User Manual
Contents What’s in the Box? .....................................................................................................................................1 Remove Packaging from the Machine ...................................................................................................1 Register Your Machine .............................................................................................................................2 Download and Install Silhouette Studio®..........................
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual What’s in the Box? The Silhouette Portrait® comes with the items shown in the following list. Check that all the items have been included before you proceed to use the machine. If you are missing any items listed below, please contact support@silhouetteamerica.com.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Register Your Machine Go to SilhouetteAmerica.com/setup to go through all the proper steps to set up your machine. The first thing to do is sign in, or create a Silhouette account if necessary, and register your machine. Completing this step is what will allow you to access your 50 free designs in your Silhouette Library. If you have an account, input your login credentials and click “Sign In.” If you don’t have a Silhouette account, click the “Sign Up FREE” link.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Download and Install Silhouette Studio® Go to step 3 on SilhouetteAmerica.com/setup to download the latest version of Silhouette Studio®. Click on your operating system (Mac or Windows) and follow the prompts on your computer to finish the installation. The software is necessary to run your Portrait 3 cutting machine, so don’t forget this step! You’ll learn more about how to use the Silhouette Studio® software later in the manual.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Claim Your Free 1-Month Basic Subscription Once you register your Silhouette machine, you’re eligible to receive a free 1-month subscription to the Silhouette Design Store. Make sure to retrieve the promo code that was sent to your email address after you completed the registration process. With a subscription, you’ll get a certain number of credits every month to purchase designs. The number of credits you get depends on the subscription tier you have.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Access the 50 Free Designs in Your Library After you register your Portrait 3, you will be able to access the 50 free exclusive designs that come with your machine. To view your free designs, go to the Library tab in Silhouette Studio®. The software will prompt you to sign in to your Silhouette account if you haven’t already done so. Next go to the folders on the left-hand side. Click “Free with Machine” and then “Silhouette Portrait® 3.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Navigate Silhouette Studio® Now that you’ve downloaded Silhouette Studio®, it’s time to learn how to use it. To open Silhouette Studio®, locate the Silhouette Studio® icon on the desktop or in the Start Menu on your PC or in the Applications folder on your Mac. Double-click the icon to run the application. Once Silhouette Studio® has loaded, you will notice a blank 12-inch-by-12-inch design area on your screen as well as tools that surround that area.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Navigation Tabs There are four tabs along the top right-hand side: Design This design area is your workspace to create projects. This area houses the toolbars, the white design page, and the gray holding area. When you are in the Library, the Silhouette Design Store, or the Send menu, click the Design tab to return to your design page.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Design Area The Design area is the first area you’ll see when you open Silhouette Studio®, and it is the area you’ll likely spend most of the time in, so it’s important to learn how to use it to create your designs. Panels Each Silhouette Studio® Tool icon opens its own panel. Panels open on the right side of the design space, next to the Silhouette Tools icons.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Drawing Tools The toolbar along the left side of the software houses the tools needed to create and alter basic shapes and text. Select Tool Edit Points Line Tools Drawing Tools Freehand Tools Text Tool Draw a Note Eraser Tool Knife Tool Note: If you have other editions of Silhouette Studio® (e.g. Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition), you may see more drawing tools than you see listed here. You can learn more about those tools in the Silhouette Studio® software manual.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Text To cut letters or words using any font on your computer, choose the Text tool from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen. With the Text tool selected, click anywhere on the page and begin typing. The font will be a default font, but you can easily change this in the Text Style panel that pops up. After clicking on the page with the Text tool, a blinking cursor will appear. Begin typing any letters, words, or phrases you choose.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Library Sign In The Library is where you’ll find any designs you’ve acquired from the Silhouette Design Store. You can also save your own designs to your Silhouette Library. When you click on the Library tab, you may be asked to sign in to your Silhouette account if you haven’t already done so. Input your email address and password, and click “Sign In.” If you don’t already have a Silhouette account, you can click the “Sign up FREE” link.