It’s time to learn how to get around in the software. Think of the next few lessons like Driver’s Ed: you’ve done some of the classroom work and now you’re ready to get in the car and figure out how to adjust the mirrors, put it in gear, etc. We’ve already gone over the icon bars in a previous lesson. (To start with Lesson 1 of Software Basics, go here.) Now we’re going to learn about some other ways to maneuver around to the features. In this lesson, we’ll talk about the mouse and cursors. You don’t need to memorize it all or get bogged down with figuring out HOW to do everything I mention. Just focus on understanding WHAT is possible.
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The Mouse
If you are brand new to using a computer, you may not understand how your mouse works. If you do, feel free to skip to the section on The Cursor.
Your mouse helps you communicate with the software by moving it and clicking its buttons. You may have an external mouse that is connected by a cord that hooks into your computer with a USB cable or is wireless, or you may have a trackpad mouse, or both.
Mouse buttons
The external mouse will typically have 2 buttons — 1 left and 1 right. It may also have a scroll wheel in the middle.
Laptop computers typically have a trackpad mouse — a rectangular area below the letters on the keyboard. You have the option to use the trackpad or an external mouse. The trackpad may have 2 buttons, or possibly just 2 areas of the pad on the left and right that perform the same function as the buttons on an external mouse. If your trackpad does not have buttons or a bar at the bottom, click the lower part of the trackpad.
If your computer has a touchscreen, you have the option to navigate around the software by touching different areas of the screen, just like you would with a smartphone. Most people find using a mouse to be quicker and more accurate in the Silhouette Studio software. You can decide what works best for you.
The left button for clicks
The left mouse button is the one you use primarily. It’s ergonomics — the left button is under your pointer finger since most folks use their right hand for the mouse. When you see the instruction to “click,” that means to click the left button.
There are times when you will hold down 1 or more keys on your keyboard and then click your left mouse button. You’ll want to learn the location on your keyboard of your SHIFT, CTRL (Control), CMD (Command — Mac only) and FN (Function) keys. When using the FN, you will also be pressing one of the keys at the top of the keyboard labeled F1, F2, F3, etc.
The right button for right clicks
You use the right mouse button for fewer commands. If you need to use this one, the instructions will clearly tell you to “right click.” That means to click the button on the right, usually with your middle finger. Right clicking will bring up a menu on the screen and you will choose an option on the menu. Which menu comes up is based on where you are in the software at the time and whether or not you have images selected. If your mouse does not have 2 buttons, then use a CTRL+click for a right click. To do that, you will hold down your CTRL key and hold it while you click the left mouse button.
On a Mac computer with a trackpad, you can instead use 2-finger clicks or corner clicks for a right click. This is an option you can set up in your System Preferences>Trackpad>Secondary click>Click or tap with 2 fingers OR Click in bottom right corner OR Click in bottom left corner. (see also section below if you have a Mac Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad).
When you see the symbol >, that tells you that there are several steps to the command. For example, in the list of commands above you would open the menu for “System Preferences” and then in that menu select “Trackpad.” Once in that menu, you would look for “Secondary click” and so forth.
The scroll wheel
The scroll wheel in the center helps you move your view. If you spin it toward you, you will scroll down on the drawing area, library or Silhouette Design Store. If you spin it away from you, you move up.
Common mouse commands
Click and drag means to click your left mouse button and hold it down while simultaneously moving the mouse or moving your finger across the trackpad. Once you have dragged the amount needed you release the mouse button.
Double click means to click the left mouse button 2 times in quick succession.
Triple click is used in other software programs but not in Silhouette Studio.
With a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad on a Mac
Click — tap anywhere on the surface
Double-click — tap twice anywhere on the surface
Control click (right click) — hold down the Control key and tap the surface
Scroll — With a Magic Mouse, move one finger up and down or left and right on the surface. On a Magic Trackpad, move two fingers up and down or left and right on the surface.
The cursor
The cursor is a small picture on your computer screen that tells you where the mouse is located. As you move the mouse, the location of the cursor moves. The cursor looks different as you navigate to different areas of the software or perform different actions. When you understanding the ways the cursor can look, it’s easier to do what you want to do in the software.
