Ultimate Guide to Cutting Small Fonts and Detailed Designs with Silhouette

Cutting small fonts and intricate designs with your Silhouette can be a game-changer for creating professional-looking projects, but it also comes with unique challenges. From selecting the right materials to fine-tuning your machine settings, every detail matters when working with tiny text or delicate patterns. In this ultimate guide, we’ll share proven tips, tricks, and techniques to help you achieve clean, precise cuts every time. Whether you’re crafting personalized gifts, labels, or detailed decorations, these strategies will take your Silhouette skills to the next level. Keep reading to unlock the secrets to cutting small fonts and detailed designs like a pro!

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Have you ever tried to cut something small and it just did NOT work? You may have ended up with a mess of whatever material you were cutting. Well, you are not alone! It happens and I have some tips to help!

Silhouette “Secrets” – Tips to Cutting Small Fonts & Designs

Tip #1 – Font Style Matters

• Not all font styles are good for cutting small.

An example is distressed fonts – all of those little bits and areas that show up in red will need to be cut. When you make it smaller, it just makes those areas smaller too!

Example – BFC Game Distressed Font – Design #402770

• I do not recommend cutting distressed fonts unless you are ready to test, test, test and have extra vinyl to use.

Tip #2 – Look at Edit Points

• Look at the Edit Points of a design/font.
  Fonts may need to be ungrouped in order for edit points to show up.

Make a copy of your original text before ungrouping to look at edit points.

Edit points are the data points that the machine uses to cut the file.

Right click Ungroup the text. Double click on the text selected and the Edit Points = gray dots show up. All of those dots are what the machine uses to complete the cut. It has to connect the dots.

If you scale the design down, it does not decrease the number of edit points, it just squishes them into a smaller space. Which can make cutting small or intricate designs even more difficult as the blade is moving to connect those dots in a smaller location.

When the Edit Points are activated, it should open the Edit Points Panel. If not, click on the Edit Points Panel on the left side tool bar.

Simplifying the Edit Points can help to make it cut smoother.

However, you want to compare the original to the simplified version and see if there is any noticeable change in the design itself.

Make a copy of the text before simplifying and then compare the before and after.

Click off of it to deselect it and compare the designs without the edit points active.

Did it change it enough? Did it change it too much?

Some designs/fonts you will see a drastic change and others you may not notice it at all, but it will help in cutting quality.

Here is another example – Giraffe Zentangle Mandala by Wispy Willow Designs is an awesome design. If you have ever worked with a zentangle style design before, you know they can be intricate. This design opens at 12″ tall and here is a look at the edit points that make up this design. They are a necessary part of the design due to the detail of it.

If you scale that design down to 3″ tall, all of those edit points are then squished together.

This is not a design that will not cut well at a small scale. That’s just not how it was designed because of it’s intricate detail. Zentangles are detailed and intricate designs.

In this case, simplifying the edit points probably still won’t yield good results. It was not designed to be cut small, but is amazing at a large size.

Want to learn even more about Edit Points? Check out this tutorial HERE.

Tip #3 – Use a Sharp blade

• A sharp blade is going to cut much cleaner than a dull blade.
• Having extra blades and cutting mats on hand will save you time, frustration, and money in the long run.
• Keep separate blades for different materials. Just like having separate fabric and paper scissors! Different materials dull the blade at a different rate. This can also increase the lifespan on your blades.
• Do not try to sharpen the blade. It is a myth that stabbing tin foil sharpens a blade. Metal cutting metal or stabbing metal does not sharpen a blade. That is like cutting a soda can with a kitchen knife, it only dulls it farther. If it does anything at all, it may clean adhesive off the blade or in a lot of cases we see, it can break the tip of your blade off and you end up with more troubles than you started with.
• A brand-new blade is a great thing!

I always recommend having extra blades and cutting mats on hand! Grab some extras at CrafterCuts and use my code SECRETS to save 10% HERE.
Free shipping with orders of $35 or more at CrafterCuts!
Or grab some extras from Silhouette America HERE and use code SECRETS to save 5%.

Tip #4 – Test Cut, Test Cut, Test Cut!!!

• When cutting small fonts, use that font as your test cut.
• Type out a capital B to use as your test cut. It has straight lines, corners, and curves and you can see how it will be cut.
• See more on test cuts HERE

Tip #5 – Use High Quality Adhesive Vinyl

• Using high quality products can make all the difference! Having issues, try a new brand or a new piece.
• Vinyl does have a shelf life and it can depend on how it’s stored. I’ve had some vinyl that I’ve used 7 years later, but others that didn’t last 3 years.
• Usually, the way I know it’s no longer good is it is very difficult to release from the backing and I am having to work harder at it than I should.

Check out the Recommended Retailers header HERE for vinyl suppliers.

Tip #6 – Weeding Lines

• Add weeding lines to your design to weed the adhesive vinyl in smaller portions.
• Use the Line Drawing Tools to draw around small sections to work with it.
  This doesn’t look pretty but it can help so much!

Check out more on Weeding Lines HERE.

Tip #7 – Cut Extra Pieces

• Small dots or periods are famous for getting lost. Simply make copies and cut a line of dots to add to your project as needed.

• If one letter gets messed up, simply re-cut one letter to add to the project. No need to recut the entire design.

Discover even more with the step-by-step class on the Silhouette Secrets+ Teachable site, where I guide you through creating the designs featured above. Check out the Easily Create Custom Gift Tags & Keepsake Ornaments in Silhouette class to bring your creativity to life!
View all of the classes available HERE.

Tip #8 – Reverse Weeding

• After cutting, weed the large areas

Then place the transfer tape onto the entire design.

Weed it from the transfer tape.

Now, this method takes practice. I hated it the first time I tried it because I did not like that the transfer tape stuck to my hand while weeding. However, it has come in handy with some projects I’ve done and that was the only way I could get it to transfer properly.

I hope those tips help you be successful with future cuts when working with small details and fonts!

These tips are also available as a printable in my Silhouette Studio class – Easily Create Custom Gift Tags & Keepsake Ornaments in Silhouette Studio found HERE.

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Enjoy !

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