Guides to dithering, lasers, pen plotters, map art and paper craft

Short, specific guides to dithering, laser engraving, pen plotters, map art, cut files and paper shadow boxes. Each one links to the tool or the files it is about, so you can try it yourself.

Dithering

What is dithering? Definition, examples and how it works

Dithering turns a few colours into the illusion of many by arranging dots. What it is, why it works, the main algorithms, and where it is used today.

CMYK halftone: screen angles, frequency and moiré

How four halftone screens print full colour: the angles for cyan, magenta, yellow and black, why they sit 30° apart, and what causes moiré between them.

Comic book halftone: Ben Day dots and how to make them

Comic book dots are of two kinds: flat Ben Day tints and true halftones. What the difference is, where Ben Day's name comes from, and how to make both today.

Halftone gradient: how to turn a fade into dots

Turn a gradient into halftone dots in Photoshop's Bitmap mode, GIMP or Inkscape, or with a short script: how to size the dots and keep the fade even.

Halftones for screen printing: LPI, angle and mesh

Starting settings for screen printing halftones, each from a named source: lines per inch for your mesh count, dot shape, angle, and how to make the film.

What is a halftone? How dots print a photograph

A halftone prints a photo with dots of one ink that change in size. How the screen works, what frequency, angle and dot shape mean, and who invented it.

Show all 12 guides in “Dithering”

Bayer dithering: how ordered dithering and the Bayer matrix work

How Bayer ordered dithering works: the threshold matrix, how 2×2 grows to 16×16, the tones each size gives, printable matrices, code and when to use it.

Atkinson dithering: the classic Mac algorithm explained

Bill Atkinson's dithering spreads only 3/4 of the error. Why that gives the crisp MacPaint look, the kernel, code, and how it compares to Floyd–Steinberg.

Blue noise dithering: why it beats Bayer and Floyd–Steinberg

Blue noise is ordered dithering without the grid: what blue noise means, how a void-and-cluster mask is built, and when to pick it over Bayer.

Dithering algorithms compared: Floyd–Steinberg to blue noise

16 dithering algorithms compared on tone, texture, speed and artifacts, with kernels and one table. Which to use for screens, pixel art, lasers and pens.

Floyd–Steinberg dithering explained, with code

How Floyd–Steinberg works: the 7/16, 3/16, 5/16, 1/16 kernel, serpentine scanning, working code, its artifacts, and when to pick something else.

Pixel art dithering: patterns, rules and when to skip it

The checkerboard and 25/75 patterns, when dithering helps and when it is noise, why Bayer beats Floyd–Steinberg for sprites, and how to convert photos.

Laser engraving

Dithering for laser engraving: photos that burn right first time

Which dithering to pick for laser photo engraving, how to prep the photo, match DPI to spot size, allow for dot gain, and use LightBurn pass-through.

Bracelet, necklace and locket engraving ideas

Engraving ideas for a bracelet, bar necklace, disc or locket, sorted by how many characters fit, with one engraver's published limits for each shape.

Engraving ideas: short quotes by who it is for

Engraving ideas and short quotes for him, her, mum, dad, a sister or a best friend, each with its length in characters, plus how much common gifts hold.

Headstone engraving ideas: wording for an inscription

Headstone engraving ideas: plain, kind wording for a mother, father, partner or child, verses by reference, and the rules a churchyard or cemetery may set.

Laser engraving ideas: 36 projects and free files

Laser engraving ideas sorted by material: 36 projects in wood, acrylic, glass and coated metal, 29 with free files to start from, each with a material guide.

Ring engraving ideas: engagement, promise, class, signet

Ring engraving ideas for an engagement, promise, class, signet or mother's ring, each with its length in characters, and how to find what your ring holds.

Show all 19 guides in “Laser engraving”

Watch engraving ideas, and how many letters fit

Watch engraving ideas for a son, husband, wife, dad or graduate, sorted by who the watch is for, with the character limits three sellers publish.

