Auto-Bridge SVG — Connect Disconnected Stencil Pieces for Laser Cutting
Drop in your SVG. We find every floating piece and add thin bridges so your stencil comes out of the laser cutter in one piece.
Drop your SVG stencil here
or click to pick — SVG only, up to 5 MB
How the auto-bridger works
- 1
Upload your SVG
Drag and drop, or click to pick. Up to 5 MB.
- 2
Choose bridge width
Default 3 mm works for most laser cutters. Increase for thicker materials.
- 3
Click Auto-Bridge
Smart Bridge v1 finds every floating piece and connects it to the main body.
- 4
Download
Get bridged SVG and DXF — both are ready for LightBurn, Glowforge, or any laser software.
What is a stencil bridge?
When you cut a stencil on a laser, anything that's a separate piece falls out. The hole in the middle of an "O", the dot on an "i", and the inside of an "8" are all floating islands. A bridge is a thin connector that links those islands to the main material so they stay in place. Without bridges, you can't actually use the stencil for spray paint, etching cream, or fabric dye.
Why use auto-bridging vs. drawing them by hand?
Hand-placing bridges in Inkscape or Illustrator is fiddly: you've got to find every floating piece, draw a rectangle, align it to the nearest edge of the main body, then union the shapes. For a complex monogram or a detailed silhouette, that's 20-40 minutes. The Smart Bridge v1 algorithm does the whole stencil in under five seconds and the bridges are placed at the geometrically shortest distance every time.
Works with LightBurn, xTool, Glowforge, Cricut and more
The output is standard SVG plus a DXF copy, both scaled to millimetres. Drop either into LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, Lasergrbl, Glowforge, Cricut Design Space, or Silhouette Studio. Nothing proprietary, no plugins, no Adobe subscription.
Privacy
Your uploaded SVG is processed in a single short-lived job and deleted from our servers as soon as the bridged output is generated. We don't keep copies, we don't share files with third parties, and we never train AI on your designs. See the privacy policy for the long form.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the auto-bridger actually do?
It scans your SVG, finds every separate piece (floating letters, the centre of an O, a star's outer ring vs. an inner cutout, etc.), and adds thin connectors so the whole thing comes out of your laser cutter as one solid stencil. Without bridges, all those inner pieces fall out the moment you cut them.
Will it ruin my design?
The bridges are 3 mm wide by default and connect each island to the nearest point of the main body — so they're inconspicuous and structurally sound. You can adjust the width before you download.
What file types do you accept?
SVG files only in v1. We accept exports from Inkscape, Illustrator, Affinity Designer, Figma, and any vector tool that produces standard SVG. DXF input is coming in v2.
Do you store my file?
No. Your SVG is processed once and the input is deleted from our servers immediately after the bridge job completes. We do not train AI on your designs, share them, or keep copies.
How much does it cost?
Free. Anonymous users get 10 conversions per day. Signed-in users get 30 per day. After that, additional conversions cost 1 credit each — and a $7.99 pack covers 50 of them.
What software does the bridged file work with?
Any laser-cutting software that imports SVG or DXF: LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, Glowforge, Lasergrbl, LaserGRBL, Cricut Design Space (SVG), Silhouette Studio, and Inkscape for further editing.
My stencil already cuts in one piece — do I need this?
No. The tool only inserts bridges between disconnected components. If your SVG is already one connected shape, nothing changes and you get your file back intact.
How does the bridging algorithm work?
Smart Bridge v1 rasterises your SVG, runs a connected-components scan to find every separate piece, calculates the shortest physical distance from each island to the main body, draws a 3 mm bridge between them, then retraces the result. Same approach used by professional CAM software for stencil-mode cuts.