# Silhouette Cameo vinyl cutter?



## saman96 (Jul 7, 2015)

Hey people!

I'm a novice in the t-shirt market and i'm planning to start an e-commrce website. Im not gonig into too much details about that as it is irrelevant to my question.

The deal is, that i'm looking to buy a cheap vinyl cutter to start with. For the moment my budget is quite low so I can't really afford advanced equipment, and i'd prefer to start off simple and learn by experience instead of saving and analyzing too much. 

What are your experiences with the Silhouette Cameo vinyl cutter? Are there any alternatives for it in similar price range? Is it a good/acceptable vinyl cutter to start off with as a novice? Also if you have pictures of t-shirts made using the machine id really appreciate if you could post some. Thanks!


----------



## Pardigital (Feb 17, 2014)

The Cameo is a great little machine. If you make the purchase, upgrade the software to the Silhouette Studio version- definitely worth the extra cash.

This cutter is capable of extremely intricate detail work. It's slow and noisy, but for the cost it's a wonderful starter machine. You will also want to upgrade the blade and holder to the aluminum model that's available on eBay for under $20. I fought with the original blade and holder and was about to give up when I tried the eBay model- HUGE difference.

I've included a pic of some shirts I did a while back.


----------



## saman96 (Jul 7, 2015)

Pardigital said:


> The Cameo is a great little machine. If you make the purchase, upgrade the software to the Silhouette Studio version- definitely worth the extra cash.
> 
> This cutter is capable of extremely intricate detail work. It's slow and noisy, but for the cost it's a wonderful starter machine. You will also want to upgrade the blade and holder to the aluminum model that's available on eBay for under $20. I fought with the original blade and holder and was about to give up when I tried the eBay model- HUGE difference.
> 
> I've included a pic of some shirts I did a while back.


Thanks for the reply! Very informative. I'm planning on using it through adobe illustrator so therefore I won't be much in need of the Studio version will i?


----------



## ProArtShirts (May 3, 2010)

saman96 said:


> Thanks for the reply! Very informative. I'm planning on using it through adobe illustrator so therefore I won't be much in need of the Studio version will i?


You will need the Silhouette Connect plug-in for Adobe Illustrator.

Just be sure to outline all of your text.
A very handy tool in AI for creating your designs is the PATHFINDER. You can select it under the WINDOW drop down.

Attached are some of my designs. 
The more complex designs are no fun to weed but it can be done.


----------



## saman96 (Jul 7, 2015)

ProArtShirts said:


> You will need the Silhouette Connect plug-in for Adobe Illustrator.
> 
> Just be sure to outline all of your text.
> A very handy tool in AI for creating your designs is the PATHFINDER. You can select it under the WINDOW drop down.
> ...


Looks awesome, very fine and smooth edges. Thanks


----------



## ProArtShirts (May 3, 2010)

saman96 said:


> Looks awesome, very fine and smooth edges. Thanks


FYI
Those were done with Stahl's Fashion Film


----------



## MarStephenson761 (Sep 19, 2011)

Hi Sam and welcome to the business!

Is there any way you can stretch to the next cutter level up, like the CE6000? The silhouette is VERY slow, and the Graphtecs come with a really good design application that is free to download. You'll not only be MUCH faster, you'll be able to do larger designs, and move into rhinestone transfers more easily later on with the addition of Hotfix era software. 

Colman and Company sells a nice bundle, but the cutter is pretty readily available. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSEnDL1maaM





saman96 said:


> Hey people!
> 
> I'm a novice in the t-shirt market and i'm planning to start an e-commrce website. Im not gonig into too much details about that as it is irrelevant to my question.
> 
> ...


----------



## saman96 (Jul 7, 2015)

MarStephenson761 said:


> Hi Sam and welcome to the business!
> 
> Is there any way you can stretch to the next cutter level up, like the CE6000? The silhouette is VERY slow, and the Graphtecs come with a really good design application that is free to download. You'll not only be MUCH faster, you'll be able to do larger designs, and move into rhinestone transfers more easily later on with the addition of Hotfix era software.
> 
> ...


