Using the Pause Button
The Pause button will only stop the job after it has completed the current continuous line it is working on.
For example, if the Silhouette machine was cutting a series of circles, pressing the Pause button would not stop the cutting action until it finished cutting the current circle it was working on when the Pause button was pressed. The machine would stop, however, prior to moving over to additional circles.
As such, it may seem like the machine is not responding to the action of trying to pause.
Emergency Stop
If you have an emergency and need to stop a cutting job:
- Press the Power button to immediately stops the machine
- Power the machine back on
- Use the arrows to feed the material out
- Press the Unload button to eject the material
If after sending your job to the machine it is pausing itermittentently (without any intentional pause action by you), this generally indicates a large data stream being sent to the machine.
This can be due to:
- A large/dense volume of cut lines being performed within the cutting area
- The presence of cut lines outside of the cutting area
This has nothing to do with the processing speed or ability of the computer, but rather the connection to the Silhouette machine itself. The machine is basically drinking from a fire hose.
Resuming Your Job
The power light flashing (or a 'Working' message for older touchscreen models) indicates that the machine is on standby and will resume cutting after a few moments.
Unfortunately, there is no method to "force" the machine to resume the job, so you will need to wait for the machine to resume as it is able. In some cases, this type of unintentional pause may become terminal and crash the program, or you may become impatient and decide to power off the machine to abandon your job.
Avoiding Unintended Pauses
To avoid these unintentional pauses
- Remove any additional content falling outside of the cutting area
- Start a brand new document and copy only the design within the cutting area from the old document into the new one
- Slow down the Speed setting in the Silhouette Studio. This may help to resolve the issue by sending a slower data stream.
- Change the Packet Size setting in Silhouette Studio to allow the software and machine to communicate data in smaller packets, allowing for easier processing of large files.
To do so:- Open Silhouette Studio
- Go to the Edit
- Select Preferences
- Select Advanced
- Adjust the Packet Size setting to '500'
- Click Apply
If your Silhouette machine stops without finishing the job (showing "Job Complete" before completing the job) this typically indicates an issue in the software or file in use.
Update Software
Ensure you are running the latest version of Silhouette Studio as updated versions may contain relevant bug fixes.
Adjust Software Settings
If updating your software does not resolve the concern:
- Open Silhouette Studio
- Go to the Edit > Preferences > Advanced
- Adjust the 'Packet Size' setting to 500
- Un-check the Software Overcut box, if it is selected
- Click Apply
Check Machine for Tape
Another less common concern would be the presence of un-removed blue packing tape found on the motor case (where the blade is seated). This tape can cover sensors on the unit and can confuse the machine to make it think the job is complete when it is not.
Inspect the area under and to the left of the blade holder and remove any translucent blue tape present.
If the Silhouette machine stops processing your job when your computer goes to sleep, you will need to turn off the sleep feature to prevent this.
Changing Computer Sleep Preference
Do the following to resolve this issue:
- Close Silhouette Studio
- Go to your computer's 'Apple' menu
- Select System Preferences
- Click on Energy Saver
- Select “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off”