Silhouette Studio is the powerful design software that drives all Silhouette cutting machines, including the Cameo, Portrait, and Curio (US links). While the Basic Edition is free and comes with every machine, Silhouette also offers three paid upgrades—Designer, Designer Plus, and Business Edition—each unlocking more advanced tools and functionality. Choosing the right edition depends on your crafting style, file preferences, and whether you’re creating for fun or for a business. Scroll on for more info and don’t miss the feature comparison at the end of the article.
The Basic Edition is the default version and includes all the essential tools you need to get started. You can draw basic shapes, use text tools, trace images, access Print & Cut features, and send projects to your Silhouette machine. You can import file types such as JPG, PNG, BMP, and DXF, but SVG files are not supported in this edition—one of the biggest limitations for users who want to use purchased or custom SVG designs from third-party sources.
This edition is perfect for casual crafters who primarily use Silhouette’s own Design Store or create simple designs within the software itself.
Designer Edition
The Designer Edition is a popular upgrade for hobbyists ready to expand their design options. One of its most important features is the ability to open and import SVG files, which allows you to use a much wider range of digital cut files beyond Silhouette’s proprietary formats. This edition also unlocks:
Advanced knife and eraser tools for more precision editing
The layers panel for better control over multi-element designs
Rulers, guides, and alignment tools for perfect layout
Nesting feature to reduce material waste
Sketch tools for drawing and editing
If you purchase SVG designs from marketplaces or other designers, the ability to import and work with them makes the Designer Edition an essential upgrade.
Designer Plus Edition
The Designer Plus Edition is tailored to users who craft with a variety of materials and media. It includes everything in Designer, with the addition of:
Rhinestone tools, allowing you to create custom rhinestone templates
Embroidery file import support (such as PES, DST, EXP)
Advanced fill options like gradient and pattern fills
Flexishapes tools for customizable shape creation
This edition is ideal for crafters who work with fabric, embroidery, or mixed media, and need more versatility in their designs.
Business Edition
The Business Edition is the most feature-rich and is designed with commercial users in mind. It includes everything in the previous editions and adds:
SVG, PDF, and JPEG file export, great for sharing designs or using them in other software
Multi-cutter support for managing multiple Silhouette machines at once
Automated tiling, useful for large designs split across multiple mats
Media layout tools, including weeding lines and barcodes
Enhanced nesting tools for optimising material use
Matrix copy and object-to-path tools for fast duplication and layout
If you’re running a craft-based business or need to streamline high-volume production, the Business Edition provides powerful tools to increase efficiency and expand creative control.
Which Edition Should You Choose?
If you’re a beginner, the Basic Edition is a great way to start exploring the Silhouette ecosystem. However, if you want to use SVG files, the Designer Edition is the most cost-effective upgrade and unlocks major design flexibility. For those working with embroidery or rhinestones, Designer Plus is a smart step up. And for anyone running a craft business, the Business Edition is the clear choice, offering commercial-grade functionality.
Each edition builds on the one before it, so upgrading is seamless. Choose based on your current needs, but also consider what features you may want access to in the future.
The chart below gives you a comprehensive list of features for each edition of Silhouette Studio.
One of my favorite things to do when designing is hand-painting watercolor flowers. Flowers are a versatile subject for crafting projects, making them perfect for card-making, scrapbooking embellishments, stickers, and many other creative uses. I often paint watercolor flowers for the Silhouette Design Store and would love to share some of my latest print-and-cut designs that I adore using in my own projects.
Click on the images in the gallery below to go directly to the design in the Silhouette Design Store.
I created a process video to demonstrate how to cut files using the Silhouette Cameo. These floral designs look stunning when printed and add a beautiful touch to cards and scrapbook pages! In the video, the featured design is reduced in size and duplicated to fit four on a page. I aim to make the starting designs as large as possible to fit on an 8.5×11 inch print-and-cut page, maximizing usage options. You can find this Lavender Watercolor design here in the Silhouette Design Store.
