Occasionally, you will want to use an image in your Silhouette project that isn’t an SVG cut file. You can use several types of raster images in your Silhouette including TIF, GIF, JPG, BMP and PNG. In this tutorial, we will import a raster image into Silhouette and use the Trace feature to create a cut line. This is the process you will use to print and cut clip art in your Silhouette.

We will be printing the image before we cut. So load your paper into your printer and open the Silhouette^R Cameo workspace.

1. Click File - Open to open the PNG image into the workspace. Resize the image as needed.
   
   
2. Set the page size in the Page Settings pane for your paper. You will also want to turn on the Show Print Border and Show Cut Border options.
   
   
3. The print registration marks are not on by default. So, go to the Registration marks pane and set the Style menu to Type 1 or Type 2, depending on your machine.
   
   
4. Adjust the position of the image so that it does not overlap the registration marks or fall outside the cutting area.
   
   Now we are ready to use the Trace feature to create a cut line around the image.
   
   
5. Click the Trace icon to open the Trace pane and click the Select Trace Area option at the top.
   
   
6. Draw a selection around the entire image. You will see some of the image turn yellow.
   
   
7. Uncheck the High Pass Filter and check the Low Pass Filter.
   
   
8. Using the slider control, adjust the Threshold until the entire image turns yellow or as close as possible.
   
   If you aren’t satisfied, try turning off the Low Pass Filter as well and try adjusting with the Threshold.
   
   
9. Click the Trace Outer Edge option in the Method menu to create a cut line. You will see a thin red line around the image.
   
   To adjust the cut line to match the outline of the image, we need to go into Point Editing Mode.
   
   
10. Double-click the image and you will see all the anchor points or nodes in the cut line.
    
    
11. Place your cursor over a point and it will change to an arrow. Click and drag the point as needed. It does help to zoom into the image to see these small points.
    
    
12. A selected point will turn white and you will see the blue squares of the curve handles. Use these handles to adjust the curve. You can also use the arrows on your keyboard to move the point in small increments.
    
    If a group of points are too close together, you can remove some of the points by right-clicking on a point and choosing Delete.
    
    Once you have the cut line adjusted as needed, you are ready to cut.
    
    
13. Click the Cut icon to open the Cut pane. Set the Cut Mode to Standard and the Cut Style to Cut Edge. You will see one red cutting line around the image and possibly a red rectangle around the white background of the image.
    
    
14. If you have the second cut line, we need to tell the Silhouette not to cut the cutting line around the background. Select the rectangular cut line and click the No Cut option. The cutting line should disappear leaving only the cut line around the image.
    
    
15. From the Menu at the upper right, click the Printer icon to send the image to the printer. The printer should print the three registration marks along with your image.
    
    Put the paper into the Silhouette cutting machine.
    
    
16. In the Cut pane, choose the Material Type for your paper and click the Send to Silhouette button.
    
    

Silhouette, Silhouette Studio, Silhouette Connect, PixScan, Silhouette CAMEOR and Silhouette Portrait are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Silhouette America, Inc. Product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Silhouette America, Inc.