This tutorial shows you how to get the look of outlined text for projects with your Silhouette Cameo and Portrait. You will love how easy it is to create this cool effect!
This tutorial came about because I knew exactly what I wanted to create for my kid’s big brother, big sister shirts I was making them for the arrival of the baby, and I knew the Silhouette Studio software could do it, BUT I had no idea how and it took me waaaaay too much time to figure it out since all of the tutorials were labeled with the name of the feature you use to do the effect and I had no clue what it was! See the problem here. I wanted to find how you create the outline around the text but had no idea that was called the offset feature. Hopefully this will help those of you who are new to Silhouette or the terminology like I was!
The feature you use to create the outline is called the Offset tool and it is very simple to use to get the effect!
How to Create Outlined {Offset} Text to cut with your Silhouette CAMEO
Step 1: Create your text
Open the Silhouette Studio software and use the font tool to write your desired word or phrase. The text I used is Brannboll Fet. Once you have it typed out, click on the corner of the box and pull the text to the size you want to cut it.
Step 2: Weld the text
After you have the word sized you will want to weld the text together if there is any overlap between the letters.
If you are using a font where the letters do not over lap you can skip this step. It is not necessacary for your text to touch or be welded to create this effect, but if they do you do NOT want to skip this step.
For those beginners out there, if you are using a script font you will see as in the above picture how there are cut lines for each individual letter which indicates that your Silhouette machine will cut between each letter where they intersect. Usually you will want a word in script font to be cut as one flowing piece, not as individual letters, so by welding the text it will remove any cut lines that overlap. An example of this is where the R and O connect in the image above.
To weld the letters, click on it so that there is a box around the word, then right click and pull down to weld. If your font letters almost touch but you want them to weld, you can use the character spacing in the menu on the right to move them closer together where they touch and can be welded.
Step 3: Offset the Text
Next open your offset menu which can be found in two places. It is in the Object menu which can be pulled down from the options at the very top of the page. The offset tool is also found in the tools at the top right of your design space and looks like a pentagon with a small blue arrow coming off the top (you can’t see my cursor in the screenshot but the icon is directly above the left most part of the yellow text window.)
Make sure that your text you wish to outline is selected and then use the the top Offset button (labeled 1) to create the offset or outline around the text. Then adjust the distance to change the thickness of the offset. I adjusted mine from the default of 0.125 to 0.15.
Step 4: Cut the Text
Now your outline (offset) text has been drawn. You can pull your original text off the offset to cut each piece separately. I found it easier to fill the text with the color I was cutting it so that I could tell how it would look.
Once you are satisfied with the look, separate the two pieces (the original text and the offset) and space out to cut with your Silhouette. I cut both in one run by putting a small piece of each color on the cutting mat in conjunction to where I placed each piece in the design space to cut.
As promised, super easy and the result is really awesome. You can see the finished shirts that I made below. Make sure to tune in next week for the tutorial on how to layer heat transfer vinyl so you can make all sorts of goodies with your new offsetting skills!
You can check out all of my Silhouette CAMEO projects here, and make sure to like the Craft Cutter Club on facebook where we share all things creative for your cutting machine!
A Beginner’s Guide to Heat Transfer Vinyl
Lisa says
Thanks for the tips! These shirts turned out so cute!
Gail says
I can’t find the tool that opens up a text box. When I click on the ‘A’, the Text Style opens up the options to choose and create text, but it doesn’t open up a text box to write into. Do you have any suggestions??
Thank you.
Nicole says
great tutorial! did you have to flip or mirror the vinyl before cutting? thanks.
Kimber says
Yes, if you are doing heat transfer you will want to mirror. You can see my beginner tips here: http://www.thepinningmama.com/a-beginners-guide-to-using-heat-transfer-to-create-t-shirts-custom-projects-silhouette-cameo-sale-promo-code/
Emily says
I have been wondering how to do this. Thank you so much!!!
Nicole says
Ok… I got the offset part done and printed. Any special tips for actually ironing it on? Do I iron them on one at a time or together? (I am a 100% newbie, and this is a silly first project to take on. The things we do for our kids…) Thanks!
Kimber says
Hi Nicole! I actually have a tutorial on layering heat transfer. Use the search box (top mobile or side on desktop) and you should be able to easily find it. Short answer is one at a time. Hope that helps!
Carissa says
This helped me soooooo much! I can’t thank you enough for this info!!!!
Mandy Jumper says
Thank you so much for the tutorial on Creating an Outline of your Text. I am not a beginner with Silhouette but no one could explain it the way you did and it was simple!! i have been trying to figure this out for a long time and was so happy I ran across your website. You are the absolute best!!!! THANK YOU!!