Today, let’s take a look at the Send tab.
It has a lot of information in it!
In the v4 software, it is located in the top right corner of the program and controls everything about the cut settings.
This tutorial is written in v4.3.372 of the Silhouette software.
There are 4 different options for working in the Send Tab.
Simple
Line
Fill
Layer (Designer Edition feature)
The Simple option is the one I find I use the most.
But what does all this mean? Let’s take a look.
With a Cameo 3 or Curio selected as the machine being used, the above is what you will see on the Send tab.
On a Cameo 3 or Curio the tool housing is distinguished by a red circle (Tool 1) or a blue circle (Tool 2).
On a Cameo 4, there are no red or blue circles, but it is designated by a number 1 or 2 for each tool housing. When a Cameo 4 is selected as the machine being used, you will see the Send tab show like this.
The numbers 1 and 2 are located on the tool housing locking tab on the Cameo 4. You will also notice that the blade and adapters for the Cameo 4, will also have either a 1 or 2 on the front of the tool to designate which tool holder it fits in.
The most important thing to keep in mind when you are switching between the Tool 1 and Tool 2 housing is that you first have to select the design on the screen you want to change and then choose No Cut under Tool 1 before turning on Cut under Tool 2.
If you do not turn the cut lines off under Tool 1 housing, then it will complete the action using both Tool housings.
Now, let’s break this down into what each section of the Simple Send tab means.
There are 2 options for Cut Line behavior. No Cut, Cut, and Cut Edge.
If you look at the icons each one shows you exactly what it does.
Let’s take a look with some examples.
The #1 thing to note here is that the design has to be selected on the design mat in order to make any changes to the cut setting. To select the design, click directly on the design or the red line of the design. A selection box will appear around the design meaning that it is selected. Then you can change the cut setting between No Cut, Cut, or Cut Edge.
Since we are under Tool 1 – the cut lines will show as bold red. As you can see when the cut lines are turned off, there is no bold red outline around the design like the example in the top left corner.
No Cut and Cut are pretty easy to understand. Either the cut line is on, indicated by bold red cut lines or it is off, indicated by no bold red cut lines.
If a design is sent to the Silhouette machine with the cut lines off, it will go through the motions of aligning the housing and setting the blade (Autoblade), but then the software will say “Cut Complete”.
Note: if a design is sent to the machine with the cut lines OFF and you get the message “Cut Complete” – unload and reload the Silhouette cutting mat before sending again after turning on the cut lines to ensure that the blade housing resets to the proper starting point.
Cut and Cut Edge are the ones that I see the most questions about.
Cut means that it is going to cut around each object on the screen. If the design is overlapping, then it is going to cut through each piece.
Cut Edge means that it will cut around the outside edge of any objects that are overlapping. It will also show a bolder, fuzzier red cut lines around it on the Send tab when it is set to Cut Edge.
In the Silhouette Studio v4 software, it now defaults all text to Cut Edge. So I often see a user question why the red lines appear fuzzy. It will still cut the same, but now welding a scripty, overlapping font is not absolutely necessary. The red fuzzy does not affect how it will cut, it is appearance on the screen only.
If you select the entire design on the screen, choose No Cut under Tool 1 and then turn on Tool 2 using the same designations as above, you will see bold blue cut lines appear around the images.
Red lines = Tool 1
Blue lines = Tool 2
You will also notice that as it is shown above, I get a message that there is no Cameo4 Tool 2 compatible Kraft Cut Action for this material as chosen for Cardstock. If there is not a preset for the specific material and tool chosen, you will see this message.
You may have to create your own settings – see below for more information on that.
Next we have the Materials, Action, and Tool options.
The Materials drop down is where you choose what material you are cutting from the preset options in the software or your own custom created settings.
If you choose a preset setting, this is just a recommended starting point for materials that are similar. Keep in mind that not all materials are created the same and there can be variance in those materials, even within the same brand.
Also keep in mind, that as your blade dulls, you may need to adjust those settings to get a good cut using the same blade.
The presets are just a recommendation for a starting point and I always recommend that you do a Test Cut first to see if it will work for you before sending the full design.
User Defined Settings are ones that you create or have modified yourself.
These settings will appear at the end of the preset settings list.
The first time you create a new custom setting, it will appear at the very bottom of the list. Once the software is closed and reopened the list should be in alphabetical order.
For more information on creating a custom setting check out this post –
Creating and Exporting a User Defined Setting.
Next, you have the Action. This is what you are telling the Silhouette machine to do.
The Actions that are available will depend on what tool is selected.
Then comes the Tool section. This will show you what tool options you have available for the Tool housing you have selected, the material selected, and the action selected.
Now we move to the next section.
In the gray section, you will see the Action and Material chosen in the upper section appear as the Title. If using a Curio and the v4 software, you will also see it show the Platform stack recommendation there too.
The black dial is the blade depth.
The current blade depth recommendation is the middle number that has a blue shading to it. The arrow on the left changes the blade depth down and the arrow on the right increased the blade depth up.
If you are using an Autoblade in the Cameo 3, Cameo 4, or Portrait 2, this is the information that is sent to the machine to set the Autoblade by it’s tap dance at the beginning.
Blade depth is how far out the blade is sticking from the end of the blade. For thinner materials, you will use a lower blade depth and or thicker materials you use a higher blade depth. If you have too high of a blade depth for the materials you are cutting, the blade may get stuck in the cutting mat and cause cut issues.
The triangle with the overlapping areas is called Overcut and it is a neat feature that can help make cutting corners easier. Each design may vary.
Learn more about the Overcut feature HERE.
Next is the Force and Speed.
Force is the amount of pressure that the Cameo is using to press down on the blade. Higher force equals higher pressure and can also cause the blade to stick in the mat, if the setting is too high.
