Free mermaid SVG files

Tails, scales and hair: where mermaids are delicate

Every file is 100 mm on its longer side at its own size. A mermaid has three fine places. The scales are slits about 1.5 mm wide, in arcs on the tail and in bands on the figures. The tail narrows to about 7 mm where it meets the fin. And on the seated mermaids the arm she leans on is about 3 mm thick. All of that cuts well in vinyl, iron-on and card at 100 mm and up. For anything smaller, the tail outline and the fin above the water have the least to weed.

Glitter and holographic vinyl suit tails, but both are thick: cut the scaled tail at 150 mm or more in those, or the arcs will not weed cleanly. A good two-colour tail is the scaled one in a dark teal over a plain copy in a lighter shade, so the lighter colour shows through every scale.

The mermaid scale heart is a net: every arc is joined to its neighbours and to the border, so the whole heart lifts as one piece. Cut it from card as an overlay for a greeting card, or from stencil film to sponge scales on to a shirt, a wall or a cake board.

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