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
I think I will hold off on downloading. Wow, sometimes improvements are not so. I backed up my copy so I always have it when I do decide to upgrade or should I say downgrade. Ha!
I have just managed to get my previous version back and I am so happy. V3 would be great if they hadn’t removed all my most used tools.
I would just like to ask ……………if I get the old version back by uninstalling V3 would I lose all the things in my library? thanks xxx
Thank you for the heads up on the new update. There has been a lot of interest in this but, because of your info, I think I will be waiting for them to iron out the bugs before I commit myself.
I tried to use the new version to cut some heat transfer vinyl last night. No matter what settings I used I couldn’t even get it to make contact with the vinyl, I switched over to the old software and not a problem. I’ll be using the old software for awhile!
how do you switch back to version 2?
Just doing it now if anyone needs to know message me on my blog 🙂
Hi Kay, thanks for all the info, I’ve got both versions installed on my windows comp, it appears that only one version can have the designer edition! Do u know if this is the case or is it I’ve used up the 3 allowed goes at it?
as you can see from below I’m having the same problem. I contacted Silhouette and they reset the key so had three more goes – if you keep the V2 program open it will work as Designer, ( whilst V3 seems to have no probs) but if you close it it reverts to basic edition. I’m off to ask Silhouette to reset again as I need to use designer V2 – will just have to keep the program open I suppose!!
Wow! Newer is not always better! So glad I found your blog today–through a YouTube video by the way! I’m such an illiterate computer user and definitely not a designer or an artist, so I depend on people like you to help me wade through details and learn tricks of the trade. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for review and advice. I have a question. If I were to download the v3 onto a thumb drive, could I then use it and become familiar with it but keep the original on my hard drive? I teach classes at my LSS and have had lots of ladies come in with questions on how to use the new program but I am afraid to download it and lose the program I know.
No, but please let support@silhouetteamerica know this is a capability you would like.
I’m no rookie … I have a lot of skill with the software update and now I have trouble cutting … I do designs with different styles of lines ie dotted and succession and not Cut!
Yup, that was my issue … very SIMPLE place card with straight cut and perforated or dashed cut. Even if I set up different line styles with different colors, I would have to go back and change the line style for each color in the cut settings since it saved only the last line cut style used vs a line cut style by color (or layer … I imagine too). So, back to V2. Something so simple should not be complex.
I made the mistake of downloading the new software and every single time I have sent my files to print, they print with white squares on the images. I can’t even tell you how many times I have printed the image over and over again. Very frustrating. Sent an email to silhouette. Unfortunately, I have not heard back. I am wondering if anyone else is having this issue?
Will do. Thank you.
Thanks for your honest and un-biased review of the updated software. While some of it is exciting, some of it isn’t. I for one don’t like a lot of change. And it seems as if they have taken away a lot of good stuff while putting in a little good stuff. I love my software as is, so I won’t be dl-ing the new any time soon. Again, thanks for an honest, un-biased opinion! hugs, Patty
I cannot do it either, tried both ways. I cannot see what I am doing wrong
I have it now works. I made a rectangle gave them black lines, made a centre perforated purple line, so as to make a card fold. Went to the cut by colours. It showed 2 colours. I turned off the black one, and turned the purple on, slid down and selected the perforation, then sent it to silhouette, it did the perforation, I then turned the purple off, turned the black on and made it a solid line. Yes it works, but one awful hell of a work around as the cardboard has to load twice and do one job at a time
I was able to get to that point also. Did your cut line styles (perforated and straight cut) save for each defined color or just keep the last cut line style used? Also, what cut line style # did you use for the perforated cut? I did not seem to find one that was close to V2 perforated lines … maybe I did not try all of them. And yes, way longer to do the same thing as before … with a stop and re-start in between vs just let the card stock cut in one run.
cutting by line colours is something which some of us ‘older’ users have used both in Robomaster and other software so doesn’t bother me at all , in fact for selective cutting it can be quite useful and it only takes a couple of secs to change a line colour – what does annoy me is not being able to see which line does what as in version 2 and the lack of a good perforated line. The old adage ‘ if it ain’t broke why fix it’ does come to mind!