I've read about the Graphtech cutters aswell and I liked them, unfortunately they're way out of my current budget. 

It would take me too much time to spend money for such a machine that I would start my business way later than scheduled. Also, it would be too difficult to obtain one as I live in Sweden. It is a real difficulty to export large machines from North America to Sweden, both financially and flexibly. 

I want to start of simple with low risk and then as I get more experienced and create relevance I will start to make adjustments on my equipment.


----------



## typelt2k (May 23, 2015)

The Cameo is a great cutter. I use it to cut lots of vinyl and I make pop up cards with it using the sketch pens. To start out with it is a great machine to get you cutting vinly or custom trasfers with the registraitons marks. It is noisey but i have the radio playing so its no issue. To help get rid of the cost of the cameo instanly look at their Website and see what else you want to offer that the machine does cards, fabric stamping, glass etching or rhinstones. The cards will help you make your own busines card to give out with shirts, the stamping will help you to make and create your own stamps for fabric(logo in shirts, towels, bags etc) or cards. Research the machine and all it does then google and youtube the different things it does and apply it to your business model.


----------



## deehoney (Dec 16, 2010)

Pardigital said:


> The Cameo is a great little machine. If you make the purchase, upgrade the software to the Silhouette Studio version- definitely worth the extra cash.
> 
> This cutter is capable of extremely intricate detail work. It's slow and noisy, but for the cost it's a wonderful starter machine. You will also want to upgrade the blade and holder to the aluminum model that's available on eBay for under $20. I fought with the original blade and holder and was about to give up when I tried the eBay model- HUGE difference.
> 
> I've included a pic of some shirts I did a while back.


Thank you for the information about the aluminum blade and holder. I had no idea that you can switch them out. I'm using the cameo after finally taking it out of the box 2 years after I purchased it.


----------



## typelt2k (May 23, 2015)

@Pardigital I would like to know what benefits would one gain by using the aluminum blade and holder vs using the stock blade and holder?


----------



## Pardigital (Feb 17, 2014)

typelt2k said:


> @Pardigital I would like to know what benefits would one gain by using the aluminum blade and holder vs using the stock blade and holder?


The holder that comes with the Cameo is all plastic. Bits of vinyl somehow has a tendency to get stuck in the blade hole which inhibits the blade from swiveling. I pulled my hair out trying to get consistent results with the original blade. Once I switched over to the aluminum set (apparently made for Graphtec), my problems went away and I had no additional problems. I've even replaced the blade and holder on my Graphtec with the same one- works flawlessly.


----------



## ProArtShirts (May 3, 2010)

Pardigital said:


> The holder that comes with the Cameo is all plastic. Bits of vinyl somehow has a tendency to get stuck in the blade hole which inhibits the blade from swiveling. I pulled my hair out trying to get consistent results with the original blade. Once I switched over to the aluminum set (apparently made for Graphtec), my problems went away and I had no additional problems. I've even replaced the blade and holder on my Graphtec with the same one- works flawlessly.


Another tip for the silhouette. The Cricut brand cutting mats hold up much better and don't shift during cutting like the silhouette brand. Not an issue if you only cut vinyl. However I also do contour cut stickers and my own hang tags.


----------



## AngelicEndeavour (Aug 12, 2013)

I just bought the Silhouette Cameo (first version) on eBay, brand new. Saved a lot of money. I have to say there's a learning curve with it. You can't just use the recommended settings for cutting, and you have to check ALL your settings before sending the job or you'll be going through a lot of vinyl. Using HTV and the recommended settings, my cameo was cutting all the way through the backing of the vinyl in some spots. Did a little research, and cut settings need to be changed from the recommended settings if you're running version 3 of the Designer Edition software. Once I changed my settings, I had absolutely no problem printing this design that I think is pretty detailed! I was so happy!!

