TABLE OF CONTENTS

Glyphs Feature (Special Font Characters)

Glyphs, or special characters for fonts, can be accessed with a glyphviewing feature in Silhouette Studio.


This feature appears in the Designer Edition upgrade or higher.

Glyphs Feature


To access and use the Glyph feature:

  1. Open the 'Text Style' panel (on the right-hand toolbar)
  2. Go to the 'Glyphs' tab
  3. Select your desired font style from the font drop-down list at the top of the panel
  4. Adjust the character size at the bottom of the panel to your liking
  5. Scroll through the glyphs list and select one or hover your mouse over it to see its corresponding glyph name

 


Glyphs Outside Silhouette Studio


If you are running the Basic (free) edition of Silhouette Studio, or if select font glyphs cannot be seen in your glyphs panel*, you can access these characters using the standard operating system 'Character Map' on your computer.


* Silhouette Studio does not currently support all available glyph libraries utilized by font creators

To access glyphs manually using the Character Map on your computer:

PC/Windows


  1. Press the Windows key and R key on your keyboard simultaneously
  2. Type in charmap and press Enter -- the Character Map window will appear
  3. In the Font drop-down, navigate to the desired font
  4. Check the box next to Advanced View
  5. In the Group by drop-down, navigate to Unicode Subrange
  6. The Group By window will pop up next to the Character Map window
  7. Scroll to the bottom of the Group By window and select 'Private Use Characters'. All available glyphs should now be displayed in the Character Map.
  8. In the Font box, click the font you want to use.
  9. Click the special character that you want to insert, click Select, and then click Copy
  10. Open Silhouette Studio
  11. Go to Edit > Paste
  12. Adjust your font style as desired

Mac


  1. Open the Finder
  2. Open the Applications option
  3. Open the Font Book application
  4. Select the View Menu
  5. Select the Repertoire option
  6. Find the font and character you wish to use
  7. Click to select the desired character
  8. Press Command + c to copy
  9. Open Silhouette Studio
  10. Go to the Edit menu and click Paste
  11. Adjust your font style as desired

NOTE: There is a limitation to how much the Silhouette Studio program can accept being pasted into the program at one time. You may need to copy and paste smaller strings of text rather than a larger section of text all at once.


Sketch Effects Feature

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


Center of Rotation Feature

This feature is included in the Designer Edition and above.

The Center of Rotation feature enables you to rotate objects on a hinge that you create.


When enabled, this feature will display a circle with crosshairs in the center of your selected object.


How to Enable/Disable


To toggle this feature on/off:

  1. Open Silhouette Studio
  2. Go to Edit > Preferences > Defaults
  3. Check or uncheck the 'Center of Rotation' option

How it Works


To use the Center of Rotation feature when enabled:

  1. Select your object
  2. Click on the circle with crosshairs in the center of the object
  3. Drag this point to any other location
  4. Click on the green rotation handle and drag your object to the desired location


Layers Feature

This feature is included in the Designer Edition and above.

A Layers feature is available in upgraded versions of Silhouette Studio.


Layers provide a way to assign elements of your design into different planes. Each layer can be edited and moved independently of the other layers. This allows you to lock those layers you are not working with so that editing tools (selecting, moving, erasing, etc.) do not impact the objects within the locked layers.

Creating Layers


To create layers in your document:


  1. Open Silhouette Studio
  2. Go to the Layers icon (on the right-hand toolbar)
  3. Right-click to "Add Layer" OR click on the "+" icon in the lower right-hand corner of the panel
  4. Drag and drop objects into the desired layer

Layer Options


Once you have your objects separated into the desired layers, you can do the following in the Layers panel:


  • Hide layers from view by clicking on the 'View' icon
  • Lock layers from being adjusted (selected, moved, erased, etc.) by clicking on the 'Lock' icon 
  • Rename layers or objects by right-clicking and selecting 'Rename'
  • Reorder objects and layers by clicking and dragging them into the desired order

Layer Order


The ordering of layers is important. The order determines which layers are in front versus which layers are in behind.


Ordering is as follows:

  • Top layers - Background
  • Bottom layers - Foreground


If your layers are overlapping and you are not able to see one of the layers, click and drag the "missing" layer's order toward the bottom of the Layers panel. 

You can bring a layer to the front or move it to the back by selecting the layer and dragging and dropping.


Using SVG Files in Silhouette Studio

The feature to open SVG files is included in the Designer Edition and above.

The feature to save SVG files is included in the Business Edition.

SVG files can be opened in Silhouette Studio with a Designer Edition or above software upgrade, and additionally exported with a Business Edition upgrade.

Opening SVG Files


To open an SVG file in Silhouette Studio:

  1. Open Silhouette Studio
  2. Go to File > Open
  3. Navigate to your file and select it to open


To adjust the import behavior of SVG files:

  1. Open Silhouette Studio
  2. Go to Edit > Preferences > Import
  3. Review and adjust any desired settings under the "SVG" section

Setting Default Application


If you'd like to have Silhouette Studio be the default application for opening SVG files:
  1. Locate an SVG file on your computer
  2. Right-click on the SVG file
  3. Click on "Open With"
  4. Click on "Choose default program"
  5. Check the box labeled "Use this app for all .svg files"
  6. Select "Silhouette Studio"
    NOTE: If you don't see "Silhouette Studio", click on "More Options"
Going forward, your SVG files will now be opened by Silhouette Studio by double-clicking on them.