At a glance
| KerfPress | Adobe Illustrator | Inkscape | Cricut Design Space | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Opens in the browser. Nothing to install, no account needed to try it. | Desktop app to install. | Desktop app to install. | Cricut's own app, used to send cuts to the machine. |
| Cost | Generating, editing and the 3D preview are free. Downloads are paid per file or by subscription, after a free allowance. | Paid subscription. | Free and open source. | Free app. Convert to Layers needs a Cricut Access subscription. |
| Splitting into layers | Automatic: one sheet per color or tone, stacked from back to front. | Image Trace, then expand, ungroup and move each color to its own layer. | Trace Bitmap with multiple scans. Each scan becomes its own object. | Convert to Layers makes up to nine layers. A plain upload is one layer. |
| Learning curve | Upload an image, choose how many colors, and the layers are ready. No design skills needed. | A professional design program. Tracing and sorting colors into layers take practice. | A full design program. Trace Bitmap has many settings to learn. | Quick to pick up if you already cut with a Cricut. Detailed images often need cleanup after converting. |
| Best for | Crafters who want cuttable paper layers from an image, quickly. | Designers who already use it and want precise, hand-built vector art. | Anyone who wants a free desktop tool and has time to learn it. | Simple, clip art style images, with Cricut Access. |
Prices and plans change, so check each maker's site for current terms. KerfPress prices are on the pricing page.
What KerfPress checks for you
A layered papercut is a stack of real sheets. A design can look right on screen and still fall apart when it is cut. These checks are built into KerfPress:
A piece that touches no edge of its sheet drops out when it is cut. KerfPress finds these islands and marks them in red on each layer.
One click adds a bridge from every island to the paper around it. In the editor you can change a bridge's width, draw your own or delete one.
See the sheets stacked in a frame before you cut, and change the gap between layers and the lighting to see how the depth reads.
Set the finished width in millimeters and a minimum paper width, so thin strips that would tear are cleaned up before you download.
The bridge and 3D checks also work on files made somewhere else. Drop an SVG on Add bridges to an SVG or Preview a layered SVG in 3D.
Adobe Illustrator
Illustrator is a professional vector program, and it is the right choice if you want to draw the artwork by hand and control every curve. Its Image Trace feature turns a picture into vector shapes, and the Limited palette lets you set how many colors the trace uses.
To get one layer per color, the usual method is to expand the trace, ungroup it, pick one shape and use Select > Same > Fill Color, then move that selection to a new layer, and repeat for every color. Traced colors often vary slightly, so a trace limited to a few colors can expand into more shades than expected, and a detailed image can produce thousands of separate paths.
Inkscape
Inkscape is a free, open source vector program for Windows, macOS and Linux. Its Trace Bitmap tool can run multiple scans by color, gray level or brightness steps, and stack the results. Each scan becomes its own object, so after ungrouping you arrange the objects into layers yourself.
It costs nothing, which makes it a good fit if you have time to learn a full design program. Multicolor tracing can be slow on large images.
Cricut Design Space
Design Space is the app that sends designs to a Cricut machine. A plain image upload gives you a single layer. Its Convert to Layers feature splits a picture into up to nine color layers and is available to Cricut Access subscribers. Cricut says it works best with simple, clip art style images.
If your design is already a layered SVG, Design Space only needs to import it. See how to import a layered SVG into Cricut Design Space.
Using them together
These tools are not either-or. You can draw a piece in Illustrator or Inkscape, then drop the SVG into KerfPress to add bridges and check the stack in 3D. Or you can build the layers in KerfPress, download the SVG and send it to your cutter from Design Space.
Turn an image into paper layers
Starting from a photo? See How to turn a photo into a layered SVG.