This is part 1 of a multipart blog post. We will start from the beginning of downloading an SVG file, or the file format that you need based on your software, to the final finished product which in this case is permanent vinyl on a ceramic mug. This first part will cover taking your downloaded zip file (the most common way you will receive purchased or free design files) and getting them into your Silhouette Studio or Cricut Design Space software.
Step 1. Purchase or download a free design. If you have the basic (free) version of Silhouette Studio, you’ll want a design that includes a DXF version. If you are using any other software (Cricut Design Space or a paid version of Silhouette Studio), SVG is preferred. Here are my recommendations for free SVG files. If you want to use the same file I use for this project, you can purchase Crafters Gonna Craft (affiliate link).
Most files will be downloaded as a zip file, just like the file I’ll use throughout this tutorial. Once you have the file downloaded, go to your downloads folder.
Step 2. Once you find the zip file in your downloads folder, you want to extract the files. You do not want to double click to just open the zip file. Instead, you want to right click on the zip file and click on “extract all”.
Step 3. Once you have clicked on “extract all”. a pop up box will appear and ask you to select a destination. By default, the destination will be in the downloads folder with a subfolder that has the same name as the original zip file. I leave everything as is and then just click on the “extract” button.
You can change the location of the extracted files, but I recommend against it at this point. You may only want to save a specific file type instead of the whole folder, so I recommend doing all the cleanup in the downloads folder before changing the location of the files you want to keep.
Step 4. Once you have clicked the “extract” button, you will see the unzipped/extracted folder in the downloads folder.
Step 5. Double click on the unzipped/extracted folder and you will see all the files that are part of the download. If you purchased a bundle, you may see additional subfolders or a lot of files. If you purchased a single design, then you should see something similar to what’s showing in my example.
Now that you have the files extracted, you’re ready to get the file into your cutting machine software.
In part 2 of this blog post, I will show you how to get the file into Cricut Design Space and ready for cutting. I do not own a Cricut machine, so I can’t show you the final cutting with the Cricut, but I’ll help you get everything prepped.
In part 3, I will show you how to get the file into Silhouette Studio. I do own a Silhouette cutting machine and am currently using the Designer Plus version of the software, so I’ll end with actually cutting the design from Silhouette Studio.
Whichever machine you have, be sure to join me in part 4 for completing the project. We’ll take the cut design and get it weeded and prepped to put on a ceramic mug!
Check out Part 2 to open an SVG in Cricut Design Space, part 3 to open an SVG in Silhouette Studio, and part 4 to weed vinyl and make the finished product!