Using the Trace Tool in Silhouette Studio

Hi Everyone!

Last week I showed you how to use the Pix Scan mat with the Portrait 3. This week I’m going to go a little more in depth with how to use the trace feature in Silhouette studio to make a sticker offset. Here we go!

I’ve already taken a photo of the designs I’m going to use on my Pix Scan mat and imported it into Silhouette Studio.

Then I’m going to zoom in the the first little kitty that I’m going to trace and I select the Trace tool from the little toolbar on the right hand side of my screen. It kind of looks like a little butterfly.

Next, I click on “Select Trace Area” from the Trace tool dialog box. I draw a rectangle around the kitty I want to outline. I have “Solid Fill” selected in the Trace tool dialog box so the area I’m trying trace is easier to see.

I use the Threshold slider to try to get him little more filled in with the yellow, I’m really trying to get my outer edges completely yellow, there are some small gaps but we’ll fix those later.

Once I get the yellow area to my satisfaction, I select “Trace Outer Edge.” Then it shows me red cut lines around the area that I just traced.

Now I need to do a little clean up since my outer edges didn’t quite get the whole outline of the kitty and there are some areas from another sticker that got selected.

Using the Arrow from the left hand side tool bar, I select the red lines. I’m going to release the Compound Path.

Then I’m going to select the red line that goes around the outer edge of the kitty and change the line color to blue (you can use any color, I’m just using blue because it’s easy to see).

Now I’m going to make the offset. Select the little star from the tool bar on the right hand side. I’m going to make an outer offset at 0.125”. Then click Apply.

I’m going to delete the inner blue line. Then I’m going to smooth out the offset a little bit using the smooth tool.

Next, I’m going to get rid of the red outlines that are part of the other sticker. I could click each individual piece to get rid of it, but instead I’m going to use the “Select by Color” feature.

In the tools bar that goes across the top edge, I select the little paint palette with the dotted line around it. In the dialog box I have “By Line color” selected. Then I click on the red and it selects everything with a red outline.

I click delete and now all of the red lines are gone!

I repeat the same process for the other images on my mat. One thing I love about Silhouette Studio is I can can save my cut lines and use them for the next sheet of stickers too!

Cricut Snap Mat Feature to Cut Stickers

Hi Everyone!

Online, I see suggestions all the time for using the Cricut Snap Mat feature to cut stickers. I’m going to give it try this week! (SPOILER ALERT: This is not one of my preferred methods to cut stickers).

First things first, Snap Mat is only available on the Cricut App, not the desktop version of Design Space. I’m going be using my iPad Pro, but you can also use your phone.

I’m going to try cutting the same kitty stickers I’ve been cutting the last few weeks so we can also compare the results.

I’m going to test this out initially on plain paper so I don’t waste my sticker paper. I’ve got a test sheet already printed on plain paper and I’m going to place it on my mat. For this feature, I should be able to place it anywhere on the mat.

In order to access the Snap Mat feature, you need to have your cutlines already created in Design Space or uploaded into Design Space from Illustrator or other software. I’m going to open the cutlines for the kitty stickers that I already have uploaded from Illustrator and saved to Design Space.

Then I’m going to tap the little green Make It in the bottom right corner.

It takes me to the Make It screen, and down in the bottom left corner there is a little camera icon. Press the camera icon and it’s going to bring us into the Snap Mat feature.

I’ve got my mat with my print out already placed. I am holding my iPad above the mat and trying to get the entire mat within the frame. (It can be little difficult to do if you just finished your morning coffee, like me). It need up being easier to put my mat on the floor and stand over it with my iPad.

Once the mat is in a position the program thinks will be acceptable it will take a photo and bring it up on your screen. You can decide if you want to use the photo it just took or retake it. I try to make sure my mat is pretty straight and there’s not a lot of “non-mat” area around the edges pf my photo.

Once I get one that I think will work ok, I select Use.

It brings me back to the Make It screen and now I need to position my cut lines. Originally I had all of my cut lines attached so it was all one big group that I could move around. I could get the lines pretty well aligned in some areas, but not in others.

So I ended up going back to my canvas and unattaching all of the sticker outlines. Now I can move them around individually on the Make It screen. (Slightly tedious). I also moved my print on my mat so it’s closer to the middle and I have more space to move my cut lines around

Once I get my cut lines all positioned, I press make it and send to my machine.

I am loading my mat how I showed you in Part One of cutting full sticker sheets - mat all the way against the left bracket, and push up against the black rubber rollers. I don’t know if it really affects this method, but I try to always load my mat this way, just out of habit.

