Free lifeguard SVG files

Sizes, thin parts and materials

The whistle, the ring buoy, the rescue can, the badge and the heart are bold shapes with nothing under 2 mm at 100 mm, so they cut cleanly in vinyl and iron-on from about 50 mm and make good stickers for water bottles and kit bags. The grab line on the ring buoy is a little under 3 mm wide at 100 mm: weed along each loop, not across it.

The stand and the tower are built from posts, rungs and braces between 2 and 4 mm wide at 100 mm. Cut them at 120 mm or more in vinyl, or from card, plywood and acrylic, where thin posts hold up better. The silhouette on the stand has a straight strip of ground under it and can be stood upright in a shadow box.

Why there is no cross

Many lifeguard designs use a cross, but crosses on plain grounds are protected emblems in many countries and the mark of particular services in others. These designs use a ring buoy, crossed oars and a whistle in its place. If your pool or beach patrol has its own emblem, add it yourself on a second layer.

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