Remove from the card and glue the overlap.

Wait for it to dry FULLY before sliding over the card.

Interactive cards to make with a Cricut

I hope you enjoy making these interactive cards.

They are lots of fun to make, and to open and close to see the reveal effect.

Put your cards in a custom envelope or 3D presentation box to make them even more special.

Happy crafting,
Sarah x