Most people figure out weld pretty quickly...but the rest tend to be try it and undo.
How to Open the Modify panel
The Modify panel is found on the right side tool bar. In both V4 and V5 you can open it by clicking the icon that looks like two overlapping shapes, or by going to the top menu: Object > Modify Panel. The tools inside look slightly different between versions but they all work the same way.
For the purposes of demonstrating each of the Modify Tools I will use the same starting shape throughout the tutorial as much as possible.
What is Weld?
Weld combines two or more overlapping shapes into one single shape, removing any interior lines where they overlap. One of the most common uses is welding script text so the letters connect into one clean cut line instead of cutting each letter individually.
Once you weld, the shapes become one permanent path - and unwelding can only be done with an "undo".
What is Subtract?
The Subtract tool is deeply dependent on the order of layers. Subtract cuts the shape "in front" or on top out of the shape that's on the bottom and then removes the rest of the top shape (in this case the blue circle).
Pro Tip: For Subtract and all of the remaining tools - fill your shapes with color so it's easier to identify which shape is "in front". It's much easier to identify the order of layers when they are filled vs simply looking at red lines around transparent shapes in Silhouette Studio.
If you have a circle as the foremost layer in front of a square, with both selected, when you click Subtract, you get a square with a circular hole punched through it. The top shape disappears and the bottom shape gets the cutout.
With subtract just keep in mind: layer order matters - the shape on top is always what gets subtracted.
What is Subtract All?
This works the same as Subtract but, instead of removing the remaining piece of the top layer /subtracted item, the top layer (blue circle here) remains completely intact.
This also works with more than one shape. Any areas of a shape that are obscured by another shape are removed.
What Does the Divide Tool Do?
Divide splits all selected overlapping shapes at every intersection point and separates them into individual pieces. Where Subtract removes the overlap, Divide keeps all the pieces — it just cuts them apart at every edge. It's less commonly used but handy when you want to work with each section of an overlapping design independently.
What is Intersect?
Intersect keeps only the area where ALL selected shapes overlap at the same time.
Think of a venn diagram with two circles, that's just that small football-shaped area in the middle where both layers overlap.
With two shapes it looks the same as Crop, but with three or more the difference is clear.
What is the Crop Tool?
Crop trims one image or shape down using another shape as the boundary. There are actually two different ways to use the crop function in Silhouette Studio - you can crop an image down to a smaller size using point editing and arrow keys, or you can crop an image or pattern into any shape using the Modify panel Crop tool. Both work in V4 and V5.
The Modify panel Crop is specifically for cropping one thing into the shape of another. It keeps any area shared by at least two shapes.
With three circles, that gives you all three overlapping sections as one new shape that shares a cut line. It's a much larger result than Intersect because it only needs two shapes to agree, not all three.
More practical ways to use it would be filling a heart with a photo, or cropping a digital pattern into a circle. You select both shapes, click Crop, and the image gets trimmed to fit inside the shape on top. Layer order matters: the shape you want to crop into needs to be in front.
Reading about these tools is one thing — watching them in context is another. If you want to see both crop methods demonstrated step by step, including how to crop an image down using point editing AND how to crop into a shape using the Modify panel, that's exactly what this month's new Silhouette U video covers.
It's a beginner-level video that works in both V4 and V5, and it's part of the full video library available to Silhouette U members — along with 700+ other tutorials, same-day support with me (Melissa), and tools like the HTV pricing calculator.
Learn more about Silhouette U here →
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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