Silhouette Alta Getting Started
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Silhouette Alta Getting Started

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Summary of Contents for Silhouette Alta

  • Page 1 Getting started with your ®...
  • Page 2 Connecting Your Silhouette Alta ® Check Included Items The Silhouette Alta® comes with the items shown in the following list. Check that all the items have been included before starting. If you are missing any items listed below, please contact support@silhouetteamerica.com.
  • Page 3 Take the Silhouette Alta® from the box and remove the strips of packing tape, zip ties, and foam as indicated by the following pictures. These zip ties and strips of foam are used to hold the moving parts of the Silhouette in place during shipment.
  • Page 4 Software ® Locate the Silhouette 3D® icon on the desktop, in the Start Menu on your PC, or in the Applications folder on your Mac®. Double-click the icon to run the application. Once Silhouette 3D® has loaded, you will notice a circle with a grid on your screen. This is your print bed.

  • Page 5: Navigation Tabs

    3D Print The 3D Print tab allows you to adjust the print settings for your designs and send them to your Alta. Store When you are connected to the internet, the Store tab takes you to the Silhouette Design Store where you can browse and purchase designs.

  • Page 6: Design Tab

    9. Cloud/Library Panel Silhouette Cloud Silhouette Cloud works hand in hand with Silhouette’s software to keep all of your designs synced on multiple devices. You can sync up to five devices with your cloud account. If you aren’t using multiple devices, Silhouette Cloud is useful in backing up your designs and preventing the need for recoveries.
  • Page 7 The panel on the right-hand side will immediately prompt you to sign in to Silhouette Cloud, where you can access your stored designs. Sort and organize your designs any way you would like by adding folders and subfolders. If at any time you want to minimize the cloud panel, click the tab with the two arrows pointing to the right.
  • Page 8 Creating Simple Shapes Silhouette 3D® has built-in functions to draw simple 3D shapes, such as cubes, spheres, cones, cylinders, and so on. Each of these shapes can be found in the shape tool on the left-hand side. Click the shape to open the shape options and select the shape you wish to add to the print area.

  • Page 9: Creating Text

    To change the font, make sure the text box is selected and go to the top of the Silhouette 3D® page. On the left side under the Document Tools, you will see a drop-down menu where you can select your font.
  • Page 10 Document Tools At the top of the Silhouette 3D® software screen, there are tools to help you with certain view functions in the document. Use these tools to create a new document, open an existing document, or save your current document.
  • Page 11 25 free designs. Sign in to your Silhouette account to open your library. Click on the Library folder and then the folder titled “Free Designs” to view all 25 designs included with your machine.
  • Page 12 Opening Designs To open a design in your Silhouette Library, navigate to the folder the design is in. Once you find your design, double-click it. It will open on the Design page in Silhouette 3D®. If you have another design that you would like to print with your Alta machine, you can open that design in Silhouette 3D®.
  • Page 13 3D test prints to see which designs will work the best. There are six different 3D import options you can choose from: extrusion, cookie cutter, jewelry box, stencil box, stencil, and wax pendant. Diamond Earrings by Lori Whitlock—Design ID #268357 Getting Started with Silhouette Alta®...
  • Page 14 Store Tab The Silhouette Design Store contains designs for you to print with your Silhouette Alta®. To access the Design Store, click the Store tab in the upper-right corner of the software. Your default browser will launch and automatically pull up the Design Store. From there you can search for designs you can print.
  • Page 15 Browsing for New Designs The Silhouette Design Store works like any other web page and can be navigated by clicking on various links to browse new releases, popular designs, etc. The home page contains popular and new designs that you may be interested in.

  • Page 16: Creating An Account

    Creating an Account Several different account types exist. Once you’re more familiar with the Silhouette Design Store, you may wish to purchase a subscription and download dozens of designs each month. In order to create a free account and buy designs one at a time, choose the “Sign up FREE” option.
  • Page 17 Once your account is created, you will need to access your shopping cart again and try the checkout process once more. You will be asked to validate your password each time you download designs. Type your password to authorize the download. Getting Started with Silhouette Alta®...

  • Page 18: Print Tab

    Turn the Silhouette Alta® on by pressing the power button on the side of the machine and waiting for the machine to start up. Make sure the printer is connected to your computer with the USB cable.
  • Page 19 Inserting the Filament To load the filament in your Alta 3D printer, start by opening Silhouette 3D®, and power on your Alta. In the software, click on the 3D Print tab. In the upper right-hand corner, ensure that your machine has been selected.

  • Page 20: Selecting The Print Settings

    Silhouette 3D® has default print settings, which are the recommended settings, for each print type, but you can adjust these settings by clicking on the plus sign on the right of the drop-down menu.
  • Page 21 » Tip: If you’re printing at a lower temperature you may want to increase your print speed. Extrusion Width » How thick each layer, such as the first layer or the perimeter layer, is when it is printed. Getting Started with Silhouette Alta®...

  • Page 22: Printing Your Design

    In the upper right-hand corner, there is a box that shows you the status of the Silhouette Alta® as well as the estimate of the filament length in meters and an estimate of the total printing time.

  • Page 23: Troubleshooting

    The printing temperature may be wrong. If the filament is too cold, the filament doesn’t flow as easily as it could, and that can cause the gear in the Alta to grind down a specific spot of the filament. This may cause the filament to become stuck.

  • Page 24: Where To Find More Information

    Where to Find More Information Complete Software Manual View the complete, illustrated User’s Manual within Silhouette 3D® by clicking Help > User’s Manual. Website Visit the tutorials section of www.silhouetteamerica.com for help with specific features and step-by- step instructions on how to print objects with the Silhouette Alta®.

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