Free butterfly SVG files

Picking a butterfly for your material

A butterfly is two things to a cutting machine: broad wings, which are easy, and antennae, which are not. Every file here is 100 mm on its longer side, and each design page lists its narrowest part at that size. On most of these designs that part is an antenna, about 1.8 mm wide. In vinyl and card that cuts well down to half size. In 3 mm plywood or acrylic keep the butterfly at 100 mm or more, or choose the butterfly in a ring, where nothing thin sticks out.

The silhouettes and the teardrop butterfly have the least to weed, so they are the ones for small stickers, confetti and a first project. The veined, lacy and mandala butterflies have many small cells: cut them from card of 176 gsm (65 lb) or heavier, use a sharp blade and slow the machine down for the curves.

Making a butterfly stand up

For a 3D butterfly, cut the same design twice in card. Fold the wings of the top one upwards along both sides of the body and glue only the bodies together. The flat one underneath gives a shadow of colour and the folded one lifts off the page. The two-colour layered design is made for stacking flat: cut the plain butterfly in a bright colour and the veined one in black.

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