I press go, and once the machine is done cutting I check my cut. Not super perfect, but it still looks pretty good. Much better than the last time I tried to use this feature.

Now, I’m going to try with my sticker paper. I place my sticker sheet on my mat.

I have to use the Snap Mat button take another photo of my mat because my placement is most likely not the same as my test cut.

I need to move my cut lines around to match the new photo. Once they’re in place, I press Continue.

I’m going to do these as a kiss cut, so I select Washi Sheet as my Material. I load my mat into my machine and I press GO!

Uh Oh! Something’s not right and my cut lines are shifted too far down from my artwork.

I’m going to try another sticker sheet to see if I can get better results. I load another sticker sheet onto my mat. Go through all the Snap Mat steps again. Load my machine and press go.

My cut is still too far down. I’m thinking I have too much of my floor showing at the top of the mat when I am taking the photo of my mat. I’m going try again, but I’m going to leave the same sticker sheet on my mat for now.

I do another photo of my mat with the snap mat feature, I’m trying to get as little floor showing at the top of the mat as possible. It’s a little tricky to do since the program automatically takes the photo, so I have to retake it several times before I get one that I want to try to use.

I load my mat into my machine and cut the sticker sheet again. The results were better this time, but still not super great.

Overall, I would not use this method if you are trying to mass produce stickers. It can be pretty tedious, and it’s not a super accurate or consistent method. I would only potentially use the Snap Mat feature if I was trying to use up scraps of materials and I don’t need super precise alignment. It’s also very time consuming to have to reposition the cut lines for every sticker sheet you want to cut

Cutting Full Sticker Sheets with Your Cricut - Part 3 - Final Cutting

Hi Everyone!

This week we’re going to take everything we’ve practiced so far and cut our final sticker sheets!

I’m using matte sticker paper from Online Labels. I’m printing them on the same Epson SureColor P600 printer that I used for my test prints.

I’m going to print one sheet initially to compare with one of my test prints from last week. I’m checking to make sure my stickers are printed in the same place on my sticker paper as the plain paper.

I am printing directly from Illustrator, but this time I’m hiding the cut lines layer, so the grey offset will not print on my actual stickers.

Remember, make sure your print dialog box says DO NOT SCALE the artwork.

My sticker paper is just a hair longer than my plain paper, the excess length is at the bottom of my print. So I have to keep that in mind when I’m placing the sticker sheet on the mat.

I’m going to carefully place my sticker sheet within the black lines on my mat, the longer bottom edge will slightly overlap the bottom black line.

I’m using the same cut lines that I already uploaded to Design Space for my test cut.

For this sticker sheet I’m going to do a Kiss Cut. So far I have found the Washi Sheet material setting works best for kiss cuts for this particular brand of sticker paper. I have to click on Browse All Materials to find the Washi Sheet material, unfortunately I keep getting an error when I try to save it to my favorites, so I have to search for it every time.

I load my mat like we practiced in Part 1 and press the Go button.

I check my cuts, everything looks good. So now I’m going to print and cut a few more! If you want die-cut stickers, try the regular sticker paper setting or the light cardstock setting. You may need to do 2 passes to cut all the way through the backing paper.

This process is very tedious when you’re first starting, so don’t expect perfect results right away. But once you learn all the little nuances of your Cricut machine and your printer you won’t need to rely on the Print & Cut feature and you can cut full sheets of stickers!

Cutting Full Sticker Sheets with Your Cricut - Part 2 - Test Printing

Hi Everyone!

This week is another important step when creating full sticker sheets to cut on your Cricut Machine.

I always print a few test sheets on plain paper before I cut the actual sticker paper. Once you learn all the little nuances of your machine, you will probably be able to skip this step. But when you are just beginning to using this method, it’s best to practice, practice, practice before jumping into using your expensive sticker paper.

I already set up my artwork in Adobe Illustrator with my offset cutlines. If you need some guidance on creating offsets in Illustrator, you can check out my previous posts here and here.

When I set up my art files in Illustrator I have 2 separate layers. First, the ARTWORK layer that we will use to print our stickers directly from Illustrator. Second, the CUTLINE layer that we will export as an SVG and import into Cricut Design Space.

Very Important: My cut layer contains a bracket in each corner of the 8.5” x 11” artboard. This is going to help us line up the cut lines in Design Space. Make sure you include these brackets when you set up your file!

