Bestbuy Die-Cut Machines Silhouette Cameo Electronic Cutting Tool Review

Best Die-Cut Machines For Sale | Silhouette Cameo Electronic Cutting Tool Review

Silhouette Cameo Electronic Cutting Tool

 
For Designing, Crafting, Cutting.

The Silhouette CAMEO is an electronic cutting tool for personal use.

The Silhouette CAMEO is amazingly versatile. It can create intricate projects of all sizes from small (1/4" wide) to large (12" wide) and has an unlimited cutting length. It can cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric, and other materials. It operates with or without a cutting mat. When the blade is replaced by a pen, the CAMEO will sketch instead of cut. It can be controlled from a computer or an SD card. With the print and cut feature, the CAMEO also has the ability to cut out designs that have been printed on your home printer.
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Easy To Use and Fully Featured: The CAMEO cuts designs created in the Silhouette Studio software. This software is free and offers a wide variety of tools and functions to help create custom projects quickly and easily. The Silhouette Studio software can also manipulate and cut fonts you already have - if a font is installed on your computer, you can use it with the CAMEO.

Scrapbook Pages: Scrapbooking has never been easier than it is with the Silhouette. When it comes to shapes, titles and paper embellishments, the Silhouette can do it all. You'll have access to nearly all of the fonts on your computer and, with the included software, you'll be able to cut your designs in any size to get the perfect fit for every layout.
Lifestyle

Cards: With the Silhouette you can create handmade greeting cards with designs and sentiments perfect for the occasion no matter what it is. And making duplicates is as easy as a few clicks of the mouse. The Silhouette Online Store even has unique card templates from scalloped edges to flourish windows to pop-up sentiments.

Custom Apparel: With the Silhouette's intricate cutting ability and freedom to choose and customize designs and text, creating custom shirts, jeans, shoes, and more is easy enough for anyone to do. Cut and iron on simple phrases or intricate layered designs in heat transfer material or add some bling to your wardrobe by cutting rhinestone templates with a Silhouette rhinestone starter kit.
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Vinyl Décor: Vinyl décor is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to decorate homes. Easy to cut, self-adhesive, and removable, vinyl is the perfect way to add your favorite quotes and designs directly to the walls of your home, car (Superwinch 1510200 LP10000 Winch Review) windows, and projects. Best of all, Silhouette vinyl is priced just right so you can just peel off your designs when you're ready for something new.
Sketch Designs: The Silhouette can turn any design into a sketch. Just take out the blade, pop in a Silhouette sketch pen and watch the Silhouette draw intricate patterns.

Glass Etched Projects: Did you know you can use your Silhouette machine to create stylish etched glass? Just cut a shape or phrase in vinyl with your Silhouette and use it as a stencil to etch any glass object with your favorite etching creme, creating a customized new look.

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Paper crafting

Paper Crafting: Intricate cuts, precision duplication, and smooth edges make the Silhouette the perfect tool for paper crafting projects. Whether you're a novice creating a simple gift box, or a pro creating paper castles and models, the Silhouette can make your crafting quicker and easier. Silhouette also offers several tools to help you work with paper products including the pick-me-up tool used for poking out intricate cuts and placing tiny paper pieces onto finished surfaces.

Dimensions

    Height 5”
    Width 20.9”
    Depth 6.5”

Weight

    12 lbs

In the box

    Silhouette electronic (Electronic Dog Door Review) cutting tool
    Silhouette Studio software for Windows XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X 10.5.8 and higher
    Basic Instruction Guide
    50 exclusive cuttable designs

    Power cable, USB cable
    12" cutting mat
    Cutting blade
    $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store


Best Most Helpful Customer Reviews For Silhouette Cameo Electronic Cutting Tool

This cutter rocks!

I'm so glad I discovered this alternative to a Cricut! I bought the Silhouette Cameo from Amazon two days ago, and it's incredibly easy to use -- just turn it on and go. Even the tiniest details are cut cleanly and smoothly. I can print an image on my printer and then cut it precisely on the Cameo. Best of all, I'm not obliged to buy a $50 cartridge when all I want is one image.

Instead of cartridges, the Silhouette Cameo is controlled through the included software for your computer. If, like me, you want to use the artwork collection you already have, I'd definitely recommend (Electronic Muscle Stimulator | Electric Muscle Stimulator) upgrading the software to the designer edition (check the coupon sites for silhouetteamerica.com codes). With it, you can import JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, etc., images and use the trace feature in the Silhouette software to create exact cuts with just a click. Each time you print an image, you can tell the Silhouette software to print registration marks. When you cut the image, the Cameo reads the registration marks to perfectly align the cuts with the printed image.