Wedding ring engraving ideas and what fits inside

Wedding ring engraving ideas sorted by length, with the 15, 30 and 50 character figures ring sellers publish, lines split across two bands, and verses.

What to engrave on a knife: ideas that fit the blade

What to engrave on a knife for a husband, dad, son or groomsman, with the limits two knife sellers publish: 10 to 18 characters on a blade or handle.

3D laser engraving: depth maps and how grey becomes depth

What a 3D laser engraving file is: a greyscale depth map where darker means deeper. How lasers turn grey into depth, which machines can, and how to test one.

How to charge for laser engraving: a pricing method

Work out a price for laser engraving from your own costs: materials, machine time, your time, set-up, overheads and fees, with a worked example to check.

How to engrave metal with a laser: bare, anodised, coated

Which lasers engrave metal: why CO2 and diode lasers need marking spray on bare aluminium, why anodised and coated metal mark directly, and what fibre adds.

Laser engraving acrylic: cast or extruded, clear or dark

How to laser engrave acrylic: why cast sheet frosts white and extruded does not, why a diode laser passes through clear acrylic, and how to engrave the back.

Laser engraving glass: a clean frosted mark, no chips

How to laser engrave glass with a CO2 or diode laser: which glass to choose, the damp paper trick, grey artwork to cut the heat, and what a diode needs.

Laser engraving on wood: which wood, settings and finish

How to laser engrave wood: which woods engrave evenly, how to find power and speed with a test grid, and how to stop smoke stains before staining or sealing.

Laser engraving tips: safe materials, tests and focus

Laser engraving tips that hold for any hobby machine: materials never to laser, fumes, eyes and fire, then a test grid, focus, line interval and masking.

LightBurn image modes explained: Jarvis, Stucki, halftone and pass-through

What each LightBurn image mode does to a photo: Jarvis vs Stucki, Newsprint vs Halftone, when Grayscale makes sense, and how pass-through works.

Photo to wood burning pattern: clean outlines to transfer or laser-score

Turn a photo into a wood burning pattern: clean single-line outlines at true size to print and transfer, a shading guide, and an optional laser score.

What DPI for laser engraving photos? Line interval, spot size and dot gain

Work out the DPI for laser engraving a photo from your spot size, convert line interval, lines per cm and DPI, and fix engravings that come out too dark.

Pen plotters

What is a pen plotter? How plotter art is made, from the 1960s to today

A pen plotter draws with a real pen along vector paths. How plotters work, how plotter art began in the 1960s, the machines used today, and what to plot.

What is wood engraving? Woodcut, engraving and etching

Wood engraving is a way of printing pictures from the end grain of a hard block. How it differs from woodcut, metal engraving and etching, in plain terms.

Stippling: what it is, how to do it, and how to stipple a photo

Stippling is drawing with dots alone: more dots where it is dark, fewer where it is light. How it works, how to do it by hand, and how software does it.

One line drawing from a photo: a picture in one continuous line

Turn a photo into one continuous line a pen plotter draws without lifting: what a one-line drawing is, which photos work, settings and plot times.

How to make flow field art: from noise or from a photo

What a flow field is, how noise-driven and photo-driven fields differ, how evenly spaced lines are traced, and the spacing and pen settings that plot well.

Image and SVG to G-code for pen plotters: GRBL, Marlin and Klipper

Turn a photo into G-code for a GRBL, Marlin or Klipper pen plotter in your browser: pick the machine, origin and bed size, check the pen commands, send it.

Show all 11 guides in “Pen plotters”

Multi-colour pen plotting: layers, pen changes and registration

Plot in more than one colour: one SVG layer per pen named for AxiDraw layer control, pauses between pens, registration tips and styles that overprint well.

Pen plotter software: from a photo to a finished plot

Pen plotter software compared by job: image converters, path optimisers and plotter drivers, from DrawingBotV3, StippleGen and vpype to Inkscape and saxi.

