How to Use Edit Points to Design Custom Shapes in Silhouette Studio (Free Cut File)

I get lots of questions about creating custom shapes and designs in Silhouette Studio - but the truth is you can do a whole lot with a simple line and edit points. 

 

New Silhouette School contributor Cat from Pocketful of Poises is here today (let's all welcome, Cat!) to share with us her tips on how to create shapes.  Cat is focusing on the leaf shape, but her design process in Silhouette Studio can be applied to a lot of designs.
One of my favorite Silhouette projects to make are paper plants, garlands, and flowers.  For today's post I am going to show you how I made the leaves I used in my Pretty Poinsettia Place Cards and I am also including the free cut file at the bottom of this post for these leaves...which also doubled as the flower petals! 

With each Silhouette Paper Leaf Project I typically use the same supplies. Although there is some variation from project to project. With these supplies you can make any of my beautiful paper leaf projects.

• Silhouette Cameo
• Basil Green Cardstock
• Fern Green Cardsock
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
• Floral Wire
• Floral Tape
• Round Barrel Ink Pen

To create my Silhouette Paper leaves I first start with a blank Silhouette Studio File.

Then I draw a single line using the Draw a Line tool on the left sidebar.  Use the mouse to draw out a line that's the length of the body of the leaf (excluding the stem length).

 

Next I start shaping my leaf using the edit point tool. Located just below the line tool on the tool bar. 

I like to start by adding my widest point first then moving on to start shaping the rest. To add this point simply click the Edit Point tool and click on the line where I want to shape it. Then I drag the line where I want it to go using the mouse.

 

I continue to add more edit points using the same process to create the basic shape of one side of the leaf.

 

 

Once you have a few basic points added to your line zoom in so you can clearly see the shape of the line. This is where I add a few more edit points to avoid any funky line angles.  You can also use the Smooth option on the Point Editing window to help smooth out the spaces between the points.

 

Once I am happy with the overall shape of my leaf side, I copy and paste this line back onto my canvas using the keyboard copy and paste shortcuts. 

Then I mirror the image by selecting one side of the leaf > right click > Flip Horizontal.  By mirroring the first side this guarantees that the leaf will be symmetrical in shape and size - something that is nearly impossible to do if you make two separate lines. 

 

After placing the two leaf sides side by side where they are touching at both the top and bottom points. I use the eraser tool to create and opening in the bottom of the leaf and add the stem. 

 

Next I draw the stem...again using the line tool. 

 

To finish up my leaf I group everything together using the group function. To Group the design, highlight all the pieces then select the Object menu > Group. This will combine all the lines into one shape. 

 

 

Now that my leaf is complete all that's left to do is copy and paste. First I copy my design then paste. 

To save space and use as much of my paper as possible I rotate the second image using the Rotate tool so it is a close to the first leaf as possible. 

 

Once I have my two leaves I copy and paste these until I have a whole row. Then I select copy and paste that row to make a whole sheet. Or as many leaves as I need. 

 

 

Now you're ready to cut your shape on your paper with your Silhouette cutting machine. I use the following settings to cut:

Textured Cardstock:  I set my blade set to 4 with a speed of 4 and depth of 30. 

Non Textured Cardstock: I to set my blade to 3 with a speed of 4 and depth of 30. 

Although these settings can vary from brand to brand of cardstock I find these settings to work most frequently. 

By the way - don't do all that work and then re-invent the wheel when it's time to make your flower  and pedal shape! I used the exact same leave shape around a small inner circle to create the flower design...also cut on paper. 

Are you ready for the free cut file? Click here to download the Free Silhouette Studio cut file for the flower leaf. 

Please remember, this file is for personal use only and can not be duplicated or used for commercial use. It can not be sold to another party and can not be used to create items for sale. It is fully and completely licensed to Pocketful of Posies.    If you're going to share, we ask that you share a direct link back to this blog post and not a link to the Dropbox or the actual cut file.

A big thank you to Melissa for opening up her blog to me and thank you to all of you for letting me stop by and share How to Create Beautiful Paper Leaves with Your Silhouette Machine with you! I hope you'll jump over and check out how I used this free cut file to make these Pretty Poinsettia Place Cards. 

   

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!

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