Free SVG Files for Laser Cutting & Engraving

What an SVG file is, and when to use it

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an open web vector format. Like DXF it stores paths as maths rather than pixels, so it scales cleanly — but unlike DXF it has real units baked in and it carries colour and stroke information, which laser software uses to separate cut, score and engrave passes.

Use SVG when you cut on a Glowforge (its app takes SVG or PNG only), when you drive the machine from a browser, or when the same file also needs to work with Cricut or Silhouette. Use DXF instead for LightBurn-first, CNC or plasma workflows.

Because SVG carries colour, a well-built file assigns one colour per operation: for example black outlines to cut, blue to score, grey fills to engrave. Map those colours to layers in your software and set power and speed per layer.

Which machines take SVG directly?

Preparing an SVG for a clean cut

• Check the units — open the SVG and confirm the artboard is in mm or inches, not pixels, so it lands at the intended size.
• One colour per operation — separate cut, score and engrave onto distinct stroke colours before importing.
• Outline all strokes and text — convert strokes to filled paths and text to outlines so line weight and fonts do not shift between programs.
• Ungroup and weld overlaps — union overlapping shapes that should cut as one, so the laser does not trace a buried internal line.
• Remove the bounding rectangle — many free SVGs include a full-size frame; delete it unless you actually want that border cut.

Common SVG problems and how to fix them

• Everything imports as one colour — the file uses fills only, no distinct strokes. Assign stroke colours per operation in your editor before cutting.
• Hairline vs hairline-plus-fill — a shape with both a stroke and a fill can cut the outline and engrave the interior. Decide which you want and remove the other.
• Tiny scale on Glowforge — the SVG was saved in pixels at 96 DPI. Re-save with a mm artboard, or scale up by the ratio of your target size to what landed.
• Text turned to boxes — a font was referenced but not embedded. Files here ship with text as outlines; if you edit, convert text to a path.
• Open paths — a shape whose start and end node do not meet. The laser treats it as a line, not a fillable outline, so it will not cut a closed part. In LightBurn, Edit → Select open shapes highlights them; Auto-join enabled paths (tolerance ~0.05 mm) closes small gaps.
• Overlapping or duplicate lines — two segments stacked on the same path make the laser cut or score twice, widening the kerf and scorching the edge. Run "Delete Duplicates" / "Remove overlapping lines" before cutting.

How this library is tested

Designs are added by hand through the site's admin tools, not accepted as an open public upload — every file has a person behind the decision to publish it. On upload, the server checks both file extension and MIME type against a whitelist (SVG, DXF, AI, CDR, EPS, PDF) and enforces a 50 MB size limit, so the wrong file type or a broken upload does not make it into storage.

What is not automated yet is a geometry check — there is no code in this project that opens an SVG and verifies its paths are closed, its strokes are separated into one colour per operation, or its artboard uses real units instead of pixels. That review is manual today. Treat the checklist above as your own pass before cutting, not something already done for you in the background.

SVG files by machine, material and category

Free SVG Files — FAQ