silhouettestudio V3 V4
Table of Contents Software Usage Agreement............................1 Registered Trademarks...................................2 Disclaimer......................................................2 About this Manual..........................................2 1 - General Information..................................3 1.1 System Requirements..................................3 1.2 Features Overview.......................................4 1.3 Software File Formats..................................5 1.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Software Usage Agreement 1 Software Usage Agreement Silhouette America Corporation ("Silhouette America") hereby grants the purchaser and authorized User (the "User") the right to use the software (the “Software”) in accordance with the terms and conditions specified. By its purchase and/or use of the Software, the User hereby accepts and agrees to abide by the terms and conditions set forth herein. 1.
Silhouette Studio V3 | Registered Trademarks 2 Registered Trademarks The company names and product names described in this manual are registered trademarks of their respective owners. Disclaimer Some of the software images used in this manual are those that were used when the software was under development, and they may be slightly different from those actually displayed. There are no differences between the functions and setting layouts shown here and those of the actual version.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 1 - General Information 1 - General Information 3 Silhouette Studio® is drawing/editing/output software that enables the creation of outline and print data consisting of objects and text, and the output of the created data to the Silhouette electronic cutting tool for a variety of applications including cutting and perforating media materials for 2-dimensional projects, fabricating 3-dimensional fold-together models from cut-out templates, and sketching line art.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter Registered Trademarks 1.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter Registered Trademarks 1.3 Software File Formats 5 The Silhouette Studio® software uses a proprietary .STUDIO file format, which consist of vector art for line and color/gradient fill type data intended for printing and/or cutting.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter Registered Trademarks 6 1.4 Available Digital Content The Silhouette Studio® software comes preloaded with 50 ready-made designs. These become available as you connect and power on your electronic cutting tool. E L P M SA Preloaded shapes will vary between Silhouette electronic cutting tools. Additional content is available through the Silhouette Design Store (accessed through the Silhouette Studio® software).
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 2 - Installing Silhouette Studio® 7 2 - Installing Silhouette Studio® 2.1 Download Silhouette Studio® is a free software download from silhouetteamerica.com. Follow the prompts to download the software to your computer. Make sure to choose the corresponding operating system (PC or MAC) to the computer you are using.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 3 - Basic Software Overview 3.1 Opening the Software To open the software on PC, locate the desktop icon and double-click. If a desktop icon was not created during installation, go to the Windows Start menu and select to run Silhouette Studio®. To open the software on Mac, open the Applications folder and launch Silhouette Studio®.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 3.2 Software Sections 9 The software offers several sectioned areas. Details as to each button’s specific function are discussed in later sections. However, so that you may be familiarized with where everything is located, a brief overview is provided for each of the sections.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview Silhouette Studio® Tools This section along the top right-hand side of the screen provides a range of tools for filling images, altering lines, adjusting text attributes, adjusting and replicating images, and adjusting page and cutting conditions. Drawing Tools This section along the left-hand side of the screen provides tools used for selecting, and drawing images as well as the ability to drop text directly into your workspace area.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 11 3.3 Cutting/Drawing Area You will note there are two different sections in your workspace: • White workspace • Grey holding area The white workspace notes the active document area. Images may be placed or drawn onto this area, or they may be placed or drawn in the grey holding area. Any images in this grey area are invisible to your cutting tool or printer.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 12 3.4 Opening Documents Though opening the software will always provide you with a new document, you may select a new workspace to start a new project at any time.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 13 3.5 Document Tabs Each new document or opened document will provide you with a new document tab at the top left-hand corner of your screen. The tab will be labeled as “Untitled” until you save your file with a name, or if you have opened a file that already had a name, in which case the file’s name will be displayed. The white tab will always be the active document while all other opened inactive documents will be grey.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 14 3.6 Document Sizes When a new document is opened, the default document size will always start at a standard Letter size (8.5” x 11”) for the original Silhouette, Silhouette SD, and Silhouette Portrait® models or a 12” x 12” size for the Silhouette CAMEO® model.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 3.7 Cutting Orientation 15 Documents may be viewed in Landscape or Portrait orientation. Depending on how you may wish to view your workspace, images being sent to the Silhouette will vary based on your orientation. Landscape is the default orientation whenever a new document is opened.