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 for your honest review. I did download and update the software. I am going to do a system restore to before I installed it. That is how to get your old version back on Windowns.
Jo-Anne, any details on how to do this will be great… thx.
IDK why I didnt think of that thank you sooooo much!
Your comments are most genuinely appreciated. I have not updated for quite some time as I am so opposed to loosing anything I have come to rely on. So when I received the update email, I said a silent little prayer that you would comment and make it all clear…and then you did. 🙂
just downloaded and took it for a test drive. Not loving the layers, it doesn’t read the layers in my SVG files like SCAL or MTC does, it instead compresses them all to one layer but then allows you to make new layers on top. So it’s not exactly a real function layers feature unless you are building the file entirely in Silhouette Designer Ed.
I tried ungrouping my SVG like I used to in the V2 but that doesn’t allow me to choose to cut or no cut like before. gah! this has given me a huge headache!
Exactly! If the SVG file was created with true layers, like those from Lettering Delights are, then the layers do translate to SS layers when opening, but this is the exception rather than the rule. It turns out that cut by layer or cut by line color are not options, but mandates as the simple turning on and off of objects is gone. If toggling Cut and No Cut were baffling for beginners, imagine how this is going to be for them.
Kay
yes! mine are created in Illustrator so they are true layers, but they don’t show up in V3 they get compressed into one layer. very frustrating!
Oh, wow, I wonder what LD is using to create theirs? I felt sure it was AI. Off to try some test files. Thanks for the input Claudine!
Ok, I just ran some quick tests and SVG files I create with layers in AI CS4 behave properly and open or merge into SS3 with layers split out in a predictable and useful manner. SVG files I create in Inkscape 0.48 do not behave properly when opened or merged into SS3. There are some layers, but they are not correct nor practical. Not sure what the issue is with your AI files. So many variables at this point. Again thanks for alerting me to this so I can try and figure out what is going on.
thanks @kay! I’m in AI CS3 so maybe that is the issue.
I aam a newbie…how do I download the new one without distupting my current DE?
Unfortunately, this is not a process I am comfortable recommending to newbies.
Thank You Thank YOu ThankYOU!!! I am already having a hard time learning my machine. I think I will wait to update until I at least learn some basics.
Since they didn’t re-introduce saving files in SVG format, do you know where v1.9 for the Mac can be found; if they even made it for Mac back then. I have v1.9 for Windows but have since switched to Mac.
On a Mac If you use Time Machine and an external hard drive you can go back to any date and restore it from there
Here is the link on how to do it
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
I am not going to restore mine to the older version until I see what patches or updates Silhouette plans to offer to correct some of these issues .
Barbara
PS I should have included you need to go to the “Learn More ” group of links ( in blue) & click on “Restore Data from Time Machine backups ” that will give you the directions on how to do it -sorry for the omission
Thanks for this reminder, Barbara, but it is also simple to run 2 versions on a Mac by simply placing the older version in a subfolder in your Applications folder before you install the new one. Update: I am also hearing (thanks, Claudine) that the Mac version prompts you with the option to keep the older version, so that’s an even better option.
You can not save as SVG with any Mac version. That was a Windows only “feature.”
I am one of the sorry ones who downloaded the new version and told the computer to ” replace the old version ” not save it in addition to the older version 🙁 .
As I said I am going to wait to restore the old versions until I see what Silhouette is going to do . I get confused enough with one version let alone two of them LOL
I know you said you can not fill a shape with the drag and drop method, but have to tried to save a pattern in your library with the drag and drop method?
I personally never fill that way, but I do add patterns and JPGs to my library by drag and drop. I have yet to update so I can’t try it.
For those that would like the old version, I am sure if you uninstall the V3 you can then re-install V2 (which is still available for download). But your settings would probably be gone and I would think you would need to back up your library first (by copying the folder, which Kay has a slideshow how to do that) because I don’t know if that would keep with an uninstall.
Yes, drag and drop of patterns to the library still works in DE, but this is no substitute for drag and drop into an object, which enables you to bypass the library altogether.
Thanks for answering!
I have Windows. I uninstalled V3, and then V2 was still there in the directory so I ran it again and it got installed again.
I did not have to download V2 again (thank goodness), since it was still there.
I then re-entered my DE code to upgrade back to Designer Edition. It all went smoothly…Library was OK and my custom media settings were there too.
Great review Kay! I have been with Silhouette since they first came out with the Cameo and was quite proficient with the software and after updating to the new version I feel like I have a whole new program to learn. This is just going to take some time like everything else I guess. I look forward to your future articles. Thank You so much!
What a great review! Does it mean that I can’t open the hundreds (er, thousands?) of svg files and studio files made my us in previous versions? Sorry for my lack of Sil program knowledge.
No, it does not mean that. You can open all of your existing SVG files and in some cases they will be easier to work with. You can open all of your existing .studio files as well but you will need to re-set your Cut Settings, Registration Marks and Cut Styles.
when i installed on my mac it asked me if I wanted to keep the old version. so it is possible to have both 🙂
Thanks for this data point, Claudine.
Thank you for this review. I’m new to SIL. Just opened my box last week (even though I’ve had it since December!) and downloaded the software and loaded my gift cards.
is there anyway I can go back to how it was before I updated it. I just find it so confusing. I should have thought before I updated :^(
I have Windows. I uninstalled V3, and then V2 was still there in the directory so I ran it again and it got installed again. I then re-entered my DE code to upgrade back to Designer Edition. It all went smoothly.
Did you lose any of your personal designs or paper files from your library when you reinstalled V2? I’d love to do this same thing but don’t dare because I don’t want to lose all my personal digital paper files that took me a long time to transfer over to Silhouette from my computer.
