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.
Below is a simple YouTube Video on the process of assembling the card. Scroll down further to view the written tutorial.
A basic assembly tutorial will be included with the files as all my cards to date have both the outer card and an insert and assemble the same way.
With his card I wanted to include the option of having different colours for the golf ball, tee and sentiments.
The included file for background pieces is optional to use to add extra colour to your card. If you wish to make a card more quickly you might choose to just use a patterned or brightly coloured paper insert. Making different colours when you have the time however gives the card a bit of pop, so I have included the cutting files to do so. The insert pieces should be cut in the colours required. In my case I kept the word Birthday the colour of the insert I used so did not use the optional piece for the word Birthday. I chose to use red carstock to make a colourful insert as well as make the word birthday the colour red.
I then cut the tee insert in purple and the golf ball insert in white. Once all the pieces were cut I placed the golf ball and tee pieces in place on the left inside of the card and traced around the edges of each piece so that when it comes time to glueing it is easy to know exactly were to place the pieces.
Once you have marked the pieces spray the left side of the card with adhesive or use other adhesive of choice. I used a glue stick for a while till I got the spray adhesive, but I find the spray adhesive gives better hold on the delicate pieces. I usually cover the other side of the card with scrap paper before spraying to ensure the other side does not get sprayed.
Attach the golf ball, tee and Birthday piece (optional) in the correct positions. Then once pieces are attached add more adhesive on back of each piece.
Attach the insert to the adhesive side of the card to complete your card. Additional instructions on card assembly are included in the other tutorial.
Once insert is adhered to the inside left of the card you can then adhere the Happy portion of the Birthday sentiment to the front of the card. I chose to use adhesive foam pieces to give a 3D effect.
Obviously, you can choose any colour cardstock you wish to suit your recipient.
I also have envelopes available which allow you to cut envelopes with custom cardstock to suit a large range of sizes.
My series of Halloween Treat Bags (instructions also work for Easter Treat Bag) are super cute for Halloween parties or for handing out to Trick or Treaters and are available in Silhouette Design Store. This adorable treat bag fits on A4 or 8.5×11″ cardstock. The pieces for the bag itself and the decorations for the front whether they be the Ghost, the Bat or the Pumpkin are all contained in the file and should be cut in the colours of your choice.
Note: follow along with this tutorial for the Easter Treat Bag. Simply rather than assembling the decoration cut and glue acetate rectangle to the inside of the egg shaped window.
Below is an assembly tutorial video or scroll below the video to view the text instructions.
The decorations for the front feature 2-3 pieces depending on which bag you have. First assemble the decorations by adhering the backs to the front piece. In the case of the pumpkin there is also the stalk which gets adhered flush with the bottom part of the pumpkin directly on the treat bag.
Once your decoration is assembled, it is time to fold and adhere your treat bag. Start by folding the score lines which for the outside corners of the bag. You can also fold the score lines which allow you to fold the sides of the bag inwards. It folds more easily if you fold the same way as the other lines first and then fold in the opposite direction. I chose to not fold the diagonal lines but you may choose to fold those to make design more crisp. Once you have folded all score lines it is time to adhere the bag. I have found it easiest to place adhesive on the smaller bottom pieces and the side tab first.
Start by folding the first smaller bottom tab flush with the next larger bottom tab to make a crisp square corner. Repeat with the second smaller bottom tab to the same larger bottom tab. Next adhere the tab on the smaller side of the bag to the inside of the larger side of the bag keeping the edges flush with each other. Next fold the final larger tab onto the bottom to close the bag by pushing the adhesive of the tab to the bottom of the bag. If needed push down on the bottom with your hand inside the bag or other implement.
Now that the bag is fully assembled adhere the front decoration. I used foam squares to give a 3D look. With the pumpkin stalk I used adhesive to adhere it flush with the top of the pumpkin. Instead of using foam squares I used regular adhesive to allow the pumpkin to stand out a little further from the face of the bag than the stalk.
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