Silhouette Cameo Electronic Cutting Tool

Product Description

The Silhouette Cameo is for crafty people. Crafty people who want to electronically cut their own intricately-designed greeting cards and cupcake papers. Or crafty people who want to DIY a perfect, mathematically accurate... [Read more]

Features

• The silhouette cameo include a 12 inch cutting mat, cutting blade, 50 exclusive cuttable designs and $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store
• Includes access to thousands of downloadable designs; Includes PC and Mac compatible software
• Cuts up to 12-inch wide and 10-feet long; cuts a variety of materials from vinyl to fabric
• Great for Scrapbook layouts, cards,custom apparel, vinyl decor, etched glass, sketch designs, and paper crafts
• Intricate cuts, precision duplication, and smooth edges make the Silhouette the perfect tool for paper crafting projects

Top Reviews

Silhouette Cameo versus Cricut Expression 2
by P. Schmidt (5 out of 5 stars)
January 10, 2012

I am writing this review from the perspective of a comparison between the Cricut Expression 2 and the Silhouette Cameo. My review is also approaching the application of these machines from a more industrial perspective, NOT from an arts & crafts perspective. In other words, what applications can inexpensive computer-controlled cutting machines be put to outside of the usual arts & crafts world, and how do the two most popular machines of that type compare in those divergent applications?

By Arts & Crafts, I am referring to applications that involve the usual 'hearts, flowers, puppy dogs, cupcakes' shape cutting. By Industrial, I am referring to other tasks such as cutting stencils for spray painting numbers on shipping crates, cutting gaskets, cutting of labels and industrial markers, cutting picture frame masks, and so on.

NEW*** I have placed a short demo video on YouTube under the title "Silhouette Cameo Design Demonstration", URL is [...]

I have obtained and used both machines during the same time period. I have had extensive communications with both manufacturers, both in pre-sales discussions and in post-sales customer/technical support. If I mention a feature of a product here, it is one that I have used and verified personally. If I mention a limitation of a product, it is one that I have experienced personally AND also discussed with the manufacturer to see if I was missing something and/or if there was a work-around or alternative way of achieving the goal.

Both machines will cut out shapes from sheets of flat materials under computerized control. Both machines are very similar in design and layout, and both work in the same mechanical fashion. Both machines are about the same size and can cut shapes from similar sized pieces of raw material. Both machines use a tiny metal knife that is moved up and down under computer control, while the knife holder moves sideways and the material moves front and back. Both machines use a knife blade that swivels so that it always cuts regardless of the direction the material is moving relative to the knife itself.

Other than these similarities, there are significant differences in the philosophy between the two products. Henceforth in this review I will refer to the Cricut Expression 2 as the "Cricut" and the Silhouette Cameo as the "Cameo".

The Cricut is fundamentally designed to provide a wide range of predefined symbols and symbol sets from which the user can select and assemble the desired craft projects. It does this without the need for any additional equipment, and specifically the user does not need to have a personal computer or have any knowledge of software or computers. It is the more portable of the two products because you can pick it up and take it to another location easily without the need to lug along a personal computer (or have a personal computer in the new location). The Cricut is self-sufficient.

The Cameo is fundamentally designed to act exactly as an inkjet or laser printer does when connected to a personal computer; it is in effect a computer printer that produces patterns by cutting them from material as opposed to producing them by putting ink or toner on material. Without a personal computer, it cannot be used to design shapes or patterns. Its user must be able to learn and use computer software, the same as learning other software such as word processors, photo editing, web browser, page layout, and other popular applications. The Cameo is not self sufficient. HOWEVER, once a design(s) is done using the computer software, you can save the design to an SD memory card (such as are used in most digital cameras), then plug the SD card into a slot on the Cameo. At point the Cameo can be disconnected from the computer, taken elsewhere, and the cutting can be done in any location. However, I have not personally verified this SD card printing feature.

