You asked for it, you got it. Here’s a table of contents — a list of all the Silhouette tutorials on my site, categorized by type and with direct links to the posts. As I add posts, I will update this list. You can also use the search bar at the right to find post topics.
For beginners, I highly recommend starting with the Before You Begin, Software Basics and Successful Beginner Projects series. Even veterans can learn a great deal from these Silhouette tutorials. For more advanced users, check out the Intermediate/Advanced list, as well as the Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Send Area and Cutting without the Mat without Losing Your Mind series.
To suggest a tutorial topic, comment at the end of this post.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click the link and purchase something, I receive a small commission. You pay the same price. This helps me to be able to keep my business going and provide more tutorials.
Before you Begin series
#1 What to know before you buy
#2 Downloading and installing the software
#4 The Silhouette Design Store
#6 The Silhouette America website
#7 Good materials to start with
#8 Opening the box and getting to know the machine (Cameo 4)
#8 Opening the box and getting to know the machine (other models)
Software Basics series (version 4)
Lesson 1: Opening the software and setting preferences
Lesson 3: Starting a new project and selecting page settings
Lesson 5: The mouse and cursors
Lesson 9: Navigation bits and pieces
Lesson 11: Getting your free shapes
Lesson 12: Adding shapes to the page and basic manipulation
Lesson 13: Basics of working with text
Lesson 14: Making your first cut
Lesson 15: Saving and shutting down
Software Basics series (version 3)
Lesson 1: Opening the software and setting preferences
Lesson 3: Starting a new project and selecting page settings
Lesson 5: The mouse and cursors
After I wrote Lesson 8 for version 3, version 4 was released so I switched at that point to writing only tutorials for version 4.
Other Basic software tutorials
3 ways to cut block text as a single piece
4 simple to design Christmas tags
7 tricks to make a multi-piece project more interesting
1-month Trial Silhouette Design Store Subscription: what it is and how to use it
Auto Save and Recovered Documents
Calibration: what it is and what it isn’t
Character Spacing: how to adjust the spacing between letters on text
Creating a dimensional stacked design
Designer, Designer Plus or Business Edition: how to upgrade your software
Fill ‘er Up: the hows and whys of color, gradient and pattern fills
Get it together, man! 6 tips to make a project more cohesive
Hack for centering your sketching on the front and back of a design
Help! My machine is cutting in the wrong place!
How and why to update your Silhouette Studio software
How to more easily visualize your design and finished project
Oh the offset! Such a handy tool
Screenshot and snip: Quick ways to grab a picture of your computer screen
Silhouette Studio software levels, types and versions explained
Smart Snapping: How to use it (and how to turn it off)
Text doesn’t cut the right size
Total Transformation series: How to use the tools in the Transform panel (5 lessons)
Successful Beginner Projects series
#1: Schoolhouse card (cardstock)
#2: Butterfly gift bag decoration (cardstock)
#3: Initial gift tag (cardstock)
#4: Christmas tree gift tag (cardstock)
#5: Birthday cake card (cardstock)
#6: Snowman flat ornament (adhesive vinyl)
#7: Teapot vinyl decal (adhesive vinyl)
#8: Snowflake decal with vinyl layering (adhesive vinyl)
#9: Baby stroller vinyl layering decal (adhesive vinyl)
#10: Vinyl Wall Quote (adhesive vinyl)
Cut Doctor Series
Lesson 4: Default Cut Settings
Lesson 9: Line Segment Overcut
Lesson 11: Platforms and other Curio-specific settings
Lesson 13: Advanced Cut Settings
Lesson 14: Preferences that affect cuts
Lesson 17: Issues before cutting even starts
Lesson 18: When the machine starts cutting in the wrong place
Lesson 19: When your cut starts well but then the machine goes crazy
Lesson 20: Noises and what they indicate
Lesson 21: Problems with the mat or material during the cut
Lesson 22: Problems with incomplete cuts or at the end of the cut
Lesson 23: Bad Cuts
Lesson 24: Dealing with difficulties after the cut
Dispelling Text Myths series (All About words, letters and fonts
Part 1: Why text size does not equal cut letter size, how to find out the actual size, why capital letters in a block font aren’t all the same height, why not all letters in a font sit on the same horizontal line, finding measurements in something other than point size
Part 2: Using fonts from places other than the Silhouette Design Store, installing fonts, why a font doesn’t show in the text panel, installing craft fonts, using fonts from the Silhouette Design Store in other programs
Part 3: Why some fonts aren’t in your library, organizing fonts, fonts are not only letters, using specialty glyphs, why sketch fonts aren’t really just a single line
Part 4: Text justification, wrapping text to a new line, making text vertical, mirroring text, text to path (putting text around the contours of a shape), moving text above or below the path shape
Part 5: Choosing font, text size and other attributes before typing, mixing attributes within a single text box, adjusting character and line spacing, what to do when a font doesn’t have options for bold, underline or italic, how to edit the words after you’ve clicked off the text box
Part 6: Copying text from another software program into Silhouette Studio, keeping letters of script fonts from cutting into one another without welding, dealing with holes in broken fonts, printing text from Silhouette Studio, turning off spellcheck
First Steps projects
HTV: Project #1 — Polka Dot Heart Tea Towel
Print and Cut: #1 — Simple shape
Print and Cut: #2 — Temporary tattoos
Rotary Blade: Crepe paper dogwood flower
Intermediate/Advanced software tutorials
7 tricks to make a multi-piece project more interesting
Adding a multi-color design element into a school mascot
Announcing my new Craftsy class
Auto Save and Recovered Documents
Best ever hack for paper projects with multiple colors (creating a sketched template)
Breaking a solid shape into pieces with the magic of Divide
Calibration: what it is and what it isn’t
Custom color palettes in Silhouette Studio version 4.3
Cutting paper to match a precut chipboard shape
Designer, Designer Plus or Business Edition: how to upgrade your software
Drawing filled shapes or text: 2 ways to select attributes beforehand
Flawed design from the Silhouette Design Store: how to get a corrected version
Get it together, man! 6 tips to make a project more cohesive
Hack for centering your sketching on the front and back of a design
Hack to make sure text is centered around a circle
Help! My machine is cutting in the wrong place!
