Until its time to unwrap your brand new diecutter, here are some productive ways to pass the time and get a head start.
1. Watch some videos. I don’t recommend the Official Silh videos as they are not very good (and sometimes downright wrong) but fortunately my pal Kelly has you covered with this great set of lessons for beginners.
Also highly recommended for beginners is my Tracing without Tears series to learn how to convert your own images into cut files.
2. Read my tips for new Silhouette owners here.
3. Download and install Silhouette Studio. Go ahead and start familiarizing yourself with the software so you’ll be ready to hit the ground running when your machine arrives.
4. Begin collecting free files, but I recommend only stockpiling the ones that scroll off after a specific time period. Many more freebies can be found and downloaded any time you need them.
Here are five of my favorite time-sensitive freebie sites for Silhouette files (.studio, GSD or DXF for basic edition, SVG for Designer Edition. You can also use the png files for print and cut in any version.)
- Silhouette Design Store at least one free file per week, lots more for the holidays
- Pretty Paper Pretty Ribbons free file every Friday
- Kadoodlebug Designs free file every Monday
- MyScrapChick subscribe for a free file every Friday
- Little Scraps of Heaven free file every Monday
5. Learn to download and install fonts in Windows, click here and for Mac, click here.
Be sure to see my Fonts Resource page for hundreds of great fonts handpicked for diecutters.
Haven’t decided which machine is right for you yet?
Check out my Cricut Explore vs. Silhouette Cameo analysis here.
My Cameo vs Curio comparison is here.
Just watched the first tracing video and I am so impressed. Already so much is explained. Can’t wait to sit and absorb all 12 of them.
Thanks for removing some of the mystery of this function and thanks so much for sharing them. You are a great teacher and I appreciate your logical approach to these areas where technology and creativity intersect.
I saw where you said the silhouette vinyl is crap. What type and where can I find the best vinyl to use?
Silhouette’s premium vinyl is improved, but you will get better quality at a lower price by shopping online vinyl vendors like expressionsvinyl.com or hhsignsupply.com etc.
Thank you so much! I am super excited to get started cutting and I look forward to reading more of your post.
Thank you so very much especially for the tracing video series. I am a rubber stamper and card maker and I’ve figured some things about how to use my Silhouette to cut my stamped images, but your videos are full of helpful tips and information. I also really appreciate the more technical information – I’ve been doing mostly trial and error without really understanding what the different filters mean, for example. I also am a digital scrapbooker, and I’ve been using my digital scrapbook images (which are .png’s) to create print and cut files for my Silhouette. Thank you for all of your help!