Silhouette Studio

The Silhouette Studio Business Edition retains all of the capabilities of the basic Silhouette Studio software and includes all of the Designer Edition and Designer Edition PLUS version features, plus the following new features: Multi-cutter support Import Ai/EPS/CDR files Automatic Weed Lines Matrix Copy Feature Design View vs. Silhouette Studio, Free Download by Silhouette America, Inc. Draws and edits files then sends them to the Silhouette cutting machine. Silhouette Studio Designer Edition gives you the tools you need to take your creativity to the next level. Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and MAC OS X 10.5.8 and higher. Upgrading is easy. Simply download and install the most recent version of Silhouette Studio, open the program on your computer, click upgrade the designer edition,. A FREE Silhouette Design Store account allows you to download the weekly free shape and purchase designs at the listed price (usually $0.99 each). If you're a more consistent Silhouette user, you may be interested in our low subscription rates starting at just $4.99 per month. With each subscription you'll get monthly credits automatically.

Introduction: How to Design With Silhouette Studio

The Silhouette Portrait is a user-friendly electronic cutting machine. It can cut anything from card stock to vinyl, so you can make stickers, posters, or even 3D objects. With all this opportunity for creativity, it can be overwhelming getting started. This tutorial will take you step by step from idea to full-fledged design. Let's get started!

Step 1: What You'll Need

A Silhouette Portrait
Silhouette Studio (downloadable software that works with the machine)
Material you want to cut
An Idea!

Step 2: Designing

The design I wanted to create was a tealight, so the first thing I did was sketch it out. Remember every line you draw will become a part of the cut path, so try to think in terms of drawing a line for scissors to follow.

Step 3: Translating Your Design

Now that you've drawn your design, you need to get it into the Silhouette Studio software. There are two methods we've used to complete this task.
Method #1: Use the sketch you've made as a basis to completely recreate the drawing in Silhouette Studio.
Method #2: Scan your original sketch, save it as a jpeg, and create a cut path straight from the design.

We'll show steps for both options and you can choose which works best for you!

Step 4: Method #1 - Redrawing

Open Silhouette Studio.
Draw your design using the tools on the left hand side. The tools work much like MS Paint. You can draw lines, rectangles, circles, add text, erase, and more. Play around with the tools until you find what you like.
Make sure you erase any accidental lines or bits that you don't want the blade to cut. Remember, you're creating a line for the blade to cut along.
If you're cutting a solid object, like the example, make sure all your lines are connected so the finished cut is clean.
Now that you've finished designing, go into cut settings (circled in red) to check your design.
The cut path will be outlined in a thicker red.
After connecting your computer to the Silhouette Portrait and checking that the blade depth is appropriate for the material your are cutting, hit Send to Silhouette and cut out your masterpiece!

Step 5: Method #2 - Scanning

Take your drawing and scan it into the computer.
Save your file as a jpeg and open it in the Silhouette Studio.
You will need to find the trace tool. It is located in the upper right hand corner of the studio. Click on the trace icon and it will open up options on the right hand side of the screen.
Click on 'select trace area' and highlight the object.
Under 'apply trace method' click on 'trace.'
Your object should be highlighted in red now.
Erase any lines or bits that you don't actually want to cut.
Now that you've finished tracing your design, go into cut settings to check out your design. The cut path will be outlined in a thicker red.
After connecting your computer to the Silhouette Portrait and checking that the blade depth is appropriate for the material your are cutting, hit Send to Silhouette and cut out your work of art!

Step 6: The Finished Product

I liked the design I made in the software much better, so that is the version I decided to cut out. Now that I've got my finalized design I can cut as many as I want, and even make a stencil. The possibilities are endless with the Silhouette Portrait, so have fun and get creative!

Be the First to Share

Recommendations

2.1 Bluetooth Sound System - Fully Printable in Audio

3 Ways to Make Cardboard PinBall Sensors in Sensors

15 2.9K

188 11K

STEM Contest
Role Playing Game Challenge
CNC Contest

Silhouette Studio is a free program (the basic edition of commercial software) which allows you to create business card designs utilizing vector graphics.

The program sports a clean interface which provides you access to many different tools and menus which aid you in designing clean business cards with vector graphics, perfect for printing. It also features tabs.

Some of the graphics editing tools within Silhouette Studio include drawing shapes, lines, gradients and editing text. The text editing options provide different ways of creative formatting.

Once a design has been completed, it can be saved as a project or exported as different graphics formats like JPG or PNG.

As a modern graphics editor, Silhouette Studio makes it easy to make business cards but some of the more advanced options require overcoming a little bit of a learning curve.

Features and highlights

Font access (for font files on your computer)
Ability to use JPG, BMP, PNG files
Image effects (b/w, tint, color saturation)
Print & Cut
PixScan compatible

How To Download Silhouette Software

Silhouette Studio 4.4.476 on 32-bit and 64-bit PCs