The Designer Edition of Silhouette Studio and above provides a Sketch Effect feature to convert regular design lines into lines that look more hand-drawn. These designs are intended for use with a pen when using a Sketch Pen Adapter.


NOTE: Of course, not all images are designed in a way that will convert well when using this feature. You can try resizing the design to a larger scale and re-try with some of these images for improved results.


Sketch Options

To access the 'Sketch' panel, click on the Sketch icon (on the right-hand toolbar)

The Sketch panel provides options as listed below.

There are two design questions to consider when converting designs into designs that have Sketch Effects:


  1. How do you want the outer line of the design to look like? (Sketch Edge effects)
  2. How do you want the inside of the design to look? (Sketch Fill effects)


NOTE: 'Sketch Fill' and 'Sketch Edge' effects can be combined to create a greater variety of sketched appearances.

A. Sketch Edge effects


'Sketch Edge' effects will apply an effect to the existing outer perimeter lines of the design.



'Sketch Edge' effects include:

  • No Effect (Clears sketch edge effect)
  • Plain
  • Scribble
  • Double
  • Curly
  • Rough
  • Charcoal

B. Sketch Fill effects


'Sketch Fill' effects will fill the inside of the design with a sketch pattern.



'Sketch Fill' effects include:

  • No Effect (Clears sketch fill effect)
  • Cross Hatch
  • Stripe
  • Concentric
  • Spiral
  • Zig Zag
  • Curly
  • Cross Hatch
  • Scribble
  • Charcoal


NOTE: Designs with Sketch Edge effects cannot be filled with any of the other fill tools in Silhouette Studio unless reverted back to a regular cutting image.

Release Sketch


This option will release the sketch pattern from continued alteration, regardless of how it is adjusted or resized.

Advanced Options


'Advanced Options' are found on the other tab in the Sketch panel. 

These provide options to make advanced adjustments to any of the pre-set edge or fill sketch effects. 

Advanced Edge Effects (Plain)


Advanced 'Edge Effect' options include:

  • No Effect (Clears Sketch Edge effect)
  • Plain (Sets 'Sketch Edge' effect to a 'regular' line)
  • Continuous
    • Width: Controls how far away the lines will be pushed away from the each other
    • Density: Determines how many series of continuous lines are present to make the edge more or less dense
    • Waver: Controls how randomly wavering the various differing series of lines appear
  • Rough
    • Stroke Length: Controls the length of each line segment
    • Width: Controls the overall width of the line segments
    • Density: Controls how loosely or tightly compacted the line segments appear
    • Splay: Controls how perpendicular line segments are in relation to the original image's line path
    • Curvature: Controls how straight line segments are in relation to the original image's line path
  • Scribble
    • Loop Separation: Determines how close each loop segment is to each other
    • Loop Size: Controls the loop size
    • Randomness: Determines whether the loops are uniform or more random in appearance
    • Density: Controls the density of the loops drawn

Advanced Fill Types


Advanced 'Fill Type' options include:

  • No Effect (Clears 'Sketch Fill' effect)
  • Zigzag
    • Spacing: Controls how tightly compacted the zigzag line fill appears
    • Angle: Controls the angle of the filled zigzag lines
    • Offset: Controls how close the fill is to the outer edge of the image (can be made to extend beyond the outer edge)
  • Hatch
    • Spacing: Controls how tightly compacted the hatch line fill appears
    • Angle: Controls the angle of the filled hatch lines
    • Sweep: Allows for a second set of lines to sweep across the original set of lines (provides control for either single perpendicular lines at a 0 value or cross-hatch lines as the value is raised)
    • Offset: Controls how close the fill is to the outer edge of the image (can be made to extend beyond the outer edge)

Advanced Fill Effects


Advanced 'Fill Effects' include:


  • No Effect (Clears 'Advanced Sketch' effects)
  • Rough
    • Stroke Length: Controls the length of each filled line segment
    • Width: Controls the overall width of the filled line segments
    • Density: Controls how loosely or tightly compacted the filled line segments appear
    • Splay: Controls how perpendicular line segments are in relation to each other
    • Curvature: Controls the curvature of the filled line segments
  • Scribble
    • Loop Separation: Determines how close each fill loop segment is to each other
    • Loop Size: Controls the fill loop size
    • Randomness: Determines whether the loops are uniform or more random in appearance
    • Density: Controls the density of the loops filling the image