Tiling Feature in Silhouette V4.1

The Tiling feature in Silhouette V4.1 is only available in the Business Edition. It is a specific feature that allows you to cut designs larger than your machine can usually cut. The process involves splitting the design up into tiles. Once these tiles have been cut they can be assembled to create an up-scaled version of your design. In this tutorial we will show you how to use the tiling feature in Silhouette V4.1.

We will make use of these colorful mandala designs created by Julia_Dreams on Design Bundles. Let us begin by opening Silhouette Studio.

Step 1 - Access the Media Layout panel

Once you have opened Silhouette Studio, import your design. You can do this by going to File > Open or drag and drop it onto your canvas. The Media Layout panel is located on the right side toolbar. Depending on your screen size, you may need to click on the little arrow to access more options. Click to open the panel.

When the Media Layout Setup panel opens, set up the mat size and the media size first. Also make sure the Show Media Layout Split-Screen box is ticked at the very top.

Step 2 - Edit the Tiling options

There are four options available under the Media Layout Setup. We will be using the last option, Tiling. Tick the box for Tiling Active. This will give you a split screen where you can see the tiling. The tiling will only show on the right side if the design extends past the boundaries of the cutting mat.

On the image (left) side, you can see that each tile is numbered. You will also see where each section will be divided with the small lines and red nodes.

When adjusting the tiles in the media screen, the preview tiles will adjust to show on the mat where it will cut.

Step 3 - Configuring Options for Tiling feature

Under the Media Layout Setup, you have several configuring options. Relative to Job will adjust your tiles to the size of the image you are cutting.

Relative to Media will match the tiles to the size of your media. This will most likely be the same size as your mat.

User Defined gives you the option to adjust the size of the media. You can change the size of the image with the slider tool to suit your needs.

There is an option to Configure a Regular Grid. The options available are Automatically, Custom and Regular Grid. Using a regular grid, you can adjust the size of each tile via the sliders. You can also adjust how many columns and rows of tile you have.

The Custom option allows you to drag the red nodes to where you would like your tiles to be.

Beneath Overlap, we have the Margin option. This allows you to leave a margin or gap between each tile when cutting. It can be useful when lining up designs.

You also have an option to select only a few of the tiles you want to cut. If one tile or more is accidentally damaged during cutting, simply select the ones you need to re-cut. This saves you having to re-cut everything just for that one area.

The Tiling feature in Silhouette Studio gives you flexible options for cutting larger items. There is no more need to work out the dimensions or settings, just arrange and cut.

Next up, learn how to import patterns into your library, use text with the Foil Quill and create a sheet of stickers in Silhouette Studio.