Silhouette Design Store SVGs: The Low Down On If You Need Them

You may have noticed that the Silhouette Design Store recently started offering the SVG file type as an add-on when purchasing Silhouette Studio designs from the online store.

When I saw this had I had to scratch my head wondering - why would you want or need to buy an SVG from the Silhouette Design Store if you're already buying the .Studio file.  After all, the SVG format isn't offered as a stand alone, you can only add it on when purchasing the .studio format of the same file. 
To understand why Silhouette America is now offering SVG files - we need to look at a few things.

Silhouette Store Begins Offering SVGs 

First - the option to purchase (personal use) SVGs from the Silhouette store came at the same time Silhouette America released Silhouette Studio V4.1. That's the first version of Silhouette Studio that allows Silhouette Studio Business Edition users the ability to export as SVG.

Keep in mind, though, designs purchased from the Silhouette Design Store are protected against the ability to be exported in any format - including SVG.

Buying SVGs from the Silhouette Design Store

Secondly, offering SVGs in the Silhouette Online store means Silhouette users need the Designer Edition upgrade to open the SVG. That being said, since you can only get the SVG if you also buy the .Studio file, it won't make sense for the large majority of Silhouette crafters to add the SVG on.

Silhouette America acknowledged that fact when I asked about how SVGs in the Silhouette store would be beneficial to Silhouette crafters. "If you are a Silhouette machine user who runs their projects through Silhouette Studio, then the SVG option would not be advantageous. Such users may simply continue to obtain standard STUDIO file offerings."

That is unless...

You want to open and use Silhouette Design Store files in programs other than or in addition to Silhouette Studio.  Like Cricut Design Space, say.

Who Should Buy SVGs from the Silhouette Online Store 

This opens the door for Cricut users, Graphtec users, designers who favor Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Corel Draw to purchase from the Silhouette Design Store as well.  Of course they'd have to purchase the .Studio format along with the SVG file. "The reason we are selling SVGs in the Design store is to entice users of other machines to purchase our designs and consider using our products," Silhouette America tells me.  It's a smart move especially considering how advanced the Silhouette Design Studio software is getting and how most agree when it comes to Cricut vs Silhouette, Silhouette Studio wins out in the software category. 

Downloading Silhouette Design Store SVGs

So there you have it. By the way if you decide to purchase the SVG from the Silhouette Design Store you can download it by logging into your Silhouette Design Store account > "My Download History" > Open the Order > Check the SVG Box > Click "Download." 

Silhouette Store SVG designs download onto the computer's hard drive not the user's Silhouette cloud or into the Silhouette Studio library. 

 
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