Kerf
Artwork in, cut line out, with a check against every sticker printer's rules.
What it does
Kerf makes the die line for a sticker or decal. Upload a graphic on a transparent or white background. Kerf finds the outline, grows it by your bleed, fits a smooth cut path, and writes a file your cutter or printer reads.
The cut is drawn at a set distance from the art on a distance field, so corners round at the bleed radius, pieces closer than twice the bleed join, holes shrink as the cut grows, and the path never crosses itself. A transparent PNG keeps its holes; a JPEG on white has them filled.
Every job gets a cut-safety report: the narrowest neck, how close art sits to the cut, and whether it meets the 2 mm minimum feature most printers ask for. Kerf can also carry the artwork past the cut by mirroring it across its own edge, so a half-millimetre registration miss lands on more art instead of bare liner.
In numbers
Specifications
| Files out | PDF with the cut on its own layer in a named spot colour, SVG and DXF at true size, and a PNG print file with bleed added. |
|---|---|
| Machine profiles | Roland VersaWorks (CutContour), Esko and Kongsberg, trade printer Dieline, kiss cut plus backer, Cricut and Silhouette, laser (Glowforge, LightBurn, xTool), Ponoko, CNC router or plotter (DXF). |
| Where it runs | In your browser. Nothing is uploaded unless you sign in and save a project to the cloud. |
| Same file every time | The browser build and the server build produce identical bytes for the same input, so a reorder months later gets the same blade path. |
| PDF checked | The PDF passes qpdf --check and separates CutContour and Backer onto their own plates in Ghostscript, the way VersaWorks reads it. |
| Free and paid | The whole pipeline, live cut path, cut-safety report and SVG are free. The layered PDF, DXF and the bleed print file need a paid plan. |
| Projects | Saved to your own Hoq Storage after sign-in. |
Features
13 features, all shipped. Listed from the product's code and documentation; each row shows the day it was last checked.
| Outline from alpha or white | Reads the shape from transparency, a white background or a key colour. | |
| Offset by bleed | Grows the cut a set distance from the art. | |
| Hole handling | Cuts holes in transparent art and fills them in art keyed off white. | |
| Smoothing | Smooths away small features before the cut is traced. | |
| Kiss and backer cut | Writes two cut levels from one shape. |
| Cut-safety report | Reports the narrowest neck, art-to-cut clearance and blade-rounding limit. | |
| Preview is the file | Draws the exact path the file will contain. |
| Bleed synthesis | Extends the art past the cut by mirroring it across its edge. |
| Spot-colour PDF | Puts the cut on its own layer in the spot name the machine expects. | |
| SVG | Writes the cut at true physical size. | |
| DXF | Writes the cut for plotters and routers. | |
| Vendor profiles | Sets spot name, layer, offset and stroke for each machine. |
| Cloud projects | Saves projects to your Hoq Storage after sign-in. |
Works with
- storageProjects are saved in your Hoq Storage.
Your data
| Where it is kept | Your artwork stays in the browser while you work. A saved project is uploaded to your own Hoq Storage. |
|---|---|
| Getting it out | Every export is a file you download. |
| If you leave | Not documented. |
APIs and standards
- Web app (installable)
- Standard: PDF
- Standard: SVG
- Standard: DXF
- Standard: PNG
Compared
| Checked 2026-11-01 | Kerf | Silhouette Studio | Cricut Design Space |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for SVG; paid plan price not published | Basic free; Designer $49.99, Designer Plus $74.99, Business $99.991 | not published2 |
| Runs on | A web browser | Mac and Windows, 64-bit1 | not published2 |
| Save as SVG | Free | Business Edition1 | not published2 |
| Largest offset | Set by you | not published1 | 1 inch (2.5 cm) from each edge2 |
| Files for print shops and RIPs (spot-colour PDF) | Yes, on the paid plan | not published1 | not published2 |
| Drives a cutting machine | No, it writes files | Yes, Silhouette cutters1 | Yes, Cricut machines3 |
| Print Then Cut size | No limit set by Kerf | not published1 | Up to 9.25 × 6.75 in on the default page4 |
| Checks against printer rules | Cut-safety report on every job | not published1 | not published2 |
- https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/silhouette-studio
- https://help.cricut.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061650414-How-to-use-the-Offset-feature-in-Design-Space
- https://help.cricut.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009387274-How-to-Print-Then-Cut-in-Design-Space
- https://help.cricut.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009429814-Design-Space-says-printable-image-is-too-large