How and why to save a Silhouette design as an image
How to cancel a job on a Cameo 4
How to create a custom plaid pattern
How to design your own flower petal
How to more easily visualize your design and finished project
Make your own toilet paper design
Modifying a design to fit your project
Multiple Undo (Business Edition feature)
Oh the offset! Such a handy tool
Pancakes and donuts: understanding the difference between a grouping and a compound path
Pattern Fill Pizzazz: 7 Ways to put your own graphic into any shape (8 lessons — see details below)
Photo Crop in Silhouette Studio: how and why to do it
Planning and Executing Large Projects series
Point Editing: Taming all those little black dots (7 lessons)
Right where you want it: how to move a shape precisely
Screenshot and snip: Quick ways to grab a picture of your computer screen
Simple Subtract: An Intro to the Modify Panel
Smart Snapping: How to use it (and how to turn it off)
Text doesn’t cut the right size
Total Transformation series: How to use the tools in the Transform panel (5 lessons)
Tricks to working with SVG files
Tuesday Quick Tip—creating perfect shapes and lines
Using last week’s free shape with a new design
When not to use a compound path
Why designs jerk around the page
Why I never weld cursive text (and why you shouldn’t either)
Yes, you CAN put a shape on a path in Silhouette Studio (version 3)
Cutting without the mat without losing your mind series
Tip #1: Know what materials you can cut without the mat
Tip #2: Select None on cutting mat
Tip #3: Know your margins by selecting Show Cut Border
Tip #4: Your material must be the right width
Tip #5: Check the loading orientation arrow
Tip #6: Move the right white roller in
Tip #7: Check the leading edge
Tip #8: Use the correct guideline
Tip #9: Use the correct loading method
Tip #10: Check to see if the material loaded straight (with video of riding on cardstock method)
Tip #11: Use the arrow keys to roll the material through the machine
Tip #12: How to work with curled material
Tip #13: What to do if things start going wrong
Tip #14: What to do after the cut
Announcements
Announcing my new Craftsy class
Calling all crafters — make face masks!
Cameo 4 launch party and first look at the machine
Free mask pattern in the Silhouette Design Store
Mother’s Day sales from Silhouette America
My Silhouette headquarters tour
Silhouette America to discontinue Curio
Silhouette America to discontinue support for Windows 7, Mac Sierra and High Sierra
Silhouette Black Friday sale 2019
Silhouette Go app now available in Beta form
Silhouette Go app officially released
Silhouette Summit 2018: Upcoming new products and software features
Silhouette Summit 2019: Recap of New Machines and Products
The app is coming! The app is coming!
Thoughts from a homeschool mom during a pandemic
Business and Legal
Trademark and Copyright for Crafters
Business Edition features
Cardstock
Checklists
Christmas
4 simple to design Christmas tags
10 fun stocking stuffers to make with your Silhouette
Advent calendars to make with your Silhouette
Make an easy Christmas tree shape
Snowflake decal with vinyl layering
Curio
First Steps in Acrylic Etching with a Curio
Silhouette America to discontinue Curio
Cutting and cut settings
Rotary Blade: Crepe paper dogwood flower
How to cancel a job on a Cameo 4
Designing
Creating perfect shapes and lines
How to design your own flower petal
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Send area series
#2: Simple cut mode and cut style
#3: Material, action and tool choice in Action by: Simple
#5: Action by: Line, fill or layer (advanced cut mode)
#8: How text and object on path affect cut style
#9: Connection and device management
#10-17: COMING SOON
Frugal Friday
Distressed foil technique with a time-saving tip
Free designs and other deals in the Silhouette Design Store
Make an easy Christmas tree shape
Making the most of expensive HTV and vinyl material
Using last week’s free shape with a new design
Using margin scraps of white tattoo paper
Using up scraps of textile foil
Hardware (machine)
Attention Windows computer users with an older Silhouette machine
Calibration: what it is and what it isn’t
How to cancel a job on a Cameo 4
Time-saving Tip for AutoBlade Users
Tips for using the crosscutter on Cameo 4 models
When and how to change your cutting strip
How’d They Do That?
