Center of Rotation – Silhouette Studio: What is it thing?

Have you ever had this little bullseye pop up in Silhouette Studio? Has it ever annoyed you? The Center of Rotation is its official name, but many simply refer to it as a bullseye or target-shaped feature that appears on an object in Silhouette.

Affiliate links may be present in the following blog post and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What if I told you this Silhouette bullseye was a really useful tool when you get to creating your own designs?

And what if I told you that it is easy to turn on and off?

Silhouette Center of Rotation

In this quick video tutorial on the Silhouette Secrets+ YouTube channel, I demonstrate how to turn it on, turn it off, and utilize it. Or continue reading below for more details.

The Center of Rotation can be turned on for several reasons in Silhouette. Center of Rotation is available in the Designer Edition upgrade or higher. We see users ask about this a lot and it wasn’t until recently that we found out that it is not on the upgrade list, but it is in fact an upgrade feature. When a user upgrades to Designer Edition or higher, it can be turned on in the software by default.

The Center of Rotation might turn on for other reasons, such as if you open a file and the designer had previously activated it, or, most commonly, if the letter “O” on the keyboard has been pressed. The letter “O” is the keyboard shortcut for Center of Rotation.

To toggle the Center of Rotation on and off using the keyboard shortcut, you need to select the design.

Or you can find the Center of Rotation under the Preferences Panel, under the Defaults tab.

Preferences Panel

You can find the Preferences panel in several ways:

• Click the gear icon in the bottom right corner
• Click the Edit menu in the top left corner & Preferences is at the bottom of the menu
• Or the keyboard shortcut to bring it up is Ctrl+K

The Preferences Panel holds a lot of information. Find more tutorials on Preferences – Selections HERE and Preferences – Tools HERE.

There are probably 2 things that are the most annoying about this little bullseye in Silhouette.

The first is merely the sight of it. If you do not know what it is, what it does, or how to turn it off, it can be distracting or just a visual eyesore.

The second is that when you are trying to move an object, the Center of Rotation wants to play. When you think you are grabbing the design to move it, the Center of Rotation moves and not the design.

But, once you know what it is and how to turn it off, you can easily make it disappear.

What purpose does the Center of Rotation serve?

It is exactly as the name says. It is the Center Point of Rotation, whether you are rotating a single object or you are replicating an object.

The default for the Center of Rotation is exactly in the center of an object. If you rotate the object as is, it is going to act as you would normally see with it turned off.

If you move the Center of Rotation away from the center point of the design and then rotate the object, it will rotate around wherever you placed the Center of Rotation bullseye.

Round and round she goes!

Now, what would you use this for?

The most common way I use it is for creating designs such as flowers or snowflakes. I am sure you can think of many other applications as well.

If I move the Center of Rotation to the bottom of the design as shown below.

I can then open the Replicate Panel and replicate the shape around the Center of Rotation.

And I have the beginnings of a snowflake design.

Or if I use a different shape, like an oval, then a beginning shape of a flower.

While it can be an annoying little thing that pops up, it is also a very useful tool too!

I’ll be sharing some free files coming up soon for the Silhouette Secrets+ Newsletter subscribers. Hint: the snowflake design is a brief glimpse at the beginnings of my creations.

If you are already subscribed, watch for those soon! Or you can subscribe below.

I hope you will take some time today and just play! See what you can create using basic shapes and the Center of Rotation. Keep in mind that designing is simply placing shapes together to make new shapes. Just like a beginners drawing book!

Save this for future reference by pinning the image below.

Enjoy !

THANK YOU for your support! How can you help? Click HERE & buy a coffee.
Every little bit helps with the cost of running the site.

**This post may contain affiliate links. What that means is that I may receive compensation if you purchase through the links I have provided. The price you pay for the product or service is not higher but I may get compensated for sharing.