For my test print, I’m actually going to print the grey cutlines with the artwork so I can really see how far off my machine cuts and make the appropriate adjustments.

I’m using an Epson SureColor P600 printer, but you can use any inkjet printer for this method. I do not recommend using a laser printer for this method. Since laser printers use heat, you will run into shrinkage issues with your paper and your cuts will be off unless you calculate the proper shrinkage. The shrinkage is very minimal, but it is noticeable.

I’m going to print 3 copies of my artwork on plain paper so I have a couple of extra to practice.

Your print dialog box will probably look different , but make sure the image is NOT SCALED when printing.

Check your printouts carefully to make sure they are straight and the artwork is is the same position on all 3 printouts. If the artwork is shifted, at all, in any of the printouts you will need to test and/ or adjust your printer to make sure you are getting the same print placement everytime.

After checking your print outs, carefully place one of the printouts inside the rectangle on the mat that we prepped in last weeks post. Take your time when doing this to make sure your paper is properly aligned within the rectangle.

Now we’re going to open our cut lines only in Design Space. I exported that layer as a separate SVG from Illustrator and imported it into Design Space.

Check that the dimension of the imported artwork are 8.5” x 11” like our file in Illustrator. Those very important brackets that you put in the corners on the artboard in Illustrator help ensure that the dimensions remain 8.5” x 11.

ATTACH all of your elements, and the press MAKE IT.

Those very important corner brackets are also going to help keep your artwork in the proper place in the upper left corner of the mat, but not beyond those red border lines in Design Space.

I select Copy Paper and Default pressure for my material settings.

Now I carefully load my mat into the machine like we practiced last week, and press GO!!

After the machine is done cutting, load your mat and let’s check the results!

So on my first attempt, my paper is placed just a hair too high up on the mat. So for my next try I’m going to try to do a better job aligning the bottom edge of my paper to the bottom line that’s drawn on the mat.

My 2nd attempt is much better! Remember it’s never going to be absolutely perfect, there are so many variables that go into this process and there will always be some level of human error. But it’s up to you how much time and effort you want to spend trying to perfect your cuts. Also, the more you do it, the better you’re going to become.

Since the offset on my actual stickers will be white, I’m ok with my second attempt. I’m really going to focus on lining up my paper along the bottom line on my mat for my future cuts.

If you are doing a colored offset, make sure you add some bleed around the edges so if it cuts slightly off there won’t be any white showing. Also, a wider offset will make a slightly off cut less noticeable.

Next week we’ll print on the actual sticker paper and cut some stickers!

Cricut Design Space vs Silhouette Studio - Offset Feature

Cricut users have been asking for an offset feature for years and Cricut finally announced offset is available in Design Space.

Here’s a quick little comparison of the offset feature in Cricut Design Space vs in Silhouette Design Studio.

Offset in Cricut Design Space

For the offset feature in Cricut Design Space I’m using the most current version to date 6.6.112. According to the Offset pop up window this feature is still in Beta.

Some things to take note of for using offset in Design Space:

• You MUST be in the NEW Canvas Style, it is not available in the Classic Canvas setting. So that’s a bummer when you have to switch your project to Classic Canvas when the New Canvas is being glitchy (which seems to happen pretty frequently in past versions of Design Space, we’ll see how the newest update has improved).

• It is currently only available in the Desktop version of Design Space. That’s a real bummer for the sticker makers who want to do everything on their iPad or Android Tablet.

To start, I uploaded a PNG file of a watercolor design I made using Procreate. One of the things I love about watercolor are the rough little edges. But I don’t necessarily want the rough edges on my cut line. Let’s see how the Cricut offset feature does with those rough edges.

The default offset appears to be 0.25 inches. There are some obvious little bumps and some weird little jagged spots. I don’t see any kind of smoothing option, maybe something they could consider adding in the future.

Next I’m going to try to make the offset a little narrower, I’m going to use 0.125 inches (That’s 1/8 of an inch). I’m going to use the slider to adjust the measurement. There’s still quite a bit of bumpiness and some more jagged areas on the offset line.

I can use the Contour function to get rid of the cut inside the “L” loop. In order to be able to use the Contour function I have to change my offset from “Print & Cut” to “Basic Cut.”

I’m also going to try an even smaller offset, 1/16 inch. I can use the slider, but it becomes more difficult to get the exact value for 1/16. It ends of being easier to just type it in the box 0.0625.

Again, I change the “Print then Cut” offset to a “Basic cut” so I can use Contour to remove the cut from inside the L loop and E loop.

