Free laurel SVG files

What fits inside a laurel

A laurel is open at the top, so it frames something wider than it is tall: a surname, a year, a pair of initials. On the round laurels here the clear space inside is between about 45 and 57 mm across when the file is 100 mm, and the opening at the top lets tall capitals rise into the gap. The wide U of laurel leaves holds two or three lines; the split laurel holds one line that may run the full width.

Scale the laurel and the lettering together. For a monogram, start with the letter at about 60 per cent of the height of the laurel and adjust by eye.

Cutting and weeding

The stems are the thinnest parts: about 2 mm wide at 100 mm on most of the set, 1.6 mm on the farmhouse laurel and over 3 mm on the simple one. Each leaf is joined to the stem at its base. In vinyl, weed from the inside of the curve outwards, so that the waste lifts away from the leaf tips instead of pulling them up. The simple laurel has the fewest parts and cuts cleanly at 40 mm; the farmhouse and olive laurels are finer and want 80 mm or more.

On a laser, engrave the solid laurels as fills on wood, slate or glass. To cut one out of plywood or acrylic as a free-standing piece, use 150 mm or larger so the stems are about 3 mm wide.

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