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’m losing my mind here! I hate this new version, I can’t figure anything out. Have I lost all of my files I had saved???
How do I go back to the previous version?
I figured it all out! Ugh, I about had a heart attack.
I liked that the power went off and this new version saved my work, so I didn’t lose what I’d done so far. I don’t like that I can’t get it to show the rollers in relationship to the mat like the older version did (In the cut settings?). Guess I’ll use the disc to reinstall the older version. I don’t like how the cut settings appear so far, and after reading, I’m not excited about the update. I hope it doesn’t have a big impact on my use, but it doesn’t sound like it improved it either.
I think Silhouette America vastly overestimates the ability of its machines to cut automatically on various surfaces when using print and cut. There are certain files I literally will not be able to cut without the manual cut feature because my Cameo just does not like them (metallics come to mind immediately). I actually own 4 Cameos and each one has its own quirks and inconsistencies. Certain machines simply will not cut certain items well so, to remove a feature such as manual cut is fatal in my opinion. And it was unnecessary.
I think SA may have figured out that many people need to manually cut when using non-Silhouette branded mats so, they removed the feature but, I repeat, SA vastly overestimates the ability of its machines to cut automatically. Disgusted.
V3 does not import any of my PNG of DXF files to the Library. These same files import just fine in V2. I could just use V2 to manage the library and V3 to create all my documents, but that’s a bit silly. Until they resolve the broken import I’m forced to continue using V2, despite the improved Cut Settings introduced in V3.
This new version 3 I “upgraded” to is worse than useless, I was trying to load an image file but said it was corrupted (tried several formats too). Don’t like the all white background, why does it have to load fonts twice on startup? It hangs/locks up on exiting after saving file, then won’t load again without a restart. Had to un-install it and put back V2 and everything is fine again.
Same problem here – PDF image files and DXF vector files don’t import in version 3. However, those exact same files import without issue in version 2. I sent example files demonstrating this bug to Silhouette America a week ago and haven’t heard back from them since. Version 3 is crap!
Can anyone answer why I have a one inch margin on the v3 that shows clearly on my screen that it is going to cut or print and the silhouette cameo omits the one inch margin when cutting and printing with the pens??????
Yes. This is a known bug in V3. Check under Preferences>Defaults and check “Registration Marks Off”. If that doesn’t fix it then contact support for further instructions.
I just tried using sketch pens in version crap (oh, I mean 3) and they’re offset terribly on the paper. You would think that software testers at Silhouette America would have caught this right off. Especially since it works properly in version 2. Dumb software engineers really irk me.
I downloaded v3 and I hate it. I have v2 on a disc…if i uninstall v3 and reinstall v2 will i lose all my images i have in my library?
You should not lose the images in your library, but it is a good idea to keep your library backed up anyway. I would also recommend installing v2.9.45 from the Silh web site instead of from your CD, which is no doubt outdated.
I hate the new versions so much, I saved my library by pulling out the com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8 and redownloading from the CD (V 2.7). Now I’m back to downloading my own patterns and working with the version I am most comfortable with without losing all the features I paid for in the first place. If Silhouette continues down this road, they will lose one minor, insignificant customer in me, but they will also lose someone who used to espouse the virtues of the Silhouette over Provocraft because of the ability not to get nickel and dimed and use your own files. I hate what they’re doing. I am starting to look for another machine 🙁
Installing version 3 screwed up the device driver for version 2 on my system, so now version 2 draws with sketch pens as badly as version 3. This is terrible software “engineering” on their part. Now I get to strip the whole thing from my system to install a clean version 2 just to resume work on my project. Ridiculous.
I have a silhouette cameo …nice toy too…I have this problem that just started. When I go to use the font after cleaning up a graphic to make a cutting file. The font shows the image of my graphic in it…Looks cool but not what I wanted at all. Now my question is how did this happen and how to get rid of it …Any help would be great!!!!
Thank you in advance
This was a bug in one of the early versions of V3. You can update to the newest version, or just fill your text with a solid color to work around it.
