Free bookmark SVG files

Size and material

The files are 100 mm on their longer side, which is small for a bookmark. Scale a strip to 150 mm tall for a paperback or 180 mm for a hardback: at 150 mm the plain template is 42 mm wide and its hole is 7 mm across, which takes a tassel or a loop of ribbon. Card of 250 to 300 gsm is stiff enough on its own. Thinner card is better laminated or cut twice and glued back to back.

For a laser, 3 mm plywood is too thick to close a book on. Use 1.5 mm ply, veneer, 2 mm acrylic or leather. The pierced floral and moon-and-stars strips keep a solid margin all the way round, so they stay in one piece in thin wood.

Corner bookmarks

The two folding templates have their fold lines cut as rows of short dashes, so the card bends cleanly without a scoring tool. If your machine has a scoring wheel or pen, swap the dashes for a score line instead. Glue only the flap or the tab, never the square or the heart itself, or the pocket will not open. The square corner bookmark cut at 100 mm tall unfolded gives a pocket about 47 mm along each side.

How to open the files

• Cricut Design Space: choose Upload, pick the SVG, and add it to the canvas. Set the width you want; the shape is already welded.
• Silhouette Studio: Designer Edition and above open the SVG. The free Basic Edition does not, so open the DXF instead.
• LightBurn, xTool Creative Space and Glowforge: import the SVG, then set the layer to cut, score or engrave.
• Inkscape, Illustrator and Affinity: open the SVG. It is a plain filled path, so you can recolour it, add a stroke or combine it with your own work.
• Printing or sublimation: use the PNG, which has a transparent background.

Each design page lists the file’s narrowest part at seven sizes, so you can tell whether it will survive at the size you plan to cut.

Questions