Free dragon SVG files

Spikes, claws and scales: cutting a dragon

A dragon is the spikiest thing in this library. Each file is 100 mm on its longer side at its own size, and at that size the back spikes are 3 to 6 mm tall, the claws about 3 mm long and the scale cuts about 1.3 mm wide. Spikes and claws are points, which do not weaken the piece, but they are the first parts to lift from vinyl: weed along the back from head to tail and press the tips down last.

For a first cut or a small one, use the dragon silhouette, the wings or the egg. The standing dragon and the fire-breather want 120 mm or more in vinyl. The Chinese dragon has two whiskers a little under 2 mm thick, the thinnest lines in the set, so cut it at 150 mm or more, or in card with a fresh blade.

On a laser, the scales of the egg engrave well as a surface pattern if you would rather not cut them through. For leather and wood, the dragon eye at 60 to 80 mm makes a strong patch or box lid.

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