I recently ventured again into the world of Silhouette Studio Version 4. I had tried it out briefly in January this year when it was in Beta but I found it too buggy at the time and rolled back to the V3 that I was familiar with.
Since the supported V4 version has rolled out, I’ve heard plenty of great reviews and thought it was time to give it another try……except I didn’t get the supported version!. I downloaded the latest Beta (test) Version because of a couple of extra features it has. And while I was in an experimental mood I also upgraded from Designer Edition to the Business Edition. Update 22.08.17: The fully supported version has now been rolled out.
As I mentioned in my post in February, things do look different in V4, but the old functions are all there along with some new ones – they may just be in a different place than before. My recommendation would to spend some time just hovering over or clicking on each icon or menu item to get the feel for the new layout. You’ll become familiar with everything in no time. One small example of the differences is the shape drawing tools. In V3 the Circle, Square rectangle were all on show. In V4, just the rectangle is showing but if you hover over the tiny triangle below it, all the other options will pop out…..just like in Photoshop (for those familiar)
There’s plenty to like about the new software, here’s just a few of the reasons that I like the New Version.
Access Glyphs and Alternate Characters Easily.
With Fonts / Words / Sentiments featuring so strongly in so many Modern Designs this is a fantastic new Feature.
You can access the Glyphs (alternate font letters/numbers etc) from within the program. This means not having to go outside the program as I explained in this post to use a third party app or the Character Map. No longer is there a need to access the features via a high end Graphics program like Illustrator either.
Open the Text Style Panel with the icon on the right side of the screen / Go to the top and select the Glyph Icon – it’s the middle one. / Hover over a letter alternative to see a pop up magnified version / Double click to insert the alternative letter into your design. /The panel at the bottom can be adjusted by the slider so you can make the Alternative letters smaller or larger for easier viewing.
In the sample pic above I’ve used Mulberry Script Pro and changed out The Upper Case A, Small s, the T in all words and the upper case S.
Draw a Note Feature
Another Handy Feature is the “Draw a Note” Function. It’s easy to add any notes you want to make about a design. I know one of the things that crops up frequently is identifying a Font used. Once the design has been converted to a path and the font is no longer editable, it’s easy to forget which font was used. I wrote a post about my solution here. This is along those lines but Silhouette has provided a handy Yellow “Sticky” Style note for this. Of course it’s not just limited to notes about fonts – you can note down anything you like for future reference…even the shopping list LOL
To open – Click on the Icon on the left of the screen, and start typing. The Sticky Note can be dragged around to any location.
I did notice that I couldn’t delete the note though. There’s no little X icon to close it. Maybe it’ll be added later? I don’t know. In the meantime my solution to get rid of an unwanted note was to Right Click on the Sticky Note. Select > Ungroup. The Sticky Note will disappear and the text will remain selected and can just be deleted easily. Update: Right Click on Note and Select Delete! Easy!
Multiple Undo Option – Business Edition Feature
From V4.1 (if you can’t wait – it’s available in the Beta V4.1 – the testing version available but not yet supported)
There’s always been an undo and a redo button (circular arrow icon) but now look for the Icon made up of three arrows going around in a circle. It’s along the top. It will open up a floating panel that lists the history for the design. Makes it easy to see where you are and go back a step or two. No more having to CTRL + Z or hit the undo Icon multiple times. Just like the History panel in Photoshop!
Step 1. Here’s my Example pictured above. I drew a couple of Rectangles, Rotated the inner one, Changed them to a Compound path, Filled them with Colour.
Step 2. I can see a list of every move I made by clicking on the “Muliple Undo” Icon. Look for it along the top Left Menu Bar around the middle. It is 3 circular arrows, similar to the Recycling Symbol we’re all familiar with!
Step 3. Who would have known that it took 26 steps to make that simple shape pictured! If you want to undo a few steps just click on the appropriate step along the list. You can go back and forth if you change your mind.
Step 4. Notice #21. That’s actually the step where I filled with the blue colour. It would be more helpful if instead of Edit”- it described the actual edit I performed ie: Fill colour! Maybe that will come later. I’m only using the Beta (test) program, so this could still be improved upon. I’ll give Silhouette my feedback.
Extra Text Box Features.
From V4.1 (if you can’t wait – it’s already available in the Beta V4.1 – Testing version available but not yet supported) I’m using the Business Edition – I’m not sure at this stage if this feature is available in Designer Edition & Designer Edition Plus.
