Free orchid SVG files

The three-and-three face

An orchid flower is not a ring of matching petals. It has three sepals, one pointing up and two pointing down and out, and in front of them two petals, which on a moth orchid are broad and round like wings. The third petal is the lip: small, three-lobed, set at the bottom of the face and ending in two fine whiskers. Above the lip sits the column. Draw those parts in that order and the flower is an orchid; leave out the lip and it is just a five-petalled flower. Every flower in this set keeps the lip, even the small ones.

The whiskers of the lip are about 2.5 mm wide at 100 mm on the single flower. On the sprays, where each flower is 30 to 40 mm across, the lip is simplified to its outline with a dot for the column so that it still cuts cleanly.

Stems, buds and sizes

A moth orchid carries its flowers along one side of a stem that rises and then arches over, with the oldest and largest flower lowest and round buds still closed at the tip. The stems here are 2.3 to 3.6 mm wide at 100 mm. Cut the sprays, the corner and the potted plant at 100 mm or more in card; in vinyl they are fine from about 70 mm. The single flowers and the border are sturdier and go smaller.

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