Posted on September 17, 2019November 5, 2023 by silhouettesecretsplus — 59 Comments

Let’s Explore v4 – Drawing Tools

Do you use the Silhouette software to draw your own designs? Or maybe you are like me and don’t feel you are creative enough to draw your own designs?
Today we are going to talk about the Drawing Tools and hopefully, you will feel a little differently by the end.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, you will find the Tools on the left side of the Design Tab and the Panels that control the properties of those Tools on the right side.

Understanding the different terms in the software can help in remembering where to access some of these features. Check out this FREE PDF file that diagrams the Design Tab out with each of the Icon names.

Let’s Explore v4 – Drawing Tools

Draw a Rectangle Tool

Select the Rectangle Tool on the left side and the cursor will change to a cross-hair. Click the left mouse button and hold to draw a rectangle of any size.

To draw a perfect square, hold down the SHIFT key as you draw and it will draw a perfect square.

But, be careful not to let go of the SHIFT key before you release the mouse button or it will not be an equal sided square.
The undo option is your best friend in the software at times.

Now, after you draw that rectangle, does your mouse keep on drawing shapes?
You can change this under the Preferences in the software.
Check out this post on Preference – Tools to find out how.

Draw a Rounded Rectangle

The draw a rounded rectangle tool works the same as the rectangle tool, except the corners are rounded and you have the option to adjust the curve of the corners by moving the red dots that appear on the corner.

The red dots can be adjusted individually for each side of the corner or if the SHIFT key is held down when grabbing one, it will adjust them proportionally on all sides.

Draw an Ellipse

Select the draw an Ellipse tool to draw an oval or circle shape.

Again, holding down the SHIFT key will allow a perfect circle to be drawn.
If the SHIFT key is released before the mouse button, it will revert back and not be a perfect circle.

Draw a Regular Polygon

Select this tool to draw a polygon. The polygon can be adjusted with the red dots or by using the slider bar in the middle of the shape to adjust the number of sides from 3 to 60.

Now, those are your basic shapes and can be used together to make all kinds of designs. What can you think to create?

I created this snowflake just by using a few of these basic shapes.
A rounded rectangle, a circle, and an oval.
Group or weld the ovals to create the leaf design.

After drawing all the shapes, I used the Align tool to line them all up by the Align Center option. Then weld the shapes together.
Next, mirror the welded shape below from the Replicate Panel and then move the copy up a little so they are overlapped, then weld.

Now, use the Replicate Two Copies option and weld in the Replicate Panel to create 2 more copies. Then weld the copies together.

And then I repeated the same steps for the next part of the snowflake.

Once both parts of the snowflake are created, select the smaller snowflake piece and Rotate By 30 degrees, using the Transform Rotate Panel. Select both parts of the snowflake and use the Align Center option under the Transform Panel.

Ta-Da! You have drawn a snowflake with basic shapes found in the Drawing Tools on the left side of the Silhouette Studio.

Want to save this for later? Pin the photo above to Pinterest to refer back to later.
I love Pinterest – find me HERE!

What will you draw or create in the Silhouette software now?
Want another tip?
Check out basic drawing books to see how they combine shapes to make designs and objects.

Feel free to post your comments and questions below or on my Facebook group at Silhouette Secrets with EllyMae.

Enjoy!

**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.

Posted on April 9, 2019April 17, 2019 by silhouettesecretsplus — 3 Comments

Let’s Explore v4 – Designing with shapes

In October of 2018, I put up a vinyl skeleton on our front door. After Halloween, my kids & husband asked me to leave it up because they thought it would be fun to decorate all year long.
They tell me the ideas that they would like to accessorize the skeleton with and I cut and apply it from vinyl.

While I was cutting the eggs for the door, I had 3 shapes from the Silhouette Design Store but I wanted a fourth egg with a different design.

With the Silhouette software and the tools in it, you can create pretty much anything you can imagine.

Part 1 – Drawing the Egg

Let’s start with the egg shape.

Now, the easiest way would be to use the Flexi-shapes with the v4.2 software. But, we will discuss both ways.

Drawing with Flexi-shapes

Flexi-shapes are a newly released feature with the v4.2 software and are available if you have the Designer Edition Plus or Business Edition upgrade.

The Flexi-shape option is in the toolbar on the left side of the v4 software.

Check out all these shapes!

Click on the oval shape and then click and drag the mouse on the design mat.

To adjust the shape after the original drawing, grab one of the white circles and move it. The shape will adjust as these points are moved.

Once the shape is to your liking, right click on it and choose Convert to Path.

Now, that is one way to get an oval shape.

Using the Drawing Tools to create shapes

For those that do not have v4.2 or the Designer Edition Plus or Business Edition upgrade, let’s use the drawing tools and draw an egg shape.

Since the egg is wide at the bottom than at the top, I am going to use 2 shapes.
First, on the left toolbar, select the Draw Ellipse tool.

Hold down the Shift key and drag the mouse to draw a perfect circle.

Choose the Draw Ellipse tool again and draw an oval.

Select both the circle and the oval, using the Transform Panel – Align Tab to align the horizontal centers.

Then right click and choose Weld.

Next, double click on the welded shape and this will bring up the edit points. By deleting a few edit points we can change the shape of this design.

Alter the edit points to achieve the desired effect.

Still not the exact shape or as symmetrical as you’d like? Take it one step farther.

Open the Page Setup – Panel Grid Options.
Move the oval shape so that the top bounding box is centered on one of the grid lines.
Click on the Knife Tool on the left tool bar.
Make sure the Solid option is selected in the Quick Access Toolbar at the top left.

Hold down the Shift key and draw a line from the top to the bottom on the grid line with the bounding box.

Select the right side of the oval and delete it.

Open the Replicate Panel. Select the left side of the oval and choose Mirror Right.

Select the right side and press the left arrow key 1 time. This will move the design slightly so it is overlapping the left side of the oval.

Select both sides, right click and choose Weld.
The weld option can also be found under the Modify Panel on the right side too.

Now you have a symmetrical shape.

This can be done with all kinds of designs. You can create and draw anything in the software by breaking it down into basic shapes or using the Flexi-shapes.

How about a heart? Draw your own with 2 circles & a square and then edit using the same techniques listed above or use the Flexi-shape if available.