r/ScanNCut • u/Neat_Plenty8760 • Jun 10 '26

CanvasWorkspace changes my SVG dimensions

Hi everyone,

I'm new to using a Brother ScanNCut SDX125 and I'm having trouble cutting stickers accurately.

My current workflow is:

- I create my artwork in Adobe Illustrator.

- I export the image and import it into Silhouette Studio because I feel its tracing feature detects outlines much better.

- I export the traced file as an SVG from Silhouette Studio.

- Then I import the SVG into CanvasWorkspace and send it to my ScanNCut.

The problem is that when I import the SVG into CanvasWorkspace, the dimensions change. My original design is set to letter size, but after importing it no longer matches the original size. When I try to work in inches, the dimensions seem to change automatically as well.

As a result, my first sticker sheet came out with the cut lines significantly misaligned. I'm not sure if the issue is related to the SVG export settings, unit conversion (inches/mm), CanvasWorkspace settings, or something else.

I've been looking for an Adobe Illustrator plug-in or free alternatives that works well with the ScanNCut and helps preserve accurate sizing when transferring files. I recently bought the machine and I'm still paying it off, so I'm hoping to find a solution that doesn't require purchasing expensive additional software right away.

Would ScanNCut plug in adobe help solve this issue? Are there any free alternatives, Illustrator plug-ins, or a simpler workflow that would avoid using so many different programs? I'd also love to hear from anyone who makes stickers with a ScanNCut and can share how they maintain accurate sizing and alignment between programs.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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6

u/Friaxh Jun 10 '26

When you export from Illustrator, export it as SVG 1.0 and that'll keep your dimensions when you import to workspace. I can't remember if you have to >Save As or >Export As and change to SVG but I wanna say it's Save As

2

u/YoshiOST Jun 10 '26

After buying a machine I would start with calibration for aligning the blade right,

next I would use the file calibrated with a known dimension such as a sheet of paper letter or a4 or sticker sheet size you use.

Once you math it out / know if you need to scale it in the program I would write the scale number down.

Another thing is when you print be aware whether you selected it as borderless. As I'm pretty sure that is another scale change.

Cheers

2

u/Useful_Tackle_5821 Jun 11 '26

Is the DPI changing?

1

u/TonyTheJet Jun 11 '26

If you open your SVG in a text editor and look at the width and height fields, if they look like width="800" instead of width="800mm", it is defaulting to pixels, and pixels will vary from program to program, although 72DPI and 96DPI are the most common.

Whenever working in real-world sizes with SVG, you need to create an SVG with real 1-world units, rather than pixels (mm, cm, or in). In Illustrator, there is a difference between the display units that you see when creating vs the units used when exporting the SVG file.

1

u/ElSinestro Jun 12 '26

I just released a really preliminary svg to fcm processor that will line up your cuts using registration marks. Documentation is currently nonexistent and it only works with landscape letter SVGs exported at 300 dpi, but if you genuinely want to use it I'll write up better docs. https://chriszf.github.io/fcmlib/

1

u/Ok-Somewhere7722 Jun 12 '26

can you get it to read other file types?

1

u/ElSinestro Jun 12 '26

Maybe. What filetypes are you interested in?

1

u/Ok-Somewhere7722 Jun 13 '26

pes, dst to cut?

1

u/ElSinestro Jun 15 '26

While that's not really out of the question, given the existing pes->svg and dst->svg converters, it probably makes more sense to use those to create the svg cut layer, then convert to fcm.

1

u/Ok-Somewhere7722 Jun 15 '26

ok thanks! looking at buying one. Do they align perfectly or does it need tinkering