How to Make and Edit Shapes in Silhouette Studio

Did you know you can use the drawing tools to make and edit shapes in Silhouette Studio? To get started, open Silhouette Studio and create a new canvas by going to File > New or use the shortcut Ctrl + N.

Choose a Drawing Tool

Click on the Drawing Tools icon in the left toolbar.

Click to create one of four shapes: rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, and regular polygon.

Drawing different Shapes

Draw a Rectangle Tool

The Draw a Rectangle tool allows you to draw a rectangle by clicking and moving the cursor diagonally. You can also draw a square by holding down the shift key while clicking and moving the cursor diagonally.

Draw a Rounded Rectangle Tool

The Draw a Rounded Rectangle tool allows you to create rounded rectangles and rounded squares by drawing the rectangle or square. Then you can adjust how rounded the corners are by adjusting the red dots. Adjust each side individually by clicking and dragging each dot. To adjust the corner symmetrically, hold down the shift key and click and move one dot and the other will adjust as well.

Draw an Ellipse Tool

The Draw an Ellipse tool allows you to create ellipses or circles. Draw an ellipse by clicking and moving the cursor diagonally. Draw a circle by holding down the shift key while clicking and moving the cursor diagonally.

Draw a Polygon Tool

The Draw a Regular Polygon tool allows you to create many-sided polygons. By default a 5-sided polygon will be created. Click and drag the slider in the middle of the polygon to decrease or increase the number of sides on the polygon.

Resize Shapes in Silhouette Studio

Step 1 - Click on the Select tool (mouse cursor icon at top of left toolbar).

Step 2 - Click and drag one of the white, square dots to adjust the size.

Click and drag the left-middle or right-middle dot to adjust only the width. Click and drag the top-middle or bottom-middle dot to adjust only the height. Click and drag a corner dot to adjust both the width and height.

To keep the same proportions while resizing, hold the shift key down while clicking and dragging a corner dot.

Mirror Shapes in Silhouette Studio

Select a shape, then go to Objects > Mirror. Choose to either flip horizontally or flip vertically.

Arrange Shapes in Silhouette Studio

Arranging shapes is useful with multiple shapes and want to layer them differently. Select a shape, then go to Objects > Arrange. There are 6 options:

Bring to Front

(shortcut Ctrl + Shift +]) This will move the selected shape in front of all other objects on the canvas.

Bring to Back

(shortcut Ctrl + Shift +[) This will move the selected shape to be behind all other objects on the canvas.

Bring Forward

(shortcut Ctrl +]) If there are more than 2 objects on the canvas, this will move the selected shape one level closer to the front. Click this multiple times to continue to move the shape up one more level.

Bring to Back

(shortcut Ctrl +[) If there are more than 2 objects on the canvas, this will move the selected shape one level away from the front. Click this multiple times to continue to move the shape down one more level.

Bring to Front of Layer

When working in multiple layers, this will move the selected shape in front of all other objects in its own layer.

Bring to Back of Layer

When working in multiple layers, this will move the selected shape to be behind all other objects in it’s own layer. Learn more about the Silhouette Studio Layers Panel.

Align Shapes in Silhouette Studio

Select a shape, then go to Objects > Align. There are many options to choose from.

Align Center-Middle

Moves selected shape to the center of the canvas

Align Left

Moves selected shape horizontally to the left of the canvas (no vertical movement).

Align Center

Moves selected shape horizontally to the center of the canvas (no vertical movement).

Align Right

Moves selected shape horizontally to the right of the canvas (no vertical movement).

Align Top

Moves selected shape vertically to the top of the canvas (no horizontal movement).

Align Middle

Moves selected shape vertically to the center of the canvas (no horizontal movement).

Align Bottom

Moves selected shape vertically to the bottom of the canvas (no horizontal movement).

Center to Page

Moves the shape the same way as choosing align center-middle.

If the canvas has 3 or more objects (shapes) selected, the spacing tools will be available.

Space Horizontally

Adjusts the objects so they are evenly spaced horizontally based on the center of each shape.

Space Vertically

Adjusts the objects so they are evenly spaced horizontally based on the center of each shape.

If you would like to learn more about Silhouette Studio, have a look at our other tutorials like changing patterns on SVGs, create a distressed design and how to use Autotrace.