Create a Card Base in Silhouette

Being able to create your own designs in Silhouette is a great skill to know.
And it doesn’t have to be hard!
Any Silhouette user can do this!

Today I want to share how you can make your own card base in Silhouette to cut.
You can use these same techniques to create any size card base you want.
And I’ll share a tip at the end for a quick template.

And once you create this file once, you can save it and reuse it over and over again for future projects.

The biggest thing I hope you take away from this tutorial is that knowing how to use the tools in the Silhouette software can be helpful for all future projects.
And that no matter your skill level – YOU CAN DO IT!

How to Create a Card Base

Create the card base using the Draw Rectangle tool on the left side.
Then use the Transform – Scale option, scale the rectangle to 8.5″ x 5.5″.

Next, draw a vertical line using the Line Drawing tool on the left side.
Hold the Shift key down and it will draw a straight line.
Using the Transform – Scale panel, scale the line to 5.5″.

Open the Line Style Panel and change the Line Style to a dashed line.

Select the rectangle and the line, choose Align Middle.
Then choose Align left.
This will move the line to the left side of the rectangle.

Click off the design to deselect it and click back on the line only to select it.
You can tell by the size of the selection box, what object is selected.

Next we will use a tool many don’t know about. It is called the “Move By” tool and when you want an object to move an exact distance, it is so handy.

Type in 4.25″ in the Distance box and then press the right arrow. This will move the line 4.25″ to the right of the left edge of the card base.
Note: you could also try using the Align Center, but it will depend on the design you are working with on if it will be where you need it.

Once the score line is centered, select both the rectangle and the score line, right click, and choose Group. Or use Ctrl + G as the shortcut (Command +G on a MAC).

Once objects are Grouped together, they will move as one item.
For more information on Grouping, check out the “Let’s Explore v4 – Group vs Ungroup” tutorial HERE

Save the file as your card base template for a 4.25″ x 5.5″ card.

Creating your own card bases is a great option if you don’t have access to purchase packs of card bases or if you want to use a specific color of card stock.

Creating a Quick 5″ x 7″ Card Base

If you want a 5″ x 7″ card, there is an even easier way to create one in the Silhouette Studio software.

Under File > New Project Wizard, there is a 5″ x 7″ card template.
Choose the Card option and press the Start button.

Ta-Da!

Now, this is a great, quick option to choose.
However, I do not like the score line being that fine together. Depending on your paper type, it could be too close and easily tear it apart.

Remember those tools we used above?
We can easily adjust this using those same techniques.

Right click on the design and choose Ungroup.

Click off the design to deselect it and then click back on the score line only.

Now there is a broader score line for the middle of the card.

Look closely at the perforated line.
Make sure that the cut line isn’t cutting the outside edge of the card.
If it is, then scale it down just a little bit by grabbing the corner bounding box and moving it in.
Select both the rectangle and the score line and choose Align – Middle.

If you find after cutting that the score line does not reflect the true middle, use the Move By tool as shown above in the first card base design to center the score line.

Save the file and you have a 5″ x 7″ card base template.

For more on the Project Wizard, check out the “Let’s Explore v4 – Project Wizard” tutorial HERE

Silhouette Studio Tools

Learning the Silhouette Studio tools is the key to it all!

In this tutorial, I have linked back to many tutorials on the tools in the Silhouette software from the “Let’s Explore v4” series.
You will pick up so many things by learning these tools and just using them.

I would encourage all users to take a bit of time. Go step-by-step in creating both of these card designs. The more you use the tools in the software, in no time, you will be creating things without even thinking about the tools you are using.

Grab this free PDF file HERE on the Silhouette Studio software to help navigate too!
Download it to the computer, open it, and click on each blue link to go to more information on that tool too!

I’d love seeing what you are creating with your Silhouette machines or software.
Feel free to post photos or questions on my Facebook group at
Silhouette Secrets with EllyMae.

Save this for future reference by pinning the image below.