thanks for choosing the silhouette cameo electronic cutting tool this instructional DVD is designed to get you up and running quickly so you can start creating today your silhouette may have been taped for safe shipping be sure to remove any tape and packing foam from the lid and blade carriage before using your machine plug your silhouette into the included AC adapter and then into the wall before you connect the Cameo to your computer you'll need to install the included silhouette studio software remember silhouette studio is compatible with Windows and Mac computers for specific installation instructions take a look at the basic instruction guide that came with your machine after silhouette studio is installed you're ready to connect the Cameo to your computer use the included USB cable to connect the two machines now you're ready to get started designing and cutting your first project find the silhouette studio icon on your Windows desktop or Mac Applications folder and click it to open the program when the software loads you'll see a 12 by 12 cutting area on the screen all ready to go if you want to change the page dimensions you will find the page setup options already opened in a panel on the right hand side of the screen refer to your basic instruction guide for information on using the metric system for your page measurements silhouette studio includes a text tool which allows you to type and cut any font on your computer to use the text tool just click on your page and start typing if you want to use different lettering you'll find a list of available fonts in the textile panel on the right other options like spacing and justification can be found in this panel too to make a change to some type text just select the text and then choose a different font or style to wrap your words onto multiple lines click and drag the black bar at the end of the text box to move your text just click and drag it to a new spot to resize it click and drag one of the corner control handles to rotate your text click and drag the green circle above the text bounding box silhouette studio includes several tools used to draw simple shapes like circles rectangles and lines just click on the tool you want to use and then click and drag to draw your shape hold down the shift key while drawing a rectangle to create a perfect square holding shift while drawing any lips will create a perfect circle some objects have more control points that can be used to alter their look click and drag them to see what they all do now that you've created a simple design you're ready to cut first remove the liner from the cutting mat exposing the adhesive place your paper on the mat in the upper left hand corner silhouette studio will show you where the paper should be placed in relation to the mat if you don't see an image of the cutting mat on your screen click the page setup button and choose to show the 12 by 12 cutting mat turn the Cameo on by pressing the power button when the machine is ready place the cutting mat between the two white rollers and press the enter button to automatically load it into the silhouette next you need to load the blade since we're cutting cardstock will want to use a blade depth of 3 use the ratchet cap to twist the blade to the number 3 setting then place the blade in the blade holder and lock it into place make sure it's settled all the way down into the holder now we're ready to cut click the send to silhouette button in silhouette studio right next to the print button you'll see the cut options panel open up follow the instructions to make sure you've got everything all set you'll want to change the cut settings to match the material you are cutting just click the change settings link to open the cut settings panel you'll see a list of preset cut settings to choose from scroll down and find heavyweight cardstock in the list when you click it you'll notice all the advanced settings are automatically adjusted so you don't have to worry about those things you'll also notice that the software tells you what blade depth setting to use now that the correct settings are chosen click the send to silhouette button and then click the cut page link when the silhouette is done cutting press the enter button to unload your cutting mat then peel out your perfectly cut out design use a silhouette spatula to help lift delicate designs off the cutting mat a silhouette scraper can help you clean leftover paper pieces from your mat silhouette studio lets you customize and create text and drawings but there is so much more start by opening my library just click the little book icon on the left toolbar your silhouette cameo came with 51 pre-loaded designs to get you started you'll find those designs by clicking on the show all designs shortcut in the folder panel of my library just double click a thumbnail to load it into your current project you can move resize and rotate these images just like the text you drew earlier of course silhouette has so many more designs to offer as you collect more you'll want to organize them in your library create new folders to contain all your designs or use the built-in search bar to quickly find what you are looking for if you need more details about an image right-click or control click on a Mac and choose show properties the silhouette cameo can be used with your home printer to create beautiful full-color cutout designs using a feature called printing cut in order to use printing cut designs you'll need to align the silhouette with your home printer just click the registration marks button to open the options panel check the show registration marks button to turn on three little black marks in the corners of your page you can adjust those marks to fit any printer using the tools in the panel on the right once the marks are turned on and your design is inside the cutting area click the print button take your printed design and place it on the cutting mat in the upper left hand corner as shown on the screen load the paper into your cameo click the send to silhouette button and follow the instructions choose the link to automatically detect registration marks the machine will use an optical sensor to locate three marks and align your printed image once the marks are registered you can choose the appropriate cut settings and watch the machine cut right around the printed image of course silhouette offers so much more than the ability to cut cardstock the silhouette cameo can cut vinyl fabric heat transfer material magnet paper and much more some of these materials like adhesive vinyl have their own nonstick liner these materials don't need a cutting mat in order to be fed into the machine adjust the pinch rollers to fit your media on the Cameo by unlocking the main roller shaft and twisting the right hand roller special notches mark where the a 4-letter 12 inch and 13 inch sizes are lock the shaft back in place and load your media by choosing load media on the Cameo LCD screen and pressing enter when you're ready to try something new look for silhouette starter kits in your local craft store or online each starter kit contains everything you need to create your first projects including an instructional DVD don't forget to read the basic instruction guide for more details on the cameos many features also you can find a complete user's manual for silhouette studio under the help menu in the software thank you for watching and happy crafting thank you for watching for more information please contact us today