# Contour cutting with Graphtec Silhouette Studio



## tshirtprintNewb (Jun 18, 2011)

Hi guys. Really need some help with contour cutting. I am using Graphtec Silhouette Studio and I have no idea how to contour cut a jpg image effectively. How do I do it smoothly? I got an order and they sent me an image. But I really have no idea how to do it. Please help.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

You have to print out your image with your printer from studio software. It wil place the registration marks that the optic eye on your cutter will read.pace Ths into the cutter and it should contour cut. I assume you are using a Cameo cutter?...there some tutorials on YouTube


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## tshirtprintNewb (Jun 18, 2011)

Do you have the software? 

My problem is actually not knowing how to trace the image. I select trace area, trace it after a few modification to the 4 settings available, but still no good. My customer gave me some image, but i need to contour cut the words out. It will be printed on black t-shirt.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

with Silhouette Studio> open the jpg..> select trace from menu> you should get a flyout menu on the right side> click the top...select image to trace>then using the mouse draw a box around the image>then select trace outline> select the pick tool (top tool on left) select the image and move...your vector trace will be under the original image


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## tshirtprintNewb (Jun 18, 2011)

charles95405 said:


> with Silhouette Studio> open the jpg..> select trace from menu> you should get a flyout menu on the right side> click the top...select image to trace>then using the mouse draw a box around the image>then select trace outline> select the pick tool (top tool on left) select the image and move...your vector trace will be under the original image


 
This is the problem I was facing. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. After I trace, the image wasn't traced properly. Like many small dots along the image, which result in the cutter cutting the small dots ruining the outcome. I watched a few videos before, they managed to trace the whole image smoothly (yellow-colored area on the image), for me is yellow line around the image with small dots around. Any idea how to solve this?


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## Riph (Jan 11, 2011)

When you do the tracing, there are settings you can use to adjust how the tracing algorithm will "see" the image. They are a low pass filter, threshold, high pass, etc. They are sliders on the right side when you are tracing. Adjusting these is how you get the yellow area to best match your image. It takes a bit of trial and error. You can fiddle with these settings until you get a good trace. If you do a trace and don't like the result, just do an "undo."

You can also edit the cutline that the tracing has produced. Select it and zoom in and you will see small dots (vertices) that you can grab and move (or delete). Sometimes, a little manual tweaking like this is the best way to fix an imperfect trace.

One thing I learned was that you can put values in the high and low pass filters larger that those that the sliders will input. For example, the slider on the high pass will only go to 25 (I think), but you can manually enter a larger number. That has made the difference for me on some tracings.

Good Luck!


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## tshirtprintNewb (Jun 18, 2011)

I tried many different possible settings, still no good! Guess I will have to try out the manual part later on. Thanks for all the replies guys! If there's anything else to add, plese do.


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## tshirtprintNewb (Jun 18, 2011)

Well, I tried manually set the high pass filter to as high as I can, turns out better than before. But quite a few parts not traced. About the manual setting of the small dots, how is it possible if the image has curves?


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## Riph (Jan 11, 2011)

Curves have nodes (also known as vertices) that allow you manipulate the curves location and path. That's how vector art works. Check this out for a general description:

(Bezier Curves - Bézier curve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Also, you can draw the cut line manually from scratch if tracing fails completely, but usually, tracing at least gives you a good starting point.


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## yolo creative (May 23, 2011)

You may find this video useful: How to use the Auto Trace tool


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## Arienya (Mar 16, 2012)

I dont know if you got the kinks worked out with this yet, but I just wanted to add a technique that I find super useful in the same situation. If all the little dots and marks are NOT connected to your outside trace line, just select the whole image, and right click. Select "Release Compound Path" and it should allow you to select all those little pieces individually, allowing you to delete them, leaving you with a clean outline.
Hope this helps! The Silhouette has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless =)


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