Silhouette America released version 3 of Silhouette Studio and Silhouette Studio Designer Edition this afternoon and I managed to get it downloaded and installed before the now traditional server crash. The feature list is indeed impressive, headlined by the edition of layers to the Designer Edition (really? this is a DE feature? Even free Cricut software has layers, but I digress.) Users of the Silhouette Connect plug in for Illustrator and Corel Draw will find this new version familiar as it shares a new (but still kinda ugly) interface design and many features as well. But the new features come at a high cost, namely backward compatibility. And stunningly, SA did not create a new file extension so watch for tons of confusion in the days ahead.
This page is being frequently update so please check here and in the comments section for additional information.
Warnings for those who have updated
If you create a file in SS3 and someone with V1 or V2 tries to open it, they will get a message that an update is required before the file can be opened. You can only open V3 files in V3. Please consider marking the files you create in SS3 as such.
Note: At this point I do not anticipate problems with files in the Silhouette Online Store because those are not created in any version of Silhouette Studio.
If you use V3 to open a file that you or someone else created in V1 or V2, there are some significant issues as well:
-*the cut setting will be set to Card Stock, regardless of what it was before
-*there is no more Cut, Cut Edge, Perforate or Perforate Edge or No Cut so any of these you set will need to be re-set using a new method. Some combinations are no longer possible.
-*registration marks will be switched off and any adjustments will be lost.
-*dashed lines that were set under Line Styles will cut as solid lines.
What I really like
Nesting in the DE version – this is brilliant!
Select by color – yes!!
Adjustable pivot point in DE is now off by default, but can be activated when you need it. This is a change I asked for, then had to ask to back it out, so I am very happy about this change.
The arc tool is pretty sweet, but an option to draw a sector would have made it perfect.
SVGs are generally easier to use, especially layered ones. No more ungrouping and setting cut lines, before you can even get started.
Pasting text from the clipboard into a text box (what a novel idea!)
The foggy area outside the page is gone, making it easier to visualize designs off the mat, create tutorials, etc. Not as good as just letting us toggle the red line off, but nice.
Ability to pause between layers.
What they did not fix
*The eraser still freezes just as bad, major fail here. But the good news is at least you won’t lose your work since there is auto-save now.
*You still can not add or change keywords or descriptions of files in the library.
~*You still can not turn off the cutting red line or adjust it for a machine you do not have connected.
~*Goofy defaults like High Pass filter on under trace and offset to a quarter inch are still there.
The manual – that’s right, the same one that’s been outdated since 2012 has made its way into V3.
And of course, you still can not save as SVG (not only that but the v1.9/2.0 workaround has been greatly diminished since v3 files can’t be opened in these versions)
What were they thinking?
*Cut by color is by line color, not by fill color. This is just craziness. The work required to cut a Silh Store file or an SVG (that isn’t pre-layered) either by color or by layer is ridiculously and artificially high as you have to either manually place each piece on a separate layer or change the line color of each piece. Feature fail.
Layers are upside down. That’s right, in the layer window the top layer is on the bottom and vice versa. I wish I had a witty comment, but seriously. I am speechless.
Two freehand drawing tools – too smooth and not smooth enough. Give us something adjustable, please, our Wacoms are waiting!
Shadow tool – as in flat shadows only … the 1980s called, they want their design element back.
*PDF Import – This imports all PDFs as bitmaps that have to be traced, even if they were perfectly good vector files to begin with. Far cry from PDF import in MTC and SCAL.
Page and mat settings became even more confusing and inconvenient… not to mention buggy. Mine gets confused between Portrait and Landscape orientation sometimes (can you blame it, since Portrait is also the name of a machine?)
*Cut margins (the red line) only shows correctly in the Cut Preview, but you can not move the pieces from there. So you have to keep toggling back and forth between views to get your pieces in bounds. Why have the red line in the way on the normal view, if its not correct anyway?
“Vertical text” was added, but umm, its not what is generally meant by vertical text, it’s simply normal text rotated 90 degrees. In other software, “vertical text” means horizontal letters stacked on top of each other.
Major changes to how basic functions have to be done and not one single tutorial to be found from SA (or anyone else since no one had advance copies and authorization apparently).