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 16 Portrait orientation is an optional orientation that may be switched to through the Page Tools.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 17 3.8 Viewing and Zooming Often as you view your workspace, you may either wish to zoom in to get a closer look at smaller images or parts of an image that may be more difficult to work with. Zoom In This tool will zoom into the center of your workspace for a closer view. Zoom Out This tool will zoom out from your view for a more broad perspective.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 18 3.9 Preferences There are a number of user-controlled options that may be found in the File menu (PC) or Silhouette Studio® menu (Mac) under Preferences. General This section allows you to manually select the program language and how often you may wish the program to check for available software updates automatically. This section also provides preferences regarding units of measurement displayed in the program.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 19 Display This section provides display options including: •Antialiasing – Helps smooth jagged lines as they are created and viewed. Higher sample rates will increase the smoothness of lines. The “off” setting will produce rougher edges, but increases drawing speed. •Button sizing – Allows for larger or smaller buttons to be displayed.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 3 - Basic Software Overview 20 Advanced This section provides additional advanced options. In this section, you may adjust the following: •Restore Factory Defaults – Resets all preferences. •Reindex My Library –Performing this action will re-index the library to ensure corruption or errors may be resolved should you experience any concerns with your library loading properly or being able to use the library’s Search function properly.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 21 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 4.1 Basic Drawing Tools Silhouette Studio® allows users to draw and create images very easily through a set of basic drawing tools. All drawing tools are located on the left side of the software screen. Line Tool The Line Tool allows for the creation of single straight lines.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 22 Rectangle Tool The Rectangle Tool allows for the creation of a square or rectangle. Holding down the Shift key on your keyboard while drawing will create a square, while holding down the Alt key on your keyboard will make the initial cursor point where your image is started as the exact center of your object. Rounded Rectangle Tool The Rounded Rectangle Tool allows for the creation of a square or rectangle with rounded corners.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 23 4.2 Editing Images All line points on images may be edited, if changes to the existing image are desired. Select Tool The Select Tool determines which image is selected as the active image and allows you to move images around on your screen. This is your default tool to click on images to show they are selected. Edit Points To enter the Point Editing Mode, you may either double-click on a selected image, or use the Edit Points tool.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 24 Move/Adjust Points Move a point by hovering with your mouse over any point on the line. Once over a point that may be edited, the cursor will adjust to show you may click and grab the point to move it to any desired location. With curved lines, you may similarly grab the blue points and drag them around the screen to adjust the curve of the associated line segment.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 25 Corner The Corner tool will allow a selected point to be so that the control handles at the selected intersecting point can be adjusted each individually to create a sharp corner. Smooth The Smooth tool will allow a selected point to be adjusted to make a smooth transition point at the selected intersecting point.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 26 Aside from the tools found in Point Edit Mode, there are two additional editing tools found on the left-hand side of the screen. Eraser Tool You may erase any part of any image using the Eraser tool to easily and immediately remove inner parts or edges of the line image. The Designer Edition of the software features several options for eraser shapes and allows you to choose between creating an open or closed eraser path.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 27 4.3 Line Tools Lines in the program, including text, images created using the drawing tools, and library images, may be altered to have different properties. Line Color Options While lines will default to be displayed in red, you may alter lines to any desired color. Altering line colors will not affect their properties in how they may cut.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 28 Line Style Options Within the Line Style menu, you may adjust the style of your line to be a solid (default) or dashed style line. Lines will accordingly be cut or printed in the selected style. Lines are viewed in point sizes regarding their width. The point size may be adjusted to any desired specification.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 29 4.4 Fill Tools Closed images (where the starting point of the line connects with the ending point of the line) including Text, images created using the drawing tools, and library images, may be altered to have different filled properties. Only closed images may have filled attributes. If the path is broken on any closed images, any applied fill attributes will immediately disappear.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 30 Fill Gradient Options Similar to filling images with solid colors, you may also select to fill any closed line images with a gradient fill. To apply gradient fill options, select your closed line image and access the Fill Gradient menu by clicking on the icon shown above. You may then select any of the Basic Menu precreated gradient options. The hash line selection will always represent “clear”.