TSP art: how to draw a photo with one continuous line

What TSP art is, where it came from, how stipples become one travelling-salesman line, how many dots to use, and how to plot it with the pen down once.

Image to pen plotter lines: photo to SVG for AxiDraw and iDraw

Turn a photo into plottable SVG for AxiDraw, iDraw and other pen plotters: pick a style, set spacing to the pen, sort the paths, export in millimetres.

Photo to line drawing for Cricut: pens, foil and vinyl cutters

Turn a photo into a single-line SVG your Cricut or Silhouette can draw, foil or engrave, which line styles cut cleanly, and settings Design Space accepts.

Maps

Pen plotter map art: streets, water and contour lines

Plot the streets, rivers and contour lines of any place from OpenStreetMap and open elevation data: scale, layers, pens, contour interval and credit.

How to make a laser engraved city map

Make a city map from OpenStreetMap for laser engraving: street lines as SVG to score, or a 1-bit PNG at your laser's DPI to raster engrave. Free.

Extract contour lines or roads from a map image

Pull roads out of a map screenshot or contour lines out of a scanned topo map with Trace colour, or turn a heightmap into contours, in your browser.

SVG for cutting machines

Can you export an SVG from Cricut Design Space?

Cricut Design Space has no command that saves a project as an SVG file. What Save and Share do instead, and how to get a design out by tracing a screenshot.

Cricut engraving tool: machines, materials and set-up

Which Cricut machines take the Engraving Tip, the materials Cricut lists for it, how to set up a design in Design Space, and why shapes engrave as outlines.

How to change an SVG's colour in Cricut Design Space

To change the colour of an SVG in Cricut Design Space, select one layer and use the colour swatch beside Operation. How colours map to mats, and Color Sync.

How to download SVG files on an iPad or iPhone

How to download SVG files on an iPad or iPhone, unzip them in the Files app and upload them to Cricut Design Space, including files bought on Etsy.

How to edit an SVG file: code, Inkscape or Cricut

Three ways to edit an SVG file: change its code in a text editor, reshape it in a vector editor such as Inkscape, or adjust it in a cutting program.

How to edit an SVG in Cricut Design Space

An uploaded SVG can be ungrouped, resized, recoloured, trimmed with Contour and Slice, and joined in Cricut Design Space. What cannot be changed, and why.

Show all 15 guides in “SVG for cutting machines”

How to make a layered SVG for a cutting machine

A layered SVG has one group of shapes for each colour, cut from separate sheets and stacked. How to plan the layers, build them in Inkscape and save them.

How to make a print and cut file: Cricut, Silhouette

How to make a print and cut file for Cricut Design Space or Silhouette Studio: the artwork, the cut line round it, registration marks, bleed and page size.

How to save a Silhouette Studio file as SVG

Silhouette Studio saves SVG only in Business Edition. How to do it there, and how to get a .studio3 design out through a PDF or a tracing in other editions.

How to convert a PNG or JPG picture to SVG

A picture becomes an SVG by tracing, not by renaming. How to convert a PNG or JPG to SVG for Cricut or the web, which pictures trace well, and how to check.

How to make an SVG file: five ways, and for Cricut

How to make an SVG file: draw it in a vector editor, trace a picture, turn lettering into shapes or write the code. With the checks a Cricut cut file needs.

How to open an SVG file in Silhouette Studio

Silhouette Studio opens SVG files in Designer Edition and above, not in the free Basic Edition. The steps, how to turn on cut lines, and what to do in Basic.

How to upload an SVG to Cricut Design Space

How to upload an SVG file to Cricut Design Space on a computer, iPhone, iPad or Android, what to do once it is on the canvas, and why some files are refused.

Inkscape Trace Bitmap: convert a PNG or JPG to SVG

How to convert a PNG or JPG to SVG in Inkscape with Trace Bitmap: the steps, which mode and settings to use, and what to check when the trace does not work.

