Why you're stuck
Silhouette Studio comes in editions. The free Basic Edition saves your work as .studio3, Silhouette's own format. Opening SVG files needs Designer Edition or higher, and saving SVG needs Business Edition (Silhouette School, July 2026, says this holds for both version 4 and version 5). So a design made in the free software is locked into .studio3 unless you pay for an upgrade or find another route.
That matters when you want to send a design to someone with a Cricut or a laser, sell a cut file, or move to other software.
Route 1: convert it here
Open the .studio3 file at the top of this page. Cutpeek reads the outlines Silhouette Studio stored and writes them as an SVG with the same curves and sizes. It runs entirely in your browser, so the file isn't uploaded anywhere, and SVG export is free.
This works for files you saved yourself in Silhouette Studio 4.0 or later. It doesn't work for files saved by much older versions, or for protected files. The troubleshooting page explains each case.
Route 2: the old trace workaround
Before converters existed, people took a screenshot of the design, then traced it in Inkscape or another program. It works in a pinch, but tracing guesses at edges from pixels: sizes drift, curves go lumpy and small details vanish. A conversion keeps the real geometry, so use tracing only for files that can't be converted.
Route 3: upgrade Silhouette Studio
If you design in Silhouette Studio every week and regularly need SVG, DXF or PDF out, Business Edition is a one-time upgrade and does far more than export. If you need SVG now and then, a converter costs less and leaves the rest of your setup alone.
After converting
- Measure a shape you know in the program you import into, to confirm the size came across.
- Keep the original .studio3 file. It holds things an SVG can't, such as Silhouette's cut settings and any print-and-cut pictures.
- Only convert designs you have the right to use in other software. Bought designs often come with a licence that says how they can be used.