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 31 Fill Pattern Options The final fill option is used to fill any closed line images with a pattern fill. To apply pattern fills, select your closed line image and access the Fill Pattern menu by clicking on the icon shown above. You may then select any of the pattern options.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 4 - Drawing/Editing Images 32 Shadow Options (Designer Edition only) You can add and adjust a shadow by clicking the Shadow icon in the toolbar above the workspace. In the Shadow menu, you can adjust the shadow offset, color and transparency. Sketch Options (Designer Edition only) Create a sketch design by clicking the Sketch icon in the toolbar above the workspace. In the Sketch menu, you can adjust the sketch edge, fill type, and fill effect.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 5 - Text 33 5 - Text Silhouette Studio® has the ability to utilize any font that is installed on your computer. You do not need to install these fonts into the program. Silhouette Studio® will simply access all installed font files and display them for you as you go to create your desired text. 5.1 Creating Text To use your fonts, click on the text tool located on the left-hand side of the software screen.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 5 - Text 34 5.2 Manipulating Text During the creation of your text, the Text Style menu will be opened on the right-hand side of your screen providing multiple adjustment options. Available Fonts The first section of this menu will display the current selected font with additional font options that are installed on your computer you may scroll through. The top of this section may be used to search for any specific font by typing in a font name if it is known.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 5 - Text 35 Text Justification While text will be automatically be justified to the left, if your text is wrapped on multiple lines, you may alter your text justification as desired. Text Size Text size will always default to 72 point size. This refers to the font’s printed font size. Though fonts vary as they are programmed by a wide variety of sources, this will generally equate to roughly a one (1) inch height (or 25 mm).
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 5 - Text 36 Character Spacing Letters may be adjusted from their normally programmed spacing to either bring them closer together or push farther apart with the Character Spacing option. Spacing will always start at 100% indicating spacing between characters are normally distanced. As the number is lowered or the bar is slid to the left, letters will come closer together. As the number is raised or the bar is slid to the right, letters will become spaced farther apart.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 5 - Text 37 5.3 Text to Path As text is created, or while in Text Editing Mode, you will find a control point located on the left-hand side of the text being created: This control point may be dragged to rest directly on any line path within your workspace.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 38 6 - Manipulating Images There are many tools in Silhouette Studio® allowing for basic and advanced manipulation of images and text. The following section provides an overview for all of these included tools and how they may be used. 6.1 Basics Like most any software program, Silhouette Studio® has a set of common basic editing tools as follows: Selecting Images may of course be selected by clicking on them.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 39 Cut, Copy, and Paste Tools These tools perform the basic expected actions of copying selected images, pasting them, or cutting them from view. Images copied or cut will reside in your computer’s memory on a virtual clipboard. You may only have one object on this clipboard at a time. This means if you copy one image and then copy another, only the most recent image will be waiting on the clipboard to be pasted.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images Transfer Properties (Designer Edition only) Properties such as line color and cut style can be transferred from one shape to another by selecting the shape you want to transfer properties to, selecting the Eye Dropper icon in the left-hand tool bar, and then clicking on the shape you want to imitate. Layers (Designer Edition only) When you import a project with layers created in another program, you can access those layers in the Layers panel.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 41 6.2 Grouping/Ungrouping These two actions are commonly used and are invaluable tools for helping to manipulate and adjust images. To understand these concepts we must first understand what grouped and ungrouped images are. The following is an example of a single line: While the image may have many parts, it is still just one line with a single starting point and end point.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images Grouping Any two sets of lines can be grouped together so they are fixed in their relative positions, even if moved, by using the Group option. To use the Group option, select two or more images at the same time and click on the Group icon located in the Quick Access Tool bar. This can alternately be located in the Object menu or by right-clicking on the multiple selected images and selecting Group.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 43 6.3 Compound Paths The concept of compound paths is important in order to understand why certain attributes may be applied differently to seemingly identical situations. Compound paths are a collection of two or more line sets where inner lines are embedded into the image. A compound path may appear the same as a grouped set of lines, but is quite different in the way it will react to being filled with color, for example.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images For example: 44 This is the same image unfilled. All parts are grouped together. If this is a non-compound image and it is filled with a color feature, this will be the result: Even though grouped together, all line sets are still just individual pieces lying on top of each other, so they are all filled with the selected fill effect.