Getting started with your ®
Connecting your Silhouette Curio™ 1 Check Included Items The Silhouette Curio™ comes with the items shown in the following list. Check that all the items have been included before starting. If you are missing any items listed below, please contact support@silhouetteamerica.com. Silhouette Curio™ electronic cutting tool Silhouette Studio‰ software A/C adapter and power cable USB cable blade with embossing tip print & emboss ratchet cap (fine & wide) squares (x3) 8.
2 Install the Silhouette Studio‰ Software PC Installation 1. Insert the included Silhouette Studio® CD into the CD drive of your computer. 2. Proceed through the installation process by following the on-screen prompts. If the installation window does not automatically appear, browse to the CD drive in My Computer and double-click the setup.exe program to run it. 3.
How to Cut with Your Silhouette Curio™ Opening the Silhouette Studio® Software Locate the Silhouette Studio® icon on the desktop, or in the Start Menu on your PC (in the Applications folder on a Mac®). Double-click the icon to run the application. Once Silhouette Studio® has loaded, you will notice a blank 8.5” x 6” page on your screen. If you would like to change the page dimensions or orientation, you will find the page setup options already opened in a panel on the right-hand side of the screen.
Getting Started with Silhouette Curio™ 4 Offset Weld Send to Silhouette Zoom In Print Undo Zoom to Selected Area Redo Paste Drag Zoom Zoom Out Pan Copy Cut Fit to Window Select All Delete Send to Back Deselect All Bring to Front Duplicate Select by Color Ungroup Group Show Library Show Library and Drawing Area Library Online Store Text Tool Eraser Tool Knife Tool Drawing Area Arc Tool PolygonTool Smooth Freehand Tool Line Tool Rectangle Tool Rounded Rectangle Ellipse Tool Polygon Tool Curved Sha
Drawing Text To cut letters or words using any font on your computer, choose the text tool from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen. With the text tool selected, click anywhere on the page to begin typing. After clicking on the page with the text tool, a blinking cursor will appear. Begin typing any letters/ words/phrases you choose. While you are typing/editing text, the text options panel will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
Drawing Simple Shapes Silhouette Studio® has built-in functions to draw simple shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, lines, polygons, and freehand line art. Each of these tools can be found in the toolbar on the left-hand side of the Silhouette Studio® window. Lines To draw a line, choose the Line Tool on the left-hand toolbar. Either click and drag with the mouse to draw a line, or click once to start the line and click a second time to end.
Loading Your Material Preparing Your Mat Choose your mat based on the type of project you want to make. If you are only cutting, use the cutting mat. If your project needs to be embossed, use the embossing mat. You can cut on the embossing mat as well, but it will last longer if you limit the number of cuts performed on the mat. Remove the protective liner from the cutting mat or embossing mat. Position your paper or other media on the mat according to the diagram shown in Silhouette Studio®.
Selecting the Platforms and Preparing the Base The Curio can accommodate a wide range of materials by adding or removing platforms. The Curio comes with 3 platforms (marked with either a ‘1’ or a ‘2’). For common material types, the Silhouette Studio® cut settings will indicate which combination of platforms you should use (for example, a platform setting of ‘3’ would require both a #1 platform and a #2 platform since 1+2=3).
Inserting the Base into the Curio Before inserting the base into the Curio, it is important to ensure there is adequate clearance in front of and behind the Curio for the base to move in and out unimpeded. You can also extend the stabilizing feet for additional stability of heavy or long projects. To load the base into the Curio: 1. Power off the Silhouette Curio 2. Insert the base into the front of the Curio 3. Push the base inward until the leading edge of the base extends out the back of the Curio 4.
Dual-Carriage Setup The Curio provides a dual-carriage to hold two different tools simultaneously. This allows you to perform a variety of actions during the same job. The two carriages are labeled as red (or Tool 1 on the left side) and blue (or Tool 2 on the right side). Tools can be used interchangeably in either carriage. tool holder 1 To load a tool into the desired carriage, unlock the tool holder by turning the lock lever counter-clockwise.
If using multiple tools, you can assign which lines will be performed by each tool. This can be done in one of two ways. If using the default “Standard” Cut Mode, you can select your image on your workspace and then click on the Tool you want to assign the image to. If using the “Advanced” Cut Mode, you can assign which tool will be used according to the image’s line color or fill color by clicking on the desired Tool. You can also adjust the cut order (if applicable) under the Cut Conditions menu.
