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List of Silhouette tutorials

March 15, 2018 By Cindy Eckhoff 4 Comments

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 may contain affiliate links. That means if you click the link and purchase something, I may 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

#3 Your Account

#4 The Silhouette Design Store

#5 Subscriptions

#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)

#9 Firmware updates

Software Basics series (version 4)

Lesson 1: Opening the software and setting preferences

Lesson 2: The icons

Lesson 3: Starting a new project and selecting page settings

Lesson 4: Grid Settings

Lesson 5: The mouse and cursors

Lesson 6: Drop down menus

Lesson 7: Right click menus

Lesson 8: Keyboard shortcuts

Lesson 9: Navigation bits and pieces

Lesson 10: The Library

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 2: The icons

Lesson 3: Starting a new project and selecting page settings

Lesson 4: Grid Settings

Lesson 5: The mouse and cursors

Lesson 6: Drop down menus

Lesson 7: Right click menus

Lesson 8: Keyboard shortcuts

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

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

Designing larger than the mat

Dispelling text myths in Silhouette Studio: 30 misconceptions about words, letters and fonts (6 lessons — see details below)

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

Quick Fix for Graduation Card

Screenshot and snip: Quick ways to grab a picture of your computer screen

Silhouette Studio software levels, types and versions explained

Simple smile design

Smart Snapping: How to use it (and how to turn it off)

Text doesn’t cut the right size

Top 10 Keyboard shortcuts

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 1: Materials

Lesson 2: Actions

Lesson 3: Tools

Lesson 4: Default Cut Settings

Lesson 5: Blade Number

Lesson 6: Speed

Lesson 7: Force

Lesson 8: Passes

Lesson 9: Line Segment Overcut

Lesson 10: Track Enhancing

Lesson 11: Platforms and other Curio-specific settings

Lesson 12: Test Cuts

Lesson 13: Advanced Cut Settings

Lesson 14: Preferences that affect cuts

Lesson 15: The mat

Lesson 16: The machine

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

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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

Acrylic Etching with a Curio

HTV: Project #1 — Polka Dot Heart Tea Towel

Print and Cut: #1 — Simple shape

Print and Cut: #2 — Temporary tattoos

Intermediate/Advanced software tutorials

7 tricks to make a multi-piece project more interesting

Adding a multi-color design element into a school mascot

All about the PixScan mat

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

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

Designing larger than the mat

Designing your own wreath

Dispelling text myths in Silhouette Studio: 30 misconceptions about words, letters and fonts (6 lessons)

Drawing filled shapes or text: 2 ways to select attributes beforehand

Flawed design from the Silhouette Design Store: how to get a corrected version

Floating panels in version 4

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 create a custom plaid pattern

How to make a stencil

How to more easily visualize your design and finished project

Make your own toilet paper design

Making a Shape into a Card

Mask with printable fabric

Modifying a design to fit your project

Multiple Undo (Business Edition feature)

Knockout designs made easy

Object on Path in version 4

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

Shattered Technique

Simple smile design

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

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

Cameo 4 pre-order

Free mask pattern in the Silhouette Design Store

Mother’s Day sales from Silhouette America

My Silhouette headquarters tour

Official release of 4.2

Run, don’t walk!

Silhouette Black Friday sale 2019

Silhouette Go app now available in Beta form

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

Multiple Undo

Checklists

Cutting 

Cutting Without the Mat

HTV Projects

Christmas

4 simple to design Christmas tags

10 fun stocking stuffers to make with your Silhouette

Advent calendars to make with your Silhouette

Christmas tree gift tag

Initial gift tag

Make an easy Christmas tree shape

Snowflake decal with vinyl layering

Snowman flat ornament

Curio

Etched acrylic shoe tag

First Steps in Acrylic Etching with a Curio

Cut settings

Test cut the smart way

Cut Doctor series

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Send area series

#1: Where to start

#2: Simple cut mode and cut style

#3: Material, action and tool choice in Action by: Simple

#4: Creating a custom setting

#5: Action by: Line, fill or layer (advanced cut mode)

#6: Cut order

#7: Using pauses

#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

Quick phone case decoration

Quick wedding table numbers

Using last week’s free shape with a new design

Using margin scraps of white tattoo paper

Using up scraps of textile foil

Ways to use leftover foils

Hardware (machine)

Attention Windows computer users with an older Silhouette machine

How to use a roll feeder

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?

3D Pop up elements

Geometric designs

Graduated horizontal spaces

Graduated horizontal spaces: take #2

Half in, half out logo

Outline words

Spaced puzzle pieces

Adding Spacing between elements

Shattered technique

HTV

First steps in HTV: Project #1 — Polka Dot Heart Tea Towel

Hack for aligning HTV when layering

How to Clean a Heat Press

The effects of overheating HTV

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

Miscellaneous info

PixScan

All about the PixScan mat

Cutting paper to match a precut chipboard shape

Faux inlaid wood tag

Planning and Executing Large Projects Series

Phase 1: Planning and Setup

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 2: Moving 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 5: Altering Curves

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

Lesson 7: Point Editing on Text, Using Point Editing to Adjust Traced Designs, Troubleshooting Tips for Point Editing

Print and Cut

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

Mask with printable fabric

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

Customizing a ready-made sign

Etched acrylic shoe tag

Extremely last minute Mother’s Day gift

Faux inlaid wood tag

Free mask pattern in the Silhouette Design Store

Lantern shadow box

Leather Earrings

Lightbox inserts

Mask with printable fabric

Paint by number: a “think outside the box” challenge

Personalized cowbell

Quick wedding table numbers

Quilt label with sketch pens

Thanksgiving place cards

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

Wedding welcome sign

Wood tag using the Singe Quill

Wood tile message board

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

Paint-by-number designs

Quilt label

Thanksgiving placecards

Using sketch designs to create watercolor masterpieces

Wedding invitations with Silhouette sketch pens

Spirit swag

Adding a multi-color element into a school mascot design

Knockout designs made easy

Personalized cowbell

Trademark and Copyright for Crafters

Tools and accessories

How to assemble a Silhouette pen holder

How to use a roll feeder

Total Transformation series

How to use the tools in the Transform panel

Lesson 1: Align

Lesson 2: Scale

Lesson 3: Rotate

Lesson 4: Move

Lesson 5: Shear

Tracing Tips and Tricks

Lesson 1: Where to start

Lesson 2: Image selection

Lesson 3: What’s in the Trace panel

Lesson 4: Simple, solid shapes

Tuesday Quick Tips

Dealing with tiny pieces of weeding vinyl

Designing larger than the mat

How to avoid pen bleed at the end of a sketching job

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

How to use a roll feeder

What in the World???

Designs jerk around the page

Little black dots on the design

No points to edit on a design

Random blue line

Shape won’t fill with color (or doesn’t act right when it does)

Text doesn’t cut the right size

Weird target at center of design

When the shape won’t let you change its fill color

Filed Under: Free Content Tagged With: lessons, list, table of contents, tutorials

Comments

  1. Rebeca Zayas says

    December 12, 2019 at 2:40 pm

    I would like to learn what to do when my cameo does not recognize the registration marks.

    Thanks,

    Rebeca

    Reply
    • Cindy Eckhoff says

      December 13, 2019 at 12:58 pm

      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.

      Reply
  2. Ellen Dukehart says

    September 20, 2020 at 9:08 am

    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

    Reply
    • Cindy Eckhoff says

      September 21, 2020 at 9:25 am

      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!

      Reply

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