Save your file and let’s get ready to test our offset cuts!

Don’t forget to flatten your artwork and the offset together!

I’m going to do a test Print then Cut. I’m using plain copy paper for my test so I don’t waste my sticker paper.

The little jagged pieces are definitely there, they don’t look as terrible once I pull the piece off the mat. But I would never sell a sticker with this kind of rough cut edge. Yes, I even used a brand new blade for this cut!

I tried this little guy too. He’s a PNG I imported from procreate. The offset is 1/16 inch. There’s a weird little cut area by his ear. I changed the line to a Basic cut line and there’s no option to use the contour feature, so I can’t even get rid of the line! I didn’t even bother printing and cutting him. I’m better off adding an offset to him via Illustrator like in my previous posts.

The offset probably works great for images with smooth edges and vectors, but that’s not always the kind of artwork I’m using. Nice try Cricut, maybe try adding a smoothing option to the offset dialog box.

Offset in Silhouette Studio

Right out of the gate Silhouette Design Studio blows away Cricut Design Space. Am I being biased? Probably. But in the short time I’ve been using Silhouette Design Studio, it has been soooo much easier for me to achieve the offsets and cut lines that I want. Another Bonus that a lot of the Illustrator keyboard shortcuts also work in Silhouette Studio. Cmd + /- to zoom in and out, Alt + Drag to copy and paste, Spacebar to pan around my canvas. I’m loving Silhouette Studio so far!

I opened the same Love PNG file in Silhouette Studio. It does make my PNG gigantic initially, but it’s not a problem to shrink it down to size.

I tried the same offset measurements that I used in Cricut Design Space. I started out with a 0.25 inch Offset. You will need to select if you want an internal or external offset instead of Cricut’s slider bar. The offset is already so much smoother than the Cricut version, no little jagged bits!

Next I tried the offset at 1/8 inch (0.125). Again, waaaaaay smoother than the Cricut version.

Finally I tried a 1/16th (0.0625) offset. Still much, much better than the Cricut version. I can even refine the edge more by smoothing, adjusting or deleting anchor points on my offset path in the Silhouette software.

If I don’t want to cut the loops inside some of the letters I can easily select them and press “Delete”

I even tested this little guy again, 1000x better than Cricut’s offset.

I can also refine the edges of his offset even more by using the Smooth tool, or deleting anchor points, or adjusting the anchor points.

I don’t have a Silhouette machine yet to test the cut on one of their machines. But I do have the Business Edition upgrade so I can save my file as a PNG and upload it to Cricut Design Space to test the cut.

I have to save this file with the offset as a PNG because an SVG with this type of watercolor artwork does not import correctly into Design Space.

Make sure the Offset stroke lines are set to white or no stroke so they don’t appear in the PNG file.

I select save as PNG to my hard d rive, check the transparent background box and make my DPI 300.

Then I upload my file into Cricut Design Space as a Print then Cut image. I do have to resize again, for some reason PNGs are huge in both Design Space and Studio

Look how much smoother and more refined the offset cuts are! I can’t wait to get my Silhouette machine to test how it cuts!

No little jagged edges!

Sorry for the curling, these a just plain paper that I peeled off my blue mat.

It’s Silhouette Studio for the win! The offset lines in Silhouette Studio already start out much smoother than in Cricut Design Space and I can always smooth them out even more or make adjustments to the offset lines in Silhouette Studio.

Creating an Offset for Stickers in Adobe Illustrator - Method 2

Hi Everyone! This week I’m going to show you another way to make an offset for a sticker using Adobe Illustrator. This method uses the Image Trace function.

All you need is your sticker artwork and Adobe Illustrator. Let’s get started!

First I place my artwork onto my canvas. My artwork is a PNG file, so there’s no background.

I’m going to make a copy of my artwork directly on top of the original (Command + C ,Command + F)

Select the top image with the black arrow (V). The Image Trace button should appear in the toolbar across the top of the window. Click the down arrow in the Image Trace box and select Black and White Logo.

After it gives you your preview, select the dialog box to make adjustments.

In the Image Trace dialog box, adjust the Threshold to 254 (you can either move the slider or type in the the box). Click the arrow next to Advanced and make the following adjustments:

• Paths - set to Low

• Corners - set to Less

• Noise - set to 1

• Method - Abutting

• Create - check the Fills box

• Check the Ignore White Box

Then click the EXPAND Button in the tool bar across the top of the window.

In the layers panel I can see I have a Compound Path and some individual paths.

