Studio Tools: Object on Path

Have you ever needed a shape but could not find one? A friend needed a circle with a scalloped edge to create thank you stickers to place on orders when she mailed them. She was working with the Basic level of Silhouette Studio, so did not have FlexiShapes. (If you have Designer Edition Plus or higher, you can use click here for a quick tutorial on using Flexishapes.)

To get started, click on the draw tools and select the ellipse. Bring your cursor into the workspace. Hold down the shift key and left click & drag to create a circle. Be sure to let go of the mouse button before you release the shift key so your shape remains a circle …. if you let go of the mouse first, the shape will become an ellipse. (I used the Fill Color command to add color to my circle to make it easier for you to see.)

Now draw another, larger circle. Click on the smaller circe to select it. Click on the Replicate panel. On the Object on Path tab, select Show Grab Handle.

The circle now has a Grab Handle shape in the center.

Left click on this and drag the small circle onto the larger one. When it reaches the larger circle, it will “grab” onto the circle and replicate itself around the shape.

Silhouette Studio will arbitrarily decide how many repetitions to place around the circle. If it places to many or too few, you can adjust the Number of Repeats in the Replicate panel.

When the shape looks the way you want it to look, Click on Release copies. This will release the smaller circles from the larger one if you do not wish to keep the larger circle. You can now delete the larger circle if you wish.

This is not the shape I really wanted to create, so I selected Undo to bring the larger circle back.

I selected the larger circle, right clicked and made a duplicate and moved it off the mat to use later. I then selected everything on the mat by dragging a box around it and opened the Modify panel.

With everything selected, I clicked on Weld to join the scalloped border to the inner circle.

Save this shape so you can use it again. I added text to the shape to create a Thank you sticker.

Then I deleted the text and brought the circle I created earlier over into the workspace. I selected the scalloped shape and the circle and used the Center icon in the Quick Access toolbar to make sure they were centered on each other. (I changed the color of the circle to make it easier to see.)

With both shapes selected, I clicked on the Modify Panel again. Then I selected Subtract.

Now i have a scalloped border to use around other shapes. I saved this design to be able to use it again. Then I added a monogram to the design.

You can use other shapes with the Object on Path tool. Here are a few examples.

I hope you will play with shapes and the Object on Path tool … as you can see from the examples above, it is a lot of fun and you can get some really interesting shapes!!

If you enjoyed these tips, please join my Facebook groups … Libby’s Silhouette Group — Tips, Tricks, Tutorials and Projects, Libby’s Craft and Sewing Group and Running With Sisers – Juliet and Romeo. You can also find me on FB at Libby’s Loft.com. Please join and feel free to ask questions and share your creations! I look forward to seeing you there!!

Until Next Time,

Happy Crafting!!

Disclaimer: Posts on this site may contain affiliate links. Clicking on one of these links or making purchases at linked sites does not mean you pay more for your purchases. It means I may receive a small commission on your purchase. This commission helps defray the costs of this site and enables me to continue to provide you with new and exciting content.

Until Next Time,

Happy Crafting!!

Disclaimer: Posts on this site may contain affiliate links. Clicking on one of these links or making purchases at linked sites does not mean you pay more for your purchases. It means I may receive a small commission on your purchase. This commission helps defray the costs of this site and enables me to continue to provide you with new and exciting content.