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 45 6.4 Moving Images Images may obviously be moved by selecting them and then dragging them around the screen with your mouse to any desired location. Selected images may also be moved by using the arrow keys on your computer keyboard. You may also move images through the Move menu panel. Selected images may be moved by using any of the Move options. The directional arrows in this screen will move images subtly in whichever direction you select.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 46 6.5 Rotating Objects may be rotated to any desired angle. Selected images will always appear with a green rotation handle-bar that may be manually grabbed and rotated using your mouse. The Rotate menu options will also provide additional rotation options for more exact or specific rotation options. Within the Rotate menu you may select any of the following options.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 47 6.6 Sizing Objects may be sized to any desired measurement. It is important to note, however, that while you may customize images to any desired size, the quality of cuts made may vary, especially when cutting thicker materials such as cardstock. Reducing the size of an image with intricate parts and cutting it in a thicker material is an example where the cut quality could suffer.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 48 Within the Scale menu you may select any of the following abilities. Scale These options will resize any selected images by a percentage of its current size. Any number under 100% will make your image smaller and any number over 100% will make your image larger.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 49 Grid To assist with viewing measurements, you may also opt to turn on the grid by either right-clicking on your workspace while there are no images selected and clicking on Show Grid, or by going to the Grid menu. In the Grid menu you may turn the grid on and off, adjust the grid spacing to any desired measurement, and define the number of divisions in the grid.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 6.7 Mirroring Some materials or situations require images to be cut in a mirror image format, or you may simply want to flip objects around to achieve your desired image appearance. To mirror an image, you may right-click any selected image to select the Mirror Horizontally or Mirror Vertically option.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 6.8 Arranging Multiple images may overlap each other. The order of which image is in front and which is in back can be arranged. This is mostly used with filled images for Print & Cut applications so you can determine which image should be in front of the other. Bring to Front This option will take your selected image and move it in front of all other overlapping images.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 52 In addition to these options, you may also right-click on an image and select Send Backward to send the selected image one level back rather than all the way to the back. Original Image Order Triangle Selected and Sent Backward Similarly, you may right-click on an image and select Bring Forward to bring the selected image one level forward rather than all the way to the front.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 6.9 Aligning Multiple images may be aligned in relation to each other. The following Align options are available: Centralize (Align Center-Middle) This option will center two or more selected objects so that they are lined up with each other in the middle of each other.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 54 Align Top This option will align two or more selected objects so that they are aligned together on the top edge of the shared bounding box while maintaining their respective distances in regard to being next to each other. Align Middle This option will align two or more selected objects so that their center points are aligned together while maintaining their respective distances in regard to being next to each other.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 55 6.10 Replicating Replicating while similar to copying and pasting an image or duplicating it allows for the ability to create any number of copies and place them at once without the need to copy and paste the images multiple times and then have to place them manually around the screen as desired. These options will also create copies next to each other as closely as possible to maximize your cutting area.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 56 Row of Three / Row of Four These options will copy the selected object and replicate two or three additional copies next to each other in a row, stacked horizontally next to each other, with the most minimal amount of space between the objects as possible.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 57 6.11 Nesting (Designer Edition only) To minimize the space required to cut a certain design, the Nesting feature can be used. You can choose to use your entire media surface to nest you shapes or create a specific area for them to nest in. Use Cut Area If you choose to Use Cut Area, your entire media surface can be used to nest shapes.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 6.12 Modify Overlapping images may be altered in a variety of ways. The Modify menu options provide welding and other advanced options to allow overlapping images to be adjusted. Within the Modify menu you may select any of the following abilities. Weld While the Weld option may be found in the Modify menu, there is also a quick access button located along the bottom tool panel of the software screen.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 59 Divide This option will create individual images from the intersections of up to eight selected images. Original Image With Divide Applied Subtract This option will remove all overlapping parts of images that are in front of other images, so that only the image located in back will remain with the overlapping parts removed.