The software that comes with the Cameo includes 51 images. You also get a $10 download card you can use at [...] to buy additional images for 99 cents each. Silhouette has an extensive, searchable library of images. You can also find compatible images at [...]

Another plus: type fonts. With the Silhouette Cameo, you have the ability to use and cut all of the fonts you currently have installed on your computer. No need to buy fonts specifically for the cutter unless you want to. The machine cuts even delicate script fonts wonderfully.

The Silhouette Cameo cuts all the same media the Cricut does, with the exception of chipboard. If you create banners, you'll be glad to know that the Cameo can cut vinyl up to 10 feet long. Colored pens that replace the cutting blade are also available. You can even buy (Electronic Muscle Stimulator | Electric Muscle Stimulator ) an accessory that allows you to replace the cutting blade with any ball-point pen, turning the Cameo into a plotter.

Bottom line: For the same price as the Cricut Expressions 2, the Silhouette Cameo delivers exceptional cutting ability and far more image flexibility. I highly recommend (Electronic Muscle Stimulator | Electric Muscle Stimulator ) it.

By Kate Larson


SILHOUETTE CAMEO IS AWESOME

I have had my Cameo for almost a month and love it! It was so easy to learn how to use and every cut has been perfect. Great deals on their website to buy only the shapes you want and freebies too!! Never owned a Cricut didn't want to buy cartridges just for certain shapes - now I have my own library of shapes. You can buy replacement mats, blades etc. at Michaels!!! What a wonderful machines - again so easy to use and so many other ways to enhance your projects!!!!!

By Sandra Badendyck


Great cutter

The Silhouette Cameo is a wonderful cutting tool. I am no longer limited to cutting from cartridges. The Silhouette folks have a freebie design on Tuesday for you to download too. I also ordered the heat vinyl and rhinestone kits which come with a CD tutorial. Using a scale of 1 to 10, this machine will get 10 in my opinion.

By dbson


I love my Cameo!!!

I have been using the Silhouette since the original one was released a few years ago and I never had a problem with it. I also recently purchased the Cameo, the newest Silhouette machine and I must say that I love the fact that I don't have to buy cartridges or spend countless hours searching for cartridge sales. I can also purchase and download one shape at a time instead of buying a cartridge only to use one shape. I have cut out numerous vinyl projects, paper, 3-D crafts, and rhinestone templates without any problems.

I'm not sure what problems the 1 star poster had, because she wasn't really specific and I from what I hear, the customer service at Silhouette is awesome! I said "hear" because I haven't had the need to contact them. As for the issue of if your computer crashes, you can easily restore the Silhouette software, just like you would the other software you may have on your computer. That happened to me and I restored all of my software including the Silhouette software, with no problems.

So if you are on the fence about whether or not you should purchase the Cameo or not, you need to determine what's your preference: a stand alone machine that uses expensive cartridges or a machine that connects to your computer with the ability to use the fonts already on your computer and download the files you want.

Whatever decision you make, have fun crafting!!!

By Nina Brown


Had to return mine for new

This machine is ok but needs some work. First of all, it seems to be a reoccuring problem that the machines are coming with hardware problems. Mine worked fine for about a week then one day it just stopped cutting through all designs. After a few tweaks it still didnt work so silhouette suggested a return at my expense ($38). They would only refund shipping in an online credit. The machine requires alot of upfront investment and to have mine crash after a week makes me very nervous about the replacement. I am still not sold on the quality and hardware of this product given all the bad experiences ive had already.

By Melissam66


Great Product - Fast Return on Investment...,

I own a business and we manufacture personalized gifts, and for the last five years we had one specific item that required me to use an Xacto knife to cut small squares that were used on the products we sell. I reached out to Silhouette via email and explained what we do, and asked if the Cameo could accommodate our needs. I quickly received a reply from someone who indicated that the Cameo was capable of producing the results we were looking for. I placed my order the next day.

I received the unit the next day and set it up on the end of a table - it takes up as much space as my color laser printers. The unit itself is small, but you have to have adequate clearance available in front and behind the unit. The device was very easy to setup, and the drivers and software were very easy to setup. Once I had the unit setup I ran a demo job on a sheet of paper, and the results were absolutely perfect. I didn't even have to run a calibration on the machine.

