Silhouette Studio Upgrade Features List: Designer Edition, Designer Edition Plus, Business Edition (Updated 2022)

I get asked all the time - is Silhouette Studio Designer Edition worth the upgrade? What features are included with Silhouette Studio Business Edition?  Does the highest upgrade include the features of the others?  Finally, I decided to put together an easy to read list of features, tutorials, and FAQs about all of the Silhouette Studio upgrades.

I can tell you - there's never been a better time or reason to upgrade straight to Silhouette Studio Business Edition.  With the release of Silhouette Studio V4.4 there are a lot of awesome features - many of them not available in the free basic Silhouette Studio version.

Below is the list of Silhouette Studio upgrade features for Silhouette Designer Edition vs. Silhouette Designer Edition Plus vs. Silhouette Business Edition. You'll also find answers to some frequently asked questions about these Silhouette Studio upgrades.

Clicking on any of the "Features" will take you to Silhouette School tutorials on that feature. The Silhouette Studio version that is in parentheses after some of the features indicates when the new feature was introduced (explaining why it might not be found in earlier versions).

Silhouette Studio Upgrade Features List: Designer Edition, Designer Edition Plus, Business Edition

Feature	Designer Edition	Designer Edition Plus	Business Edition
Object Warp	x	x	x
Font Glyphs (V4.1)	x	x	x
Warp (V4.1)	x	x	x
Trace By Color (V4.0)	x	x	x
Layers in Silhouette Studio	x	x	x
Import SVG/GSD/DXF	x	x	x
Add Custom Fill Patterns	x	x	x
Advanced Knife Tool	x	x	x
Advanced Eraser Tool	x	x	x
Custom Rhinestone Designs	x	x	x
Select Objects by Color	x	x	x
Advanced Sketch Tools	x	x	x
Nesting Tool	x	x	x
Transfer Properties	x	x	x
Shear Tool	x	x	x
Shadow Tool	x	x	x
Improved Rulers and Grids	x	x	x
Freehand Lasso Select (V4.2)	x	x	x
Warp Templates (V4.2)	x	x	x
Editable Warp Text (V4.2)	x	x	x
Magnet Trace	x	x	x
Font Management	x	x	x
Advanced Pop Up Creator	x	x	x
Flexi Shapes (V4.2)		x	x
Puzzle Generator (V4.2)		x	x
Advanced Rhinestone Features		x	x
Conical Warp (V4.1)		x	x
Import Embroidery Files		x	x
Digital Font Creation (V4.2)			x
Handwritten Font Creation (V4.2)			x
Edition Toggle (V4.2)			x
Material Usage Monitor (V4.2)			x
Multiple Undo/Redo (V4.1)			x
Save as SVG/PDF/JPEG (V4.1)			x
Cut with Multiple Machines			x
Auto Weeding Lines			x
Tiling Tool			x
Advanced Nesting			x
Ability to Open AI and Corel Draw Files			x
Matrix Copy			x
Media Layout View			x
Barcode			x

Are the upgrades free? No, upgrading to Designer Edition, DE + or Business Edition is a one time paid upgrade and the price depends on the level of the upgrade.  Below is a list of complete upgrades from the basic/free version of Silhouette Studio.

• Basic Studio to Designer Edition
• Basic Silhouette Studio to Designer Edition Plus
• Basic Silhouette Studio to Business Edition

If I already have Designer Edition, for example, can I buy a prorated upgrade to DE+ or BE+? Yes! If you are already on one upgraded version of Silhouette Studio and later decide to upgrade further, you can buy the partial upgrade.

• Designer Edition to Business Edition
• Designer Edition Plus to Business Edition 
• Designer Edition to Designer Edition Plus

If I buy Business Edition do I get all the features in the lower upgrades, too? Yes! And if you buy Designer Edition Plus you will get all of those features plus the Designer Edition Features. Designer Edition includes all the DE features plus all the standard Silhouette Studio features
 
When I purchase a Silhouette Studio upgrade, how is it delivered? It depends on where you buy it. Some retailers will send a physical card, while others will email you immediately with a 16 digital license key to access the upgrade.

How do I install a Silhouette Studio license key? Your purchase of a Silhouette Studio upgrade will come with a 16 digit license key. To activate the upgrade, open Silhouette Studio and enter the key through the Help Menu. Full step by step tutorial activating a Silhouette Studio upgrade license key. Read a full tutorial here on how to activate or re-activate a Silhouette Studio upgrade

What happens if I lose my license key or need to re-enter it? You can find your license key by signing into your Silhouette America account under the My Accounts tab.  Full step by step tutorial re-activating a Silhouette Studio upgrade license key.

Do I need to buy Silhouette Studio Designer Edition (or DE+ / BE) again if I get a new computer? Nope. You can move your license key to a new computer with these steps.


Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!

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