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 60 Crop This option will remove all areas that are not shared by at least two shapes when overlapping. Original Image With Crop Applied Compound Paths (Make / Release) These options are the same options previously discussed in the section 6.3 regarding Compound Paths. This tool will take overlapping embedded images and either Make them into a compound path or Release the compound path.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 61 6.13 Offset Options The Offset option may be used to outline cut-line images giving the image a shadowed mat effect underneath it. It may also be used to create contoured inner lines for images. To apply offset conditions, you will first need to select an image. Original Starting Image Within the Offset menu you may start by selecting the offset action.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 6 - Manipulating Images 62 6.14 Tracing Options Tracing options can be used to automatically trace imported external images for the purpose of creating cut lines. Silhouette cannot guarantee the quality of images not created by our company nor support any third-party images not offered through the Silhouette Design Store. Silhouette Studio® should not be used to trace licensed or copyrighted images which you do not specifically own.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 7 - Library and Design Store Silhouette Studio® offers a library feature to keep and categorize all of your downloaded and user-created image for easy reference, as well as an Design Store to provide new content for users to download. The library and store views may be found in the top tabs of the software screen and show which panel of Design, Store, Library, or Send is the current selected active tab.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 64 7.1 Library The Library is where all of your preloaded and purchased content is contained and may be categorized, sorted, and accessed.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 65 Accessing Library Content To access library images, you may: • Double-click on your image to open it onto your workspace • Drag images from your library onto your workspace (only if your workspace is being displayed) Categorizing & Library Management As your library continues to grow with additional content, you may find it convenient to customize your library with new folders and sort images according to your liking.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 66 7.2 Silhouette Design Store The Silhouette Design Store provides additional downloadable content from not only Silhouette, but also a variety of independent artists and contributing companies. The Silhouette Design Store can only be accessed from within the Silhouette Studio® software and requires an internet connection. The Store is accessible at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 67 Logging into the Store Upon accessing the Silhouette Design store by clicking on the Store tab, you will be brought to the store’s homepage. You may sign in, or sign up for an account if you do not already have one created, by clicking on the link in the upper right-hand corner noting that “You are not signed in”.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 68 My Account Options Once logged into your account, you will find a link in the upper right-hand corner called My Account which will provide you with tools to manage your account. You will have the following options: Change My Account Information – This will allow you to alter your email and password. My Download History – This will allow you to view a copy of all orders placed.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 69 Shopping You are free to browse all available Silhouette images without any obligation to purchase. You will find a navigation aide on the left-hand side of your shopping window. As categories are selected or as you search for images, you will also find related suggestions listed.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 70 Downloading You may continue to browse and add additional images until you are ready to check out. Once you are ready, you may either click on the my cart link in your mini cart preview, or click on the cart icon in the upper right-hand corner of the shopping window. When you are ready to download, simply click the Checkout button.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 71 Recovering Images Silhouette America maintains a database of all Silhouette users and their download histories. In the event of a computer crash or computer replacement, after re-loading the software onto your new computer, you may log into your Silhouette user account with your email address and password. Once logged into your account, you may go to the my account options to select Recover All Download Designs.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 7 - Library and Design Store 72 Silhouette Cloud Silhouette Cloud works hand in hand with Silhouette Studio® Mobile to keep all of your designs synced on multiple devices. You can sync up to five devices with your Cloud account. If you aren’t using multiple devices, Silhouette Cloud is useful in backing up your designs and preventing the need for recoveries. In Silhouette Cloud, there is unlimited storage available for Silhouette Design Store downloads.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 8 - Saving 73 8 - Saving After you have created an image or document layout, you will have a variety of options to save your images. Save The Save option is the basic saving function to allow you to create a STUDIO file and save to any location on your computer. These files may be backed up on any removable memory device. Save As This option found in the File menu will allow you to name your image as it is saved.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching 74 9 - Cutting/Sketching 9.1 Send Once you have all desired images and/or text on your workspace ready to cut or sketch, you may select the Send tab. Material In the Material menu, you will be provided with a list of common materials that can be cut with the Silhouette as well as all specialty materials offered from Silhouette. Click on a material from the list to select it.