SVG fonts explained: what they are and how to use them

SVG font can mean a colour font, an alphabet sold as SVG artwork, or an old web format. How to tell which you have, and how to use each with a Cricut.

How SVG works

How to centre an SVG in a div, a button or the page

Centre an SVG with flexbox or grid on its parent. Why margin auto fails on an inline svg, how to align it with text, and why a drawing sits off-centre.

How to use SVG icons in HTML: size, colour and labels

Use an SVG as an icon: inline or from a sprite with use, sized in em, coloured with currentColor, and named for screen readers. Code for buttons and links.

SVG and CSS: style attribute, style tag and style sheets

The four places an SVG's CSS can live, which one wins, which properties CSS can set, and how an SVG file links an external style sheet. With tested code.

SVG arrow: add an arrowhead to a line with marker

Draw an arrow in SVG by putting a marker on the end of a line or path. How refX, orient and markerUnits work, arrowheads at both ends, colour and faults.

SVG events: onclick, hover and pointer-events explained

How click, hover, touch and keyboard events work on SVG shapes: onclick and addEventListener, which part of a shape responds, pointer-events, and dragging.

SVG href and xlink:href: which one to use

In SVG, href points one element at another or at a file. xlink:href is the older spelling. Which to write, what happens with both, and the faults in script.

Show all 52 guides in “How SVG works”

SVG image element: put a PNG or JPG inside an SVG

The SVG image element places a PNG, JPG or another SVG inside a drawing. Its attributes, fitting and cropping, clipping to a shape, and embedding as base64.

SVG in Flutter: the flutter_svg package explained

Flutter's Image widget does not read SVG. How to show one with flutter_svg and SvgPicture: assets, network files, size, colour, icons and its limits.

SVG links: make a shape, text or map region clickable

Wrap a shape or text in an SVG a element to make it a link. How links behave inline, in an object and in an img tag, with code for a clickable map.

SVG MIME type: image/svg+xml and how to set it

The MIME type of an SVG file is image/svg+xml. What breaks when a server sends another Content-Type, how to check it, and how to set it on common servers.

SVG pie chart, donut chart and progress ring: the code

Two ways to draw a pie chart in SVG: a path with an arc for each slice, or circles with stroke-dasharray. Code for pies, donuts, progress rings and gauges.

SVG rect: borders, rounded corners and one-sided strokes

An SVG rect has no border or border-radius: the border is its stroke and the corners are rx and ry. Borders on one side, inside borders and centring a rect.

Vector halftone: how to make dots that scale and cut

A vector halftone stores every dot as a shape. How to make one in Inkscape or CorelDRAW or with a few lines of code, and what to check before cutting it.

How to animate an SVG with CSS: draw, fill and move

Animate an SVG with CSS keyframes and transitions: the line that draws itself with stroke-dashoffset, fill and colour changes, rotation, and common faults.

How to download an SVG from a website

How to save an SVG from a web page with the browser's own tools: inline code, images, CSS backgrounds and sprites. And why a copy is not a right to use it.

How to reduce SVG file size: what makes it large

What makes an SVG file large and how to shrink it: embedded pictures, too many points, long decimals, editor data and repeated shapes, with measured savings.

How to use an SVG as a CSS background image

Set an SVG as a CSS background with background-image: url(), from a file or a data URI. How to size, repeat and recolour it, and why it may fail to show.

Import SVG in React: Vite, Next.js and webpack

How to import an SVG file in React: as a URL for an img tag, or as a component with SVGR. The setup for Vite, Next.js, webpack and Create React App.

Responsive SVG: how to make an SVG scale

An SVG is responsive when it has a viewBox and CSS sets its size. The code for inline SVG, img tags and backgrounds, and logos that change with their width.

SVG and JavaScript: select, create and change shapes

How to work with SVG in JavaScript: select shapes, change attributes, create elements with createElementNS, handle clicks, measure, and save the result.

