How to Add Any Word to an Arrow in Silhouette Studio

I don't know that arrows will ever not be popular...and putting text in an arrow - even better! Right?!

Today my friend Kendra from Simply {Darr}ling is taking over Silhouette School to help me out while we are in the process of swapping coasts. She's going to explain exactly how to add whatever word you want into an arrow in just a few quick steps in Silhouette Studio!


The past couple years, I've seen so many projects where words such as "love" and "dream" are inserted into an arrow. Did you know that it is actually super easy to do this with ANY word?

Once you have done this a couple times, it is actually super simple, the hardest part is picking out the perfect font (which many times is the part of the project that takes the longest time for me anyways). 

The first step is to add an arrow and your word to the work space in Silhouette Studio. I had a handful of different arrow shapes in my library.  If you don't have one in your library, they are easy to create with rectangles/triangles, or they can also be purchased. 

The second step is where you will spend most of your time: Picking the best font. For this project to look super awesome, there are a few keys for finding the perfect font. I highly recommend wordmark.it if you want to quickly see how a word will like in your various fonts.

You want the letters to overlap so they flow together into a single piece (you might need to play around with the character spacing to nudge them together a bit). 

Also, keep in mind the first and last letter need good "connect" points. For example, the word "epic" would be hard to come up with a good place to connect the right side of the arrow because the c is open. 



So pick your font and let's move on! 

Once your font is selected, it is time to edit the arrow so that the word can fit inside. Draw a box over the arrow where you want to splice it. Make sure to leave however much of the arrow you want on either side of the box. 

Select the box and the arrow, then select Object-->Modify-->Subtract to remove the box from the arrow. 

Move the word into the opening of the arrow and size them to be the proportions that you want. I used the Align tool to make sure that my two arrow ends stayed inline as I adjusted them around the word. Make sure that the arrow and word overlap by a smidge so you can weld them.

Finally, select the word and arrow segments and weld them together. This will create one continuous shape that you can use for your next project! 

I hope you enjoyed this fun tutorial and are imagining all the awesome places that you are going to use your new skill. 

If you are looking for some ideas on where to add some arrow words here are some projects for inspiration, how about add "adventure" on an upcycled globe, "enjoy" on a serving tray, or "cheers" on a wine fridge. What sort of words do you want to turn into an arrow? Where are you going to put them? 

 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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