Silhouette Studio - Differences between Editions of Silhouette Studio
Before we get started with different tools and features, It's important to understand the version of Silhouette Studio you are using and what upgrades contain what extra features.
Download this JPEG containing a comparison chart, no need to read through! It will open in a new window, simply right click to download or save to your computer.
You can upgrade instantly through Swing Design for a cheaper price.
There are four types of software:
- Basic Edition (Free)
- Designer Edition ($49.99 or $29.99 HERE)
- Designer Plus Edition ($74.99 or $43.99 HERE)
- Business Edition ($99.99 or $62.99 HERE)
If you already have one Edition you can also upgrade from one level to the next
Basic Edition
Basic Edition is the free version of Silhouette Studio. You can download this version of the software without having a Silhouette machine. While you can do a lot with the Basic Edition, if you are serious about designing SVGs using this software, you'll want to upgrade to at LEAST the Designer edition.
What can you do?
- Create and Send Designs to Silhouette Machine
- Basic Design and Text Tools
- Basic Manipulation Tools - Move, Rotate, Scale, Align, Replicate
- Modification Tools - Weld, Divide, Crop, Subtract
- Cut by Line or Fill Color
- Font Access (to your computer fonts)
- Import JPG, BMP, and PNG files
- BASIC Trace
- Image Effects - Grayscale, Tint, Hue, Ect)
- Print & Cut/PixScan
- Silhouette Library Storage
- Object on Path
- Offset
- Stipple/Emboss (Curio only)
- Pop-up Creator
- Color Fonts
- Print Bleed
As you can see by the long list above, there are a LOT of great basic features with Silhouette Studio. The only downfall is you cannot save in all of the file formats you would need to monetize your files and would need to utilize a converter service or even Inkscape (more on that in another post)
Designer Edition
Designed Edition is the first level upgrade. You can do all of the things Basic can do with the addition of the following:
- Import SVG, PDF, files
- Layers - Including Cut by Layer
- Rulers/Guides
- Nesting
- Shadow Tool
- Eraser Tools
- Knife Set Tools
- Eyedropper Tool
- Shear
- Sketch Effect
- Trace - Addition of Trace by Color and Magnet Trace
- Rhinestone Conversion
- Glyph Support
- Font Management
- Basic Warp
- Advanced Pop-Up Creator
- Import Custom Patterns
- Lasso Selection
- Warp Templates
As you can see there are a lot of benefits to the Basic to Designer Upgrade that will help improve your designing methods. I started out with the Basic to Designer to test out the improved Tracing Functions in the beginning and just having that was worth it.
Designer Edition Plus
The NEXT level up. Here you can find everything included above PLUS
- Advanced Rhinestone Features
- Import Embroidery Files
- FlexiShapes
- Puzzle Generator
- Advanced Warp (Conical, Perspective)
Business Edition
The final and most intense level. Here you can really work on your files to ensure a smooth cutting experience for your end users. I upgraded for the multiple Undo/Redo Function and the weed line feature. The following is added on to Business Edition.
- Import AI/CDR/EPS Files
- Weed Line Feature
- Multi-Cutter Support
- Matrix Copy Feature
- Media Layout View
- Automatic Nesting
- Tiling
- Barcode
- Multiple Undo/Redo
- Export SVG, PDF, JPG
- Handwritten Font Creation
- Digital Font Creation
- Edition Toggle
So as you can see from the above sections, each edition has extra features making Silhouette Studio a VERY powerful designing tool. It does not take much to start designing and learning in Silhouette Studio, and over the next few weeks I will be writing blog posts on specific tools that you can utilize in the software.
Again here are your upgrade choices:
- Basic Edition (Free)
- Designer Edition ($49.99 or $29.99 HERE)
- Designer Plus Edition ($74.99 or $43.99 HERE)
- Business Edition ($99.99 or $62.99 HERE)
If you already have one Edition you can also upgrade from one level to the next
Please comment below if you have any questions. Share if you got some value and as always Join my Facebook group for updates to my blog and other products.
Cheers
Tanya