SVG animation: animate, animateTransform, animateMotion

Animate an SVG with its own elements, no CSS or script: animate for attributes, animateTransform to spin and scale, animateMotion to follow a path.

SVG dashed and dotted lines: stroke-dasharray

Make a dashed or dotted line in SVG with stroke-dasharray: the syntax, round dots, even dashes round a circle with pathLength, and what cutters do with them.

SVG drop shadow and filters: shadow, blur and glow

Add a shadow to an SVG with the CSS drop-shadow() filter or with an SVG filter element such as feDropShadow. Blur and glow too, and why shadows get cut off.

SVG elements and attributes: a plain reference

A list of the SVG elements that matter, grouped by what they do, and the attributes they take: geometry, paint, references, and which ones CSS can set.

SVG favicon: how to use an SVG as a favicon

An SVG can be a favicon: one link tag, with an .ico and a PNG as fallbacks. The markup, the browser support, and a dark mode version inside the file.

SVG foreignObject: put HTML inside an SVG

The SVG foreignObject element holds HTML inside a drawing: wrapped text, form fields, anything CSS can lay out. How to size it, the xmlns rule and its limits.

SVG g, defs, symbol and use: group and reuse shapes

In SVG, g groups shapes so they can be styled and moved together, defs and symbol hold shapes for later, and use draws a copy. Code, sprites and faults.

SVG gradients: linear and radial, for fill and stroke

An SVG gradient is defined once with linearGradient or radialGradient, then used as a fill or stroke by its id. Direction, stops, transparency and fixes.

SVG in React Native: react-native-svg explained

React Native has no svg element. How to draw with react-native-svg, import .svg files with react-native-svg-transformer, and show SVG from a string or a URL.

SVG in React: inline JSX, components and props

How to use SVG in React: write it inline as JSX, rename attributes such as stroke-width to strokeWidth, and build icon components that take size and colour.

SVG mask and clipPath: show only part of a shape

An SVG clipPath cuts a shape or picture to a hard outline. A mask fades it by brightness, so edges can be soft. Code for both, the differences and the faults.

SVG not showing? The causes and the fix for each

Why an SVG does not show in a browser: a missing xmlns, a wrong path or file type, no size, or shapes that are there but cannot be seen. How to tell which.

SVG pattern: fill a shape with a repeating tile

The SVG pattern element repeats a small tile to fill or stroke a shape. How width, height and patternUnits set the tile, with dots, stripes, grid and checks.

SVG preserveAspectRatio: every value explained

preserveAspectRatio decides how an SVG's viewBox fits a frame of a different shape: fit inside, cover and crop, or stretch. Every value, with examples.

SVG shapes: circle, rect, line, polygon and the rest

The six basic SVG shapes are rect, circle, ellipse, line, polyline and polygon. The attributes each one takes, with code for every shape and common faults.

SVG size and units: width, height, mm, px and DPI

An SVG's size comes from the width and height on its root element, in px, mm or inches. How units and the viewBox set the scale, and why files open too big.

SVG spinner: a loading animation in a few lines

How to make an SVG loading spinner: a ring that turns with CSS or with animateTransform, pulsing dots and a progress ring, with code to copy and adapt.

SVG title, desc and alt text: accessible SVG

How to give an SVG a text alternative: alt on an img tag, title and desc with role img for inline SVG, and aria-hidden for decoration. Code for each case.

SVG tooltip: title element, CSS or JavaScript

Three ways to add a tooltip to an SVG shape: the built-in title element, a CSS hover label inside the drawing, or an HTML box placed by JavaScript, with code.

SVG transparency: transparent backgrounds and opacity

An SVG has a transparent background unless a shape covers it. How to check, remove or add a background colour, and how opacity makes shapes see-through.

SVG tutorial: draw your first SVG by hand, step by step

An SVG tutorial for beginners: write a gift tag in code, one line at a time, and learn the canvas, shapes, paths, text, colour and groups along the way.

