Silhouette Studio adheres to the following cutting order rules when jobs are sent to be cut:
Rule 1: If Contour A is fully enclosed by closed Contour B, then Contour A is always cut first. This is because cutting an enclosing closed contour first would likely detach it from the cutting mat and the Silhouette would then be unable to cut the interior contour.
Rule 2: The algorithm which computes the distance to the nearest contour is deliberately skewed to bias it toward contours that are near the direction of blade movement. Therefore:
- A contour that is 5cm blade travel away is selected in favor of a contour that is 10cm blade travel away
- A contour that is 10cm blade travel away is selected in favor of a contour that is 5cm roller travel away
- A contour that is 5cm roller travel away is selected in favor of a contour that is 10cm roller travel away
The reason for the rule above is to minimize roller movements which in turn minimizes the chance of a material jam.
Default Cutting Order Overview
The basic cutting order according to the above rules is as follows:
- Blade starts at the cutting machine's Origin
- Ensuring that Rule 1 above is kept at all times, the cutter looks for the closest contour [see Rule 2] to the current blade position which has not yet been traversed, and cuts it
- Cutting returns to step number 2 above to repeat until the entire job is completed
Adjusting Cutting Order
If you would like to adjust the cutting order from the above rules, you can do the following:
- Open Silhouette Studio
- Go to the SEND panel
- Click on the gear icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the SEND panel
- Update the 'Cut Sorting Order' options as desired