Add a weeding box and weeding lines to an SVG, free
Drop an SVG cut file and get it back with a box round the design and weeding lines through the empty vinyl, placed to stay clear of every letter. Free, with nothing uploaded.
Stays on this computer · no signup · no watermark
What's new: photo separation for screen printing, a new tool (3 Nov 2026). Open it · all updates
Weeding lines that keep clear of the design
On a big decal or several lines of lettering, the waste vinyl comes off as one sheet that drags small letters up with it. A box round the design and a few cuts through the empty vinyl split the waste into pieces that peel away on their own. This tool finds the gaps that run right across your design, such as the space between two lines of text, puts a line through each, adds lines in from the box edge, and keeps every line a set distance from the design.
What you get
- Your SVG with a weeding group added: a box round the design and the lines, as thin filled shapes that cutting software keeps.
- The design unchanged: its shapes are copied as they are. Only the file's view is widened to take the box, and its size is written in inches.
- The weeding layer on its own, if you would rather add it in your cutting software.
How to use it
- Drop an SVG, or start from the sample.
- Check the design width, then set the room round the design and how often lines come in from the box edge.
- Download the SVG and upload it to Cricut Design Space or Silhouette Studio.
- Select the design and the weeding group and Attach them, so they cut together in place.
What it does not do
- It does not change your design, weld letters or fix the file. For a file that will not upload, use the SVG checker.
- It does not cut lines inside letters, such as the middle of an O: those small pieces still come out with a pick.
- The distances are our starting points, not a machine maker's figures. Change them for your vinyl.
Questions
What are weeding lines?
Weeding is peeling away the vinyl you do not want after the cut. A box cut round the design gives the peel a clean edge to start from, and lines cut through the empty vinyl split it into smaller pieces that lift away without tugging at small letters. They matter most on big designs, lettering with many lines, and glitter or holographic vinyl that tears easily.
Where does it put the lines?
Through every gap between parts of the design that runs right across it, such as the space between two lines of text or two words side by side, and in from each side of the box at the spacing you choose. Every line stops short of the design by the clearance you set, 1/32 in to start, so the blade never touches a letter. Gaps narrower than about 0.15 in get no line through them.
How do I keep the lines in place in Cricut Design Space?
The weeding layer is a group of its own in the file. After uploading, select the design and the weeding group and click Attach, so they cut on one mat in the same places. Weld is for joining overlapping letters into one shape and is not needed here. Silhouette Studio opens them in place; keep them grouped if you move them.
Why are the lines thin shapes rather than plain lines?
Cutting programs do not all treat a plain stroke in an SVG the same way: some leave it out and some cut round its width. A thin filled shape is cut along its outline in all of them, so each weeding line cuts as two passes a hundredth of an inch apart: one slit in the vinyl.
What size will it cut at?
The file is written with its width and height in inches, read from your file when it says its size. When it does not, the tool reads it at 96 to the inch, the web standard, and you enter the width you will cut. Check the size in your cutting software after uploading, and scale the design and the weeding group together if you change it.
Can I start from a PNG?
Weeding lines belong in a cut file, so turn the picture into an SVG first with the PNG to SVG converter, then open the SVG here.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The file is read and drawn in your browser, and the new file is saved from memory on your device. Your design is copied into it unchanged.