Use the cut-and-score SVG with a cutting machine

Each SVG download is one piece at exact size with two groups: CUT and SCORE. This guide explains what is in the file and how to get it through a cutting machine's software without changing its size.

What the file contains

• The root element declares a physical size in millimetres (for example width="184mm" height="40mm") and a viewBox with the same numbers, so one user unit is one millimetre.
• A group with id="CUT" holds the outer outline and any hole circles, drawn in black.
• A group with id="SCORE" holds the fold lines as continuous straight paths, drawn in red. They are not dashed in the file: dashes are a print style and would turn into many tiny cuts.
• Every path has fill="none" and an explicit stroke. There are no styles, scripts, images, fonts, text, glue hatching, ruler or page chrome.
• One file per unique piece: a band, a card, or separate base and lid files for a box. Quantity in the tool never duplicates geometry in the SVG; duplicate copies in your cutting software instead.

The file name records the tool, the key dimensions, the piece and the geometry version, for example makerfold-gift-box-100x70x30mm-lid-cut-v1.svg.

Import at the right scale

Cutting software varies in how it reads SVG units. After importing, compare the piece's size in the software with the flat size shown in the tool (for example 184 × 40 mm). If it differs, look for an import setting for DPI or units: most problems come from software assuming 72 or 96 pixels per inch for unitless files. Because these files declare millimetres explicitly, correct software should import them at true size. If yours does not, type the exact width and height from the tool into the software's size fields with proportional scaling locked.

Assign cut and score operations

Machines do not know that red lines mean "score". In your software:

1. Ungroup or select by colour. Select everything in red (the SCORE group) and assign your machine's scoring, fold-line or light-pressure operation. If your machine has no scoring tool, you can use a very light cut pressure or a perforation setting, or score by hand after cutting.
2. Select the black lines (the CUT group) and assign a full cut. Hole circles are in the same group and should cut with the outline.
3. Order the operations so scoring happens before cutting, to keep the sheet stable.

Score lines meet the outline exactly at the fold positions and do not overlap cut lines, so there is nothing to clean up.

Small test-cut workflow

1. Cut one piece on scrap stock of the same thickness as your final material.
2. Measure the cut piece. Its width and height should match the tool within what you can measure. If not, revisit the import scale.
3. Check the scores. They should fold cleanly without cutting through. Adjust the score pressure, not the geometry.
4. Assemble the test piece around the real product. Adjust the design in the tool if the fit is off, export again, and only then cut the batch.

What the SVG does not do

• No printed text or brand lines: those are only in the PDF. Print and cut workflows need the PDF for text; the SVG is the geometry-only file.
• No registration marks or settings for a specific machine. Add those in your own software if needed.
• No guarantee for any particular brand of cutter. The files use plain SVG 1.1 features that most software reads, but test first.