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching Action By: Simple In Simple Cut Mode, all lines are scheduled to cut at the same time. Cut lines can be turned on or off individually, but cannot be sorted to cut in a specific order. In Simple Cut Mode, you can adjust the Cut Style of individual lines in your project. When clicking on this option, your workspace will immediately emphasize all lines and their selected attributes for easy reference.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching 76 Action By: Line Color, Fill Color, or Layer You have the option to break up your project into multiple stages. This is especially handy if your project is designed to be cut in several colors or with projects that are to be sketched and then cut out. You can schedule cuts by line color, fill color, or by layer (Designer Edition only). By Line Color - All of the line colors present in your project will be visible in the cut menu.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching 77 Blade Setting Recommendation – Though the software and actual Silhouette unit will not know what blade level you are actually using, the recommendation will provide you with a visual cue on what blade setting should be used for the intended media based on the blade type for your cutting tool model.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching 78 Line Segment Overcut Once a material type is selected, you will find a Line Segment Overcut option that can be turned on or off by clicking on the desired option: Selecting the “Off” option will have all lines cut normally. Selecting the “On” option will have all straight corners cut with a slight overcut.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching 79 9.2 Performing a Test Cut When going to cut a new material type you have not previously cut, whether it be a pre-defined media-type setting or a new User Defined media type you are trying to find the correct settings for, it is advisable to perform a Test Cut in order to ensure your settings are correct and you will be able to obtain a clean quality cut for your intended job. You can access the Test Cut options in the Send menu.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 9 - Cutting/Sketching 80 9.3 Cutting / Sketching Once you have selected the correct settings and are ready to send the active workspace to the Silhouette, you will want to ensure your material has been loaded properly and that you have selected the correct blade setting for cutting, or that you have loaded a pen in the case you are sketching.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 10 - Print & Cut 81 10 - Print & Cut Silhouette electronic cutting tools have the special ability to read printed jobs sent from Silhouette Studio® in order to cut the contour lines defined in your workspace as they outline print information. In other words, you are able to print an image with filled color or effects to your regular home printer and then feed the printed sheet into the Silhouette to cut out around the printed image. 10.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 10 - Print & Cut 10.2 Cutting Printed Images With the registration marks displayed, you are ready to perform Print & Cut jobs. Again, this does not mean that the Silhouette will scan and cut around any print information. Rather the Silhouette is using the registration marks to know where your cut lines are defined around your printed image. Your image must have lines around your printed image which are defined to be cut (see the Line Styles section).
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 10 - Print & Cut 83 When your job is ready, you may print it by accessing the Print option. Once printed, it is important to remember not to make any further adjustments to the document as it appears on your screen. If any objects are moved and the location of printed or cut information is altered, you will need to re-print your document. To use the Silhouette’s Automatic Registration Mark Reading feature, set up your job as directed in the previous section.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 11 - PixScan™ 84 11 - PixScan™ The PixScan™ feature requires the use of a PixScan™ mat (PixScan™ mat sold separately). This feature allows for the use of images that are already printed which have not originated from the Silhouette Studio® software.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 11 - PixScan™ 85 11.2 Import from Camera When importing an image from a camera or camera phone, you may perform the following steps: 1. Place the intended printed image onto the PixScan™ mat which you wish to cut. 2. Take a picture of the image on the mat with your camera.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 11 - PixScan™ 86 Calibrating your Camera The following steps may be performed to create a PixScan™ Camera Calibration profile: 1. Click on the PixScan™ Icon 2. Select the Camera Calibration section 3. Click on the Show Calibration Test Card option 4. Go to File > Print and print out the page NOTE: It is okay if the entire page is not displayed or some of the dots are cut off 5.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 11 - PixScan™ 87 11.3 Using PixScan™ images Once you have your PixScan™ image loaded, you are ready to create or place your cut lines. Contour Cutting Please see Tracing (Section 6.14) for further information on creating cut lines to associate around your image. You may find it preferable to add a small Internal Offset (e.g. 0.2mm) after tracing in order to avoid white borders on traced PixScan™ images.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 88 12 - Curio Features Some features found in Silhouette Studio® can only be used when the Curio is connected. The Curio provides select options that cannot be performed by other Silhouette tools. 12.1 Embossing The Silhouette Curio™ is capable of embossing when using the Curio’s embossing mat. Once the embossing mat has been set up for use, you may go to the Embossing icon.