Today I want to share these pinecone elves I made with my kids as a Christmas craft. I used a Martha Stewart PDF template available online for the mittens, hat, and shoes. Of course you know if I can use my CAMEO, I will, so I imported the PDF into Silhouette Studio (Designer Edition) and my CAMEO cut the pieces out of hard felt.

How to use a PDF file to create a Silhouette Print and Cut File in Silhouette Studio (using Designer Edition)Facebook group SILHOUETTE CAMEO LOVERS UK.

How To Use A Pdf In Silhouette Studio

If you don’t know how to open a PDF in Silhouette Studio, I’ve made a short tutorial for you. (Note: This is a feature only available in Designer Edition and does not work in the basic edition of Silhouette Studio.) As I point out in the video, not all PDFs are alike. This process works well for a PDF when I just want the cut lines and will not be printing. You can also import printable PDFs into Silhouette Studio DE for a print & cut this way, but they are sometimes more complex.

1. I know a popular topic among Silhouette crafters is how to convert Silhouette Studio files to SVGs. This is necessary to open Studio files in other software programs or to share with a friend. Today, Silhouette School weekly contributor, Becky Dykes is here with a new, quick, easy and FREE way to do convert from Studio file to SVG.
2. DXF files with Silhouette Studio Basic Edition. DXF files are actually a great option for Silhouette users who have only the Basic edition of the software. Like SVG files (read more about those below), DXF files already contains the cut lines for your design, so they do not need to be traced like the image files we just discussed (JPG, PNG, BMP).
3. Silhouette Studio® only saves STUDIO, STUDIO3 and GSP files, which do not open in any other program. You need to design an invitation, printable, or other artwork to share. You run out of ink or your printer fails and you need to have your project printed elsewhere.

I cut the mittens, hat, and shoes out of Camelothard felt (I found a seller on Etsy who could ship me individual pieces). I made a custom cut setting for this hard felt: blade 10, speed 3, thickness 33, (no double cut). I used a sticky mat and my dedicated fabric blade, and it cut beautifully with no fabric stabilizer at all. The felt is stiffer than other felts, but still soft and pliable enough to use for plenty of felt projects.

Open Pdf Files In Silhouette Studio 2

My kids decorated the faces on these 1″ wooden beads. They bled a bit, so next time I will paint or seal the wood first. I helped with the hair and the hot glue. It’s been fun to see these little elves show up in random places around the house.

We made hair for my girls’ elves with some medium-thickness jute twine.

Open Pdf Files In Silhouette Studio 3

Happy holiday crafting!