This one’s a great time saver. It’s a simple addition of a Frequently used option {#1} or a Recently used option {#2} in the Text Panel. No more scrolling through the fonts alphabetically when you just want to use the one that you used 5 minutes ago or one of your frequently used favourites. All of your fonts are of course listed in alphabetical order too {3} just as in previous software versions.
Saving my Designs as SVG’s – Business Edition Feature.
From V4.1 (if you can’t wait – it’s available in the Beta V4.1 – Testing version available but not yet supported)
Here’s the Index page for my Freebie SVG Designs.
If you make your own designs, this one is a game changer too. However, it’s only available in Business Edition of the Silhouette Studio. I already ran Designer Edition, so I didn’t buy the Business Edition from scratch but was able to upgrade for around $32. Note too that this is currently only available in the Beta (public testing version) of the software at time of writing.
Regular Readers of my blog will know that I’m gradually converting all my old Free Silhouette Studio designs to SVGs. This means my designs can be used with other machines too. With this feature I no longer have to use a 3rd party online software to convert my files. A recent conversion made in my Silhouette Studio Business Edition imported perfectly into SCAL4. When imported into Design Space for Cricut users, the details were great, but the size changed. However, the designs can easily be resized in whatever software is being used with out too much drama.
In the past this blog has been very much for Silhouette Cutting machine users. Now I’m able to offer my files as SVGs it means other cutting Machine users will find my blog relevant for them too. Hello Cricut & Brother Scan’nCut users 🙂
Those are my top five things I love but there are many other features. Nesting to save on materials, Pop up Cards anyone? I haven’t had a chance to play with everything yet. Automatic Weed lines (haven’t tried these yet) and much much more. Objects to path – I’ve been experimenting with this one and it looks promising!
If you are comparing the different versions of the software to see what you need, I can highly recommend reading this post by Kay from CleverSomeDay and taking a look at her PDF “Comprehensive Silhouette Studio Features List”. The link is on her post and it’s informative and goes into lots of detail!
What do you like about V4 so far? Have you given it a try yet?
I am still using version 3 – I do not like it when things get changed around and then learning starts all over again – I understand upgrades but not moving stuff around – if it isn’t BROKE stop trying to FIX it – that is my story and at this writing I am sticking to it – I have read several postings that state DO NOT upgrade yet… so I am following their advice – of course that is not saying DO not Upgrade to Business Edition – thanks for sharing your post Pam – much appreciated
Hi Gail,
Yes, I hear you 🙂 I was perfectly happy with V3 too, but it was the lure of a few of the new features that tempted me to make the change 🙂
That’s the good thing about Silhouette. They are not forcing the updates on us if we don’t want them.. We still have the choice to upgrade or not and lots of the previous legacy versions are still available for download which is pretty good 🙂
Cheers Pam
Whoot WHoot that I do not have to update yet – I want to but waiting – I had a real snag happen when I transfered designs there that were not purchased through Silhouette – a nightmare to say the least – worked for several months then I had to recovery and oh my a mess– I sure wish I could safely store all of my SVG in the Silhouette program because for me it would be easier to view what I have – I have changed my organizing system as well – I had way too many folders – so now all of the same type of design goes into that folder rather than by designer – much easier to get what I need now – I had to live and learn this one for myself Pam — however, I still love my Portrait Machine [have a Cricut with tons of cartridges that I use now and then but I have to say, for me the Portrait cuts much much better] Thanks for your blog, freebies you share and the information you post as well – have a blessed weekend! Gail in USA Michigan!
I value your advice. I still have the legacy version with designer studio. The only reason I have not upgraded is the horror stories I have heard about losing all the imported svg files not purchased through Silhouette in my Silhouette library. I have imported thousands of files and do not want them to be lost. Is there a way to keep the legacy and the upgraded version? If I simply cannot figure out the new version I want the opportunity to convert back to the legacy version. Thank you so much.
Hi Sue, I’m not sure if there’s a way to save both versions on the same computer (that’s beyond my techie expertise) but I have the updated version on my laptop and I have a legacy version on my husband’s computer. Not sure if you have a second computer and this is viable for you though.
The good news though is that when I first tried the Studio 4 Beta version it was a bit buggy and I didn’t want it. So, I switched back and it was as simple as uninstalling the unwanted version first and then reinstalling the legacy version via the Silhouette Site. All my designs were intact including my own designs that I made in the software. So to be honest I’ve never had to troubleshoot this. Also I’ll mention that I keep most of my “non design store purchased” files in a folder on my computer and not in the library anyway.
