1. Print out the template of your choice. If you use a heavier weight paper, like 70 lb cardstock, it will look a lot better.
2. Cut out the template. Use scissors, or a straight-edge and hobby knife (be careful!)
3. To make folding easier and the model look better, you can lightly score the folding lines, both between polygons and the polygons and tabs. Score with a straight-edge and pin - a knife will cut through too much.
4. Pre-fold all the edges
5. Glue the model together. Use Elmer's or similar white glue and a toothpick to place a small amount on each tab. Hold the tab and polygon together for a few seconds to let the glue hold before moving on to the next tab.
6. Try to make the last face to be glued be one with as few tabs as possible - that way, you just have to glue it down flat on the other face's tabs.

You can choose no tabs, single tabs, or double tabs. No tabs is just what it sounds like, and you will find it hard to make a model - you will need to use tape to keep the edges together. Single tabs are the easiest to use, while double tabs make for a slightly better looking model. Double tabs are glued togther inside the model, which can get tricky - you may need to use tweezers to squeeze the tabs together.

Not yet. A future planned enhancement will allow you to upload photos and have them printed on the template. For now, you can cut out and glue photographs onto the model when you are done or before you assemble it. If you create an account, we will email periodic updates (not too many!) about new features.

You can use internet hex colors like #rrggbb, for example #00ff00 for pure green, or any of the following color names: aliceblue, antiquewhite, aqua, aquamarine, azure, beige, bisque, black, blanchedalmond, blue, blueviolet, brown, burlywood, cadetblue, chartreuse, chocolate, coral, cornflowerblue, cornsilk, crimson, cyan, darkblue, darkcyan, darkgoldenrod, darkgray, darkgreen, darkgrey, darkkhaki, darkmagenta, darkolivegreen, darkorange, darkorchid, darkred, darksalmon, darkseagreen, darkslateblue, darkslategray, darkslategrey, darkturquoise, darkviolet, deeppink, deepskyblue, dimgray, dimgrey, dodgerblue, firebrick, floralwhite, forestgreen, fuchsia, gainsboro, ghostwhite, gold, goldenrod, gray, green, greenyellow, grey, honeydew, hotpink, indianred, indigo, ivory, khaki, lavender, lavenderblush, lawngreen, lemonchiffon, lightblue, lightcoral, lightcyan, lightgoldenrodyellow, lightgray, lightgreen, lightgrey, lightpink, lightsalmon, lightseagreen, lightskyblue, lightslategray, lightslategrey, lightsteelblue, lightyellow, lime, limegreen, linen, magenta, maroon, mediumaquamarine, mediumblue, mediumorchid, mediumpurple, mediumseagreen, mediumslateblue, mediumspringgreen, mediumturquoise, mediumvioletred, midnightblue, mintcream, mistyrose, moccasin, navajowhite, navy, oldlace, olive, olivedrab, orange, orangered, orchid, palegoldenrod, palegreen, paleturquoise, palevioletred, papayawhip, peachpuff, peru, pink, plum, powderblue, purple, red, rosybrown, royalblue, saddlebrown, salmon, sandybrown, seagreen, seashell, sienna, silver, skyblue, slateblue, slategray, slategrey, snow, springgreen, steelblue, tan, teal, thistle, tomato, turquoise, violet, wheat, white, whitesmoke, yellow, yellowgreen. That's a lot of colors!!

No. But extra features may become available to registered users in the future. Also, if you are registered, you may receive periodic emails about new features as they become available.

If you see TEMPLATE ERROR displayed on your template, that means something went wrong in creating the template. Generally this happens because you tried truncating too many times, and created a polyhedron with a large number faces that our algorithm was unable to unfold properly. You fooled it! It is unlikely that you would be able to glue together a template this complex in any case. Start over and try again.