Unlock your creativity with exquisitely detailed SVG files, perfect for crafting captivating clipping mask effects in Silhouette Studio. While highly intricate SVG or Studio files might not be suitable for cutting due to their abundance of tiny elements, they shine when used as printable framed backgrounds and photos. These versatile designs elevate cardmaking, art journaling, and scrapbooking projects. Additionally, consider using them for sublimation printing on t-shirts and mugs.
I converted this stunning Grungy Ink Stamp Mask to an SVG/Studio file for Silhouette Studio thanks to Elly Mae Habets from Silhouette Secrets. Elly’s more in depth tutorial also provides more information on how to use this design effectively. Be sure to explore her blog for more details! Elly Mae also shares fantastic tutorials on her YouTube channel (well worth subscribing to!), covering various crafting techniques and tips. Additionally, her active Facebook group offers excellent tips and support for Silhouette enthusiasts
Please Note that the file I am about to use is not suitable for cutting due to its intensly detailed and glorious grungy goodness.
Note: The png masks would require tracing before use which can data heavy and may require patience as your computer works to process the image. The SVG versions of the files are less detailed and less data heavy but can still be slow depending on the power of your computer and what you are trying to do.
Once you have opened the file in Silhouette Studio it will look something like this.
Note: The many tiny details are not suited to using as a regular cutting file.
Next open your file browser and find a background pattern you would like to have shaped by this gloriously grungy clipping mask and drag it to the open SVG Mask in Silhouette Studio.
Once the pattern has been dragged to the Grungy Ink Clipping Mask SVG it will “clip” to the shape of the mask and give you that gorgeous grungy edge. Once you have done this ensure the clipped image is selected and then click on the red rectangle top left of your tool bar and click on the white and grey cross hatches to change the outline to transparent to ensure it doesn’t print. Then you can print as desired and use for your crafty cards and scrapbook pages, art journaling or for sublimation. There are so many possibilities only limited by your imagination!
Here are a few more examples of patterns I added to the clipping mask. Don’t forget, you can do it with photos too!
One of the common issues for new Silhouette Studio users and no doubt for users of other cutting file software is that by default most of the time, svg files will open in your default browser and the icon will be the icon of your default browser. For example, for Chrome Users, it will be a Chrome icon and Edge users it will be an Edge icon. That doesn’t mean however that the file cannot be opened in other software, just that if you double click on the file it will open in your browser rather than your cutting file software.
From any software, you can open any file that the program recognises from the software itself. In silhouette studio, for example you go to the File menud and choose Open or use the shortcut Ctrl + O. You don’t need to change defaults to be able to do this.
But for many of us, who like to browse for files using the File Explorer, it is nice to have them open into Silhouette by default and it is easier to recognise the file by the Silhouette Icon rather than a browser icon.
In the following screenshot you can see what my svg file looks like before I changed it to defaut open in Silhouette Studio. Note that I have file extensions turned on as well so you can clearly see what file types are. I also use file naming conventions that include the file type in the file name so that people who don’t have file extensions turned on can still see the file type.
As you can see before I made the change, my svg icon has the Chrome icon by default. This means it will by default open in Chrome when you double click on it.
If you right click on the file a menu will come up with the option on it to “Open With”.
Click on “Open With” which will then give you a sub menu to choose from where you will have the option “Choose another app”.
Click on “Choose another app”.
Once you have done that a new window will come up with a list of program options. Yours will likely not have Silhouette Studio in it like mine does. Mine only does because I have set it as a default software previously. Therefore, you will need scroll down to click on the pink “More Apps” at the bottom of the list to give you more options.
Note: In older versions of windows (Windows 10 & previous) there will be a checkbox you need to check marked “Always use this app to open .svg files” before continuing.
Once you click on “More Apps” more apps will appear in the window and you will be able to scroll further down till you see “Look for another app on this PC”.
For Windows 11+
Scroll down and click on Choose an app on your PC,
Scroll down till you find the folder “Silhouette America” and double click on the folder to open it, then double click on “Silhouette Studio”. There you will find the app executive file named Silhouette Studio which may or may not have the .exe at the end of the file name.
