Introducing Silhouette Studio Version 4.2

Like what you see? Share it!

Happy Valentine’s Day! In case you haven’t heard already, Silhouette America decided to share the love a little early this week by releasing Silhouette Studio Version 4.2. This version of Studio has been in beta testing for several months now and its release has been widely anticipated. Silhouette Studio Version 4.2 boasts several great new features as well as a major overhaul of the Library. I’m looking forward to sharing more detailed information about each of these features in the weeks to come, but for now I’ll give you an overview of what to expect when you update your software.

 

Preparing to Update

Is it safe to update to Version 4.2 right now? In my opinion, yes, as long as you first make a backup of your library. Version 4.2 has gone through extensive beta testing and while there are still some bugs to work out (as with any software), it’s a pretty stable version. There is always a chance, however, that you could lose your library designs in the process of updating, so it’s wise to make a backup copy first.

 

Note: When you install the Version 4.2 update, you will be prompted to create a backup of your library and sync your account, but I still recommend making your own backup copy BEFORE you install the update, just to be safe.

 

To back up the user-created designs stored in your Silhouette Library:

1. Click on the Library tab (top right of your screen in Silhouette Studio).
2. Right-click on Local User and select “Export ‘Local User’”.
3. A dialog box will open where you can specify the location to store the backup as well as assign it a specific name or use the “My Library” default.
4. Click on “OK”.

To back up designs stored in the Silhouette Cloud:

1. Look at the folder tree on the left of the screen in your Silhouette Library.
2. Near the bottom of the tree, you should see the email address(es) associated with your Silhouette Design Store account(s). Make sure there is a green check mark to the left of the address, indicating that the account is synced to the cloud. If the account is NOT synced, first be sure you are signed in to your account by looking in the upper right corner of your screen in the Library panel. Sign in if needed, then click on the cloud icon to the left of your email address in the folder tree and wait for the account to sync.
3. Right-click on the email address and choose the Export option from the flyout menu.
4. A dialog box will open where you can specify the location to store the backup as well as assign it a specific name or use the “My Library” default.
5. Click on “OK”.

 

If you have a number of user-defined settings in the Send panel, I also recommend exporting these settings before updating, just as a precaution.

To export the user-defined settings:

1. Click on the Send tab.
2. Open the Advanced Materials Panel by clicking on the three dots located on the right of the Cut Settings window.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the list to the User Defined section. Click on the setting you wish to export (hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple settings at one time), then right-click and choose “Export”.

 

Downloading the Update

Go to https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software and locate the current version of Silhouette Studio (4.2.279 as of this writing). Click on the link for your operating system to download.

 

What You Can Expect to See

The biggest change you’ll notice in Silhouette Studio Version 4.2 is the re-designed Silhouette Library. To access your library designs in this version, you must first sign in to your Silhouette account. It is much more obvious in Version 4.2 when you are not signed in to your account.

After this initial sign-in, you have the option to ‘Work Offline’ which will cause all automatic syncing to stop. When working in offline mode, you will need to click on the Sync button to add any designs purchased from the Silhouette Design Store since the last sync to the library.

Other updates to the Silhouette Library include:

• Easy access to the Library panel by clicking on the icon in the lower left of the screen.
• Split-screen view has returned, allowing you to view the library and your design page simultaneously. Designs can be added to the design page by clicking on the library thumbnail and dragging the design into your workspace.

 

• All designs are now merged into a single directory tree (no more distinction between Local User and Silhouette Cloud designs). I think this is a welcome change and much less confusing for users.
• The “Library” folder has been renamed to “Designs”.

 

• Thumbnails are much easier to view and the size can be adjusted via the slider menu at the bottom right of the screen. The Properties screen is also much larger. (To view the properties of a design, right-click on the thumbnail and choose “Properties”.)

 

• Designs can be filtered by design type and sorted according to criteria such as Name, Category, Artist, etc for simplified viewing.

 

• Designs can be marked as a favorite by clicking on the star below the thumbnail. Favorite designs are indicated by a blue star and automatically added to the Favorites folder.
• Designs that you have downloaded but not used in any way are noted as “Unseen”. Newly downloaded unseen designs are displayed with a bold blue title (only applies to those designs downloaded after updating to Version 4.2). Folders containing unseen designs will have a blue dot next to the folder name.
• In the Settings menu, there are options to remove duplicate files and to take a snapshot of your library at any moment in time. With the Snapshot feature, you can also return your library to a previously saved snapshot if needed.

 

Other New Features

As with all previous versions, certain new features of Silhouette Studio Version 4.2 are unlocked based on which edition of Silhouette Studio software you’re using. There are four editions available – one as a free download and the other three as paid upgrades. (To find out more about which version is right for you, see https://caughtbydesign.com/2017/09/28/silhouette-studio-edition-comparison/)

Standard Edition

• Color Fonts – color fonts are something relatively new to the design world. They incorporate details like color, gradients, and textures into a font file, in either vector or bitmap format (source: “What are Color Fonts? by envatotuts+). With the introduction of Version 4.2, these special fonts are now supported in Silhouette Studio.
• Print Bleed – adds a margin of color to Print & Cut designs to avoid white, unprinted areas on the cut-out.
• Thumbnail previews from other file locations – files with a .studio3 extension stored on your computer’s hard drive will now display a thumbnail preview of the design in applications such as Finder for Mac or Windows File Explorer. (Unfortunately, I have not been able to get this feature to work on my Mac, but I’m working on it and will update this post when I find a solution.)  

Designer Edition and above

• Lasso Selection Tool – select portions of a design by drawing a lasso shape around the desired section(s).
• Warp Templates – easily warp text into your choice of design, which can be manually adjusted even further.

Designer Edition Plus and above

• Flexishapes – with a library of more than 60 shapes to choose from, you are no longer limited to drawing only simple shapes and polygons.

• Puzzle Generator – turn printable images into puzzles with the click of a button.

Business Edition

• Font Creation – design your own personal fonts using your own handwriting or doodles.
• Digital Font Creation – use the drawing tools in Studio to create your own font.
• Edition Toggling – allows you to display Studio options specific to a certain level of the software. For instance, if you only want to see the tools available in Designer Edition, click on “View In” under the Help menu and choose “Designer Edition”. The view-in options also allow you to hide your email address, which is great for anyone who posts photos or videos of their Silhouette workspace but would prefer not to share their email address with viewers.

 

So that’s it in a nutshell! To see these features (and many more!) in action,  be sure to check out the Silhouette Inc. You Tube channel.

What’s your favorite new feature in Silhouette Studio Version 4.2? Take a moment to post a comment below or visit me over on Facebook. I always love to hear from you!

Until next time,

 

 

 

This post may contain affiliate advertising. This means that if you click on a link in the post, I may make a commission based on your purchase. The price you pay for the product or service is not higher, and the commissions I earn help keep Caught by Design online. Thanks for your support!

Like what you see? Share it!