Many of you are asking what is the difference between the free Silhouette Studio and Designer Edition, etc. and I was surprised to find a lot of incomplete and inaccurate information on the topic so I decided to post my own list. This is my personal, unofficial list … in other words, the real lowdown including some little known secrets.
What you can do with Silhouette Studio Basic Edition (aka Free or Standard)
-cut shapes from the Silhouette Store
-create designs from scratch with ellipse, rectangle, freehand line, polygon, arc and curve tools
-use any font installed on your computer to design
-move, scale, align and replicate objects or groups
-weld, intersect, crop, divide, or subtract paths
-wrap text to a path (check out this post for full details)
-open STUDIO, DXF and GSD files (no tracing)
-autotrace your own JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP, PSD, GIF images to create cut files (check out my Tracing without Tears series for details)
(Additional Win and Mac specific formats can be used see my file format cheat sheet for full details)
-print designs on your printer and cut them out with the Silhouette (see this post for details)
-copy color from one object/image to another object
-fill objects with colors, gradients, or patterns
-fill objects with your own patterns or images via drag and drop or cropping
-adjust the scale, angle and position of pattern or image fills
-adjust image brightness, contrast, hue, etc. (dependent on video card)
-select objects by line or fill color
-view and adjust grid
-create an adjustable shadow/offset/mat
-adjust knife and eraser tool to open or closed results
-layout design in WYSIWYG format for cutting
-print, or print and cut your designs in high resolution
-save files to your hard drive or to the Silhouette library
-save files for cutting directly to the Cameo 2/3 with a USB stick or Cameo 1/SD to an SD card
-spell check your designs
-scan in images
-use the Pixscan mat to position cuts with respect to the page
-cut by line or fill color
-point edit a design
-paste text from outside Silhouette Studio into a text box
-select line styles to create dashed scoring or stitching lines for cutting or drawing
Also note that if you connect a Curio, these additional features are available in any edition
-adjustable hatch fills for drawing
-stipple trace
-stipple fills and patterns
What you can do with Silhouette Studio Designer Edition
all of the above plus …
-paste graphics copied from outside Silhouette Studio
-copy attributes (font, fill, stroke) from one object to another
-add custom fill patterns to the Pattern Fill Palette
-apply sketch effects including limited hatch fill
-open SVG or PDF files (see my file format cheat sheet for full details)
-nest designs automatically to save material
-use rulers, adjustable guides and crosshairs as design aids
-convert images to rhinestone designs
-slant images/text with the shear tool
-adjust the size and shape of the eraser tool
-use patterned/curved knife shapes and delay application for controlled editing (see this video for details)
-adjust an object’s pivot point for advanced rotation or complex replication
-separate your design into toggleable layers
-cut by layer
-duplicate and shift in one step (shadow tool)
What you can do with Silhouette Studio Designer Plus Edition
all of the above plus …
-open a number of embroidery file formats (see my file format cheat sheet for full details)
-use custom sizes and shapes in the rhinestone design tool
What you can do with Silhouette Studio Business Edition
all of the above plus …
-open AI, EPS and CDR files (see cleversomeday.com/ssformats16 for full file format info)
-use more than one machine at a time
-separate a large design into smaller sections (tiling)
-add weeding lines automatically
-nest at the cutting step
-use media layout mode (as opposed to WYSIWG)
-replicate designs at the cutting step (matrix copy)
Bottom Line
-You don’t have to have a Silhouette machine to download the basic software and enjoy what is one of the best free page design programs out there. I recommend getting version 3.6.057 from this page.
-Any upgrade you buy is good for up to 3 computers at a time. Upgrading is as simple as entering a 16 digit code and you will not lose any of your designs or have to learn a new interface.
-Almost every Silhouette owner can benefit from Designer Edition. It will quickly pay for itself in free SVGs alone and make your Silhouette life smoother.
-Designer Plus is good for embroidery enthusiasts; and rhinestoners not interested in 3rd party rhinestone software
-Business Edition is good if you have more than one machine or if you do a lot of oversized designs
-Whatever you do, don’t pay full price. The (affiliate) links in this post will take you to SVG Tools which offers among the best prices and perks and will get you upgraded in 24 hours (usually much quicker)
-You can upgrade in steps from any version at any time, so you don’t have to make a final decision at the start. See all the options here.