I have been using the device for about two weeks now, and we use it to cut weatherproof polyester labels that we print designs on. We use the cut & print feature, so we print to our color laser, and then the Cameo cuts the labels as designed in the software. The results have been absolutely perfect. The only problem we had was with a glossy silver stock label that we use - the Cameo had a hard time reading the registration marks, so we increased the size of the marks in the software and that actually solved the problem - that was very easy to resolve.

We upgraded the software almost out of the box, and the software is absolutely fantastic. It is intuitive and very powerful - that is a combination hard to find. We use a variety of personalization software in our business for laser and rotary engraving, but the software that came with the Cameo is by the best software platform that we have ever used. It does run a little bit slow on one of our production machines, but it is a very basic machine with an older AMD chipset and only 4GB of RAM. I have another machine that is faster and the software runs flawlessly.

We are using the Cameo in a production environment, and this unit allows us to eliminate the need for manually cutting out shapes with an Xacto knife, which was time consuming and not always perfect. The Cameo not only provides perfect cuts, but it also allows us to cut shapes with curves that we otherwise were unable to cut without hard to use stencils. We are now in the process of expanding our product line as a result of the added possibilities. I am confident that this will add to our bottom line very quickly, and the relatively low cost of the Cameo will provide for a very fast return on investment. The Cameo is also much safer than handling an Xacto knife, and as a small business owner reducing the chance of injury to someone on staff is very important.

I highly recommend the Silhouette Cameo based on it's ease of use, the powerful software, the broad applications for use and the low cost. I purchased the unit with some recommended extras - an extra blade (which I haven't needed to install yet), a vinyl into kit, an extra 12x12 cutting mat, and a 12x24 cutting mat. The Silhouette Cameo is a fantastic item for my business.

By V DeVore


Last cutting machine you'll ever need!

The Silhouette Cameo is an amazing machine! I also had the original Silhouette, and as a long-time cardmaker and scrapbooker I can hardly make anything anymore without getting my Cameo involved. Once you make the initial investment you really don't need to spend any more than 99 cents here and 99 cents there for individual shapes. (You can create your own designs and manipulate existing designs to your heart's content.) It also cuts any true type font already installed on your computer and prints and cuts images from whatever source you like to collect images from.

Sure, you can upgrade the software to the Designer Edition for extra features, but the software that comes with the machine (Silhouette Studio) is absolutely fantastic. No need for SCAL or MTC, although they do work with the Cameo. Using this machine is a bit more complex than plugging in a cartridge and hitting a cut button, but it is far and away better in its design capabilities than any cartridge-based machine. The software is easy to learn, especially with the help of the Silhouette Plus forum ([...]), the official Silhouette Blog, and many other blogs of happy Silhouette owners.

On top of all that, you get amazing customer service from Silhouette America. If you're looking for the *best* digital cutter out there, look no further than the Silhouette Cameo. You won't be disappointed.

By krafty kelly


SilhouetteAmerica has a winner with the Cameo!

I love my Cameo cutting machine. It cuts cardstock & vinyl like a dream. My machine was shipped with a great blade so I haven't had any problems. It also works with my software versions of Silhouette Designer, Make The Cut & Sure Cuts a lot Version 3.
SilhouetteAmerica has been great to answer emails even on the weekends.

By R. Smith

The most helpful favorable review Excellent Machine Waited for the Cameo to come out for quite a while. Prefer the Silhouette over other brands mainly because of two features: 1) Do not have to buy cartridges! 2) Can import your own images to cut. I purchased the additional software Silhouette Studio Designer Edition which allows the ability to import your own images. There are several tutorials online that show the tricks and shortcuts of the software that have been extremely helpful. Did discover early on that the blade number the software says to use is not the correct number. Use the number given in the manual for the type of media you are cutting, otherwise it may not cut all the way through. Overall it is an excellent machine and I have not been disappointed. By K Brinkerhoff

The most helpful critical review Returning it Won't cut 5 mil laminated plastic, even though it is supposed to be able to cut 20 mil. That I could live with. The deal breaker is complete failure of the print-and-cut feature. It detects the registration marks and then cuts the shape -- about an inch and a half to the left. I am not talking about slightly off, I am talking about throw that sheet of whatever it is away. From the reviews, lots of people love this feature so perhaps my unit is just defective, but another reviewer noted they'll exchange it if you pay the return shipping. I'm not willing to risk throwing good money after bad when I'm still in the return period. Disappointed By CMB