Cut a real signature as a keychain
Photograph the signature, and the converter welds it into a single solid piece with a hanger hole, ready to cut from wood or acrylic. It tells you when the pieces connect and how thick the outline needs to be, so the file cuts right the first time.
- One welded piece: dots on i’s and crossed t’s stay attached
- A "one piece" check with a suggested thickness when parts are separate
- Hanger hole placed automatically with solid material around it
- Sized in real units: a 3 inch keychain imports at 3 inches
- Cuts on Cricut, Silhouette, Glowforge, and any laser that reads SVG
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Why signatures need welding
A signature is not one shape. The dot on an i, the bar on a t, and every pen lift is a separate piece, and a cutter will happily cut them separately, leaving you a pile of confetti. The fix is an outline welded around the whole signature: thick enough that every part connects, thin enough that the writing still reads. Doing that in Design Space or Illustrator is the fiddly offset-and-weld dance the tutorials teach; here it is a slider.
The converter counts the pieces at your chosen thickness and shows it plainly: "One piece, ready to cut", or "3 pieces" with the thickness that would connect them, one tap to apply. The hanger hole is punched where there is solid material around it, so the ring never tears through.
Beyond keychains
The same one-piece file makes cake toppers (add a stake in your design software), ornaments, gift tags, and the writing layer of a memorial keepsake. For engraved rather than cut signatures, switch to the engrave or single-line output on the same photo, sized for a CNC or laser.
Questions, answered
Why does my signature cut into separate pieces?
Every pen lift, i-dot, and t-bar is its own shape, so a cutter cuts them separately. The converter welds an outline around the whole signature so it becomes one solid piece, and tells you the minimum outline thickness that connects everything.
How big should a signature keychain be?
About 3 inches wide works for most signatures with a 4 mm hole. Choose the width in the tool and the SVG imports at exactly that size; thin flourishes get more durable as the outline thickness goes up.
Where does the hanger hole go?
It is punched automatically near the top, only where there is enough solid material around it for strength. You can turn it off or change its size.
What materials work?
3 mm plywood and acrylic are the usual choices on a laser; a Cricut or Silhouette cuts the same file from thick cardstock or thin basswood. The file is a normal SVG cut layer either way.
Related tools and guides
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