You CAN back up NEW Silhouette designs from their online store
craftluv45
Posts: 208Member
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I was in the beta testing for Silhouette Studio, and though in the beginning there were problems (it was not even a hatched program then) I love my Silhouette, would not dream of getting rid of it, and love Silhouette Studio which I use all the time for Print and Cuts, which is what I bought the machine for.. it does a GREAT job at them, easily, as the Silhouette has that electronic eye feature that reads the little marks which tell the machine where the graphic is.
I've been concerned as many are saying you CAN NOT back up your libraries and purchases from the Sil Store.. you CAN.. This is what I received in an email from Brian Hubler who ran the Silhouette beta testing and development for Sihouette Studio before release. Take the files he suggests below and move them to an exterior drive. They are also working on developing a way of doing the backup from inside the software program itself, but this has not yet been released or installed. As a double check, I sometimes download all my files in the old Robomaster, as I cannot do .pdf's from Studio and like to have them there to work on, but Studio is great, and I use it all the time, and my purchased designs reside there in folders as with Robomaster the library folders were impossible to manage.
I'd hate to see anyone turned off about a Silhouette. It may cut a smaller area than some of the big machines, but I've been with mine for years now, and would NEVER be without it.. I'm as loyal to Silhouette, who gives EXCELLENT customer service, as I am loyal to MTC. The company of Silhouette is the best in my opinion! They spoiled me, after Silhouette Cricut was a RUDE awakening!
To backup your Silhouette files you purchased through Studio, and IN your library folders so they will come back the same, this is what Brian said to do:
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Hubler
To: Trina M. Macko
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 9:58 AM
In regard to backing up your library, you can back up your library on your computer. We haven’t locked this ability. If you desire to make a manual back-up for the Silhouette Studio library, here is the response:
Mac: Please open your “Finder” program and go to Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8.
PC: Browse your computer to find C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8.
Please note that your library and structure is at the location noted above. If you wanted to back up your own library manually with the folder structure, you would need to save this entire folder with all sub-content without further opening it or making any adjustment. Upon re-installation, you could then copy the folder over the top of the newly installed program folder in of the same name in the same location. Please note that you would need to continue to back up this folder whenever any adjustments were made. This may of course be backed up for your own personal purposes, should you wish to maintain a local copy for yourself that includs your library’s structure.
Hope this helps those who are concerned their purchased designs that they pay for might be wiped forever. They can and are stored on YOUR computer, but in an emergency, thank God they are ALSO on the Silhouette server where you can download them all to recover if needed. If you have used up your 'times' to download and recover, call them and generally they will reset for you so you can download them all again. They have done if for me faithfully!
Trina M.
I've been concerned as many are saying you CAN NOT back up your libraries and purchases from the Sil Store.. you CAN.. This is what I received in an email from Brian Hubler who ran the Silhouette beta testing and development for Sihouette Studio before release. Take the files he suggests below and move them to an exterior drive. They are also working on developing a way of doing the backup from inside the software program itself, but this has not yet been released or installed. As a double check, I sometimes download all my files in the old Robomaster, as I cannot do .pdf's from Studio and like to have them there to work on, but Studio is great, and I use it all the time, and my purchased designs reside there in folders as with Robomaster the library folders were impossible to manage.
I'd hate to see anyone turned off about a Silhouette. It may cut a smaller area than some of the big machines, but I've been with mine for years now, and would NEVER be without it.. I'm as loyal to Silhouette, who gives EXCELLENT customer service, as I am loyal to MTC. The company of Silhouette is the best in my opinion! They spoiled me, after Silhouette Cricut was a RUDE awakening!
To backup your Silhouette files you purchased through Studio, and IN your library folders so they will come back the same, this is what Brian said to do:
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Hubler
To: Trina M. Macko
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 9:58 AM
In regard to backing up your library, you can back up your library on your computer. We haven’t locked this ability. If you desire to make a manual back-up for the Silhouette Studio library, here is the response:
Mac: Please open your “Finder” program and go to Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8.
PC: Browse your computer to find C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8.
Please note that your library and structure is at the location noted above. If you wanted to back up your own library manually with the folder structure, you would need to save this entire folder with all sub-content without further opening it or making any adjustment. Upon re-installation, you could then copy the folder over the top of the newly installed program folder in of the same name in the same location. Please note that you would need to continue to back up this folder whenever any adjustments were made. This may of course be backed up for your own personal purposes, should you wish to maintain a local copy for yourself that includs your library’s structure.