SVG vs canvas: the difference and which to use

SVG keeps every shape as an element that CSS and scripts can reach. Canvas is a grid of pixels drawn by JavaScript. How they differ, with a speed test.

SVG xmlns: what it is and when it is needed

What the xmlns attribute on an SVG does, when it is needed (a file, an img tag, a CSS background, a data URI) and when it is not (inline in HTML).

SVG z-index: how to bring a shape to the front

SVG shapes ignore z-index: they are painted in the order they are written. How to bring one to the front by moving it, with JavaScript, or with a use element.

The SVG tag in HTML: attributes and examples

The svg tag is the outer element of every SVG drawing. What its attributes do, from viewBox to xmlns, its default size in HTML, and nesting.

How to change an SVG's colour with CSS

CSS can recolour an SVG that is inline in the page with fill and stroke. For an SVG in an img tag or a background it cannot: use a mask or edit the file.

How to use SVG in HTML: inline, img or CSS background

Three main ways to put an SVG in a web page: an img tag, inline svg markup, or a CSS background. What each allows, with code, sizing and common faults.

SVG fill and stroke: colour, width, dashes and opacity

In SVG, fill paints the inside of a shape and stroke paints its outline. The defaults, colour values, stroke-width, dashes, caps, joins and opacity.

SVG path explained: the d attribute and its commands

An SVG path draws any shape from a list of commands in its d attribute: M, L, C, Q, A and Z. What each one means, with examples for lines, curves and arcs.

SVG text: position, size, anchor, fonts and wrapping

How the SVG text element works: x and y set the baseline, text-anchor aligns it, font-size scales with the viewBox, and lines are wrapped by hand with tspan.

SVG transform: translate, scale, rotate and matrix

The SVG transform attribute moves, resizes, turns and skews a shape or group. How translate, scale, rotate and matrix work, and how to turn about the centre.

SVG viewBox explained: the four numbers and scaling

The SVG viewBox sets which part of the drawing is shown and lets it scale. What min-x, min-y, width and height mean, with examples and fixes for cropping.

Files and formats

Blender: import an SVG and turn it into a mesh

Import an SVG into Blender as curves, find it when nothing seems to happen, fix its size, give it thickness and convert it to a mesh. For Blender 5.2.

Fusion 360: import an SVG, scale it, export a sketch

Insert an SVG into a Fusion 360 sketch, get it to the right size with Measure and Scale or by way of a DXF in millimetres, and export a sketch back to SVG.

GIMP DPI: check it, change it and set 300 for print

In GIMP, Image, Print Size changes the DPI and keeps every pixel. Image, Scale Image adds or removes pixels. Which to use, with the steps for 300 DPI.

How to check the DPI of an image on Windows and Mac

Check the DPI of an image on Windows, on a Mac, in Photoshop or GIMP, or in your browser. Where the number is shown, and what it tells you about printing.

Krita and SVG: open, import and save as SVG

Krita opens SVG files and saves vector layers as SVG, but a painting on paint layers is pixels. What works, the menu to use, and how to trace a painting.

LaTeX to SVG: equations, TikZ pictures and pages

Convert LaTeX to SVG with dvisvgm, from a DVI or a PDF, with text as paths so it looks right anywhere. Also MathJax for equations, and a browser route.

Show all 30 guides in “Files and formats”

SketchUp and SVG: how to import and export

SVG is not among the file types SketchUp's help lists. Bring one in as a DXF, an STL or a traced image, and get an SVG out by way of DXF or a vector PDF.

SVG in LaTeX: how to include an SVG image

LaTeX's \includegraphics cannot read SVG. Three ways to include one: convert it to PDF, use the svg package with Inkscape, or let LaTeX typeset its text.

SVG in Unity: how to import and use vector images

How Unity imports SVG: built in from Unity 6.3, through the Vector Graphics package before that. Import settings, what is not supported and how to fix it.

