A Silhouette Cameo cuts a papercraft sheet in minutes, unattended, with a cleaner line than the best craft knife. But before you hit Send, there is a question almost nobody asks: which edition of Silhouette Studio is running on your computer. That, and not the machine model, decides which file you have to use.
This page explains how to go from a papercraft model to a file that Silhouette Studio cuts, scores and numbers correctly. It is the counterpart of our Cricut guide: same starting files, different software, different traps.
What Silhouette Studio expects from a file
Silhouette Studio does not cut an image, it follows vector paths: lines defined by coordinates. A papercraft sheet in PDF or PNG is, to the software, just a drawing to trace by hand, with approximate outlines that will not close up during assembly.
The software then knows how to split the work: in the Send panel, the Action by Line option (Cut by Line Color in version 4 and earlier) lists every line colour in the drawing and lets you pick a material, an action and a tool for each one. That is exactly what a papercraft sheet needs: outlines get cut, folds get scored, numbers get written. Good news, that option is there from the Basic edition onwards.
The question that decides everything: which Studio edition?
Silhouette Studio is a free download in its Basic edition, and unlocks by licence into Designer, Designer Plus and Business. The maker’s documentation is clear on one point: “Silhouette Studio can open SVG files when using the Designer Edition or above.” In Basic, SVG does not get in. DXF, on the other hand, opens with no edition requirement at all.
In other words, the ideal file for a Cricut is not the ideal file for an entry-level Silhouette. Check your edition before anything else: Studio shows it in the bottom right corner of the window and in the Help menu.
Which edition of Silhouette Studio?
It is the edition, not the machine, that decides which file you should use.
SVG will not open in Basic. Open the DXF exported by Pepakura instead: it opens in every edition and already comes split into outlines, mountain folds and valley folds. Only one thing needs fixing, the size: set the drawing to a width you read in Pepakura, once per model. The Action by Line table is available in Basic.
Open the SVG shipped with the model: the colours are already sorted by operation, so there is nothing to trace and nothing to recolour. Just check the scale on import, an SVG is read at 72 points per inch. Our files are written in that unit, so they land at the right size.
Open Silhouette Studio: the edition shows in the bottom right corner of the window, and in the Help menu. An even faster test: try to open an SVG file. If it opens, you are on Designer or above. If it is refused, you are on Basic, and the DXF is your file.
Source: Silhouette America documentation, SVG opening from the Designer edition onwards.
The three files in a kit, and the one that concerns you
- The PDF: the sheet to print. Made for a printer and a pair of scissors. Studio Basic will not open it at all; higher editions open it but treat it as a background image, not as paths.
- The SVG: the coloured cut file. It needs the Designer edition or above. It is the best file when you can use it, because the colours already sort the operations for you.
- The DXF: the vector pattern exported by Pepakura Designer. It opens in every edition, Basic included. It keeps outlines, mountain folds and valley folds on separate layers, but it arrives with no scale. That is its only flaw, and it is fixable.
Studio Basic: your file is the DXF
In Basic the path is short and costs nothing: open the DXF exported by Pepakura directly. The paths arrive already separated, there is no tracing to do and no image to vectorise. Only two things need attention, the size and the colours, covered in the next two sections.
If the kit has no DXF but a .pdo file, that is a Pepakura Designer file: open the .pdo, then File > Export > DXF, one sheet per file. The software is free for viewing and paid for exporting.
The DXF loses its size, and here is why
A DXF imported into Studio almost always arrives at the wrong size. This is not a software bug: it is the file that never says which unit it is written in.
We opened the fifteen DXF sheets of one of our reference models, exported by Pepakura Designer. The finding is clear: AutoCAD R12 format, a header section reduced to the format version alone, no declared unit, no reference length, no page frame. Three layers (CutLine, MountainLine, ValleyLine) and 891 entities, all of the same kind, straight segments. So Studio has nothing to read to work out the scale: it applies its own.
Getting the DXF back to the right scale
The method is three steps, done once per model rather than once per sheet.
- Set the import preferences. In Studio, Preferences > Import > DXF, pick Original position so that sheets land in the same place from one file to the next, instead of each being recentred its own way.
- Take a reference measurement in Pepakura. On the sheet open in Pepakura Designer, read the width of an identifiable piece, or better, the total pattern width the software displays. Write the value down in millimetres.