Hope this helps those who are concerned their purchased designs that they pay for might be wiped forever. They can and are stored on YOUR computer, but in an emergency, thank God they are ALSO on the Silhouette server where you can download them all to recover if needed. If you have used up your 'times' to download and recover, call them and generally they will reset for you so you can download them all again. They have done if for me faithfully!
Trina M.
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Edit: Beanie - an additional thought - when you print to your printer for the printing part - is your driver in the printer setup for like a draft mode where it uses less ink? Or, is the printer hooked up to one of those CIS systems where the ink is less? It might be that the printer is not laying down enough ink on the printing part so that the machine can read the marks. You ought to play around with some of the driver settings to see what lays down more ink.
Trina - yes that folder can be backed up, and there's additional back up on the server, but that is good only as long as silhouette america keeps running the store. If the store closes down one day, the user is simply plain out of luck. In robomaster, the user has a way of backing up those images the user paid for, in an independent way that is not tied to the software. That's the difference. While I do not blame Silhouette America for the concern about their copyrighted images being released widely unauthorized, there is a way to give the user creative freedom by making a store version of the software and a non-store version of the software - with neither being able to interchange with each other - so that way the end user has the freedom to do anything wanted, and silhouette america is protected for their copyrights. I do not think anyone is going to be turned off from the silhouette by this situation, as it only pertains to store purchases. While many users of the silhouette love the store, I think many are like me that use up their freebies and never make another purchase, because there are so many other sources of design files over the internet that are either free, or with little cost that has no strings like purchases from the store. I'm not fond of the current situation, but it doesn't stop me from using the wonderful print & cut feature of the sil. I simply ignore the whole store aspect and all is good.
Pat
I had their unlimited subscription for two years, and up until this March got EVERY design they have, right now my subscription is more limited to 150 designs a month as the unlimited is twice the cost I was paying (I miss that unlimited, I could download everything they put up every week.) I now pay $16.99 a month for those 150 designs, and eagerly look forward to checking the 'new designs' every several days. It's like a little surprise in the mail for me.
They did tell me during beta that eventually RoboMaster will not work with thieir files and they will stop supporting it... and as we know, many of the new designs won't show up in RoboMaster when we download them. But you can import your files from RoboMaster into the Silhouette Studio, which is a plus, and Studio is that rare totally free program for anyone who wants it. For me it's just a great option to have a variety of files.
As far as the print and cut, I did at one time have trouble getting the cut to line up with the print, but with a little 'futzing' around of the numbers for the up and down orientation of the paper in the software to indicate where it should read the registration marks, I fixed it. The online manual or one in the software tells how to do that. Sorry you guys are having problems with that as it's wonderful for me. There are several Yahoo groups that you could join for Robmaster and Silhouette, too, that have been very helpful for me when I've had problems in the past. And, finally, I do NOT have the new SD version, but the older machine, and it chugs along beautifully, no problems for me... Again, if you have problems or questions, call them and don't give up, if you can resolve your issues and frustrations about it, it will be well worth it for print and cuts and their designs.
Added about cut and prints.. I did read somewhere that if you have an HP printer sometimes the printing is off somehow that the Sil has a bit of a problem with reading the graphics. But I have not to date had a problem with my HP, and as I said, the gals in the Yahoo groups have been very kind in helping to the point that I generally have no problems after discussing with the 'experts' over there.
:bz
In robomaster, you can wholesale copy the "my library" files from the template folder, lift them to an external drive to back them up, re-name the files to .gsd, and then you have completely backed up files untied to the "my library." You can do this in one swoop, without having to open each individual file to give it a .gsd extension to untie it from the "my library" section.
On another thread, Gale had a great idea. As she purchases her files, she opens them in SS, and saves it as a .studio file off her main drive [ie to an external drive]. This way they are backed up as .studio files, also untied from the "my library" in studio, but, the kicker is it has to be done one at a time. There is no way to rename the individual files in the silhouette studio portion of my library [when you browse your computer], because it is encrypted by silhouette america.
So, apparently, you can do the same thing in studio, it just takes more work and discipline, but it can be done. Just remember, if you want files backed up untied to "my library" open your files as you download them from the store, save as .studio and save it to an external drive - that is backed up regularly [I have 2 externals, one for the files, one for backup].
Gale - a big thank you for bringing that to my attention on the other thread.
Pat
If you lose your hard drive files and have to reformat, you just reinstall Sil. Studio when you recover, and install the file named above in the program folder, and your whole library and purchased files are back... don't know why you seem to want to make it difficult. I'm starting to get VERY annoyed.
It looks like the name is com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8?? but that is an odd name so I just want to be sure. TIA.