I know others haven’t been so lucky and have lost files. Silhouette School has a post on backing up files first and file recovery that you may find useful. http://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/2017/01/recover-missing-silhouette-studio-library-designs-files.html
Also, Silhouette has some FAQ on missing files too. https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/printer-friendly/faq/silhouette-cloud-troubleshooting
I will say that I keep very few of my SVG non Silhouette Designs in the library. I save them to a folder on my computer. It’s just the way I’ve always done it.
Hope this helps. My advice would be to back up first, The top link above will help with that 🙂
Cheers Pam
Thank you so much for that advice. I feel better and will try that. Thanks again.
So, out of curiosity, are the glyphs accessible even if the font wasn’t PUA encoded? I’ve *finally* found a font manager I like, but having to always shop PUA was a bit of a drag. High end software is just so EXPENSIVE. Love to hear what you have to say! Thanks for the update! 🙂
Hi Mari,
I googled for the answer for this but can’t find anything specific about this anywhere..
So, I tested it out with a font I have on my computer called Illusias. The info that came with the font purchase says there are extras Glyphs accessible via Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, Corel Draw X6-X7. (none of which I have!)
However, When I open the Glyphs panel in Silhouette Studio there are no extras showing for this font – only the standard characters.
I’m not totally 100% sure, but based on this I feel the font extras that are accessible in Silhouette Studio are the ones that are PUA encoded.
In other words it’s an inbuilt program to replace using Character Map/ Fontbook / Nexus font or another 3 rd party program that we used to access PUA characters.
That’s a good feature in itself, but it doesn’t do away with the need for the high end Graphic programs to open extras characters for fonts that aren’t PUA encoded like the one I experimented with.
I am a long time SIL user on a Mac, so I have the luxury of keeping multiple versions on my laptop. I have V4 on here. What I’m trying to find, so far no luck, is a printable sheet(s) with a visual showing me where everything is!! I can’t find anything now. It’s so frustrating sending time trying to find where they hid stuff. I’ll try Clever Someday – Kay is great about stuff. Your blog post here gives some great visuals and I’ll keep going further to see if maybe you show some others now that you are having success with this version. Thanks!
That’s great that you can keep multiple programs on the computer. Definitely try Kay’s site – she has lots of awesome techy stuff. You may luck out!
I’d do one myself but I’m a bit time poor at the moment – Good luck – hope you find what you need. Report back if you find a list!
Hi, I had Silhouette Designer’s Edition Version 3 and I bought a Business Edition upgrade from EBay. I don’t have the features I thought I would have. Is it because I had version 3? I’m a dummy. But what do I need to do to access the glyphs within the program?
Are you running the Business Registration on V3 or V4? If you haven’t already head to https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software and download the latest V4 software.
If you have the latest V4 installed go to the right of the screen and click on the Text Icon (the letter “A”). A floating window will open. Up the top you will see three tabs. To access the Glyphs you click on the middle tab which looks like a scrolly letter
It’s like having a built in Charachter map within the program. It works with fonts the have glyphs encoded as PUA. That means that the font designers have set up the font so the characters are available from the Private use Area of the Character map.
Sadly for us, some fonts are designed so that Glyphs are only available in programs like Illustrator, Corel etc. Silhouette still won’t be able to access those – but it’s great for the fonts whose glyphs are available PUA and more and more font designers are doing glyphs this way these days.
Hey, did you find any means to get rid of the useless “Welcome” page that always is present when V4 start?
I’m running the current version:4.1.201 (of the Business Edition) and I don’t get the welcome pop up every time I open. I do remember seeing it in the past tho and it’s still viewable from the help menu. I can’t recall but I probably just closed it with the x in the top right corner when I did see it.
My settings are set to open on the design page (from the “View” menu) – not sure if that makes a difference or not tho. Sorry I can’t be more help!
Update: I reset my software to the default setting and started getting the intro again! Yes, I agree it’s annoying! Clicking the x in the top corner didn’t work and it popped up again each time I opened the program – same problem you’re having
.
I think I’ve got the answer though. Click through the introduction to the end and when you are at the last screen a message saying ” Thanking for reviewing the new updates” appears. Underneath I clicked on the “Get Started” tab which takes you to the design screen
Next time I opened the program the Intro didn’t appear. I think the answer is just viewing it to the end!
Hope this helps.
I can’t find any info on how to back up all my files on an external drive for the 4.1 version. Is there still a way to do this?
I save all my own files to a folder in My Docs – I don’t keep them in the library. Save individual files same way as in the previous versions of the software. (I’m use Windows). Before I close a file I go to > File > Save as > Select File Type: Silhouette V3 then give it a name and save it to my preferred location.
It’s a bit confusing that the software is V4 but the file type it supports is V3. There’s no such thing as a Silhouette Studio V4 file type.