- Force that dimension in Studio. Select the whole imported drawing, open the Scale or Transform panel, and type in the width you noted. Every piece on the sheet resizes together and keeps its proportions. Check a second measurement at random: if it matches, the sheet is good.
A useful sign: if every sheet of a given model arrives with the same error factor, correct them all by the same coefficient. The error comes from Studio’s default unit, and it is constant for a given export.
Studio Designer: your file is the coloured SVG
From the Designer edition onwards, SVG opens directly, with its colours and therefore with its operations already sorted. That is the shortest and safest path.
If the kit only ships a black SVG, or if you start from the DXF, the paths need colouring first. The Inkscape walkthrough is detailed in the Cricut guide: it is identical, only the destination changes. One thing not to miss on the Silhouette side: what counts is the stroke colour, not the fill. Leave the fill on none and give the colour to the stroke.
The 72 versus 96 scale trap
SVG has its own trap, and it is the same one as on Cricut. The format sets no reference resolution: drawing software writes in 96 pixels per inch, today’s web standard, while Silhouette Studio and Design Space read the units of an SVG as points, 72 to the inch. A naively written file therefore arrives 1.333 times too big, and has to be scaled back to 75 %.
The test takes ten seconds: import a shape whose size you know, read the dimension shown, compare.
The ten second test
Import the sheet, read the width Silhouette Studio shows, compare it with the width you expected.
One colour, one operation
Once the file is open at the right size, everything happens in the Send panel, switched to Action by Line. Studio then lists every line colour present in the drawing, and each row of the table gets its material, its action and its tool. Here is the convention we use in our files, and what to assign against each one.
The Action by Line table
| Line colour | What it is | Action to pick |
|---|---|---|
| Black | outlines of the pieces and of the glue tabs | Cut |
| Red | mountain folds: the crease points towards you | Half cut or emboss |
| Blue | valley folds: the crease goes away from you | Half cut or emboss |
| Orange | piece number, to copy on the back before assembly | Sketch pen |
| Green | edge numbers: tab 12 is glued onto edge 12 | Sketch pen |
| Pink | a small circle on every valley fold, to spot it without reading the colour | Sketch pen |
Scoring folds when you have no scoring wheel
Cricut Maker machines have a dedicated scoring wheel. On Silhouette the question comes up differently, and the answer depends on the machine.
- Cameo 5 and Cameo 5 Plus: two tool holders, the second taking up to 5 kgf, and the Type C embossing tool is compatible. That is the cleanest way to mark a fold.
- Portrait 4: a single tool holder, no second carriage, and the Type C embossing tool is not compatible. Folds have to be handled another way.
Without a dedicated tool, two documented methods work on 200 to 250 gsm paper. The half cut: the same blade, with reduced depth and force, scores the fibre without going through. The perforated line: the fold line is cut as very tight dashes, the paper folds crisply and still holds. In both cases the setting is found on a scrap, with the test cut button, before running the sheet. The right setting is the one where the sheet folds under a fingernail without tearing.
Which machine, which width, which mat
The figures below come from Silhouette America’s official comparison chart. They matter because a papercraft sheet cannot be folded: if it is wider than the cutting area, it does not go through.
| Machine | Cut with mat | Cut without mat | 2nd tool holder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait 4 | 8.5 × 12 in | 8.6 in × 4.5 ft | No |
| Cameo 5 | 12 × 24 in | 11.6 in × 16 ft | Yes, 5 kgf |
| Cameo 5 Plus | 14.6 × 15 in | 14.6 in × 16 ft | Yes, 5 kgf |
| Curio 2 | 12 × 12 in | No | Yes, 5 kgf |
The previous generation is still very common and does the job just as well: Cameo 4 with a 12 in cutting width, Cameo 4 Plus at 15 in, Cameo 4 Pro at 24 in. For papercraft, usable width matters more than length: an A4 sheet fits on all of these machines, an A3 sheet needs a Cameo Plus or Pro.
Textured models: the Print & Cut case
When the model’s colours are printed on the pieces, you are no longer cutting a bare path: you print the sheet, then the machine finds the outlines again. This feature, called Print & Cut, is present in every edition of Studio, Basic included.
