Make Realistic Rhinstone Mock Ups in Silhouette Studio

So we all know the biggest and most talked about advantage of Designer Edition Plus is that it allows you to import embroidery files. But did you know the Designer Edition Plus also has huge advantages to those who work with rhinestones?!

The Advanced Rhinestone options in Silhouette Studio turn your rhinestone designs from a flat and relatively unimpressive circles into realistic looking rhinestones. This is huge for making rhinestone mock ups or if you just want to print a faux rhinestone design!
Here's how the advanced rhinestone feature works.

First open up your design in Silhouette Studio. I'm working with this camera shape I designed in Silhouette Studio.

With the shape selected, click the Rhinestone tool.  Remember, you won't have this tool icon on your tool bar unless you have Designer Edition or higher.

Once the Rhinestone Window is opened it will look like this. If you have Designer Edition Plus, you will have the option to open another nested window to view the Advanced Rhinestone tools.

In that window is where you will the realistic looking rhinestones. Select the color and size rhinestone you are working with.  For instance if you have clear 10ss rhinestones selection that option.

Now select the shape in the work area. It's best to size the shape before going any further.

Then scroll further down the window on the right and under "Rhinestone Mode" pick "Single." This means you only want to work with a single color rhinestone.

Scroll a little further down and select the type of fill you would like. I picked "Fill Interior (Linear)". Be patient...this process really makes the software think.

The design will fill with rhinestones and then you can repeat the process for all areas of the design that need rhinestones.  This time rather than picking a fill, I opted to "Apply to edge" so the selected shape (the heart) would NOT be filled with rhinestones, but rather just be outlined.

If there are any areas that have too many rhinestones and you need to delete or move individual rhinestones click "Select" under the Draw Rhinestones pane. Select the rhinestone and delete or move it. You can also add individual rhinestones by picking "Single Click."

When your rhinestone design has been created, you can select the original shape and pull it out of the way or delete it.

This way of creating rhinestone design allows you to get a much more realistic idea of what the rhinestone design will look like once the flock is cut and the rhinestones are adhered. It's a great way to make rhinestone mock ups for listing photos and customers, too. 

Here's a closer look so you can see the details in the rhinestone images.

You can now either cut or print this shape! Wouldn't it make a cute printable? I thought so too...so I printed it out to see how realistic the rhinestones look.  I'm impressed!

Back to cutting....if you go to the Cut settings you'll see your design also has cut lines around each rhinestone just like a traditional rhinestone shape.

Once cut on the rhinestone flock you would can remove the template from the backing to separate the circles. Then use your rhinestone brush to fill  the template with rhinestones before picking them up with the rhinestone transfer material.

And here it is once the actual rhinestones are applied to the shirt! Looks very much like the rhinestone mock up!

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