PNG to SVG for Silhouette Basic
Here is the problem nobody warns you about: Silhouette Studio Basic, the free version that ships with every Cameo and Portrait, cannot open SVG files. SVG import is locked behind the paid Designer Edition upgrade. So a seller downloads a beautiful SVG, opens Silhouette Studio, and hits a wall. The format Basic does open — happily, natively — is DXF. That is why this page gives you both: a clean SVG for Designer Edition users, and a properly sized DXF that Basic opens without complaint.
The converter above runs entirely in your browser. Drop in a PNG or JPG, choose the Cut File preset, set the physical width your design should cut at, and download the DXF. Curves are flattened into short, clean polylines, every shape is a closed outline, and holes — the inside of an O, an A, a B — stay empty instead of filling in.
A cut file fails in predictable ways, and the cut-file check on this page is built around them. Specks and slivers smaller than your minimum cut width tear on the mat or refuse to weed; the check flags them, highlights them on the preview, and can remove them automatically. Strokes are another silent killer: a traced file full of hairline strokes looks fine on screen and cuts as nothing. In Cut File mode Veclyra exports filled shapes only — one colour, one filled shape — which is what cutting machines actually want.
Sizing matters just as much. A DXF at the wrong physical size means re-scaling inside Silhouette Studio and hoping the proportions survive. Here you type the width in inches, the file is written at exactly that width with correct units in the header, and what you see is what cuts. If you sell cut files on Etsy, this is also the bundle your buyers need: SVG for Cricut and Designer Edition users, DXF for Basic users, a transparent PNG for previews, and a PDF — one click builds the whole ZIP with clean file names.
Your artwork is never uploaded. Tracing happens on your device, in a Web Worker, and the page works offline after the first load — unreleased designs stay unreleased.
FAQ
Why won't my SVG open in Silhouette Studio Basic?
Because Basic does not support SVG import; that feature is part of the paid Designer Edition. Basic opens DXF files instead, which is exactly what the Silhouette Basic export button produces.
Will the DXF be the right size?
Yes. Set the physical width in the cut-file panel and the DXF is written at that width with correct units. Holes and closed shapes are preserved.
What does the cut-file check do?
It measures every piece at your chosen physical size and warns about pieces smaller than your minimum cut width — the ones that tear or fail to weed — and can remove them automatically.