A series of tutorials with free templates to help you learn the techniques of pop up card and pop up book construction. Whether simple or complex, pop ups are built from a few basic mechanisms. Scroll down to see suggested books on how to make pop up cards, mechanical cards, sliceforms, and origamic architecture.
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Lesson 1: How to make Simple Box pop ups
Lesson 8: How to make Pop Up Words Part 2
Lesson 10: How to make Pop Up Words Part 4
Lesson 11: How to make X Style (Slotted Shapes) pop ups
Lesson12: How to make Slotted X with Strap pop ups
Lesson 13: How to make Slotted X with Tabs pop ups
Lesson 14: How to make Asymmetrical Slotted X pop ups
Lesson 15: How to make X-Form pop up cards
Lesson 16: How to make V-Fold Pivots for pop ups
Lesson 17: How to make Asymmetrical V-Fold Pivots for pop ups
Lesson 18: How to make 180° Open Top Box pop ups
Lesson 19: How to make 180° Box with Closed Top pop ups
Lesson 20: How to make 180° Open Top Boat pop ups
Lesson 21: How to make 45° Open Box pop ups
Lesson 22: How to make Tabletop Floating on Boxes pop ups
Lesson 23: How to make Tabletop Floating on I-Beams pop ups
My TOP 5 BOOKS about making all kinds of pop up cards and pop up books, sliceforms, mechanical cards, and origamic architecture pop ups.
Lesson 11: How to make X Style (Slotted Shapes) pop ups
Lesson12: How to make Slotted X with Strap pop ups
Lesson 13: How to make Slotted X with Tabs pop ups
Lesson 14: How to make Asymmetrical Slotted X pop ups
Lesson 15: How to make X-Form pop up cards
Lesson 16: How to make V-Fold Pivots for pop ups
Lesson 17: How to make Asymmetrical V-Fold Pivots for pop ups
Lesson 18: How to make 180° Open Top Box pop ups
Lesson 19: How to make 180° Box with Closed Top pop ups
Lesson 20: How to make 180° Open Top Boat pop ups
Lesson 21: How to make 45° Open Box pop ups
Lesson 22: How to make Tabletop Floating on Boxes pop ups
Lesson 23: How to make Tabletop Floating on I-Beams pop ups
The Best Instruction Books for Pop Ups
1. If you're only going to buy ONE book about how to make pop ups, I suggest Duncan Birmingham's Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics. I waited for years for this revised edition to be published. I loved the first version, but it had been so long out-of-print that I whenever I wanted to read it I had to interlibrary loan the last remaining copy in the state--which is in a prison library. (Just wondering: are prisoners allowed to have craft knives??)
Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics: How to Make Folding Paper Sculpture, from Amazon, or from Book Depository (free shipping worldwide).
2. Next on my list, especially helpful for those of us who like to see and touch something to see how it works: The Elements of Pop Up by David Carter and James Diaz. This book has working models of the most common pop up mechanisms. I use this as a reference when I want to refresh my memory on the best way to make a specific 3d shape.
Elements Of Pop Up: A Pop Up Book For Aspiring Paper Engineers, from Amazon,
or from Book Depository.
3. My third go-to book, Making Mechanical Cards by Sheila Sturrock, is not technically all about pop ups, but I believe most people do not really care about the distinction between "pop up cards" and "mechanical cards." Sturrock's book includes designs I have not seen elsewhere, mostly mechanisms from the great card makers of the past. I am grateful to her for digging up these cards in museums and working out how they were made. She includes full size templates for each mechanism.
3. My third go-to book, Making Mechanical Cards by Sheila Sturrock, is not technically all about pop ups, but I believe most people do not really care about the distinction between "pop up cards" and "mechanical cards." Sturrock's book includes designs I have not seen elsewhere, mostly mechanisms from the great card makers of the past. I am grateful to her for digging up these cards in museums and working out how they were made. She includes full size templates for each mechanism.
4. My top choice for a book about designing sliceforms is John Sharp's Surfaces: Explorations with Sliceforms. I bought this book recently after years of using a mostly trial and error method, with a little help from Sketchup. I learned a lot!
5. My favorite book about the theory of origamic architeture-- focusing on the design of pop up structures from a single piece of paper--is Cut and Fold Techniques for Pop-Up Designs by Paul Jackson. I use this book for reference and original design work: it's not a source for ready-made templates or finished cards.
How to Make Super Pop-Ups (or any of her pop up instruction books) by Joan Irvine: from Amazon
or Book Depository.
Kirigami: The Art of 3 Dimensional Paper Cutting by Laura Badalucco: from Amazon
.
The Art of Paper Folding for Pop Up by Miyuki Yoshida: from Amazon
.
Paper Engineering for Pop Up Books and Cards or Up Pops by Mark Hiner: from Amazon
.
Full
Disclosure: I received no compensation from any of these authors or publishers, nor any complementary review titles.
Last updated: 07/12/2018 by Carol P