Select all of the Compound Paths and release them.

Then I’m going to select the entire group that was made from Image Trace and in the Pathfinder tool dialog box I’m going to select Unite.

I still have a big area of white that I need to fill in. I’m going to use the Blob Brush (Shift + B) to fill in any stray white areas.

After all the stray white areas are filled in, I’m going to go to OBJECT > Path > Simplify. Then you can adjust the slider to help smooth your path.

After you simplify your path, go to OBJECT > Path > Offset Path. I selected 8pt for my offset, you can adjust yours depending on how wide you want your offset.

Then you can select the original inside path and DELETE it.

In your layers panel, drag the new offset below your artwork. Your artwork should now be showing on top of the offset.

At this point my whisker area looks too pointy for me, I’m going to use the Pencil tool and the Smooth tool to help reshape that area.

Once I get the shape to my liking, I can change the color of my offset to white with a black stroke so I can get an idea of how this is going to look as a sticker.

Now this cute little guy is ready to be a sticker! Check my blog post from last week to see how I save my offsets as SVGs and cut them with my Cricut Maker.

Link to last week’s blog post:

Creating an Offset for Stickers in Adobe Illustrator - Method 1

Hi Everyone! This week I want to share one of the methods I use to create offsets for my stickers. This is just one of the methods you can use. I like it because you can get a clean and simple cut line. I’ll be sharing some other methods in future posts.

For this method I will be using the Blob Brush tool in Adobe Illustrator.

Let’s get started!

Supplies: (Links below may be affiliate links)

• Sticker artwork (I’m using artwork I created in Adobe Fresco, you can use your own artwork)

• Adobe Illustrator CC

• Inkjet printer

• Sticker Paper (I’m using this waterproof vinyl paper)

• Cricut Maker or other Cricut machine

• Light Grip Mat (the blue one)

• Fine Point Blade

My artwork is a PNG file. I created it in Adobe Fresco and then exported it as a PNG so there is no background. I’m placing my artwork in Adobe Illustrator.

After I place my artwork, I create a new layer below my artwork layer. This is where we will be making the offset.

Lock the layer with the artwork so you don’t accidentally select it.

I’m picking a bright contrasting color so I can easily see my offset that I’m creating.

Select the Blob Brush tool (Shift + B)

I start “painting” around the edges of my artwork. I’m just going around the outer edge and making a small border around my artwork.

Once you are finished going around the edge, I turn off my artwork layer (click the eyeball in the layers panel). Now I’m only seeing the outline that I just painted.

Using my direct selection tool (white arrow, keyboard short cut “A”) I’m going to select the just the inside path and press DELETE.

Now you have a solid filled shape. If I want to refine my shape even more, I will go around the edges with the eraser tool (Shift + E) and the Smooth Tool.

I’m going to add a few more stickers, resize, and layout my artwork on my page.

Then add crop marks to the corners.

Next, I’m printing a test page directly from Illustrator to check the scale of my stickers. I’m keeping the offset showing on my test print so I can determine how far off my machine alignment is since I’m not using the Cricut Print and Cut function.

Once I’m happy with the scale of my stickers, I’m going to place my test print onto my blue cutting mat in the upper left corner. (My white border is the area that Design Space will not allow you to place your artwork beyond.)

I’m going to save my artwork file with the stickers and cut files as an AI (Illustrator file). Then I’m going to delete the sticker artwork, leaving only the cut lines and crop marks, and save this as and SVG file that we will upload into Cricut Design Space.

Upload the SVG file to Design Space and press INSERT IMAGES.

Select the very top layer and click ATTACH so all the cut lines and crop marks stay together.

Then press MAKE IT.

Make sure your top left crop mark is as far to the top left as Design Space will allow and press CONTINUE.

I am using the Printable Sticker Paper (white) material setting. I load my mat into the machine and press GO.

My machine alignment looks pretty good. I’m not going to get too fussy since it will be a white border.

Since my alignment is good, I’m going to print my designs from Illustrator on the actual sticker paper, without the cut lines showing.

Load my mat with the sticker paper this time. Select the Printable Sticker Paper material setting again. Load my mat and press GO.

Once the machine is done cutting, DO NOT REMOVE the mat. Check to make sure it cut all the way through the material. It took about 4 passes to get all the way through the sticker paper, I might try another material setting next time.

Now we have some cute kitty stickers! These are vinyl and waterproof so you can stick them on a water bottle, phone case, laptop, notebook, etc.