A city skyline project you can make your own

Turn a city skyline into a CNC project.

Make a city sign, silhouette, or inlay for your wall or desk. Browse real Easel projects for ideas, or choose a city and view in the City Skyline app to create a design sized to your material.

See the real skyline projects
Finished cherry board with an engraved Chicago skyline, photographed on a workbench Chicago Skylineby Jeff Talbot Tennessee-shaped board with a dark Nashville skyline inlay set into lighter wood State with Skyline Inlayby Emory Buckner Black Paris skyline silhouette with the Eiffel Tower on a pale wood board, photographed in a workshop Paris Skyline Projectby Andrew Petzold

Make a skyline from a real city view

Choose from 60 cities and customize an included skyline

Open Apps → City Skyline in Easel. Pick a city and viewpoint, then try a filled silhouette or line art. Add landmark labels or the city name and watch the preview change before you import it.

The app uses included skylines, not custom uploads. Easel recommends a V-bit for fine details; V-carving requires Pro. See the app details.

Animated City Skyline app previews switching Chicago styles, landmark labels and viewpoints, then showing Paris
Actual City Skyline app previews showing Chicago as a silhouette and line art, landmark labels, a different Chicago view, and Paris. Each captured preview is held for two seconds.

Real projects from the Easel gallery

Chicago, Nashville, Paris, and more

These published Easel projects show a carved city sign, a skyline inlay, and a bold silhouette. Open a project to inspect its design, then make a copy to adapt it for your own material and machine.

See more city skyline projects →

Start with a real city and a view

Choose a skyline, then make it yours

The City Skyline app starts with a city and a vantage point, then builds the skyline to fit your material. The app can show building names and heights beside landmark towers, add the city name below the skyline, or give the design more depth with a second building layer. In views that support them, traced outlines and perspective give the skyline another look.

The gallery examples show how the same idea can become a carved sign, a wood inlay, or a free-standing silhouette. Open a project to see the maker’s notes and preview the Easel design before you make a copy.

Explore the 60-city collection

The City Skyline app includes 60 cities. US views include Austin, Charleston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Wilmington. International views include Auckland, Barcelona, Budapest, Cape Town, Doha, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Manila, Melbourne, Mexico City, Moscow, Panama City, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Taipei, and Vancouver. Choose from the available vantage points for each city.

These are labeled design previews from the City Skyline composer, not photographs of finished CNC carvings. They show how a different viewpoint changes the landmarks and the silhouette:

Labeled Pittsburgh skyline preview from Mount Washington Pittsburgh from Mount Washington.

Labeled Istanbul skyline preview from Çamlıca Hill Istanbul from Çamlıca Hill.

Labeled Prague skyline preview from Smetana Embankment Prague from Smetana Embankment.

Labeled Rio de Janeiro skyline preview from Botafogo Rio de Janeiro from Botafogo.

Choose a filled silhouette when a city depends on a mountain backdrop: line art traces the front row of buildings but does not engrave backdrop mountains. Before carving, check the preview at your intended size for narrow gaps and readable landmark labels. The update also smooths hairline seams between nearby buildings in the generated designs.

Choose a thin line or a v-carve inlay

A dark wood plaque design with a pale Chicago skyline and CHICAGO lettering

A step-by-step walkthrough

Watch: How to make a city skyline in Easel

Follow along as Easel's City Skyline app turns a city view into a carve-ready design, from choosing a view to importing it and checking the carve preview.

Watch on YouTube

From the makers’ comments and project notes

Fit a wooden skyline into its matching pocket

Read the project comments without an account. Log in to post a question in the project discussion; replies are not guaranteed.

Cut the skyline pocket inside and the matching inlay outside

Emory Buckner uses an inside cut for the pocket in his poplar base and an outside cut for the walnut skyline insert. Those two choices put the cutter on opposite sides of the matching outlines. Use his project notes as the starting point for the paired cuts, then check the fit before finishing the piece.

Project notes by Emory Buckner: read the source.

From State with Skyline Inlay by Emory Buckner.

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Signs & decor

Make a skyline from a city you love

Choose a city view, adjust the skyline to your material, and prepare the carve in Easel. V-carving requires Pro.