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 89 Emboss/Deboss Embossing/debossing is made possible when using the Silhouette Curio™ embossing mat with an embossing tool. If no special effects from this panel are applied, the Silhouette Curio™ will simply emboss/deboss the outline of your image. The effects and options found in the Emboss/Deboss section provide additional options that may be desirable when using an embossing tool.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 90 Score & Emboss The Score & Emboss option is a special action that will first score around the edges of your image (with a blade), and then will press inside of the score line (with an embossing tool). The resulting effect provides a more dramatic deboss relief or raised emboss effect. IMPORTANT: This feature is intended for use with Silhouette brand “Score & Emboss Paper”. Silhouette cannot guarantee effective results when using other material types.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 91 Print & Emboss The Print & Emboss option is very similar to the Print & Cut option, which uses registration marks to provide proper alignment around a print image. Print & Emboss jobs allow you to print an image onto a material’s surface and then press down onto the opposite side of the printed surface with an embossing tool. The resulting effect produces a printed image that is embossed.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 92 12.2 Stippling Stippling is the process of marking a material’s surface with numerous small dots to make a pattern. The Silhouette Curio™ provides the ability to create stipple points by either converting lines into stipple points, or by converting imported print images into stipple patterns. The Stipple option assumes you are either using a Stipple Tool (item sold separately) or a felt tip pen.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 93 Stipple Trace The Stipple Trace section will allow you to convert imported raster images (such as JPG, PNG, and other supported bitmaps) into stipple patterns. Once you have opened an external image you own (as discussed in Section 3.4) you may click on the Select Stipple Area button. This will allow you to draw a box around the intended area of your imported image in order to create a stipple pattern.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 94 Selecting the Stipple Tool When opting to stipple, you may either use a felt-tip type pen or a Silhouette Stippling & Embossing Tool. Whenever performing a stippling job, you will want to select the Stipple Tool for your material type under the Cut Settings panel. To select the Stipple Tool, select your material type in the Cut Settings panel and then click on the tool type drop-down option. You can then scroll down to select the Stipple Tool.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 12 - Curio Features 95 12.3 Multiple tool use The Silhouette Curio™ and Silhouette CAMEO® 3 have two tool holders so that multiple tools can be used simultaneously. This means that you are able to perform two different actions during the same job, such as cut, emboss, etch, stipple, and sketch. When Silhouette Curio™ is detected, Silhouette Studio® will provide an option in the Send panel to allow various line sets to be assigned to the different tool holders.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Plus has a two extra features: appliqué embroidery and advanced rhinestones. 13.1 Appliqué Embroidery Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Plus enables you to import appliqué embroidery files. If your embroidery file has a placement stitch layer, you can use it to cut out the appliqué shapes using your Silhouette cutting machine.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features Sketching with Embroidery Files You can convert embroidery designs to sketch artwork using Silhouette sketch pens. Upload your file to Silhouette Studio®. Assign each layer a color. Send the image to your Silhouette with each colored layer corresponding to a colored sketch pen.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features 98 13.2 Advanced Rhinestones The advanced rhinestone tools in Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Plus provide additional customization options and enable you to view your designs with photo-realistic renderings. Custom Rhinestones You can draw your own custom rhinestone shapes in Silhouette Studio®, or you can import images of your custom rhinestones using a PixScan™ mat (see the PixScan™ section for more information).
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features 99 Placing Rhinestones as Outlines or Fills You can create outlines or fills using either a single rhinestone style or a multiple rhinestone pattern. To use a single rhinestone style, you can select a single rhinestone and outline or fill your design with it. First, select your image. Next, under ‘Rhinestone Mode’ select ‘Single’. Then, select which rhinestone you are using for your design.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features 100 ’Spacing’ adjusts how much space there is between each individual rhinestone. ’Angle Offset’ allows you to adjust the angle at which rhinestones are placed. Hearts with no angle offset and hearts with 450 angle offset. After you have selected your Angle, Spacing, and Angle Offset, click ‘Apply to Edge’. Fill Options There are two options to fill your design.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 13 - Designer Edition Plus Features 101 Multiple Rhinestones Multiple Rhinestone Mode functions similarly to Single Rhinestone Mode except the outline or fill uses a multiple rhinestone pattern. When in ‘Multiple Rhinestones’ mode, you can make a pattern of rhinestones for your design. To make a pattern, click on the rhinestone you want and drag it down to ‘User Rhinestones’.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 102 14 - Business Edition Features Silhouette Studio® Business Edition has a few helpful tools to aid in the production of large, intricate, or batched projects. 