Finally updated my Silh Studio File Formats Cheat Sheet for V3. Update: The image below is no longer current. Click here for a current printable PDF.
The changes from version 2: Macs lost the ability to open .ai files, Mac basic users lost the abililty to open .pdf files. Win DE users gained the ability to open PDFs, and all DE users can take full advantage of vector PDFs as of version 3.3. BE added new vector options.
I’ve also prepared a new chart just to help you understand how to handle a PDF depending on its content and what version of Silhouette Studio you have.
To determine if a PDF has vector or bitmap content, zoom in to at least 800% and if the lines are still crisp, it is a vector. If the lines are blurry or pixellated, it is a bitmap. If you need help understanding the difference between vectors and bitmaps in general, this video should help.
Thanks Kay
Thank You Kay!
I absolutely love what you do. By watching your tutorial videos on You Tube I am now much more confident. THANK YOU !!!
Thank you so much!
Cindy B
Thank you so much for the updated cheat sheet. This will really help.
Thanks, Kay for this great cheat sheet. I always get these files confused, so your handy dandy sheet is going to get a lot of use. I appreciate and look forward to your posts because I always learn something. So glad you are out there thinking of us users.
Thanks so very much.
Thank you for all the info over the years!
Do you have instructions for cutting files that are larger than the mat? I’m hoping to cut out a box but the size is too large for the mat.
This box (topless) is meant to go inside a drawer as a divider so it’s not as simple as sizing it down to fit the paper/mat size.
Can you point me in the right direction?
No instructions, per se, but you might want to check out my Knife Tool Ninja video here on the blog or on Youtube. Easiest way to cut a design into mat sized chunks.
Help my computer has moved some of my files to Adobe and now i cant open them. the company wants me topay monthly so it can convert my files for me to open. I not much of a wiz kid on computers.
Google how to change the file association for your operating system so you can change your files back to how you want them. In the meantime don’t doubleclick them, just open them from within the application.
love your blog
I was very happy to see this chart – thank you for all your work surrounding Studio.
Because of all that work, I still have 2.8x loaded on my machine – I’ve been hesitant to take on bugs / removed features. With the Jan update to 3.3x, is it time for me to upgrade?
Thank you Kay for the wealth of information you share with all of us! I have a question that I don’t see if you have addressed anywhere in the past??? LIke you, I am on a mac. I am using Silhouette DE (2.9.45d) and finding that the SVG files I create in SDE cannot be opened in Make the Cut or Pazzels software. So far, I found that if I redraw the image in Illustrator (CS5) and save as a SVG, all three cutting software can open the file…. BUT, I find I really prefer making my cutting file in SDE (faster and easier). Got any suggestions???? Do you know of a way I can save a SDE cutting file so I can open (or import) it into Illustrator (or Photoshop)? … then I could save it as SVG for all 3 cutting programs. Thanks so much in advance.
No, Maria, there is no direct conversion available from any Mac version of Silh Studio (and only Windows DE versions 1.9 or 2.0). The best option, is to design in Illustrator or Inkscape to begin with. For existing .studio files, the best option is to do a high resolution png export and trace (or recreate) in AI, MTC, SCAL, etc. I have videos on exporting high resolution pngs from a Mac here https://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/ssprintables/
Thank you for that answer, Kay. I was looking to see if a super old version would export an SVG from Studio that I could use.
Can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the information you’ve provided. Silhouette America should be ashamed that their manuals are so poor they have to rely on outside sources to teach consumers how to use their machine! I’m a new user, so a lot of what you’ve done is enormously useful. In fact, I’ve watched all 8 of your tracing videos, but I’m still confused about when to trace something and when it’s not necessary. Is this the place to discuss this? Or is there a better place to ask you these questions?
Annie this chart is supposed to answer that question, but if don’t hesitate to post your specific questions here. And thank you for the kind comments.
LOL–guess I’m even newer than I thought, as I had no idea the chart answered my question! So what you’re saying is the type of file tells you whether or not to trace? I don’t understand why you can’t just print and cut any old file. I’m only doing paper crafting so far–cards–so maybe it’s different for other media? But the apple you started with in the tracing video–I would have just printed and cut. What does the trace do that makes it better? Same with the Hello Kitty figure you used. Why cut all the different colors separately when you can get the colors you want by using the fill tool, then print out the figure (on white), and just cut along the outline? I don’t get why you need the extra tracing step(s). Clearly I need help!
When you get to part 4 of tracing without tears (tracing for print and cut) perhaps you will understand. You can’t cut at all unless you give the machine a path to follow, tracing is how you get the path to give it. You don’t have to get all the inner details for print and cut, but you still have to get the outline. The optical eye can only read the registration marks, it can’t find the edges of an image.
i would love to download the whole series of these so I can watch on my tv but everytime I try from utube I get my security prog blocking all the stupid spywear grrrrrrrrrrrr
Hi Tracey I had same prob but I used an online downloader so you don’t have to install anything to your pc apart from the file, heres a link
http://en.savefrom.net/#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DttldRQaBdEU
you just copy and paste the video you want in the little box in middle of screen click download and boom it will ask if you want to save or open the file, I have all on a memory stick so I can watch on tv
hope that helps Tracey x
I am not sure where to ask this question. I just used my Cameo for the first time today with PixScan. I am a stamper who uses Copic markers to color my images. I have hundreds of stamps and I don’t want to have to stamp, take a photo and trace each time I need a stamp. Could I use the “blank registration mark” printed page with DE, stamp some images, trace and create the offset and save the document and then print this on standard copy paper. Then at a later time copy this page on high quality paper, open the saved document and use the Cameo to cut the image/images?
You can scan in stamped images, trace them, create offsets and cut them, then stamp on them at a later date, as well as saving them to cut more at a later date. Or, if your stamps’ angel policies allow you can scan them and use them as digital stamps … scan them in, then print and cut them at a later time. Neither of these applications requires PixScan.
Kay, thank you so much for the quick reply. I will have to check the Angel Policies. In the past I had only referred to them when I was making cards to sell. I better re-read them to see if I am allowed to scan them when using them for personal use only.
I am enjoying your videos and posts. At the moment I am looking at all of the fonts in dafonts.com to see what I might “need.” Thanks again.
Hi Kay, thanks a lot for the great cheat sheet.
Is there a new version in 2017 for ss v3.4+ ?
The cheat sheet at cleversomeday.com/ssformats16 is current through at least version 4.0
Kay,
I think you have posted about it before, but isn’t there a website I can use to convert jpegs into svgs for low to no cost? I have a bunch of custom images that I want to print and cut – and tracing won’t work because of the different colors used in the images. I really just want an outline so that’s the part I want vectorized.
There are a number of sites that convert jpgs to svgs for free, but I doubt if they are going to do what you want, since they are still tracing, just with fewer user controls. If I’m understanding what you want to do, trace outer edge in Silh Studio should work. You may need to turn high pass off and adjust threshold until you see an unbroken outer outline then click trace outer edge.