SVG software: which programs open, edit and make SVG

Which programs open SVG files, which can edit or create them, and what each does with the drawing: editors, cutting and laser software, office and 3D tools.

SVG thumbnails and previews in Windows File Explorer

See SVG files as thumbnails and in the preview pane of File Explorer on Windows 10 and 11, with Microsoft PowerToys or the older SVG Explorer Extension.

What DPI for printing? The standard and when to change it

The standard DPI for printed work is 300 pixels per inch at the printed size. When 150 is enough, when line art needs 600, and what print services ask for.

What DPI to scan documents: text, OCR and archives

Scan documents at 300 DPI, the figure text recognition and the US federal guidelines ask for. When 200 will do, when to use 400 or 600, and the file sizes.

What DPI to scan photos: prints, slides and negatives

Scan photo prints at 600 DPI to keep, 300 to reprint at the same size, and film at 3,000 to 4,000. The figures archives use, and the sums behind them.

GIMP and SVG: open, export and convert PNG to SVG

What GIMP can do with SVG: open one as pixels, export paths as SVG, export vector layers in GIMP 3.2, and turn a PNG into an SVG outline by way of a path.

How to export an SVG from Illustrator: the options

Export an SVG from Illustrator with File, Export, Export As. What each SVG option does, and the settings to choose for a website or for a cutting machine.

How to insert an SVG into a Word document

Word places SVG files as sharp, recolourable graphics: Insert, Pictures, This Device. How to wrap text round one, and what to do in Word 2013 or 2016.

How to open an SVG file in Photoshop

Photoshop opens SVG files, but turns them into pixels unless they are placed as a Smart Object. Both ways step by step, the size to choose, and what is lost.

How to open an SVG in Illustrator and edit it

Illustrator opens SVG files with File, Open and keeps them as editable paths. How to place or paste one, ungroup it, and fix size, font and colour surprises.

How to save as SVG in Photoshop, and what you get

Photoshop saves SVG from File, Export, Export As, not from Save As. Only shape layers become real vector shapes: pixel layers are embedded as a picture.

How to upload an SVG to WordPress safely

WordPress refuses SVG uploads because an SVG can carry a script. Why the error appears, and the safe ways to allow SVG: a sanitising plugin or a short filter.

How to use an SVG in PowerPoint: insert, edit, recolour

PowerPoint inserts SVG files like any picture: Insert, Pictures, This Device. How to recolour one, convert it to shapes, and what to do in older versions.

Is SVG lossy or lossless? And what SVGZ is

SVG is lossless in effect: it stores shapes as text and discards nothing when saved or scaled. Where quality can still be lost, and what an SVGZ file is.

SVG in Figma: how to import, edit and export

How to import an SVG into Figma by dragging or pasting, edit it as vector layers, and export SVG with the right settings for text, strokes and ids.

SVG vs DXF: which file for cutting, lasers and CNC

SVG and DXF are both vector files. SVG keeps colours, fills and layers and suits Cricut and lasers. DXF is bare outlines from CAD and suits CNC and plasma.

SVG vs EPS: the difference and which to use

SVG and EPS are both vector formats. SVG is the modern one, for screens, the web and cutting machines. EPS is an older print format. When each is asked for.

DPI vs PPI: the difference, and why it rarely matters

PPI is the pixels in an inch of an image or a screen. DPI is the ink dots a printer lays in an inch. What each means, and which number to use when.

Raster vs vector: the difference, and which one you need

A raster image is a grid of pixels; a vector image is a set of shapes. What that means for sharpness, file size, editing, printing, cutting and engraving.

SVG vs PNG: which to use, and when

SVG is vector: shapes that stay sharp at any size. PNG is raster: a fixed grid of pixels. Which to use for logos, the web, Cricut, lasers and print.

What is an SVG file? How to open, make and use one

An SVG is a vector image stored as text: shapes instead of pixels, sharp at any size. What is inside one, how to open it, and what it is used for.