Designing in Silhouette Studio

Creating your own designs in the Silhouette Studio software

Let’s use some of the Silhouette Studio tools to create our own designs. We will be using the text, rotate, offset, and subtract tools to create this design.

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Start by selecting the Text Tool on the left side and click on the design mat to type out a letter.

Using the Fill Color Panel, fill it with a color. This will help to work with it easier, but mostly it is just to be able to see it better.

Click off the text to deselect it and then click back on it one time.
Then open the Text Style Panel and choose the font style.
I am using LW Game Day font by Lori Whitlock – Design #205489.

Make a copy of the text and move it off the mat to the holding area, so there is always an original to go back to.

Right click on the design and choose Convert to Path.
This will change the design from editable text to a vector design.

When it is in editable text mode, the font has to account for all characters in the font file. This will included any special characters, flourishes, glyphs, etc. in that font file and it has to account for that in the spacing you see around the design. This is why you will see excess space on the top and the bottom of a letter between the letter and the selection box.
Each font will vary since each font file is different.
What it has to do is account for the spacing, in case you decide to change the text.

Once the Convert to Path is chosen, it is now considered a vector design. It is no longer editable text and the selection box and measurements around the image are more accurate.

Grab the corner bounding box and increase the size of the letter as desired.
By using the corner bounding box, the design is scaled proportionally.
If you would rather have exact sizes, you could also use the Transform Panel – Scale tab or the Scale icon in the top Quick Access Toolbar.

The size of the design will depend on what type of project you are making. After the entire design is created, it can all be selected and resized to get the final size for your cuts.

Next, click on the Text Tool on the left side again and then type out the word you want.
Fill the text with color using the Fill Color Panel.
In the Text Style Panel, choose the font style.
I used the All Stars font by Erin Doran – Design #307688.
Make a copy of it and enlarge it just a bit.
Then right click on it and choose Weld so that any overlapping letters weld together and cut as one piece.
Then right click and choose Group or use Ctrl+G as the keyboard shortcut.
This will allow the entire design to move as one piece.

Move the text word onto the design mat.
Using the Transform Panel – Rotate Tab, rotate the word 90 degrees.
Then using the corner bounding box, scale it up as desired.
Once the text word is placed where you like it, select both the background letter and the word together and use the Align – Middle tool either in the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) or in the Transform Panel – Align Tab.

To select multiple objects, left click in the top left above the design and hold the left mouse button down and drag across the entire design.
Anything the mouse touches will be selected together.
Or click on one object, hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click on another object. As long as the Shift key is held down, everything that is clicked on will be selected together.

Click off the design to deselect it and then click back on the word only to select only it.

With only the word selected, open the Offset Panel and click Offset.
The default distance is 0.125″ and this is what I used and clicked Apply.
When the offset is applied, it will weld any overlapping parts of the offset together automatically and the offset will now be the object selected on the screen.
The distance on the offset can be adjusted as you desire and what works for the design can vary according to your taste and the design being created.

Since the Offset is already selected, hold down the Shift key and then click on the background letter. Now, the offset and the big letter should be selected together.
Open the Modify Panel and choose Subtract.
This will subtract the offset shape from the background letter.
Now all the little pieces will be individual designs. The design will need to be grouped together so it moves as one piece. Either press Ctrl+G on the keyboard or right click on the big letter and choose Group.

Ta-da! You have created your own design.

Move the design around as needed to cut out of the material you are using.

I cut mine from Siser Easyweed Heat Transfer Vinyl so I moved the Bobcats off the mat, right clicked on the B and chose Flip > Horizontal and then placed it in the top left corner of the mat to cut.

Once that was cut, I moved the B off the mat and moved the Bobcats onto the mat, rotated it back 90 degrees, right clicked and chose Flip > Horizontal and cut it.

Check out this post – Silhouette “Secrets” Beginner HTV Tips & Tricks post for more information on cutting HTV.

I love my new shirt and of course, my kids asked for their own too!
I love being able to create custom shirts with my Silhouette and they love wearing them!

But, I’m not going to tell them I like mine better.

Each design may turn out a little bit different depending on the letters, text, and font style chosen. Grab your favorite drink and get to creating!
Here are a couple more that I created using the same steps above.