Ok there seems to be some confusion about how to use cutting files and images with the Brother ScanNCut.
First let me say I am not an expert and if anyone has anything to add regarding this post please leave me a comment all help and advice is appreciated. I have been receiving questions from people having problems trying to cut files that are not native ScanNCut files.
I think I need to try and clarify a couple of points-
Electronic cutting machines work will Vector Images No Tracing Required. Vector graphics are a type of computer graphic that use equations to describe lines, angles and fills, by that I mean they see only outlines.
There are several file formats “DXF” “SVG” and other electronic cutting machines like Pazzles which use “WPC”, Craft Robo was/is “GSD or GST”, Silhouette is .studio (I believe) and Cricut had their own too.
Then there are Raster Images Tracing is required before a cutting file can be made. These types of files use pixels which are tiny squares which when grouped together form a picture, at leasts thats my understanding of them.
Raster images use file formats like .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .pdf etc. You will be used to seeing these formats on your photos or images that you have on your computer or find on the internet.
You will have to deal with either of these types of file differently to transform them into a cutting file that can be read by either the Brother online ScanNCut canvas software or your ScanNCut machine.
If using a Vector file in an “SVG” file format you can open Canvas and Import the file and convert it on line into a ScanNCut file, you would then save and download it for use with your ScanNCut machine.
I show you how to do this in this video
If you have a Vector cutting file in any other format i.e. Silhouette, Craft Robo, Pazzles you have a couple of choices. 1 You can print your design, scan it directly into the ScanNCut machine and that will automatically convert your design into a cuttable file.
2 You could take a screen shot of the design in the respective software it was created i.e. Silhouette, Craft Robo, Pazzles, and the screen shot will most likely be saved as a JPG Raster File, so then you would have to use the image tracing feature of Canvas to make a cutting file, or import the image into Inkscape trace it and save it as an SVG file
I show you how to do this in these videos.
With any other Raster image file (jpg, bmp, png etc) you want to convert into a cutting file you would have to open canvas and use the image tracing feature again to make a cutting file, or again import into Inkscape trace and save as SVG and then import the SVG into canvas to convert it to a Brother ScanNCut FCM cutting file.
If you are still having problems importing SVG files into ScanNCut canvas online, I also found this information on the net.
All major modern web browsers—including Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer (version 9 and above), Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari—have at least some degree of support for SVG and can render the markup directly.
In short I am assuming providing you are using any of the browsers listed above you should be able to import your SVG file into canvas.
I realise that all this may seem confusing especially if you are new to the world of electronic cutting machines, but unfortunately they all have their own file formats and we just have to find a way to make them work for us.
There is an SVG converter available on line but I have tried several file formats on simple shapes and have to say the results have not been good, so if you want to convert your raster files into SVG files I still think using the trace bitmap option in Inkscape is the way to go.
I hope that maybe helps to clarify some of the confusion about file types and cutting.