14.1 Multi-Cutter Support The Silhouette Studio® Business Edition provides multi-cutter support.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 103 14.2 Ai/EPS/CDR file compatibility The Silhouette Studio® Business Edition provides the ability to open Ai, EPS, and CDR files directly which have been created from other major vector imaging software programs (such as Adobe Illustrator® or CorelDraw®). To access this feature in the Business Edition, go to the File menu and select Open.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 104 14.4 Tiling Feature The Silhouette Studio® Business Edition provides an automated Tiling feature. The Tiling feature provides a method by which a larger job can be cut from a series of smaller tiles which are then assembled after the cutting process is completed in order to create the larger scale job.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 105 Configure Position and Size - The options found in this section will allow for the adjustment of the tile sizes and positioning for how the tiles will process the resulting cut job. Maintain Aspect - This option will maintain the aspect ratio of the master tile. Automatic - This option will resize the tiles to the size of the project being cut. The tiling division lines will be positioned automatically according to the defined media size.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 106 14.5 Automatic Nesting Preview The Silhouette Studio® Business Edition provides an Automated Nesting preview mode where shapes are automatically nested within the Media Layout View to provide efficient usage of the material being cut, while maintaining the image’s original positioning in the Design View thus allowing the user to continue editing and refining the design.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 107 Maintain Grain - When enabled, the nesting feature is constrained to leave images unrotated, or to rotating only by 180 degrees. This may be useful when using specialty media that has a grain in order to ensure the grain runs in the desired direction for the resulting cut out images.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 108 14.6 Matrix Copy Feature The Silhouette Studio® Business Edition provides a Matrix Copy feature. This feature will provide the ability to create matrix of multiple copies of the same project that are replicated during the processing of the cut job but which do not actually alter or effect your original design. The Copy feature is available only when running the Business Edition version in the Media Layout mode.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 14 - Business Edition Features 14.7 Automated Weed Line Feature 109 The Silhouette Studio® Business Edition provides a Weed Settings tool. This feature provides the option to create weed lines within open line paths for easier weeding of materials such as vinyl and heat transfer.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 15 - Troubleshooting 110 15 - Troubleshooting If you experience problems, a list of common trouble-shooting tips and further support information may be found below. 15.1 Common Troubleshooting Tips Blade won’t cut through material If using the original Silhouette, make sure the notch on the blade (the black “fin” on the base of your blade) is turned to the right, facing the blue power light in the 3 o’clock position.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 15 - Troubleshooting 111 New Hardware Wizard appears each time Silhouette is powered on If your computer is asking you to install the software (even though it is already installed), this is likely when you are turning on the Silhouette or if you have unplugged the USB and are plugging it back in. Your computer is simply thinking there is a new hardware device it has not yet recognized.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 15 - Troubleshooting 112 Silhouette is loud during operation Please lift the Silhouette’s lid to ensure any tape that is connecting the motor to the side of the unit has been removed. If this was not previously removed, this would be the cause of the noises experienced when your machine was powered on. If the tape had been left on, no damage should have been experienced, but the noises heard would be atypical.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 15 - Troubleshooting 113 15.2 Calibration Calibration of the tool is only required for adjustment of the cutting alignment as it relates to Print & Cut jobs and the alignment of cuts as they relate to printed information. This should only be performed if you specifically experience concerns with your cut lines not aligning with the contour of printed images during Print & Cut jobs that use registration marks.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 15 - Troubleshooting 114 If the performed horizontal mark is above or below the printed mark, you will need to adjust the vertical slider bar on screen according to the precise measurement observed between the printed and actual marks. If the performed vertical mark is above or below the printed mark, you will need to adjust the horizontal slider bar on screen according to the precise measurement observed between the printed and actual marks.
Silhouette Studio® V4 | Chapter 15 - Troubleshooting 15.3 Further Support Contact Information Further support information may be obtained through the following sources: Web: www.silhouetteamerica.com Email: support@silhouetteamerica.com Phone: 800.859.8243 (Toll-free U.S. & Canada only) Silhouette America, Inc. is based out of Lehi, Utah and is open M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Mountain time). The specifications, etc., in this manual are subject to change without notice.
Silhouette Studio® Shortcuts Tools PC MAC Arrange PC MAC cmd + n Select v v Bring to Front ctrl + shift + ] cmd + shift + ] Show Design Page ctrl + o cmd + o Edit Points a a Send to Back ctrl + shift + [ cmd + shift + [ Save Document ctrl + s cmd + s Line \ \ Bring Forward ctrl + ] Print ctrl + p cmd + p Rectangle r r Send Backward ctrl + [ Copy ctrl + c cmd + c Rounded Rectangle shift + r shift + r Paste ctrl + v cmd + v Ellipse e e Replicate Cut ctrl + x
