Make SVG files for Cricut and laser cutters

Real sizes, written into the file

A cutting machine cuts what the file says, at the size the file says. Octoolo works in real units: a document started in inches shows inches everywhere, and Export writes the SVG's width and height in the unit you choose under Size in, at 96 pixels to the inch, the SVG standard's ratio.

Export in inches or millimeters rather than pixels: a size in pixels leaves the cutting program to guess how big a pixel is, and programs guess differently. After importing, check that the design's width in your cutting software matches the one Octoolo showed, and set it there if not.

Untick Artboard color as a background. Otherwise the artboard's white is written into the file as a rectangle, and a cutter treats a rectangle as something to cut.

Making a design cuttable

A design that looks right on screen can still cut wrong. Before exporting:

• Text into shapes. Type › Create outlines turns letters into paths, so the cutter does not need your font. Text as outlines in Export does the same for the exported file only.
• Lines into shapes. A line with a thick stroke is cut along its center, not around its edges. Object › Path › Outline stroke turns it into a shape with an outline to cut.
• Weld overlapping letters. Script fonts overlap; cut as they are, each letter is cut separately. Select them and press Unite under Pathfinder, or Object › Path › Remove overlaps, to cut one outline.
• Holes stay holes. The middle of an O or an A is cut out when the letter is one compound path: Object › Compound path › Make compound path (Ctrl 8).
• Layers of vinyl. Divide under Pathfinder splits overlapping shapes into separate pieces, one per color.

From a picture to a cut file

Clip art, a drawing or a logo from a PNG or JPG becomes cuttable with Image Trace. Black and white or Sketch gives single-color silhouettes and line art; Logo or Poster gives a few flat colors for layered vinyl. Keep Leave out white ticked, so the paper is not traced.

Fewer anchor points cut smoother and faster: after tracing, Object › Path › Simplify… takes out the extras, and the shape count under the trace preview tells you whether specks slipped through. Delete any tiny bits a blade would struggle with.

For stickers and print then cut, Object › Path › Offset path… draws a border at a set distance around the design, with round, sharp or beveled corners. More on tracing: PNG to SVG and JPG to SVG.

SVG or PDF, and which machines

SVG is the format most cutting software imports. Cricut Design Space and the Glowforge app take SVG uploads, LightBurn imports SVG and PDF for lasers, and Silhouette Studio opens SVG and PDF in its Designer Edition and above. Octoolo does not export DXF, which Silhouette Studio's basic edition reads.

PDF export makes one page per artboard, so a set of designs on several artboards becomes one PDF. Laser programs often treat strokes and filled shapes differently, cutting one and engraving the other; set that up in the laser's own software once the file is in.

Keep the working file: File › Save writes an SVG that also carries Octoolo's own copy of the design, so live text and shapes come back when you open it again. Export the cut file separately each time you change it.