Today’s topic of conversation: .svg files.
And no, this is not a “tech” post, but it is this month’s Silhouette tutorial, so if you’re not a Silhouette CAMEO or Portrait owner, I won’t be upset if you stop reading now. If, however, you are a Silhouette cutting system owner, or would like to be soon, you may want to keep reading… .svg files can bring a lot of fun to your projects!
Back to those files…
Until I bought my Silhouette CAMEO, I did not know what .svg files were, and I imagine many of you don’t know either.
So, .svg files are Scalable Vector Graphics. (See where the svg comes from?)
Simply put, it’s a format for some graphic design files.
And why are these important to us Silhouette owning crafters?
Because we’d like to be able to use these in our projects, right?
Good news and bad news coming your way.
Bad news: The software that comes free with your Silhouette cutting system can not open .svg files.
Good news: The Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition software (that DOES allow you to open and manipulate .svg files!) is on sale this month!
Aside from everything that the basic Silhouette Studio software has to offer, the Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition also includes:
- The ability to open, manipulate, and cut .svg files
- Rhinestone tools to convert designs into rhinestone templates and create your own rhinestone designs
- Sketch tools to convert designs into several styles of sketchable art
- Creative knife tools to allow you to clip designs using different patterns
- An enhanced eraser set to modify designs with more precision
- A built-in ruler and guide lines for precise alignment and drawing
And of all of these, for many of you, the ability to cut .svg files is probably the most interesting. It might not sound like a big deal, but most of the files you see offered as freebies and “designs of the day” are in this format, so to be able to not only cut them, but also manipulate them to fit your project, makes this added feature kind of a deal breaker.
There are a ton of sites that offer free .svg files. (Some of them will even send one to your inbox every morning!) A quick google search will give you some of the most popular. I chose SVGCuts.com today to feature, just because I loved this little hot air balloon so much, and I thought it was a generic enough design that many of you would get use out of it. Below you’ll find a video demonstrating exactly how to open and manipulate an .svg file. The same steps can be applied to any .svg file you’d like to work with!
If you’d like to pick up the hot air balloon file for yourself, you can find it here: http://svgcuts.com/blog/2013/06/15/hot-air-balloon-svg/
And if you’re reading this post in your inbox, and can’t see the video, click here to be taken right to the Nikki, In Stitches site!
And now for the sale details!
As you can see from the picture above, both cutting systems are on sale this month from Silhouette. Both come bundled with the Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Software.
The software alone is also on sale!
Ready to start shopping?
Head over to the Silhouette site and get going!
And be sure to use promo code STITCHES to get your discount!
Remember, the following three things are on sale this month:
- Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Software (MSRP $49.99) on sale for $24.99
- Silhouette Portrait™ with Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Software (MSRP $249.98) on sale for $129.99
- Silhouette Cameo® with Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Software (MSRP $348.98) on sale for $269.99
This offer is only good from 7/1/13 to 7/10/13!
thank you,thank you,thank you!!!!!
Thanks a milion!!!!
Hi,
I upgraded to the Silhouette Studio Designer Addition and it has opened up a whole new world of designing for me. I love it! Thanks for the tutorial!
Thanks, girls! So happy I could help!
PS..Chriss, I couldn’t agree more! The Designer Edition is perfect for those of that would like to edit designs a bit, or even experiment with creating our own! There are other software programs out there, but I don’t think they’re as user friendly!
I didn’t realize you need the designer edition to open up .svg files. Is there any way I can import a design I made in Illustrator into the Silhouette program that came free with the Silhouette to be cut?
Kim,
If you’re on a Mac you should be able to open PDF files in Studio, which may help you some, but you are limited by pixel count, so you may lose some detail along the way.
You could always take a screenshot of your designs in Illustrator, but again…your dimensions will be quite smaller because of the lower pixel count, and you’ll lose some of the detail of your design.
Take a peek online right now. With the holidays approaching there are lots of Silhouette sales going on and you may be able to pick up the DE upgrade at a discounted price!
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I’m new to the silhouette cameo and upgraded to the designer edition have tried for 2 days to download the svg file… NO LUCK I’ve gone to prefences checked center still won’t work . Is there anything else I can try
Mary,
You should be able to open it just like any other file. Click “File” and then “Open” and find the SVG wherever you have it saved on your computer.
Tell me a bit more about how you’re trying to open it and maybe we can figure out what’s going wrong!
Hi im new to cameo….hope any one can help..
im trying to rotate my image that ive copied from google..
the image rotates but the cut lines dont ….
any help please….
Hi Billy!
If you want them both to rotate together, click and drag so that they are BOTH selected. Then rotate them!
I was curious if you could open adobe file with the cameo? I have all of the adobe Photoshop and illustrator programs and really don’t want to have to buy a diff. program in order to do graphics. I just started a paper goods business and it would be wonderful to be to expand the projects that I can do.
Alisha, You can open image files however no cut lines will come with them. You’ll have to do some tracing to get them there, and actually cut out the pieces you’d like. If you’re only talking cutting an outline around a design you’ve created in your illustrator programs, that’s not that big of a deal. If you’d like to cut out lots of the individual pieces of your designs…that’s a bit more work!
I have had my cameo for a year now. I have never had any trouble importing SVG files. I have not purchased the Designer Edition because I have never had issues with opening the files. However, there are a few SVG files that give me the error “the type of file you are attempting to import is not supported.” I’m confused because after I received that error, I tried to open another SVG file and it worked. So, why do some files open and others don’t?
Tayler,
You are either one lucky person, or it has to do with which version of the software you are using. Have you updated lately?
I’ve used easy cut studio to edit .svg Files on my mac and Windows OS
How can you convert the scale of an svg rhinestone template when it does not load the correct size?
Laura,
You have to be careful scaling rhinestone templates because you don’t want to change the size of the holes for the stones.
Do you have the DE edition of the software? If so, there are easy ways to fill a shape with rhinestones. Let me know and I can help walk you through it!
Please help!! New to all of this and so frustrated!! I am using silhouette cameo 3 with DE software. I want to be able to use free SVG from Pinterest for example and can’t figure out how to do it. Does the SVG need to be saved or transferred first to my laptop? If so how do you do this? Then secondly I would need to import it to my software. Thanks in advance.
Amber
Amber, you need to save any files you’d like to use to your computer…just putting them on your desktop is fine. Inside your Studio software, click “File” and then “Merge” from the dropdown menu that appears. Find the SVG and click to open it. It should appear right in your software!
OK — I have the Cameo 2, purchased the designer edition. I am trying to cut an SVG “Red Sox” logo that I purchased on ETSY. I have it in my library. I do trace it – all turns yellow (like Silhouette School says) — I go to print it – NOTHING. What am I doing wrong. Thanks in advance as I am going crazy – want Mothers Day projects done for this weekend.
Denise, are you trying to print the design or cut it with your CAMEO? If you’re printing, you don’t need to trace it first. Maybe you mean you’re trying to cuth the design?
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I upgraded to the easycut Pro version and it has opened up a whole new world of designing for me. I love this vinyl cutting app! Thanks for the tutorial!