SVG tools and import help

An SVG opens at the width and height written in it. When those are in pixels, or missing, each program converts with its own pixels per inch: 96 in Inkscape and 72 in Illustrator, so the same file can come in 0.75 or 1.33 times as big. Divide the size you see by the size you expected, then fix the file once with a size in millimeters.

Design Space refuses an SVG that holds a pattern, gradient or photo fill, a clipping path, editable text, or a linked or embedded picture. Find the item, then fix it: give the shape a flat color, merge clipped shapes, convert the text to outlines, and trace or delete the picture. Then check the file stays under 5,000 paths and upload it again.

In Designer Edition or higher, choose File > Open, or merge the SVG into your project; Studio places it at the size written in the file. In Basic Edition, which cannot open SVG, open the DXF instead and type the width back in the Scale tab. Then check every piece arrived and set fold lines to score.

Set the label’s size first, then type your wording inside a margin of 3 to 4 mm, with the longest line deciding the letter size. Keep a copy with editable text, and cut from a copy with the text converted to outlines. Our label tool does both in the browser and gives you an SVG with outlined letters.

Our SVG downloads are single files, not ZIPs, and land in your Downloads folder: Downloads in File Explorer or Finder, the Files app on an iPhone or iPad, Files on Android. A double-click may open them in a browser, which is only the computer’s default app. Open the SVG from inside your cutting software instead: Upload in Design Space, File > Open in Silhouette Studio.

Resize a layered or folded design as one selection with the ratio locked, so the layers and folds stay in place. The flat size is the sheet you cut; the finished size is the folded object: our place card is 100 × 90 mm flat and 100 × 45 mm folded. Set the fold lines to Score, and attach each layer’s pieces so they cut as arranged.

On the Canvas choose Upload > Upload Image and pick the SVG; on a phone or tablet tap Upload on the bottom toolbar. The SVG keeps the size written in the file. DXF uploads only on Windows and Mac, and an SVG over 5,000 paths fails.

A ScanNCut reads FCM, Brother’s cutting format, so the SVG goes through CanvasWorkspace first, unless yours is an SDX225 or SDX325 (or the discontinued SDX85 or SDX230D), which also read SVG. Import it, check its size, then choose File > Export / Transfer FCM File: Export FCM File saves it to a USB flash drive, and Transfer FCM File via the internet sends it to a machine registered with ScanNCut Online. On the machine, touch Pattern, then Saved Data.

Give each operation its own color. Glowforge turns strokes into cuts and fills into engraves, and each color into its own step; LightBurn makes each color a layer you set to Line or Fill; xTool Creative Space needs settings on every object. Check the size on import, outline all text, because LightBurn cannot import embedded fonts, and measure your kerf before you offset.

An SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a text file that describes shapes as points and curves. Cutting software follows those outlines, so an SVG cuts cleanly at any size, and the width and height written in it set the size it opens at. A PNG or JPG stores pixels instead, which must be traced before they can be cut.

Use the SVG whenever your software opens it: it keeps the outlines, a separate color for each layer, and the size. Use the DXF in Silhouette Studio Basic Edition, the PNG for Print Then Cut or for tracing, and the PDF to print a paper copy at actual size. Design Space takes DXF only on Windows and Mac and does not take PDF.

Group moves objects together on the Canvas but has no effect on the mat. Attach keeps them on the mat as arranged and ties a score line to its cut layer. Weld joins shapes for good; Flatten makes one printed layer. Worked on a box net.

Design Space imports every line as a cut, so fold lines arrive set to Cut. Ungroup, set the fold layer to Operation > Score and Attach it to the outline. In Silhouette Studio, cut folds as a dashed line or switch them off. Worked on our tuck-top box.

Stack layers in the order the SVG draws them: the first layer goes down first, the last sits on top. Design Space cuts one mat per color, so read the order from the Layers panel, not the mats. Worked on our four-layer ghost, with weeding and iron-on steps.

Letter paper allows a Print Then Cut design up to 9.94 in tall and 7.44 in wide on Explore, Maker, Venture and Joy Xtra; A4 allows 10.62 × 7.2 in. Flatten the layers so one image prints and its outline cuts, and print in one session.

Cutting software needs letters as shapes, not as text in a font. Keep an editable copy, then convert: Path > Object to Path in Inkscape, Type > Create Outlines in Illustrator, Layer > Convert to Curves in Affinity Designer. After that the file no longer needs the font, Design Space and LightBurn can read it, and script letters can be welded into one piece.

Use medium cardstock, 80 lb (216 gsm), for card bases and boxes that must hold a fold; light 65 lb (176 gsm) card for layers, tags and paper flowers; heavy 100 lb (270 gsm) card on a StrongGrip mat for toppers and bookmarks that must stay stiff. Anything up to 120 gsm is paper. Then choose that material in your machine’s software and cut a test.

Silhouette Studio Basic Edition can’t open SVG: Designer Edition or higher opens it, and Business Edition exports it. Basic opens DXF, so use our DXF or convert the SVG, then set the size in the Transform panel, because a DXF carries no size.

Type the width, height and unit from your SVG and see the physical size it gives: in millimeters, or at 96 and at 72 pixels per inch when the file uses pixels. The viewBox and the 96 versus 72 difference, shown live.