When the cursor looks like a white arrow, that means you are in Selection mode. You move the mouse until the tip of the arrow touches what it is you want to do or select and then click (remember — that’s using the left button). This is what the cursor looks like most often.
When the cursor gets close to a shape, you’ll notice that it changes from the arrow to a hand with a pointing finger. Touch the tip of the finger just to the right of the line of the shape you want to select. If the shape is filled with color or pattern, you can touch anywhere in the shape. That’s one of the many reasons I always recommend working with filled shapes.
The cursor looks like a 5-fingered hand when you…
…are in Pan zoom mode. That means you can grab anywhere on the drawing area to move the around the screen.
…hover over the top of a panel. That indicates you can click in that area and drag the panel to a new location.
When the cursor looks like a capital letter “I,” you are in Text Creation mode and can add words to your drawing area.
Once you click on the Drawing Area in Text Creation mode, the cursor changes to show you where the new text will start. You’ll see a flashing blue cursor and a control point (more on that below).
When the cursor looks like a plus sign, you are in Drawing mode where you can draw lines, shapes, etc. The empty area in the middle is the starting point of any shape or line you draw.
A cursor that looks like a blue pencil indicates you are in Draw Freehand mode.
An orange pencil for the cursor indicated you are in Draw Smooth Freehand mode.
When the cursor looks like a plus sign with shooting arrow in the upper left, you are in one of several special modes that allow you to adjust a control point.
Text
In Text Editing mode, you can touch the end of the arrow to a control point on the lower left of the text box to click and drag the words toward a shape. The words will wrap around the contours of the shape. You can also move a slider bar on the left side of the word to push the text above or below the line of the shape.
Special shapes
You use red control handles to alter certain properties of special shapes:
–the amount of the curvature on the corners of a rounded rectangle.
–the amount/number of degrees of an arc.
–the number of sides on a regular polygon.
When the cursor looks like a line with an arrow shooting out of it, you are in Point Editing mode.
If there is a small black square on the line, then touching the tip of the arrow to a point selects that point.
If you don’t see a black square on the line, then touching the tip of the arrow to the line of an image and clicking will create another point at that spot. (Point Editing is advanced stuff, so don’t worry about understanding all that right now).
When the cursor looks like a small, blue-filled circle or square, your eraser tool is activated. This allows you to erase a portion of your design. NOTE: I don’t recommend using this tool as it can freeze the software. There’s usually a better option.
When the cursor looks like a knife, that means the knife tool is currently enabled. You can click and drag to slice across a shape. NOTE: I don’t recommend using this tool as it can freeze the software. There’s usually a better option.
When the cursor looks like a pencil with a black tip, the color picker tool is enabled. This allows you to pick up a color from an image to use in in another shape. For more on using this tool, see this post.
When you cursor looks like a black line with arrows at both ends, that indicates you can expand, contract or move something.
Text
In Text Editing mode, you can lengthen or shorten the width of the text box, allowing more or fewer words on a line (text wrapping).
Shapes
With a shape(s) selected, you can increase the overall width or height or both.
Guidelines
You can hover over a guideline and move it.
Library View
In the Library there are sections for the list of folders on the left and the designs themselves on the right. If you want to see more or less of the folders or the designs area, you can use the expansion arrows to adjust the width of each section. To do this, hover over the line separating the areas until the cursor becomes the expansion arrows. Then click and drag the width of the panel.
Once in a while the cursor looks like this but there isn’t anything to expand or contract in the area. It’s just a quirk of the software.
The expansion arrows may be white, which indicates something else we’ll discuss in another lesson.
Escaping
No matter what mode you are in, clicking your ESC (Escape) key on the upper left of your computer keyboard will take you back to Selection mode with the familiar white arrow cursor. Or, you can get back to that mode by clicking the Selection arrow icon in the top of the left side icon bar. Hmmm… where’s that button in life???
As long as you aren’t ready to escape from me :), go next to Lesson 6: Drop Down Menus.
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