Speed is how fast the blade is moving. Faster is not always better, but slower is not always better either. Each material will vary in the perfect settings.
Next comes the Passes and More option.
Passes is how many times you want the blade to do the same action. Some thicker materials require several passes to cut completely through the material. For normal cutting materials such as vinyl, htv, and cardstock; I find 1 pass should be sufficient with the correct settings.
More is the Advanced Settings and where you would enter Custom Cut Settings.
Check out more information on that HERE.
So now you may be asking yourself – how do you know to change the settings?
Honestly, I use the preset settings for the materials in the software almost all the time for most materials. I do use the Textured Cardstock setting to cut almost all cardstock. If it’s a material not in the presets, then I start with the recommendations from the manufacturer, or the closest material to it. The more you cut, the more comfortable you will get with the materials you are using and the settings needed.
And, I do Test Cuts.
These will be your best friend and save you lots of materials!
If the square with the triangle test cut is not working for you, make your own with a capital B and move it around.
For more details and photos on creating your own Test Cut, check out this Beginner HTV post HERE to see how I do that.
If the test cut does not come out well, then I look at adjusting my settings. I usually start with blade depth. Increase it by 1 and try a test cut. If it works, great! If not, then it will depend on what it did. If it cut too deep, then I will decrease the blade depth to what it was and increase the force by 1-2 and try another test cut.
Do not change too much too fast, or you really don’t know what worked and what didn’t.
Now, let’s look at the bottom of the Send tab and what it tells us.
Machine name – this will show you the name of the current machine selected from the Machine list.
Right click on the name and you can rename the machine.
Under this menu, there are also options to do a few more other things such as Calibration, Distance Adjustment, Tool Separation, Manual Registration (Print and Cut), and Automatic Registration (Print and Cut).
We will not cover these in this tutorial today, but you can find more information on all of those in the Silhouette Handbook that is FREE in the Silhouette Design Store.
Grab it HERE and then open it and hold down Ctrl+F on the keyboard for the search bar. Type in what you are looking for to learn more about that item.
Machine icon and status is directly below the Machine name.
This will show a photo of the current Silhouette machine that is selected as the default machine and tell you the status of it.
Machine list is where you will toggle between different Silhouette machines or choose the USB versus Bluetooth connection.
Here you will see the Machine name, Firmware version, x to close a machine connection, Bluetooth and USB connections that are recognized by the software. To choose a new machine simply select the machine from the list that you want to send the project to and it will be the new default machine.
Check out how to rename your machine HERE
With the Business Edition upgrade, you can use multiple machines at the same time and just toggle between them under this icon.
For more information on using multiple machines at the same time click HERE.
Next to the Machine list icon is a small icon like a graduation cap. It has a few instructions in there that need to be updated.
Moving to the right side at the bottom of the Send tab, you will find the Test Cut options.
The Test Cut arrows move the blade housing if you need to adjust where the test cut location is. Make sure to move the housing both directions to the exact location you want it to cut at.
Next to that is where you choose whether to perform the Test cut with Tool 1 or Tool 2.
And then you have the Test Cut button. When you are ready, click it to cut a small square with a triangle out of the material wherever the blade housing is set up.
Note: after doing a test cut, make sure to unload and reload your mat before sending the project to cut, so it will cut in the exact location you have setup on the screen.
Below that is the Send button.
When all test cuts have been performed, double check that the material settings are correct and press the Send button to send the project to the Silhouette machine.
Next to the Send button on the right is the barcode icon. A print and cut project can be setup with a barcode to read for the cut settings. It is briefly described in this post on the Registration Marks Panel HERE. It is not something I have needed to use.
And in the far bottom right corner is the Advanced Settings for the Send tab.
For most users, you may never use this Advanced Settings Panel.
The 2 that I find are used the most are the Feed Option and the Cut Order Sorting.
After Cutting a Tile – choose whether the machine should “Await cutter ready” or “Pause”.
For more information on the Tiling feature – check out this post HERE.
Feed Option – choose between “Return to Origin” or “Feed”
Return to Origin tells the machine whether to pull the mat or material back to the front of the machine to unload it
Feed tells the machine to feed to the back of the machine to use the Cross Cutter option.
This can be helpful when cutting off a roll.
For more information on the Cameo 4 roll feeder and cutting from a roll check out this post HERE.
Layer Sorting – choose between “no sort” or “Group Layers by Condition”.
No sort cuts the layers in the order they are listed in the Layers Panel.
Group Layers by Condition will cut layers with the same conditions together for instance, same color lines are considered a layer.
Show Cutter Divisions – choose between “Known Cutters” or “All Cutters”
*more information on this option coming soon
Show Weed Settings – choose between “Auto”, “Always”, “Never”
*more information on this option coming soon
Cut Order Sorting – choose between “No sort”, “Maximize Speed”, “Minimize Roller Movement”, and/or “Sort Interior Contours First”.
This is where you can change the order in which the machine cuts. You select what you want it to do whether by the fastest way to cut, minimize roller movement, etc.
What works best may be different for each user.
I have mine set to Minimize Roller Movement and Sort Interior Contours First.
The Silhouette software and machine will choose the best order to cut with based on these selections. It does not always cut in the order we think it should, but I just let it go and it will do it’s thing.
Note: different version of the software may show different Advanced Settings under this menu. Older software version may not have as many options as shown above. This tutorial is written using v4.3.372.
Whew!
Did you know that the “Simple” tab of the Silhouette software contained all that information?
I would love to hear what you learned today or see your Silhouette projects!
Feel free to post photos or questions on my Facebook group at
Silhouette Secrets with EllyMae.
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Enjoy!
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