Click on the open button. In Windows 11+ you need to select the Always button on the following screen. In Windows 10 and earlier having used the “Always use this app to open .svg files” checkbox negates this step.
This will simultaneously set svg files to always open in Silhouette Studio but also immediately open the file in Silhouette Studio.
As you can see now instead of having the Chrome icon on the .svg file it now has the Silhouette Studio Icon which means that the program Silhouette Studio will going forward open .svg files.
If you do not wish to do this process to ensure svg files always open in Silhouette Studio you can also simply click on the file menu in Silhouette Studio, select Open and browse to where your svg is saved on your computer, select the file and click open to open it in Silhouette Studio.
For those of you using the Basic Edition of Silhouette Studio you may have come across the issue that DXF files do not open at intended size. For those of you who have purchased my Envelopes and Card cutting files this may be a issue that needs resolving. Following I have included a list of the file sizes for my Envelope and Square Cards as well as a tutorial for resizing DXF files in Silhouette Studio and then how to save as a .studio file for future use.
DXF files unfortunately do not retain file size information and as a result when opening them in Silhouette Studio they may not open as the intended size. When sizing information needed to be specific this can be problematic. In the case of the envelopes I sell on Etsy, Design Bundles and Creative Market, I have available on Etsy, this creates a problem for the people who use DXF files. This problem can be overcome by upgrading to the Designer Edition of Silhouette Studio. The Silhouette Studio Comparison Chart is available here. Often online stores will offer discounted versions of the software, so it is worth doing a quick search for the software upgrades to be sure you have the best price.
Following are the sizes the envelopes I have available for easy reference. From there I have a quick tutorial on how to resize your files if you do not wish to upgrade.
Square Envelopes
5 Inch Envelope – 8.721 Inches 5.5 Inch Envelope – 9.529 Inches 5.25 Inch Envelope – 9.128 Inches 5.75 Inch Envelope – 9.976 Inches 6 Inch Envelope – 10.406 Inches 6.25 Inch Envelope – 10.793 Inches 6.5 Inch Envelope – 11.190 Inches
Other Envelopes
Slimline Size 10 Envelope – 11.535 x 8.930 Inches DL Envelope – 10.5 x 9.359 Inches 5 x 7 Envelope – 8.780 x 11.365 Inches C6 Envelope – 7.764 x 9.709 Inches A6 Envelope – 7.896 x 10.326 Inches
The finished size of my square cards should be 5×10″
Resizing your file
Click and Drag To resize your file, it is a good idea to first make sure all the paths (lines) are grouped together so they move together. You can hold down the shift key and click on each one to select them, or more simply you can click and drag the cursor from the top left of the image to the bottom right and then release. Once you have done this right click on one of the paths of the selected image where a menu will appear. Select group from the menu to group the selected paths.
Once your image is grouped you can resize as needed and all the paths will resize together. Resizing can be done by eye but to resize to precise measurements you can adjust the sizing manually by using the measurements in the toolbar.
In the screenshot above you can see there are W & H measurements. You can adjust these by clicking in each measurement box and entering the size you require while the image is selected. By default, the sizes are in inches in Silhouette Studio. Use the measurements at the start of this tutorial to resize your envelope to the desired size. In this case you will likely require the aspect ratio to be locked but if you wish to resize your image without retaining the aspect ratio you can do so by clicking on the lock next to the measurements to unlock the aspect ratio. This allows you to adjust the sizing which will change the proportion of the width to the height.
Save Your File
Once you have resized your file to the preferred size you can save your file by going to the file menu and selecting Save As where you can choose to save to your Hard Drive or to your Library. The file formats you have available to you will depend on what version of Silhouette Studio you use however all versions allow you to save as a .Studio or .Studio3 file and that file format will allow you to retain the size changes you made to your file so that you can open the correct size in future without having to adjust the size first.
I hope this tutorial helps for future resizing needs!
Video tutorial below, written tutorial to follow soon.
Cardstock pieces must be cut in preferred colours on a cutting machine such as a Silhouette Cameo, Silhouette Portrait or other brand cutting machine before continuing.
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