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Cutters: using the the Silhouette SD almost exclusively these days!
I think my directory structure is different because I am using Vista. What is your OS?
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None of this had anything to do with the Silhouette machine or use of the Silhouette software for anything else, and no one was criticizing it.
The ease of backup is relevant, as the average user is not going to be able to find the files and copy them to another external drive, without your explicit information. I was able to do that with the Robomaster software without having to know anything special.
So none of these posts were ever meant to criticize the Silhouette machine, nor the design features of the software. Your comments to some of the posters were quite harsh and I suggest you reread all the original posts.
yes, you can backup the sil'studio library file to a backup drive...
and then restore it to the program later if needed.
but what MANY (probably most) are actaully meaning when they say "back up the files" is that they want to get the the individual files out of that library to use in other programs and with other cutters. THAT is what can NOT be done.... and it is what people are shying away from.
As a standalone for someone who has/uses only the sil' cutter, the sil'studio program is a great option. But for others who like myself have many programs and multiple cutters, the program is too self-enclosed and proprietary to be complimentary to those other programs and cutters.
Many or maybe most of the members here have atleast a 2nd machine, and want the option to select what design they want to use, what program they want to use it in, and which machine to cut it with.
pc made the mistake of trying to dictate that their designs be used only with their cutter or their software... and of trying to dictate that their machine can cut only their designs.... and, well, we all know how the rest of that story went...
every user just needs to look at their own circumstances and determine what is best for them... whether it be which program, which cutter, or which shampoo...
I went in to lurk mode for a bit because I didn't like some of the responses I saw people give others. If we have a problem or situation with someone, can we please, please take it to pm or email?
I would really like to see this board get back into using the machine (regardless of what it is) and showing off great designs and projects.
Sometimes it is hard to tell people's "tone" by the written word and so things can easily be misinterpreted.
Okay, I will shut up now.
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Cutting with 24" KNK Maxx, Silhouette SD, Expression, Cameo, and Zing
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Of course we understand loyalty here, but please remember, we like to keep this forum as drama-free as possible. :-D
I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record with this...but until people really start taking Bryan's post to heart, I will plaster it all over the forum to help people remember... Thank you everyone,
Jeanette / iggy
Jeanette in Orange County, CA
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C:\Program Files\Silhouette Studio\Resources\resources
and here:
C:\ProgramData
This issue is just one of technical information:
To backup as a term means that you can take the files or data you have, copy it someplace else and have another copy... a file 'at your back' so that if you lose data you have it elsewhere and can recover or repair so you have what you lost.
What people above with wanting to take files and use them elsewhere is called 'export'. You take a file from one program, save it to that or another format, and can use it in another program or another way.
With Silhouette you were never able to take a .gsd into any other program and use it as a .gsd. You had to 'convert' the file by using .pdf programs to take a screen shot and then using the graphic, make it available to a program like MTC and re create the design and export to an .svg or MTC. SCAL has it's own format.. it did take .svg's and open them, but not save to them.
But unlike Cricut, Silhouette DOES allow you to take your .svg's, and open them in MTC, or create an .svg or other file and make it in MTC, and then SEND it to the Silhouette to cut... Cricut blocks us from doing that, we cannot use our machines with MTC. With Silhouette you can.
So, above, we have established (thank you Nelda) that we can SAVE the files we buy from Silhouette, in their .studio or .gsd format, so that we don't lose what we paid for, we can copy the file they 'live' in, and put it on an exterior drive and save the files and our libraries. We can save the files we make in Sil. Studio the same way.
Silhouette has a lot of money invested in selling their designs online right now, and they want to protect those designs they are selling (though there are always ways to cheat) from being dispensed in the crafting community by people trading them and giving them away in .svg or other formats without people having paid for them. That I fully understand, it's a copyright issue and they want to protect their material.
But things YOU create, and do it in MTC, can still be used in the Sil. and with other software programs such as Inkscape. You are not limited with those files that are also, through MTC, to be considered Silhouette compatible. The ONLY files you cannot use back and forth are THEIR files, which they aouthor, and have a right to protect. If you can save them, and back them up, I see absolutely no problem with this. You are not forbidden to use the MACHINE with other software.
