SVG or PNG: which file do you actually need?

One question decides this: does a machine need to cut it, or does a printer need to print it? That is also why many designs ship as both.

SVG: for cutting

SVG (cut file) is the format for Cricut Design Space, Silhouette Studio and Brother ScanNCut. It is a drawing, so it scales from a two-inch patch to a yard sign without a blur, and a well-made cut file layers colours the way you would want on a shirt.

If the word in the listing is "cut file" or the design is a layered phrase, this is the format your machine wants.

PNG: for printing

PNG is a flattened picture at 300 DPI with transparent areas where the design does not fall. That is what sublimation, DTF shops, waterslide paper and print shops want: one image, no background, ready to place.

Never upsize a PNG beyond about 120% for print quality; SVG carries that job instead.

Telling them apart in a listing

Two things decide it: the title says "SVG" or "PNG", and the listing’s WHAT YOU GET spells out each file and its size. If you would like to see one before committing, the WHAT YOU GET preview is the second image on a listing.

• Each listing states its exact formats under WHAT YOU GET — start there, not with the picture.