Today I’m going to show you how easy it is to create a Circle Monogram in Silhouette Studio.
It takes a few steps, but when you work through it a couple of times, you’ll be creating monograms and personalizing everything in sight in a matter of minutes.
Personalized gifts are a wonderful way to show that special someone on your gift list just how much they mean to you.
So let’s get on with today’s tutorial.
For your convenience, this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on one of the links, though your cost does not change, I may receive a small commission. For more information, see our privacy and disclaimers.
Truthfully, you can quickly scroll through Esty and purchase any number of gorgeous monograms, but you know how expensive our craft hobbies can be.
Don’t get me wrong, I can drop some money on my DIY projects, but I’d rather spend money on fonts and crafting blanks than purchasing designs that I can easily create on my own in a matter of minutes.
If you feel the same way, then let’s create a monogram together!
Silhouette Studio
Before we get started, let’s take a quick moment to talk about Silhouette Studio.
When you purchase a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine, you get the basic edition of Silhouette Studio which is a great place to start and all you need for this tutorial.
However, you will notice in the images below that I have the Business Edition of Silhouette Studio. Even if you don’t own your own business, I highly recommend it.
It’s a one-time upgrade fee and includes everything you get in Designer Edition and Designer Plus Edition, plus it includes additional upgrades like my favorite of being able to export my designs in SVG, PDF, and JPG formats.
Seriously, Business Edition is worth every single penny!
Page set-up
On to creating a circle monogram!
- Open the Page Setup Panel on the top right-side toolbar.
- Choose the Machine you are using.
- Choose the 12 x 12 Mat that you will be using. (Unless I’m doing a Print and Cut Silhouette project, I prefer using the Cricut Cutting Mats. They are sturdier than the Silhouette brand and hold up longer.)
- Choose 12” x 12” in the Width and Height.
- Check Cut Border. (I choose to have this on so that I can easily ensure that my design is within the border cut border.)
Draw a circle
- Select the Drawing Tools from the left toolbar.
- Choose Draw an Ellipse.
- Hold down the Shift Key and drag your cursor to form a circle.
Important tip: By holding down the shift key, it draws a perfect circle. Otherwise, it will draw an ellipse a.k.a squashed circle.
Replicate the circle
- Open the Replicate Panel on the right toolbar.
- Click on the circle and choose one of the duplicate buttons.
- Move the duplicated circle off to the side. We will work with this circle later.
Add your monogram
- Select the letter “A” (Text) from the left toolbar.
- Type in your monogram.
Important Tip: The proper way to create a monogram is to use the first letters of the name in the following order: first, last, middle
- Open the Text Panel on the right toolbar and choose your font style. There are a lot of font styles that work with a circle monogram. For this tutorial, I’m going to use a thick, block style font, and I chose Impact.
I like the look of having my letters close to each other in a monogram, and you can create yours any way that you’d like.
- If you agree and like the look of mine, adjust the Character Spacing slightly in the Text Style Panel. I adjusted mine to 95%.
CreatE A CIRCLE MONOGRAM
Now it’s time to turn your letters into a circle!
- Move your letters into the circle, and enlarge by pulling one of the outside corners so that the letters almost touch the inside of the circle.
- Open the Transform Panel, highlight both the circle and the letters, and click Center to center the letters inside your circle.
Important Tip: Depending on the particular font you choose, using the Transform Panel may not center properly. In this case, I just eye-ball it.
- Highlight your letters, Right Click and select Ungroup. (Or Shift, Command, G for my fellow Mac users.) Now you have individual letters.
- Drag each individual letter both up and down until the letters extend just outside the circle.
- Open the Modify Panel on the right toolbar, highlight the letters and the circle, click Crop.
- Move the circle that you duplicated earlier back to the mat so that it fits over the letters.
As you can see in the image below, we still have some space between the outside letters (the “H” and the “M.”) and the circle, so let’s fix this now.
- Double click on your first letter. This will pull up the Edit Point Panel can create edit points on your letters.
- Manipulate your Edit Points by pulling each letter just outside the circle like the image below. (Yep, messy is totally fine!) This can take some practice, so be patient with it and remember that the Back Button (on the top toolbar) is your friend.
- When you’ve completed each letter, open the Modify Panel on the right toolbar, highlight all the letters and circle and click Crop.
Your letters are still three separate elements, so let’s fix this now.
- Highlight all three letters, Right Click and select Group. (Or Shift, G for my fellow Mac users.)
Ta-da! You just created your first circle monogram!
But let’s do one more quick step.
Add some color
I prefer to work with my designs in color, so we’ll add that now.
- Open the Line Style Panel and move it down.
- Open the Fill Panel and it will show up above the Line Style Panel.
- Highlight your monogram and then choose a Line and Fill color.
Design Tip: This is the way I like to work when creating designs. I have the Line Style Window open below the Fill Panel Window. It makes it easier as I am working with multiple designs.
Vinyl Blanks TO PERSONALIZE
Now that you know how to create a circle monogram, you’re going to discover a whole new world of personalization opportunities!
Like these Easy No-Sew Vinyl Gifts for Mom!
Or you can monogram hats, sand spikers, tumblers, and blankets.
The possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to see what you do with your monograms. Be sure to share your creations on your favorite social media platform using #footprintsofinspiration.
Wrapping Up
Well, there you have it, my friend. You now know how to Create a Circle Monogram in Silhouette Studio.
I know it seems like a lot of steps, but once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll be creating monograms in just minutes!
If you’re looking for more help with your Silhouette Cameo, I highly recommend The Ultimate Silhouette Guide, by Melissa Viscount. This book cut my learning curve in half, and I refer back to it often.
As a Footprints of Inspiration reader, you get 10% off by using code: FOOTPRINTS
Thanks for stopping by the blog today. Be sure to check out our Free SVG Cut Files while you’re here!
Until next time…
Special Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Unless otherwise noted, by purchasing products through these links, I may receive a small commission, however, your cost for the item does not change. Through this commission, I can continue my blog and purchase items to help in the day to day running of Footprints of Inspiration.
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