HOWEVER, I tried cutting the same design in a much smaller size (around 3.5" instead of 8.5") in Oracal 651, and it is not completely cutting out the insides of my letters (O, A, B, D, R...). Tried making it larger and it's still not fully cutting them out... I've been up till 2:30 am each night this week and up at 6:00 am so I am not trying again tonight, but any advice you can give me would be great. By the way, I cut the 1st design on #1 blade setting (even though software said #2), 2nd design was done on #2 and again on #2 when transfer was made bigger but I changed the thickness to 5 and speed to 7. Each time I had problems when the inside of the letters not fully cutting. Oh, and I also checked the over cut option, but it didn't make a difference. Next idea I have is to put a small offset so the cuts are not so thin... And maybe change the blade to #3 and thickness and speed both to 10... Any help??? What settings do YOU use for Oracal 651?


----------



## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Speed 10!!! whoh that is too scary for me.
I was in a rush with some shirt vinyl once and turned it up to 5, Not good. I thought the cogs were going to drop out! I always cut at speed 2 and for intricate stuff it's at 1. I am asked to cut quite a few olde worlde English Fonts which come out beautifully, even down to the fine swirl embellishments within, these are never more than 1.5 inches tall and look great in gold twill.
I also use my Cameo to cut card windowed photo sleeves, just as a bit of added value for the customers that want a bit of photo correction and a print.
I always do a test cut starting on the shallow side and when I've sussed it, I name it in the material list on the top right, so when I need to cut again it is ready to go (I haven't got on with Cameo preselect settings ever) I bought two spare blades ( and made sure it was the ones you could unscrew the top off for cleaning) but have never changed the blade after 6 months and using it around a dozen times a week (one occasion was a four foot long sign for a van and I can tell you that the roll holder addition which I purchased at the start, doesn't help! It still went off track! luckily the text was an inch away from the edge or else I would have been screwed.)

How do you make stamps then!?? Going to check that out! I make loads of bags seals with our logo on it using gloss self adhesive photo paper but have always fancied a 'rubber stamp' to slap on everything.

I dont use Cameo design files for anything, I just design an image in Serif and save it as a jpg then drag and drop it onto the silhouette page to trace. it works every time.


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Not familiar with the Cameo, we opted for a Zing instead as a backup to our Roland GX24 and for cutting fabrics.

If you are having problems with a cutter not completing cuts, it's usually an incorrect value for the blade offset. Another way you can try to fix it is tell it to cut twice... We use the double cut on the zing for fabric and they come out perfect every time.


----------



## rogeroxton (Nov 19, 2015)

this company ships to Sweden from the UK, they have the cameos in stock www.digital-transfers.co.uk


----------



## ukracer (Feb 11, 2010)

Could I ask if you would trace this? or how would you put cut lines on it?

I have the original .psd but cant upload it to forum.....

any help would be appreciated..


----------



## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

ukracer said:


> Could I ask if you would trace this? or how would you put cut lines on it?
> 
> I have the original .psd but cant upload it to forum.....
> 
> any help would be appreciated..


What are you trying to cut out of that?


----------



## ukracer (Feb 11, 2010)

Dekzion said:


> What are you trying to cut out of that?



Its being printed onto vinyl and I need to cut round the oblong stickers. So its probably quite simple when you know what to do..


----------



## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

That's very straight forward then. crop the whole thing so there's one left, use the rectangle tool to frame it, group them together (frame and image) and duplicate, pull the duplicate to one side and then group them together, fill the page, (duplicating) within the registration marks area, (turning some through ninety degrees if needed to fill the page) print, place on mat and cut.


----------



## aesl1982 (Apr 17, 2017)

I have made these with the new cameo 3, I'm new to tshirts as well. But watched a lot of videos learning. I find it very easy even cut the rhinestone templates with it










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Hey Eric,
too many links for images mate.
to post pics here so everyone can see them without leaving the page;
select 'go advanced' below this posting box,
select 'manage attachments' on the next window
browse for your images and upload.
Welcome to the forum, The Cameo's a great bit of kit eh?


----------



## aesl1982 (Apr 17, 2017)

Dekzion said:


> Hey Eric,
> too many links for images mate.
> to post pics here so everyone can see them without leaving the page;
> select 'go advanced' below this posting box,
> ...




Oh okay I was posting from mobile phone. Guess I'll find those options when I'm on computer 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