What ticks me off
SA has once again removed features that we already paid for (or bought a machine with the understanding that these features were in place). Here are things we lost in V3
-*Ability to set individual objects to No Cut, Cut, Cut Edge, Perforate or Perforate Edge (you have to assign them a line color or move them to separate layers first)
-*Ability to share files with users of earlier versions
-Ability to drag a pattern into a shape (already removed from standard in v 2.7, now removed from DE)
-*Ability to set work space larger than cutting area
-*Ability to move and node edit in Cut Preview mode
-*Live Preview of file dragged over mat
-*Cut Preview no longer shows which lines will cut as dashed
-Blade advance arrows. This is a problem for Portrait users who do not have arrow buttons on their machines and so, can not reset the origin or cut multiple test cuts.
-Ability to manually detect registration marks.
-*Ability to mix Cut and Cut Edge, or Perforate and Perforate Edge, in a single document
-*Ability to select a block of text and cycle through font changes to it using the arrow keys
-*Ability to jump down in the font list using the first letter of the font
-*Dashed lines set under Line Styles no longer cut as dashed lines. (Dashed cut lines have to be selected under Cut Settings for each layer/color)
-*Inverted registration marks
-*Tool tips on modify panel (Y’all think I’m an expert, but the truth is I am lost without these)
-*Visibility of printable area
-*Hashmarks to indicate safe zones for print and cut
-Ability to open AI files in Mac version
-Number of color theme choices reduced from 8 to just 3
-*The offset button at the bottom of the screen now only makes 1/4 inch offsets instead of being adjustable as before.
Hopefully some of the above are bugs and not intentional omissions. But if not, please join me in holding SA accountable for this. I mean, what if you bought a car and a week later they came and ripped out your stereo? Update: *Asterisks above indicate items that SA representatives tell me they are aware of and working to fix.
My recommendation
For now I recommend that the newbies give us pros a little time to get ahead of you so we can answer your questions. For the adventurous, update but keep the old version loaded somewhere if you possibly can. You are not going to want to be learning this and adjusting your files on a deadline.
Important note: I am getting a lot of questions about how to rollback to the previous version, how to install multiple versions, how to restore your DE license, etc and I do not have the answers to these kinds of questions. Please check with the relevant forums, Facebook groups, blogs or Silhouette support for this kind of information.
Here are a couple of good videos that show SSV3 in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vxTNEzOyzI
Thanks. I can’t even figure out HOW to update. When I checked the check for updates, it says none are available. But with your advice, I think I will wait. I am still a beginner.
I was going to buy the Designer Edition but then I got super busy and ran out of time before we took the kids on spring break. Had I known this is what I would be dealing with I would have made the time. I guess I’ll be waiting and just using the regular Studio software that isn’t updated.
I updated today. The only thing I don’t like is there is only a choice of 3 colour schemes, and where did the packet size go under preferences/advanced, or is that something they “Fixed”? Thank you Kay for your review,
from another namesake
Kay Sturgeon, OZ.
Hopefully packet size is no longer needed because of “new memory management” but I’m not able to evaluate that at this point. Thanks for pointing out about the limited color schemes.
Excellent review and totally agree, I’m so upset that I can’t drag and drop pattern paper now, I use it too much that the new features aren’t big enough for me to sacrifice it. I don’t want to import and to crop it with the shape and is a pain.
I loaded last night but didn’t have time to play it just to long to update. I’m really upset they took so much away 🙁
I wish Id seen this a few hours ago before I updated. Have looked at the ”new” software and wish Id stuck with the old. I guess I just got carried away with the hype. It takes me a long time to learn new things and I had just about got to terms with the old system. I especially don’t like the paper sizing, what was wrong with A4 letter etc options.
So glad I waited for your feedback on this Kay..once again Thank you for all your hard work..it saves so many of us a lot of headaches. I like most will be holding off and yes keeping my files separated.
If you have V3, is there a way to “save as” an earlier version so it can be used in in V1 & V2? Thank you for the review. A large working space is a big deal to me and also the perforate options. I’m not downloading it either, unless there is a way to have both versions (which seems ridiculous).
No, there is not a way to save as an earlier version 🙁
Thanks so much, Kay. I will wait. I appreciate the fact that you will run “interference” for us and then show us how to find the “work-arounds”. A very loyal fan of yours, Pam
Definitely going to hold off on updating! I use the perforate cut lines frequently. If I open my files with those and that goes away, it would be a HUGE pain! I’m interested to see how to accomplish perforations in V3. Not being able to open in previous versions doesn’t really bother me, since the update is free, so everyone should be able to get it. Also, the cut settings going away on files I open majorly stinks – some files I cut all the time, never change the cut settings, and wouldn’t remember what they were.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll wait awhile before I update.
