image → cut layers
Separate a design into colour layers for vinyl cutting
* Free to use — the editor runs in your browser, and nothing is uploaded unless you start a server step: the AI tools, or upscaling a photograph (logos and flat artwork are enlarged on your device). A free account (Google, Apple or an emailed code — no card) is needed to download the finished file, and comes with credits for the server-side tools.
Design Space wants each colour on its own layer so it can put each on its own mat. A JPG or a flat PNG has no layers at all, so it uploads as a single image and cuts as one shape. Splitting the colours first is the step that makes a downloaded design actually cuttable.
Split a design by colourOne layer per colour, named, not guessed
Point the Colours tab at a flat design, choose how many colours, and it separates the artwork into that many layers — each one a named colour rather than a hex code, so “Red” and “Cream” arrive as “Red” and “Cream”. Re-separating replaces the plates instead of stacking a second set on top, so you can dial the count up and down until it matches the vinyl you actually have on the shelf.
Stacked or knocked out
Layering vinyl works either by stacking colours on top of one another or by cutting them as puzzle pieces that butt together. Stacking is more forgiving on registration and adds thickness; knocking out keeps the finish flat and needs a steadier hand. The separation gives you the plates either way, and the per-colour PNG export drops straight into Design Space as one upload per mat.
What trips people up
Anti-aliased edges are the quiet problem: a downloaded PNG has soft, blended pixels along every boundary, and a naive split turns that halo into a fringe of stray specks on the neighbouring colour. Near-white shades are the other one — paper white, warm white and a pale highlight read as one colour to most tools and come back merged. Both are handled deliberately here rather than left to a tolerance slider.
Remember to mirror
Nothing to do with the file, and it catches everyone at least once: heat transfer vinyl is cut face down, so every mat needs mirroring in Design Space before you cut. Adhesive vinyl does not.
Frequently asked
Do I need an account?
No. Colour separation and every export run in your browser on the free tier, with no upload and no sign-in.
Can I get an SVG?
The separation exports per-colour PNG plates, a layered PSD, and ORA. For a cutter, one PNG per colour is usually the simplest route — Design Space traces it on upload.
How many colours should I pick?
As many as you have vinyl for. Start at the number of distinct flat colours you can see, then reduce until each plate is a colour you would actually cut.
Keep reading
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