Silhouette CAMEO 4

Windows 10 connectivity issue
Microsoft recently rolled out an update to the Windows 10 operating system (version 21H1) that had removed the ability to successfully connect to a Silhouette machine.

This issue has now been resolved by Microsoft. If you were unable to connect your Silhouette machine following a recent update, please restart your computer. The update should be fixed when you restart your computer.
The rollout of this patch began for all users on July 10 at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time (USA).
If you had previously cancelled the most recent Windows Update, you can reinstall it at your convenience. As previously mentioned, you will not need to wait for an update for Silhouette Studio.

Software crashes when initializing or loading icons or when generating a cutting job.
There may be several reasons why Silhouette Studio software does not launch or freezes at startup.
- Download and install the latest version of Silhouette Studio according to your Windows operating system click here to check.
- Make sure your graphics card driver is up to date (even if your computer is recent or new). ◦ Depending on your Windows system version.
◦ In the Control Panel > System > Device Manager > Graphics Card
◦ You select your graphics card, right click update driver.
◦ This process can sometimes be long, wait the necessary time...
- Check in the Windows firewall that the Silhouette Studio program is authorized, if it does not appear in the list of programs/applications, add it. If you have an anti-virus program, check also that it does not block Silhouette Studio and add it in the exceptions.
- To restart Silhouette Studio, right click on the Silhouette Studio icon and select "Run as administrator". If in this case Silhouette Studio works normally, it's either because you didn't have administrator rights when you installed it, or because your antivirus software is blocking your software, check in the exceptions of your antivirus software.
- If after having performed all the above steps, the software still does not launch, proceed as below:
Silhouette Studio software stores custom cutting settings (blade/thickness/speed settings) and user option selections in a local preferences folder. Errors in this folder can result in several failures or malfunctions of the Silhouette Studio software. Deleting this folder is a minimally invasive troubleshooting procedure that will resolve a number of issues.
Here are the known errors that this procedure will resolve:
- Software is continuously in "Loading Icons" at startup
- Software fails at the "Initialization" step at startup
- Message "Generate cutting job" persists or is interrupted
Please proceed as below to clear the preferences of your Silhouette Studio software. Please note that this procedure will delete user generated cutting parameters (blade / thickness / speed settings) and user options:

On a Mac:
- Close the Silhouette Studio software
- Open the Finder
- Press CMD + SHIFT + G
- Type ~ / Library / Preferences
- Press Enter
- Delete the com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio folder
- Empty the trash can
- Launch Silhouette Studio
On a PC:
- Close the Silhouette Studio software
- Press the Windows key (bottom left, between CTRL and ALT) and the R key on your keyboard simultaneously
- Enter %programdata%.
- press Enter
- Delete the folder com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio
- Empty the recycle garbage can
- Launch Silhouette Studio
If Silhouette Studio still doesn't start, you will probably need to completely reinstall Silhouette Studio after cleaning up your computer's system. If you have not exported or saved your files outside the library, you risk losing them.
Please note that if the software works normally, but the connection is not made with your Silhouette machine, the above solution will not work.
I invite you to consult the other solutions related to the machines.

Designs from the store no longer download to the library
If you have changed your password for your Silhouette Designs online store account, to retrieve your designs, you must proceed as follows:

- Go to the library
- Click on your username, next to the email address you will see a red cross, click on it, the account will be deleted from the library.
- Close Silhouette Studio
- Open Silhouette Studio again
- Go to the library and log in again, the library will synchronize with your account.
NB: If you change the password on the Silhouette Design Store, then the synchronization will no longer be done on your account in the library because the login password no longer corresponds to the login. You will have to proceed again as above.

CHECK THE CALIBRATION OF THE MACHINE
1. Open Silhouette Studio
2. Make sure your machine is turned on and the USB cord is connected to your computer
3. Go to the SEND panel
4. Right-click on the machine in the lower left corner of the SEND panel
5. Select Calibration

6. A page with markers appears on the screen, Click on the Print Test Page button in the right column to print the calibration page displayed on your screen
IMPORTANT: please print on plain white paper
7. Load a blade into your Silhouette machine
NOTE: If you have a drawing pencil, you can also use it in place of the blade. Using a drawing pen can make the result easier to see.
8. Place the printed page on your cutting mat exactly as shown on the screen
9. Load your cutting mat into the Silhouette machine
10. Use the blue position arrows on the screen next to the Calibrate button to place your blade/pen in the area shown in green on your screen of the first printed cross.