First–
SSDE3 was working find in Mavericks, but now crashes consistently on startup with Yosemite.
I tried clearing:
Silhouette Studio (the app)
com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.
com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.license
com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio
com.aspexsoftware.studio_helper
and
Silhouette Studio.plist.lockfile
Then, i Restarted the iMac
Then, I re-install v 3.3.277 from the website….
I start up the app… with no luck (crashes continue— it gets just passed downloading the fonts, then i get a crash report).
Silhouette America support takes 48+ hours to answer questions, and not much help, so far– they can’t tell me anything new in the troubleshooting and re-install procedure.
I’m so close to my problem, Can someone see that I am doing something wrong? Am i missing something? Sorry for the length of this ‘reply’.
Second–If i could applaud online, i would applaud LOUDLY for Kay. She is such an under-recognized AMAZING, CREDIBLE resource and knowledge center to so many. I am humbled by her generosity and willingness to help, share, and encourage. I would call her a HERO! Kay–Thank you for being there for us!
Rick, I do not know what to tell you as it sounds like you are already very knowledgeable about what to do. Did you install any new fonts before the issue arose? Because a corrupt font might cause this. Even if you didn’t, maybe run a verification in Font Book to see if there could be an issue lurking there. Good luck and thanks for your kind comments.
Follow up to 329- in case someone else can use the info –
Well, after many hours troubleshooting, i finally found my problem. Following instructions in the Silhouette America FAQ/Solutions/333, specifically– to remove a file at Mac HD>Library>Applications Support>com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8; that was not the correct one for me.
My offending file was the same name, but located at
Mac HD>Users>my name>Library>Applications Support>com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8;
So, for many hours i was working with the wrong file! Now, all is back up and running– and YES, i also found and deleted 70 corrupted fonts, but it didn’t do any good until deleting the offending file.
Looking forward to keep learning so much from you!
Thanks for your support!
Rick
Hi Kay, I have v.3 and the only problem I am experiencing (right now) is the software crashes and shuts down during visits to the online store for purchases. Have you heard of this issue before? If so, what can I do about it?
There are a lot of store related issues. My recommendation is to go to the store through your browser instead of through Silh Studio, at least for the time being.
For Marilyn and anyone else who came here searching for the double cut feature: It is still there but hidden. If you are in the cut settings (I got there via send to silhouette, then the blade icon in the top right), and there click on the media (cardstock in my case), the blade settings will open, there you will find speed, thickness and, tada, double cut!
I’m semi new to the silhouette, have found it pretty easy to accomplish my crafting designs. But what, I am really upset about it silhouette’s inability to get their software working out of the gate. It’s frustrating!!!:( And Maddening! I waited well over a year to download from the v2, version to the v3, and even after that I had to delete the v3 and re-load the v2, not 1 time but 3 times, and the only reason I finally had to do it was because some of the fonts would not work under the v2 software. Now i’m stuck with the v3.3.277 and I’m tired of having to go out of go out of the software and go back in because all my designs don’t all load. anyone, have any answers to this? I use 2014 Mac-Book Pro, with all the bells and whistles.
My solution on a Mac is to keep all the versions loaded (separate subfolders in the Applications folder) then I can use the one that has the features I need. Granted they need to get it fixed!
I do the same thing – in my Applications folder I have “Silhouette Studio 2” and “Silhouette Studio 3”. I love the ability of defining cut settings by line color in version 3, but its reliability (or lack thereof) with sketch pens is useless so I keep v2 around for sketch pen projects. Every time I’ve reported a bug to Silhouette America their attitude has been that of denial and it was me doing something wrong. Enhancement requests receive an un-personal canned response and swept under the carpet to not be seen again. Very unprofessional, especially considering suggestions I’ve made for improving another application by a different company have already been released in new versions of the software.
I just don’t understand why SA cannot get their act together. I was about to bite the bullet and update to V3 but think I may not even try because old problems seem not to get fixed before they release a new update. It is very, very frustrating…and a remodeled machine. Will they never learn?