How it works: Studio adds registration marks to the corners of the page, the printer produces the sheet, and the machine’s optical sensor reads those marks back to align the cut. Three constraints follow. The marks take up a band around the edge, so the usable area is smaller than the sheet. The paper has to stay matte and light, or the sensor will not read it. And the weight has to stay within what your printer accepts, usually 200 gsm on a desktop model.
Paper, blade, settings
For papercraft, the useful paper is 200 to 250 gsm. Below that, pieces warp during assembly; above it, folds crack and the printer struggles. The Type B autoblade covers that whole range.
Three habits that save a sheet. Pick Cardstock in the material list, not a thin paper preset. Always run a test cut in a corner of the mat before the whole sheet. And change the blade when corners start staying attached, which is the first symptom of a dull blade, well before the line itself gets ragged.
The checklist before you send
- My Studio edition is identified, and I am using the file that matches it.
- The sheet shows a known, verified dimension, not a size estimated by eye.
- The Send panel is on Action by Line, and every colour has its action.
- Drawing and scoring actions come before the cut.
- The fold setting was validated on a scrap, not straight on the sheet.
- The sheet fits within my machine’s cutting width.
- The paper is 200 to 250 gsm, matte, loaded flat on the mat.
Cricut or Silhouette: same model, two routes
Both families of machines do the same job on a papercraft model, and differ mostly in how the file gets in. Design Space accepts SVG and DXF with no extra licence, but requires its online account. Silhouette Studio works offline and reads DXF in every edition, but reserves SVG for the Designer edition.
With our files, the consequence is simple: the SVG we ship works as is on Cricut and on Silhouette Designer, and Silhouette Basic owners go through the DXF with the rescaling described above. The Cricut guide covers the Inkscape part, which is common to both.
Frequently asked questions
Can Silhouette Studio Basic open an SVG?
No. Silhouette America’s documentation states that opening SVG files requires the Designer edition or above. In Basic the file will not get in, even renamed. Use the DXF, which opens in every edition.
Do I have to buy Designer Edition for papercraft?
No, it is not required. The Pepakura DXF is enough and produces the same cuts. The Designer licence saves time if you work through many models, because it removes the DXF rescaling step on every new kit.
Why does my DXF arrive at the wrong size?
Because it declares no unit. In the Pepakura files we opened, the header contains nothing but the format version: no unit, no page frame, no reference dimension. Studio then applies its default unit. The fix is to force a known width on the drawing after import.
My SVG arrives 1.33 times too big, what now?
Scale it to 75 %. That is the gap between the 96 pixels per inch of drawing software and the 72 points per inch that Studio and Design Space read. The ratio is constant, so the correction is too.
How do I score folds without a scoring wheel?
On Cameo 5 and 5 Plus, the Type C embossing tool goes in the second tool holder. On Portrait 4 there is no second holder: use a half cut, or a very tight perforated line. In every case, validate the setting on a scrap before the sheet.
Is the Action by Line table available in Basic?
Yes. The official Basic edition feature page states that you can cut by line colour, by fill type or by layer. Only layer handling as a drawing feature requires the Designer edition.
Studio cuts my folds instead of scoring them, why?
Because the fold lines have the same stroke colour as the outlines. Studio groups by colour: if everything is black, everything becomes a single action. Recolour the folds in Inkscape before importing.
Can I cut the sheet’s PDF directly?
No, not usefully. The PDF is made for printing. Even opened in an edition that accepts it, the outlines have to be traced by hand, and the result is approximate exactly where assembly needs a millimetre.
What sheet size fits my machine?
An A4 sheet fits on every current Silhouette. An A3 sheet needs a cutting width of at least 12 in, so a Cameo rather than a Portrait. The exact figures are in the table above.
Does the same file work on Cricut and on Silhouette?
The SVG does, provided it is written in 72 points per inch, which ours are. Both programs will read it at the same size. What changes is how operations are assigned, and the fact that a Silhouette Basic will not open that SVG at all.
What the conversion does not do
Converting a file does not make a model easier. The machine cuts, scores and numbers; it does not fold, does not glue, and does not rescue a sheet printed at the wrong scale. On a fifty-piece model it saves the three or four hours of scissor work, not the hours of assembly.
It is no substitute for a good source file either. A pattern whose pieces do not close up geometrically will not close up any better after automatic cutting. That is why we always start from the original .pdo or DXF, and never from an outline redrawn out of an image.