How to make an SVG cut file from scratch

Almost every cut file starts as one of three things: typed text, a drawing, or a bitmap you already own. Each has a different first step.

·Typed text: set it, then convert to outlines. Never ship live text.

·A drawing on paper: scan at 300 dpi, then trace it yourself.

·A bitmap logo: trace it, then clean the nodes.

The first step is always the same in spirit: get to paths with no font, no bitmap and no open line.

Inkscape is free and handles everything here: Trace Bitmap, Object to Path, Path → Simplify, and DXF export. Illustrator and Affinity Designer are faster if you already own them.

Design Space is not an editor for building files — it can upload and arrange, but node cleanup and colour separation belong in a real vector tool. That split is worth respecting: fixing geometry in Design Space is slow and lossy.

Clean enough that the blade can follow them. In practice:

·Closed paths only. An open path is a line the machine draws once and stops.

·Few nodes. A smooth curve needs four nodes; an auto-trace produces forty. Run Path → Simplify, then check the shape again.

·No overlapping doubled edges. Two outlines on top of each other read as one shape and cut as two passes.

·Minimum stroke around 1.4 mm for 651 vinyl, about 2 mm for HTV. Detail below that tears while weeding.

A cutting machine treats each colour as a separate cut pass, and each pass needs its own sheet of material. Two things make layered files usable:

·One named group per colour, so the machine and the person both know what is what

·Registration marks, so the second layer lands on the first

Back-to-front order matters for stacked vinyl: the largest shape goes down first, the smallest last. A file that lists layers by brightness instead of stack order will be assembled wrong.

Cut a 2-inch test piece on scrap. It answers the only questions that matter: does the thinnest detail survive, do islands fall out, and does the shape still read at final size.

Preview is not a test. Screen rendering smooths, scales and fills detail that the blade meets at 1:1.

·SVG for Design Space, Illustrator, Inkscape and most laser software

·DXF in millimetres for Silhouette Studio free edition, LightBurn and CNC tools

·PNG only for mock-ups and print checks — never for cutting

Check the export size in millimetres, not in pixels. A file that opens at 96 dpi assumptions is 3.78× smaller than the design.