Learn how to fix your silhouette print and cut issues. Having trouble with your silhouette print and cut not lining up? It’s easy to fix.
I love my Silhouette. But when it comes to the Silhouette Print and Cut Function, the relationship changes. And not in a good way.
A few weeks ago, I was trying to print and cut labels for my shop and was almost in tears during the process. My carefully crafted labels printed beautifully, but every time I tried to cut them, the cuts were getting farther and farther from being right. It was incredibly frustrating.
So I want to share the process of how I solved my silhouette print and cut issues.
Need more information on using Silhouette Print and Cut? I’ve got you covered with this post on how to cut stickers.
Solve Your Silhouette Print and Cut Issues
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- Open your Silhouette Design Studio software.
- Open the settings panel. It can be found in the lower-left corner.
- Click on the “Advanced Panel”.
- Change the packet size from the default of “1000 bytes” to “500 bytes.”
- Click “OK.”
This should solve the issue of the cuts not aligning correctly. I’m not even sure why it works, but it’s something about how much data the Silhouette sends to the computer. Sending less data sounds bad, but it’s actually better because it keeps it from getting bogged down. This is a pretty common problem, so I’m not sure why it is set so high to begin with.
Your silhouette print and cut should line up perfectly now.
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More Silhouette Troubleshooting Ideas for Alignment Issues
- Lighting. Your silhouette needs to have a decent amount of light to be able to read the registration marks. Place a lamp near your silhouette or place it near a window for daytime use.
- Bluetooth. Even though my machine sits inches away from my computer, I can’t always get it to link via bluetooth. Just plug it in.
- Images in the registration zone. You can’t have anything in the registration zone. Cut your design apart and place them on separate pages.
- Make sure that you paper is properly aligned on the cutting mat.
- If all else fails, sometimes turning it off and turning it back on, plus restarting the Silhouette Studio software can fix your problem. Sometimes, I turn it off and walk away. When I come back to it, it seems to work. Be sure to close out of the software as well.
- Remove the blade and replace it. Sometimes the blade is the problem.
This is another possible fix from Silhouette.
Have you solved your alignment cutting issues any other ways? Let me know. There’s nothing more frustrating that tech issues and I would love to help as many people as possible.
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Emy is a vintage obsessed mama of 2 DIYer who loves sharing affordable solutions for common home problems. You don’t need a giant budget to create a lovely home. Read more…
Adam says
I was about to throw my silhouette out of my living room window. The cuts kept drifting as I went down the page. I calibrated about 10 times over and nothing changed.
found your blog by chance and now it is absolutely perfect!!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this
Nicole Sousa says
Thank you so much! It worked perfectly. As I was losing my mind you made me sane again : )
Emy Flint says
Glad it helped!
Kim Strand says
Thank you this worked great!
Melanie says
Do you know if they’ve changed this issue whatsoever lately? I’m having this problem as well but unfortunately changing the packet size hasn’t fixed it for me, but all my calibrations are right. Was hoping this was my godly fix!
Emy Flint says
I’m not sure if they’ve changed anything. I haven’t updated the software in quite some time. People have commented very recently that this is still working for them. Some people have had luck switching the package size to be larger. Make sure that you’re not using it via Bluetooth. That seems to cause a lot of issues for me. If you’re still having trouble, send Silhouette a message and see if they can help you. Unfortunately, the Print and Cut feature is the worst part of the Silhouette.