If you have the sihouette designer studio you can have perforated and cut lines on the same piece, or individually. It actually works very well. I personally have lost the online store and have been unable to get it back, with the older version. But I have a mac that is approx 10 yrs old. so it is possible I need for a new computer. as everything silhouette has advised me to do..its not working.
You can cut dashed and full lines at the same time, as long as they are separated by layer or by line color, but you can not have objects set to Cut and Cut Edge or Perforate and Perforate Edge on the same piece.
Wellll, I’ll definitely be waiting! Unfortunately, I’m in a pickle as my hard drive crashed last week. I still have my original CD for installation, but all upgrades, of course, have been electronically – I’m not sure those will be back yet. I also had DE. I’m hoping I can get my original DE back with my code.
It’s not always good to ‘be on the bleeding edge’. As we used to say, never take features away from a client – always improve it and give them more.
Thank you for your review, Kay!
Wish I had read this last night. What a MESS the software is! OMG its eating my vinyl, same settings I used last week, same vinyl. I took it from the recommended 9 down to 6 and it staill ate through it. I cannot edit my text, the cursor wont come back. Do you know how to undo the update, so I can go back to the previous? Im at a complete standstill here..ugh
Id like to know how to go back to the previous version too if its possible.
So would I!
Sorry but I can not answer this question reliably for Windows. It will send a strong message if a lot of you ask Silhouette America this question.
Try a system restore to a date previous to April 2, 2014
It will not remove any files but will restore your 2.9xx version or whatever you were running before you updated.
I downloaded the new version last night but got frustrated immediately. After reading Kay’s review I went back to the download page and at the bottom is a link to download the old version and got mine back! The link to the page is: http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software/silhouette-studio. The download is for the legacy software ver. 2.9.45, but they are experiencing a high download volume right now and there is no download button. Maybe later today it will be available. I forgot to mention I have a Mac. I don’t remember having to choose when I downloaded the legacy version but I was able to get my old DE version back and working without a snag. I hope this helps!
I was really hoping we could add or change keywords or descriptions of files in the library, and I was also hoping we could set default preferences for tracing, etc. I didn’t like the only 3 color themes and couldn’t figure out how to make the buttons larger. That was enough for me to jump right back to the old version.
Thanks Kay for the great review!
Button size can still be changed under Preferences>Display
How did you go back to the old version?
I just went to the page from the link I posted above and scrolled down to the bottom of the page where there are downloads for the legacy silhouette software (v2.9.xx). I see the downloads are available now, they weren’t earlier today.
Choose Mac or PC. I have a Mac running Snow Leopard OSX. I downloaded the legacy file, and reinstalled it, first making sure I had closed the newer version. After installation I started Sil DE up and everything was just as before. My library, preferences and settings were all as I had left them! Hope this helps!
Thank you for that review – it was so helpful and I will take your advice and wait a while!
Thank you, Kay. You answered my questions in mind. For now I will keep what I have and forego the upgrade. I worked in layers with another software and stopped using it for that very reason.
I really want to go back to my previous version as I don’t like this upgrade. I would go so far as to say I won’t ever touch it ever again if I am not able to go back. This is not throwing my dummy out the pram but it is not enjoyable any more. HELP PLEASE ANYONE!
Thanks for all your help a really good review. I shall wait until you give the go ahead. Thank you Joan
I sure do appreciate this! I’ve been trying to download the newest version, but it seems there’s too much traffic on their site (where have I seen this before?). Now I’ll just wait a while.
Hey, Kay! Would love to chat with you a bit further on some of your feedback. Drop us a line! 🙂
Love,
Silhouette
So happy to see that Silhouette has responded to you. Can’t wait to hear what they have to say.
No more safe zone for PnC? How’s that going to work? I have a friend coming over Saturday for me to teach him his new Sil – but I think I’ll hold off on the update. Guess I’d better make sure he doesn’t do the update yet, too.
Hi Kay,
I’m very happy to read your review and the comments BEFORE uploading the V3! I think I’ll waiting for a better version. In your review you wrote that it is better to” keep the old version loaded” but is it possible to have both versions to work with?
Kay, I’m so thankful to receive all you newsletters they are so helpful.
Thanks Ina from Germany
Thank you SO much for the good Work and for tell us about the good and bad Things…
I will wait to update and hope the fix it…
Add to the list:
Inability to scroll through fonts with up/down arrow keys while text is highlighted.
Inability to type in first letter of desired font to have it jump to that section in your font list.
NO NEW MANUAL???!!!
I had already added the top two Lisa and there hasn’t been a new manual since before DE came out, so I guess I wasn’t even expecting one.
There deffo needs to be a new manual!