A clean image on the top half of the slide. Below it, a solid pastel background with heart-shaped holes punched through – and the image showing through each one. Like someone took a craft punch to a layered card and held it up to the light.

That’s the shape cutout effect. Creator @moonsol.design posted a Picsart tutorial for it on Instagram and TikTok – 7.7K likes and 580K impressions. No fancy software. Just the Eraser tool, a shape, and one invert tap.

The look is scrapbook. The execution is five minutes.

What is the shape cutout effect?

Two layers. Bottom layer: a solid color. Top layer: your photo – but with shapes cut out of it, so the color underneath shows through.

Most creators split the layout. Top half stays untouched – a clean, full photo. Bottom half: rows of hearts, circles, or stars punched through the image, revealing the solid background.

That contrast is the visual hook. Clean vs. patterned. It looks like a handmade card in a feed full of polished digital content.

Why this format holds the swipe

The peek-through illusion is satisfying. Seeing a photo through shaped holes creates a partial reveal. Your brain fills in the rest. That keeps attention longer than a full photo.

Scrapbook aesthetics are having a moment. Ripped paper, Polaroid frames, handwritten captions – analog textures dominate the most-saved content on Instagram. Shape cutouts fit right in.

It’s carousel-native. Each slide can use a different color, shape, or photo. The format rewards swiping – viewers want to see the next combination.

It looks harder than it is. The craft-project aesthetic suggests effort. The actual process is one tool, one invert, one export.

How to make it with Picsart

Open Picsart Photo Editor. The whole process uses the Eraser tool’s Shape function.

Set your background

Select “Color” as your background. Pick a solid pastel – soft pink, lavender, mint, butter yellow. Crop the canvas to your preferred size (square for carousel slides, 9:16 for Stories).

Add your photo

Tap “Add Photo” and upload your image. Crop it to fill roughly half the canvas – the top half stays clean, the bottom half is where the cutouts go.

Open the eraser

Tap on the photo layer, then go to “Eraser.”

Select the shape tool

Inside the Eraser, select “Shape.” Choose your shape – hearts are the most popular, but circles, stars, and flowers all work. Size it and position it on the bottom half of the photo.

Build the pattern

Duplicate the shape to create a repeating pattern. Space them evenly – rows, a scattered grid, a diagonal line. The repetition gives it the scrapbook look.

Invert

Tap on the shapes and hit “Invert.” This flips what gets erased – now the photo only shows through the shape cutouts, and the solid background is visible everywhere else.

Adjust and export

Fine-tune spacing. Add a small caption at the bottom if you want – “love hard,” a date, a name – in a handwritten-style font. Export and post.

Tips: Keep the background and photo complementary – warm photo, warm pastel. Same shape across all slides for consistency, or alternate for variety. Three to five slides per carousel.

Variations worth trying

  • Photo dump carousel – each slide is a different photo with the same cutout pattern and background color
  • Color-per-slide – same photo, different pastel background on each slide
  • Shape mix – hearts on one slide, stars on the next, circles on the third
  • Product showcase – flat lays and close-ups with cutout windows. Scrapbook framing makes commercial content feel editorial
  • Couples and friends – matching cutout carousels. Same background, same shape, different photos
  • Before and after – clean photo on top, cutout version on the bottom showing the “after” through the shapes
  • Seasonal themes – heart cutouts for Valentine’s, stars for holidays, flowers for spring

The shape is the window. The photo is the reward.

The shape cutout effect works because it hides just enough. A full photo is expected. A photo revealed through heart-shaped holes is a surprise.

Pick your photo. Pick your color. Punch the shapes through. Post it.