Thanks
I couldn’t download because they site was overloaded when I tried. Now I’m glad I couldn’t. Thanks so much for letting us know how messed up it is.
Started the download and it was taking so long I got on line and found your comments – hit cancel and will wait before I update. Thx
Thanks for the review. Wish I had read it before I update. I don’t the interface and would like to go back to the older version. Being in IT I should have known “never up in to an new update” I was excited about the layer feature. I am not a newbie and have a copy of the older version and a backup of my library. Do you think I can uninstall the new 3 and re-install the older version. I know I would lose my default, but that a small price to get the older version back. I need to get some work done and don’t want to save in the new format
Thank you
Nancy
Silhouette posted this on Facebook about 15 minutes ago
“We have heard your feedback and are making additional changes to our Version 3 release. We will let you know as they’re released. In the meantime, this link may answer some of your questions. Thanks everyone!”
I hope they fix these new “Features”. I also hope they talked to you first!
Anyone know how to cut perfored or dashed lines?
I have my svg file with dashed lines for folding, but when I click the button of Cut, all lines get solid and get cut.
I tried to ungroup the figure and select the lines, change de line style to one dashed in the menu of styles of line but keep getting solid when going to cut.
Also I tried change the color, but nothing work. 🙁 HELP!
Sofia, you will need to separate the dashed lines from the solid ones by line color or by layer (DE only) and then set a Cut Line Pattern for each layer/color under Cut Settings.
I tried, but when I set a Cut line Pattern, like the 4 one, dosent change. It keeps looking like a solid line. I tried to cut and it was a solid line.
I just tried with a random rectangle draw direct from Studio, and you see it dashed but in the moment I move to the cut screen it gets all solid line. :S
I dont know what is going on
The “Cut Line Patterns” are under the “Cut Settings” panel. This is not the same as the “Line Styles” under the “Line Styles” panel which no longer affect cutting.
Finally it cut! But the dashed lines are tiny! I cant get my usual lines 🙁 so bad upgrade!
Thank you for the help!
I found the same thing Sofia with the tiny cut lines for perforate and did not try out each different type of cut line. And for each color or layer, it does not save the cut line settings by color/layer … just keeps the last one used…hmm.
Maybe what you could do is make a new material called Cardstock-dashed and save that.
Thanks for the suggestion Kay. Will that work for 2 cut line styles on the same design? eg. a pillow box design … Both cut line styles being cut in cardstock, won’t you still have to select 2 different materials .. one with dashes and one without?
Thanks for your help.
Yes, but it might be quicker or more convenient to choose cardstock-dashed (which automatically specifies Cut Pattern 4, for instance) for one and cardstock for the other. Then you would have a visual (via the title) about which was which, too. Or maybe I am not understand what you mean about it not saving the settings.
Yup, crazeeee. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out. Really appreciate it Kay 🙂
For cardstock, it saved all the settings I put in for: blade, thickness, speed.
I defined solid line cut in color red and a dashed cut line in blue.
When I cut red, I set the line to straight line cut.
When I cut blue, it is still set to straight line cut, when I previously had it set to a dashed cut line. Hope I explained that properly.
Ok, that’s what I thought you meant but I assumed that you could save a cut pattern with a material and you can’t. That is exasperating. You have no choice but to set the cut patterns one by one before cutting each layer. That’s exasperating. Oddly when I closed and reopened the file it did seem to have saved the Cut Patterns with the Material setting. Some crazy stuff going on here.
Just as an FYI to everyone who is downgrading from v3 back to v 2.9. When you downgrade to v2.9 the software will not recognize that you have the Designer Edition upgrade. You can find your license key at silhouetteamerica.com in your account info. In order to not lose one of your installs, BEFORE uninstalling v3, from the software go to Help -> de-activate license key. That way you won’t lose one of your installs.
Great tip, Dillon. Thank you!
I do not think I will update my machine any time soon. I’m still on the learning curve from the previous update… I’m now willing to move out of my comfort zone as of right now! Sorry SA, I’m not in the same boat with this time!!!! Thanks a lot Kay!!!!!!!!!!
XOXO, ;P
Oh, I am so sad I updated and deleted the old program 🙁
But thank you for the excellent review, Kay.
Wow, I am so glad I found you a year ago on Silhouette Plus. You are my go to person for a lot of things…tracing, videos, and now for this. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Kay, for this wealth of information. I’m sure disappointed in a lot of the changes, so I’m happy to see those little asterisks. Hopefully those are things that will be fixed sooner rather than later. I’m required to update so I can show screen shots and tips on the Silhouette blog as a DT member, but I’m doing everything I can to keep my favorite 2.7.4 version as well. This is a great master list to refer to for the changes.
Wish I had read this first, downloaded and am missing the features I use and PAID for, it really feels like someone stole half my program and give me something no good to me,, downloading and saving the older version.
I was able to upgrade today and to test out the cut by line color feature, I did a really detailed inlaid “die cut.” It was a joy to be able to just set and cut by line color. The upgrade wasn’t different enough to cause any problems.
I just figured out cut by color too and I think it will solve some of the problems I was having earlier with it. Now if I can get to stop freezing and locking up i’ll be much happier!
Thanks for your thorough review. I’m upset about the things that they removed from the software, several of which I use all the time like Cut/No Cut, dashed lines and easily trying different fonts by just scrolling through the font list. Unfortunately these items on your list have no asterisk, so it seems like these are some of the “improvements”.
Hopefully during your conversations with Silhouette they will ask you to be a beta tester, as it’s rather obvious that testing of the new software on multiple platforms was not a priority.
I just love it when they say “upgrade” and you get the opposite. I thank you Kate for taking the time to learn the pros and cons of the new version. I think I want to wait until most of the bugs get ironed out. I am a true novice so I would not know where to start if what I have learned so far no longer applies. lol