We all have our preferences of machines, but we all also have, I believe, an obligation to say when we do not know something, or we do. If I do not know or understand something, I say that. I am not a guru in the cutting field and readily admit that too. When I don't know something and someone has a question, generally because of her great knowledge, and because I respect her greatly, I refer them to Julie Flanagan who runs the MTC Tuts group, has MUCH experience in the cutter field in business, and is a world and fountain of knowledge. When I have facts in front of me that are documented and from a reliable, verifiable source, I do not contradict them and imply the person giving the facts is dumb, or wrong, or misinformed. I just go look elsewhere for the information, research it myself, and verify if the information is right or incorrect. Only then do I come back and challenge what another has stated, and engage in a debate or discussion on the information first raised. I do not like to speak without authority or data or evidence to back me up, and when someone presents that to me, would be very wrong to try to assert my own views based only on personal opinion. Techniecal data is technical data, it's not an issue of opinon, but of fact.
Anyone can like any machine they like, that is an issue of preference. But to discuss a mcahine or a person with lack of information or fact, and say the machine or person is bad or undesirable without a substantial reason or data is very unfair. It's akin to 'gossip' about a machine.
Was my post helpful? Yes I believe it was, and fought to have the correct information brought out to help potential purchasers and owners of Silhouettes understand something not generally known and bring helpful information to them and share it: You CAN back up your files, those you create or Silhouettes', that are in .studio format, just like you could .gsd's. You will LOSE no data using that machine, that is my point and the only point I was trying to make, and it seems, that was not understood and contradicted. I fought, despite opinions to the contrary, that were not factually true or technically correct, to have what the truth is on this issue told. Documentation and facts are documentation and facts.
Now everyone knows you can back up your designs in Silhouette from this discussion, and in that regard I think it was a valuable one. But let's talk about what we KNOW, not what we do not know, or just suppose, and in the end bash a perfectly good machine or person without the facts to back it up.
I may not LIKE that a Cougar costs $599, and I can't afford it, but I do not go around saying it is a bad machine because in that one regard it's an aspect not acceptable to me. I have no right to discuss Cougar's or Lynx, Gazelles, or even the Pazzles I just bought as I do not know those machines or their associated software well, and I would not presume to, it would only lead people astray, and be unfair to those manufacturers or buyers and owners who love those machines. Actually, if I had my way, I'd have one of each, but that is another issue! :)
My point is, guys, let's just be careful to make the distinction between what we KNOW, and what we think we know, or what is strictly opinion. People are spending a lot of money for machines and transitioning out of the Cricut, we do not want them to buy under false information, or miss an opportunity because of false information, and be the cause of them making a choice they might regret.. Machines are too expensive to replace on a whim. And like with software we can't use and have hard dollars in (and like the Cricut) we do not like it when our money is spent foolishly or wasted. Let's give people the information they can use, that is truthful and reliable, and that they can depend on. That and giving proper data is my ONLY desire, and should be the one of all of us, in my opinion. We can say hello, we can visit, but when talking about data, let us not engage in speculation to lead anyone astray. When facts are right in front of our faces, either accept it, or research it, as Nelda did, to determine the truthfulness of the issue. Don't just say something is truth when you don't really know that, or your credibility suffers and the credibility of this whole forum for MTC suffers if people who come here think the individuals giving advice here don't know what they are talking about. They come here for truth and accuracy, let's give it to them.
Thanks and have a good day... don't forget the Facebook boycott site or to refer people to the video. The video on You Tube now has 5,198 views since 3/24/2011, you can find it at:
Add these URL's to your email signatures to urge others to go to both! We still have lots of work to be done to let our cause be known! Send out letters, emails, and protests to Cricut, PC and various news media. This will all not be done in a day, and we are several thousand strong, but need even more supporters who are out there and will be willing!
Have a good day, Craftluv45
Yes, Kelly, I do have XP
Thanks,
Peggy
I figured it out!!!
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Cutters: using the the Silhouette SD almost exclusively these days!
Does anyone have the path for Windows7? The path supplied by the lovely people above appears to be for Vista and XP. I am a computer professional, and all I see when I use the search terms aspexsoftware or the full filename take me to a folder which is nowhere near large enough (nor does it contain nearly enough items) for me to believe it is the correct backup directory.
As an IT professional, I agree with the post above which differentiated between a backup and an export. There is a significant difference. If I was going to take the time to export all the files, I would certainly also back them up. :)
"Save early - save often" applies to backups, too! You cannot do it too often (I use Mozy online daily backup, but external drives are also handy).
Heather in Houston
This is where it is on my computer running Win 7. Hope this helps. BTW, I did have to opt to "show" hidden files. You probably already knew that :).
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You want to copy the folder com.aspexsoftware.silhouette_studio.8 that is a subfolder of program data.
If you haven't selected "show hidden files" (windows explorer -> tools -> folder options), you'll need to in order to see the correct folder to copy.
Using that file, I've transferred the library back and forth between my 2 computers with no problems.
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