Graduated horizontal spaces: take #2
Adding Spacing between elements
HTV
First steps in HTV: Project #1 — Polka Dot Heart Tea Towel
Hack for aligning HTV when layering
The effects of overheating HTV
Top 2 reasons HTV doesn’t stick
Unexpected surfaces to use HTV on
Pattern Fill Pizzazz: 7 ways to put your own graphic into any shape series
Method #1: Add the image to a regular library folder with drag and drop (includes an explanation of raster images)
Method #2: Add the image to regular library folders with file import
Method #3: Add the image to the Patterns folder in your library with drag and drop
Method #4: Add the image to the patterns folder in your library with file import
Method #5: Drag and drop directly into a shape from your computer
Method #6: Drag and drop directly onto the page from your computer
Method #7: Modify options
PixScan
Cutting paper to match a precut chipboard shape
Planning and Executing Large Projects Series
Phase 2: Designing with the Layer Tool
Phase 3: Sizing, Tweaking and Organizing
Point Editing Series
Lesson 1: Introduction, Selecting Points, Types of Points
Lesson 3: Adding and Deleting Points
Lesson 4, Part 1: Types of Line Segments, Changing Point Types
Lesson 4, Part 2: More Examples of Changing Point Types and Line Segment Types
Lesson 6, Part 1: Breaking and Joining Paths
Lesson 6, Part 2: Breaking and Joining Paths to Fix Broken Designs
Lesson 6, Part 3: Uses for Open Paths
Print and Cut
Calibration: what it is and what it isn’t
Can you turn a Print and Cut design into a regular cut?
First Steps in Print and Cut: #1 — Simple Shape
First Steps in Print and Cut: #2 — Temporary Tattoos
Projects
10 fun stocking stuffers to make with your Silhouette
Advent calendars to make with your Silhouette
Baby shower table centerpieces
Beach spikers with Sparkleberry Ink vinyl
Extremely last minute Mother’s Day gift
Free mask pattern in the Silhouette Design Store
Getting organized with kitchen labels
My entry for Silhouette America’s gift wrap contest
Paint by number: a “think outside the box” challenge
Unexpected surfaces to use HTV on
Using sketch designs for watercolor masterpieces
Using up scraps of textile foil
Using vinyl as a watercolor stencil
Vintage-looking sign letter on acrylic
Wedding invitation envelopes with sketch pens
Wood tag using the Singe Quill
Also see the First Steps and Successful Beginner Projects series, as well as those on specific materials.
Sketch pens
Extremely last-minute Mother’s Day gift
Hack for centering your sketching on the front and back of a shape
How to avoid pen bleed at the end of a sketching job
Using sketch designs to create watercolor masterpieces
Wedding invitations with Silhouette sketch pens
Silhouette websites
New “Favorite Artists” Option in Silhouette Design Store
Spirit swag
Adding a multi-color element into a school mascot design
Trademark and Copyright for Crafters
Tools and accessories
How to assemble a Silhouette pen holder
Total Transformation series
How to use the tools in the Transform panel
Tracing Tips and Tricks
Lesson 3: What’s in the Trace panel
Lesson 4: Simple, solid shapes
Lesson 5: Simple multi-color images
Lesson 6: Text and potential pitfalls
Tuesday Quick Tips
Creating perfect shapes and lines
Dealing with tiny pieces of weeding vinyl
How to avoid pen bleed at the end of a sketching job
New “Favorite Artists” Option in Silhouette Design Store
What to do when text on a path messes up as you mirror
When your design won’t resize proportionally
Vinyl
Custom peel-and-stick paint samples
Cutting without the mat without losing your mind series
Dealing with tiny pieces of weeded vinyl
Getting organized with kitchen labels
Understanding different types of vinyl
What in the World???
Little black dots on the design
Shape won’t fill with color (or doesn’t act right when it does)
Text doesn’t cut the right size
I would like to learn what to do when my cameo does not recognize the registration marks.
Thanks,
Rebeca
Hi Rebeca — That’s an excellent idea for a series. I will work on one for the new year. In the meantime, since I have your email address as a member, I will send you my notes, including troubleshooting tips, from the class I have taught on Print and Cut at the All Things Silhouette Conference.
This is a great resource! I was wondering if there is a way to create a list of Favorites in Smart Silhouette so there can be easier access to it as well as reminders of things I want to go back to. Thanks
Hi Ellen,
There is not a way to create a favorites list within the site. That’s actually why I created this particular page. Glad you’re finding some good resources here!