Free lion SVG files

Sizes, materials and the fine parts of a lion

Every lion here is 100 mm on its longer side. In the side views the thinnest part is the tail, about 2.7 mm wide at that size, and the mane ends in a row of pointed locks. Points do not weaken a cut piece, but in vinyl they are the first parts to lift, so weed from the body outwards and press the mane down last. In 3 mm plywood keep the side views at 100 mm or longer so the tail survives handling.

The faces are sturdier. The cute lion face has nothing narrower than 5.5 mm, so it still cuts cleanly at 40 mm and works in felt or craft foam. The lion head with a spiky mane has a cut line about 1.7 mm wide round the face and whisker dots about 2 mm across: keep it at 80 mm or larger in vinyl and lift the dots out with a pin.

Making the face show

On every lion face the eyes, nose and mouth are holes, so whatever sits behind the lion shows through them. Cut the lion from gold, tan or orange and lay it on black or dark brown card, and the features read as if they were drawn. On a light wall or a white shirt, cut the lion itself from a dark colour instead.

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