Once you have chosen the appropriate settings, click the Send to Silhouette button at the bottom of the right panel. The Curio will begin working. If needed, you can pause the job by pressing the ‘Pause’ button on the side of the Curio. Press the button again to resume your job. To cancel the job, hold down the pause button until the yellow light shuts off. Once the Silhouette is done processing the job, press the “Load/Unload” button and pull out the base to remove the material from the mat.
My Library Browsing Designs Click the My Library button to view the Silhouette designs you have on your computer. Silhouette Studio® includes 50 free designs to help you get started. Connect your Curio to your computer and power it on to get your 50 free designs. Click the Show All Designs shortcut in the left panel of My Library to view all 50 designs included with your software. Click the icon next to the My Library folder to expand the folder and view its contents.
Organizing Designs You can organize your designs within My Library for your convenience by creating new folders for your designs. With the My Library folder highlighted, click the New Folder button in the toolbar at the top of the My Library window, then type a name for your new folder. Select the My Library folder again to reveal the 50 designs you already have. Drag any design from the right panel into your newly created folder in the folders panel on the left.
Searching Designs At the top of the My Library window you will find a search box. Click in the text box and type a keyword to search your library of images. Search results will display in the right panel of My Library. search box If you would like to view the keywords and description for a shape used for searching, right click (Control Click on Mac®) and choose Show Properties. At the bottom of My Library details about the highlighted shape will appear.
Downloading New Shapes Connecting to the Silhouette Design Store The Silhouette Design Store contains thousands of designs to cut with your Silhouette ranging from simple cutouts to intricate patterns and designs. Most shapes are only 99¢. Generally, a free shape is posted every week as well. To access the Silhouette Design Store, click the Design Store button in the toolbar on the left side of the window. The free design of the week will be displayed on the home page that appears.
Browsing for new designs The Silhouette Design Store works like any other web page and can be navigated by clicking on various links to browse new releases, popular designs, etc. The home page contains popular and new designs that you may be interested in. For now, try downloading a free design by clicking this week’s free design button on the home page, or searching for the free design named “butterfly_1510”. Click on the design in the search results to view details about the design.
Creating an account Several different account types exist. Once you’re more familiar with the Silhouette Design Store, you may wish to purchase a subscription and download dozens of designs each month. In order to create a free account and buy designs one at a time, choose the “Sign up FREE” option. You will be asked for your name, email and password in order to create an account. Type your information and click the Sign Up button.
Once your account is created, you will need to access your shopping cart again and try the checkout process once more. You will be asked to validate your password each time you download designs. Type your password to authorize the download. As your design begins to download, it will appear in the Recent Downloads folder of My Library which will appear on the screen showing the download progress.
Using your trial subscription card If your Silhouette came with a trial subscription card, you may use it to purchase designs from the Silhouette Design Store. To do this, click the ‘My Account’ link at the top of any page within the Store. From the My Account page, click the ‘REDEEM A PROMOTIONAL DOWNLOAD CODE’ link. A screen will appear where you can type the code found on the back of your trial subscription card. Type your download code and press the ‘Apply Card’ button.
Silhouette Curio™ Safety Precautions Keep the Silhouette Curio™ out of reach of children. Review and keep this document for future reference. The Silhouette Curio™ is an electronic cutting tool and requires careful use and handling. To avoid personal injury or damage to the machine, please read the following safety precautions.
Do not use the AC adapter or power cord if it is damaged. Use of a damaged power cord or AC adapter may result in electrical shock or fire. Replace damaged power cords and AC adapters. Only use the AC adapter included in the Silhouette Curio™ box. Use of other AC adapters may cause malfunctions or result in electrical shock or fire. Be sure to connect the AC adapter to the Curio before plugging it into the wall. The Silhouette blade is sharp.
Where to Find More Information Complete User’s Manual View the complete, illustrated User’s Manual within Silhouette Studio® by clicking Help -> User’s Manual. Website Visit the tutorials section of www.silhouetteamerica.com for help with specific features and step-bystep instructions on how to cut different media types with the Silhouette Curio™. Blog Visit the official Silhouette blog at blog.silhouetteamerica.com for ideas of new projects you can create.
