Free dove SVG files

A white bird in a one-colour design

A dove is white, so the usual rule of cutting from black and backing with white is turned round: cut the dove itself from white vinyl or card and put it on something darker. Navy, sage green, kraft brown and clear glass all work. The cut lines between the feathers then show the background colour and give the wings their shape. If you must cut from a dark colour, choose the dove outline, which is drawn as lines and reads correctly either way.

Each design is 100 mm on its longer side. The feather lines on the single flying dove are about 2 mm wide at that size, so it cuts cleanly in vinyl down to about 60 mm. The smaller doves in the pair, the trio and the cross have heavier lines and fewer of them, which keeps them sound at their size.

Which dove for which occasion

For a wedding, the two doves with a heart and the dove in a heart are the usual choice. For baptism, confirmation and Pentecost, the descending dove in a ring follows the way the Holy Spirit is traditionally drawn, coming straight down with its wings spread. The cross with a dove suits sympathy cards and church banners, and the peace dove with its olive sprig belongs on anything about peace.

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