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Organize Your Library You can organize your designs within your Library by creating new folders for your designs. Drag any design from the right-hand window into your newly created folder in the Folders panel on the left. The numbers in circles next to each folder indicate how many designs are included in each folder. When you purchase designs from the Silhouette Design Store, those designs will show up in your Recent Downloads.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Search Library for Designs Designs that you purchase from the Silhouette Design Store have certain keywords associated with them, and this makes searching for a specific design simple. If you want to search for a design, open your library by clicking on the Library tab. Go to the search box on the top right-hand side and type in your keyword. Use Designs from Library Once you find a design you’d like to use, double-click the design to place it on your page.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Show Library Split Screen To view your designs space and your Silhouette Library at the same time, you can use the Library Split Screen feature. To split the screen, you must go to the Design screen. Go to the bottom left of the screen and click the folder with the down-pointing arrow (otherwise known as the Library icon) or click the triangle pointing to the right. This will open up the split screen.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Silhouette Design Store The Silhouette Design Store contains over 170,000 designs—including simple cutouts, intricate patterns and designs, fonts and phrases, 3D designs, and more—to cut with your Silhouette machine. Most designs are only 99¢. There are sales that happen in the Design Store regularly, and generally there is a free design posted every week. To access the Silhouette Design Store, click the Store tab in the upper-right corner of the software.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Download Designs For now, try downloading a free design by clicking this week’s free design. You can find the Free Design on the Deals page under “Free Designs.” When you click a design, a window will pop up to give you more information about that design. Here you can see what type of design this is, the file type, and the price. To add the design to your shopping cart, click the blue cart icon.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Send Panel When you click the Send tab, you’ll see a grayed-out version of the Design screen on the left and the Send panel on the right. The Send panel allows you to make adjustments to your cut settings so that you can make the perfect cut. There are four actions you can choose in the Send tab: Simple, Line, Fill, and Layer. Each action allows you to adjust specific cut settings.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Prepare the Portrait 3 Place Material on the Cutting Mat Remove the nonstick liner from the cutting mat. A new mat will be very sticky at first. To avoid damaging any materials you place on your cutting mat, place the mat, sticky side down on a surface that doesn’t release too much lint, such as denim or microfiber. This will make the mat less sticky but still allow it to grab on to materials without damaging them.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Load the Tool Choosing a tool or blade is an important step in preparing your Silhouette to cut. Since your machine comes with an AutoBlade, you can insert that. Different styles of blades are adjusted by different methods. Instructions for adjusting alternate blade types will be included on the blade packaging. AutoBlade Adjustment Socket Indicator Line If you’re using the AutoBlade, the blade will automatically adjust when you send your design to cut.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Auto Tool Detection New to the Portrait 3 is Auto Tool Detection. This feature allows the software to detect what tool is inserted into the machine, and the software automatically populates action options in the Send panel. This feature is available only on the Portrait 3 and Cameo 4 and their compatible tools. You can see a little metal strip on the back of the tools and the tool adapters.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Load the Material With the material loaded on the cutting mat, it’s time to load the cutting mat into the machine. Line up the left edge of the cutting mat with the gray line in front of the carriage and the white rollers. Click the Load button on the Portrait 3. The white rollers will grip your cutting mat and move it into position.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Cutting without a Mat (Kiss-cut) A kiss-cut is what is used when you are using cutting materials that have a backing (i.e., vinyl, heat transfer, sticker sheets, etc.) Make sure to set things up in Silhouette Studio® so that your Silhouette machine will perform the kiss-cut properly. First, set your cutting mat to “None” in the Page Setup panel. Next, go to the Send tab and make sure you have the correct material listed in the Send panel.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Cutting without a Mat (Pop-out Cut) The second option to cut without a mat is new to the Portrait 3! For the first time ever, cut materials like paper and cardstock without a cutting mat. With this feature, the Portrait will make cuts but keep the material in place using perforation cuts in strategic places. Once the material is removed from the cutting machine, simply pop the cut design from the paper.
Silhouette Portrait® 3 User Manual Where to Find More Information Complete Software Manual View the complete, illustrated User’s Manual within Silhouette Studio® by clicking Help > User’s Manual. Website Visit the tutorials section of SilhouetteAmerica.com for help with specific features and step-by-step instructions on how to cut different media types with the Silhouette Portrait®. Blog Visit the official Silhouette blog at Silhouette101.
