2D Origami Crane Crease Pattern

Fold Step

Step 1 / 7

Animation Speed

Seconds per step 1.6s

Valley fold Mountain fold

A blank square sheet of paper — no creases yet.

Live Readout

Step name

Square sheet

Step number

1 / 7

How it works

Every fold line here comes from real square geometry: the two diagonals and the two mid-edge medians of a unit square cross at its center and split it into eight equal 45° triangles — the standard preliminary base crease pattern used to start a crane, a frog, or almost any traditional bird model.

Collapsing along those four creases brings all four corners to the center and the outline shrinks to a diamond made of four flat triangular flaps. A petal fold then folds each of two opposite flaps in half along its own symmetry axis — an exact geometric reflection — narrowing them into the crane's neck and tail. A small reverse fold bends the neck's tip down into a head and beak, and rotating the remaining two flaps outward from the body spreads the wings.

Valley fold (solid blue) — the crease points away from you, like the bottom of a valley.
Mountain fold (dashed orange) — the crease points toward you, like a ridge.