NOTE: The green area is not printed.
11. Once in position, click on the Calibrate button
NOTE: The machine will try to read the cross, then cut / draw on it
12. Remove the cutting mat from the machine and observe the resulting cut/draw marks against the printed mark
CALIBRATE THE MACHINE
If the resulting cut/draw marks are correctly aligned with the printed cross (both vertical and horizontal lines), calibration is not necessary and you can stop.
If the resulting cut/draw marks are misaligned with the vertical or horizontal lines, continue as described below.
1. Using a ruler with millimeter measurements, measure the distance between the cut/draw line and the printed line
2. If the HORIZONTAL LINE is off (above or below the printed line), adjust the vertical slider on your screen to match your measurement.
- If the cut/draw line was made ABOVE the printed line, drag the vertical slider UP to match your measurement.
- If the cut/draw line was made BELOW the printed line, drag the vertical slider DOWN to match your measurement.
3. If the VERTICAL LINE is off (to the right or left of the printed line), adjust the horizontal cursor on your screen to match your measurement.
- If the cut/draw line was made RIGHT of the printed line, drag the horizontal slider to the RIGHT to match your measurement.
- If the cut/draw line was made to the LEFT of the printed line, drag the horizontal slider to the LEFT to match your measurement.
VERIFICATION OF ADJUSTMENTS
After adjusting the measurements as needed, repeat steps 10-12 above under "Checking the Machine Calibration". Be sure to move your blade/pen to the next unused cross to identify new results.
Continue to make adjustments until the cut/draw lines are aligned with the printed lines.
If the calibration is well done and the offset problem persists, other parameters can be checked: is the created cutting contour positioned correctly on the design, is the print scale correct, do the print dimensions match, is the paper fed correctly etc.?

Description
In order to obtain optimal results, it is necessary to calibrate PXSCAN with the camera you are using. This calibration allows you to correct distortions caused by imperfections in camera lenses. Note that PIXSCAN calibration is not necessary for scanned images.

  Printing of the calibration test pattern
1. Click on the PixScan icon
2. Click on the Import from File menu
3. Select Camera Calibration.
4. Select the corresponding A4 paper size from the list on the right.
5. Click on 'Show calibration test card'. (Display the calibration test chart)
6. Print the calibration chart on white paper.

  Photographing the calibration test pattern
For best results when photographing the calibration chart, please ensure that:
1. No zoom is used
2. The brightness must be uniform
3. The photo must be clear and sharp
4. The calibration chart should be placed on a flat surface
5. The camera must be parallel and aligned with the calibration chart
6. Only the calibration points are shown in the picture
Examples:

The image below shows a successful PIXSCAN calibration image:


  PixScan Calibration
Before importing images taken with a camera or phone, it is important to calibrate the Pixscan function for your specific camera. PixScan calibration is only required once for each camera. Once a calibration image is ready, a new profile can be created as follows:
Click on the PIXSCAN ™ icon.
1. Select camera calibration
2. Click on the + (plus) icon
3. Load the saved calibration image
That's all there is to it. As soon as the image is loaded, the software detects the name of the camera or allows you to name the calibration profile. Since the calibration profile is then created, it can be selected each time the corresponding camera is used to take PIXSCAN ™ images.

Description
Silhouette Studio® software does not recognize a PIXSCAN ™ image with its PIXSCAN ™ and therefore does not load the image.
This problem can be caused by the following:
- The carpet is not on a flat surface (the carpet is warped)
- The zoom is in use (and therefore not all of the carpet marks appear correctly)
- The lighting is uneven
- The whole carpet is not clearly visible in the image
- The PIXSCAN ™ mat has folded corners or edges
- The PIXSCAN ™ mat does not cover at least 30% of the image area.
- The image on the carpet is not located in the black frame

  Solution
The following items must be checked to correct this problem:
- The carpet must be on a flat surface
- The zoom should not be used
- The lighting is uniform
- The whole carpet must be visible in the image
- The PIXSCAN ™ mat is clean and flat (no corners or folded edges)
- The PIXSCAN ™ mat covers at least 30% of the image area
- The image on the carpet is contained in the black frame

  Examples:

Description PIXSCAN ™ mat registration marks cannot be read correctly. The process of reading the marks on the mat fails.