I waited until Oct 2014 to download V3.3.277ssde. I have played with it a few times. Last night I opened it back up and everything in my library is gone. I tried to import my library but it would not import. I am using an iMac OSX 10.9.5 Anything else I can do? Thanks for any help. I had a lot of files but they and all my folders are gone.
I have not heard of this problem before, Sue. I would try to reindex your library in Preferences>Advanced, and if that doesn’t work, contact Support.
I just received my Cameo, downloaded the software that came on the disk, got a popup to update my software (to v3) and when I did, it downloaded malware/adware!! GRRRRRRR. So be careful downloading this file from the Silouette website or you’ll end up with another file called ApptoU. I spent hours restoring my computer last night and did it twice to confirm the origin. So if you’re having any type of problems with your computer after you’ve upgraded, check to see if you also have a virus.
Windoze or Mac? I’ve had no virus problems at all on the Mac version, which is why I don’t use the security-loophole-laden-sad-excuse-for-an-OS product that MS has yet to get right after 10+ years of updates and patches.
hello! I hope someone can help me. I updated to the new version v3.3.318 that was supposed to patch for a mac, but it loads all the fonts/ etc but fails during initializing phase. Any ideas? My system is up to date with iOS 8 Maverick. Thanks for any help :'(
There is a new version up as of this afternoon. Suggest you try that. http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software/silhouette-studio
Silhouette Studio v3.3.437ss for Mac is garbage – don’t use this version! When cutting the black lines it will insert several random cuts from the upper left corner of the page to various points on your pattern(s). It’s awful and astounds me (well, not really) that they would release such crap for download (did they not even test its functionality?) Do not “upgrade” from v3.1.417ss (which too has its share of bugs but at least won’t trash your page).
Thank you, Mike. I too am on a Mac and I have resisted updating my SS to V3. Just when I’m about to upgrade because bugs seems to be fixed, another bug comes to life. Sure happy I have so far resisted. May never upgrade and that’s pretty sad I can’t get some of the new, good stuff. :-(((((
Thanks for your input, Mike. This sounds like the pen bug that has plagued the last several versions of SS, Mac and Windows. I completely agree that 3.1.417 is the least objectionable of the V3s, but I still use 2.9.45 for most things.
About the time I think I will upgrade from 2.9.45, I see something like this. I’m a Windows 7 user and was just about to ask if it was just MAC or Windows also. Thanks, Kay and Mike!
I have both v2 and v3 on my system. Anything using reg marks or sketch pens is done in v2 because none of the v3 versions are suitable. The only thing I use v3 for is simple score and cut jobs because it’s great being able to select lines by color regardless of how the objects are grouped. It’s still a “WTF” to me, though, that their “engineers” obviously don’t test their code edits on cutting machines at their offices. And the typical canned response I get from support when reporting bugs to them is “please upgrade to the latest version”. Um, no thanks!
thank you all for the current comments on the V3 software, I have been debating upgrading for sometime now. I think that I will stick with V2 as it does what I need without issues.
Kay – Have any of the ‘Tick me off’ items been changed?
Danell,
All of the tick me off items that are asterisked have been corrected. However, I am still not recommending V3 as your only installed version as the last 3 versions have introduced additional new problems.
Hi Kay, can you have 2 versions available if running Windows 7?
Yes. But I’m not the expert. Check Youtube and/or Google for complete instructions.
mabye you are just to dumb.. v3 is the best Version yet.
because you have no clue you think changes are Errors.
Peter, there are times when it is wise to keep one’s mouth shut and this would have been one of them. Perhaps your view that the capabilities in V3 are “the best…yet”, but V3 was released before obviously-known bugs were corrected. And, perhaps, you can’t understand the chaos this premature release created for we lesser users who only feel the stress of not being able to do what we could do the day before–at a point when we just needed to do in order to get a project finished. I listened to the advice to hold off updating to V3–I only updated yesterday Apr 9, 2015–and am glad that I waited. My impression of the value of this version awaits my experiences in using the included capabilities.
I have waited to update to V3 because of all the problems I was reading about. So is it safe to upgrade now? I’ve been having some issues with the old version.