Quite agree with your review Kay – thought it was me! I’ve been teaching someone how to use their software now have to unteach somethings if I want her to be able to upgrade safely (which I think won’t be for a while) . I wanted layers – for how I design it’s easier sometimes, but my jubilation turned to a sniff when it seemed upside down and I can’t seem to be able to move my designs from one layer to another. Also I have the problem that cropped up in other versions I can’t open a file by clicking on it – I have to open the program then open the file from within the program. The cutting menu I don’t like – as I don’t like sliders and the fact that my page keeps setting itself to something other than what I required. Cutting by colour is OK – it’s a sort of throwback from the old Robomaster where you associated types of cutlines with different colours but I don’t like not being able to choose the perforate/cut/no cut option; it was a very simple concept and although I’ve been using machines and teaching their software since 2005/6 I still like simple for some things!!! I think there are good things and bad things but there’s definitely a load of ironing out to do before I recommend that any of the people I teach upgrade to vers 3. Thank goodness I’ve still got version 2 on the laptop, I might even uninstall version three and reinstall the latest version 2 until they’ve got rid of the bugs!
Repeated attempts to get V3 to initialize on my Mac have met with utter failure. Sil Support have a work-around for the problem on PCs but, as usual, us Mac users are left high and dry. Their support has always been lousy for Mac-users but they’ve reached a new low with this pathetic effort. Epic fail on all fronts: stupid upgrade features, buggy software and useless support. It’s tragic that the best die-cutter on the market has such wretched supporting cast.
So glad Diane from Capadia Designs shared your link. Wow, I really appreciate how quickly you put this together. I’ll be a loyal follower, I won’t be updating until we see how SA responds. I’m quite happy with the current version. Thank you, thank you!
Thanks for posting this Kay. I decided to go back to the older version until all this is settled. It was user friendly. I really don’t care much for the cut by line feature. I was disappointed how it handled svgs. I like all the other features they added. I really depend on my Cameo to use svg files. This cut by line color is goofing things up for me.
I just did a test line of 3 perforated ones. cut each one separate on a different setting, turning the colours on and off, BUT the perforated lines are all the same so small – what am I missing
Did you find a cut line style close to V2 perforated lines? Thx.
I’ve not found anything yet .. just something like a demented woodpecker which made teeny tiny marks! Not being able to see which are perforated and which are straight cut when doing a final check before actually cutting vanifies everything I’ve taught !
I’m definitely going back to v 2
LOL ~ your “demented woodpecker” certainly made me chuckle this morning 🙂 Enjoy your old V2!
Not a one I further tested every style and they all look like hen scratchings, one actually ripped, I wrote to SIL
Great that you sent Silhouette your comments. One ripped with me too.
What does the percentage at the top of screen at the end of your file name mean?
I believe that is the zoom level
LOL Yup that’s exactly it! Haha!
Goodness Silhouette you really have mucked things up! Menus that don’t turn off and if you get stuck in the middle of one it’s terrible trying to get out! If I click ‘off’ that’s what I expect it to do, having to faff around until your brain turns upside down trying to fathom out the simplest of commands when you’re trying to meet a deadline really isn’t fun. Am off to reinstall version 2.9.45 which I still have on file.
As far as svgs go I’ve not really tried anything yet .. I’m still able to cut directly in Inkscape from my Cameo so I suppose that’s still OK! ( not something I do often but it’s possible! )
Just upgraded today. And already wished that I didn’t. I do a vast amount of print and cuts and love being able to make the line’s no cut or cut or perforated. I can not find a test cut feature either. And since each cardstock takes a different setting, I’m getting really frustrated. Thanks so much for the information. Off to view the video’s, hoping to glean some knowledge.
The test cut button is tiny, a circle with triangles, in the gray bar of the Send to Silhouette window.
I’ve just started playing with v3 DE. Spot on with your comments and you’ve added a few notes on things I hadn’t yet discovered.
Thank you so much Kay for all of your hard work and time to test this version out and give us your feedback. The “what were you thinking section convinced me to hold off on updating till things are are more ironed-out. I hope they pay attention to all of the concerns you have raised.
Dang, I hate it when I make punctuation errors in my comments.
Thank you so much for all of your comments. Wish I had found this before I downloaded V3 but I’m installing V2 right now and then will remove V3 and wait for the bugs to be taken care of. Your input is always appreciated!
I have only had my Silhouette Cameo for about 2 weeks and it worked perfectly UNTIL I downloaded the V3 version. Every time I opened the Silhouette Studio after that, it would freeze and tell me that it was not responding. I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling the older version from my disk and I will not download V3.
HELP!! updated to V3 and now it wont open!!!