Cause
The PIXSCAN ™ mat is not loaded properly.

Resolution
Realign the mat to the alignment mark shown on the left side of the machine without covering it. The edge of the mat should be just to the right of the mark (rather than covering the mark or being loaded a little too far to the left).

Effects are not displayed
If you do not see the Effects icon:


Install the latest version of the software, this function requires the latest version of Silhouette Studio®.

  The effects do not work
If you are already using the latest version of the program and you see the icon of the function, but when opening it you get an error message saying that the function is not available, this means that there is a problem with the graphics card of your computer. The Effects function is a way to change the visual display of raster images (such as .PNG, .JPG, .BMP and .GIF) by applying graphic effects such as color inversion, brightness, contrast, gray tint, and others.
The Effects feature in Silhouette Studio® relies on your computer's graphics card to provide the ability to use the effects functionality. In other words, Silhouette Studio® borrows the ability to change the color scheme of images you see on your computer. If your computer does not have the ability to provide these effects, you will see an error message instead of the various Effects options. If you are redirected to this page from Silhouette Studio®, it means that your computer does not have the physical hardware necessary to use the Effects feature. To use the effects you will need to install a new graphics card on your computer, or use a replacement computer that has a graphics card compatible with this feature. If you wish to use this feature on a computer that is currently unable to display the options of this feature, we recommend that you consult a computer technician for more information about your specific computer and how to obtain and install a new graphics card.

The machine is not recognized in the SEND window, the connection is running in sync... or the machine "knits" as soon as it is turned on...

Cause
Sometimes interfering connections can be caused by jobs waiting in your printer's queue.
Check your printers' queues for files, delete them...

Then proceed as follows and in order:
Disconnect the two cables (power + USB) from the machine
Check the printer drivers to see if there are any pending files, delete them...
Go to the folder C:>Windows > system32 > spool > printers and delete the file(s) that are there.
It is possible that some files will not be deleted, they will disappear at reboot.
Restart the PC.
You reconnect the cables, you launch Silhouette Studio and then you turn on the machine.

Description of the problem
When printing a document from the Silhouette Studio® software, the printed page is blank (or the marks are printed only, if they are activated).

Cause
Although there is an object on the screen for printing, in reality there is no print information present in the file. The cut lines and print information are processed differently. Silhouette Studio® software does not print image cutlines or cut object outlines unless the lines are specifically enabled for printing.
Silhouette Studio® software only prints the following:
- Imported raster images that are intended for printing
- Interiors of contours that are filled with a color fill or fill pattern
- Cut lines that are enabled to be printed

Resolution
If you want to print the contour or shape in question, you should proceed as below according to your wish:

Fill the image with printing information
1. Select the image
2. Go to the fill color (fill bucket) or fill pattern
3. Select the desired color or fill pattern

Activate the cut lines to be printed
1. Select the image
2. Go to the Line Style option (the icon that displays a series of dotted and solid lines)
3. Check the box "Print Selected Lines."
4. Set the thickness of the line

Problem Description Some PC computers (even newer ones) may have problems running the Silhouette Studio® program if an older graphics card driver is in use. Your computer's graphics card driver is the component that displays images on your screen. Because the Silhouette Studio® software uses a special programming language to process information, it may be necessary to update the graphics card driver. Cause Software crashes on startup, display problems, or slow software execution may be caused by using an older graphics card driver. Solution Proceed as follows to update the graphics card driver: Windows XP/Vista/7:
1. Go to the Start menu of your PC
2. Right-click on Computer
3. Click on Properties
4. Click on Device Manager (in the left column) (Go to step 5 below)
Windows 8:
1. Place the mouse cursor in the upper right corner of your screen
2. Go to the Search option
3. Type Settings in the search
4. Search for and select and run the Device Manager (Go to step 5 below) When you are in the Device Manager, proceed as below:
5. Click on Charts
6. Double click on the chart in the list
7. When the map is displayed, click on the Driver tab
8. Click on Update Driver
If you know the name of your graphic card, you can also go to the associated site to update the driver.
- NVidia - http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx
- Intel - http://downloadcenter.intel.com (you can click on the support button, to update the driver) Follow the instructions for the update. Then, restart the computer.