Silhouette Studio - How to Make a Stencil
Making a Stencil in Silhouette Studio is SUPER EASY and convenient when you don't want to use vinyl on a sign and would prefer a hand painted look. In this tutorial I will show you how to make a stencil using Silhouette Studio and some AWESOME functions of business edition you will die for. The video goes through the stencil itself and the walkthrough below shows the steps, all the way through creation.
Create your Design
Create your design in the work space. It can be anything with open holes in it. I chose to do a thick script font. (You can find the font here)
Create a Small Rectangle
Draw a small rectangle and fill it with a different color than your design fill.
Place Rectangle over Holes in Design
Place and rotate your rectangle over the areas with "holes" so that they become attached when cut.
Subtract Rectangles from Design
I group all of the rectangles in one group and then group the text in another, select both groups, and subtract. It really is personal preference, but either way you want to subtract each rectangle from the design.
This is what it should look like when you're done.
Make sure you weld and create compound path with all of the text selected to create one shape for cutting purposes. The Weld function ensures your overlapping letters will have one smooth cut.
Ready to Cut
You can now cut your design on your material of choice. For this tutorial I am using cardstock, but you can use vinyl, stencil vinyl, anything you want.
Bonus WEED LINES
I LOVE this feature but it's only available for Business Edition (Upgrade HERE for a discount) If you're using business edition go to your weeding panel.
Select Horizontal Weed Lines and Adjust the padding. You will see blue lines surround the design where the machine will cut. This is a LIFE SAVER for me when working with intricate designs or in this case, stencils.
As you can see when you hit send, the weed lines show up.
Cut your Design
Cut your design
Weed it and separate
Weed and separate out the spaces. Be VERY careful of the small rectangular parts because they can rip with cardstock.
Place on your Surface
Place the weeded design on your surface. I just used scotch tape to get it where I wanted and taped it down.
Paint your Design
Paint your design
Fill in open holes and touch up
Fill in holes from the stencil and touch up as needed. I rushed the painting of this and as you can see some of my lines bled, but I kind of like the way it came out!
So there you have it! Using a Stencil with Silhouette Studio. It has really helped me get doormats and signs completed in a jiffy.
If you enjoyed this walk through please share with your crafting community. Also, Join my Facebook Group for the most up to date tips, tricks, and product offers.
If you have any questions please comment below.
Cheers
Tanya