The Cricut does not allow the user to create shapes from scratch. You must find a suitable shape, or group of shapes, from within the huge library of predefined symbols that is spread across a large number of Cricut cartridges. It is possible to 'weld' different shapes together and this offers some flexibility, but ultimately the shapes must originate in the cartridges. When the user has a specific shape in mind and cannot alter it to suit what can be found in the cartridges, it can become quite frustrating. In the task of trying to assemble the designed custom shape, the user might have to purchase several cartridges, and they are not cheap. It is also quite possible that the desired shape cannot be cut at all.

The Cameo allows the user to create shapes from scratch. There are no cartridges at all. If the user does not wish to design their own shapes, there is also an extensive library of online shapes designed by other users. Cameo does not limit where the shapes come from, but does offer a great many from their own online library at 99 cents per shape. The user can buy only the shape, or shapes, desired and he/she does not need to buy an expensive cartridge only to get a single shape from it. Instead of purchasing shapes designed by others, the user can draw any desired shape using the computer software, and can offer it to others for use.

The Cricut has a nice display, consisting of a color LCD screen with touch sensitive surface. All the operations can be performed by touching the screen, or for more precise selections a plastic stylus is included. Once a given cartridge is plugged into the Cricut, all of its shapes can be viewed on the screen as tiny thumbnail images, and the desired shapes can be selected to a queue, from which they can be dragged to a virtual cutting mat, showing where they will appear on the material to be cut. Any shape can be selected, enlarged, and re-sized.

The Cameo has a small simple display like a calculator's or that of an older cell phone. It displays only one color and shows only text. It is used for diagnostics and for messages like "Load the material" and "Unload the material". It can also be used to initiate printing based on design(s) stored on an SD card, as previously mentioned. All other operations are done using the included computer software, using the computer's keyboard, mouse and screen.

The Cricut can be used, optionally, with the free Craft Room software on a personal computer. This software must be downloaded from the Cricut website; it is not included with the machine. The software includes a library of all currently known cartridges, and allows the user to assemble a complete cutting session before the actual cartridges needed have been purchased. The Craft Room software will not function unless the computer is currently online with Cricut; this is important, since it means that you must have an internet connection anywhere that you want to use the Cricut in conjunction with the Craft Room software. The Craft Room does not allow the user to design their shapes, but it does provide a more user-friendly interface for the Cricut, since more tools and objects can be viewed on the larger computer screen.

The Cameo must be used with the included Studio software; this comes on a CD-ROM in the box with the machine. For a fee of about $50, it will upgrade itself to the more advanced Designer Edition. The main advantages of the Designer Edition are the ability to import a wider range of graphics from other programs. Both the regular version and the Designer Edition allow the same design and cutting functionality, so for most people there is no need to buy the Designer Edition. The Cameo's software only needs to be online with the Silhouette website when you wish to purchase shapes from their library, or when you wish to do an upgrade to a newer version. Otherwise, the software works without the need for an internet connection.

The Cricut includes a white LED headlight next to the blade, so you can see what it is cutting as it does so. The Cameo does not have such a light.

Both machines use cutting mats, which are clear plastic sheets with a special adhesive on the top surface to make it a bit tacky. This holds the material to be cut so that it does not slide around during cuttings. The mats wear out due to wear from the blades cutting through into them, and from the adhesive wearing out.

Both machines use blades that attach to a tool holder on the machines. The Cricut uses tiny blades that fit into a blade holder, while the Cameo requires the user to replace the blade holder when the blade wears out; this makes the Cameo blades a bit more expensive, but on the other hand it is much easier to handle the larger blade holder than it is handling the tiny (and sharp!) Cricut blades. The Cricut blade depth can be adjusted while the blade holder is attached to the machine, whereas the Cameo blade holder must be removed from the machine in order to change blade depth. Both machines seem to cut equally well.

The Cricut is not intended to make its cuts on specific areas of the mat (you can get close, though, using the Craft Room software). The Cameo allows very precise cuts relative to the material, so you can specify that a shape be cut starting 1/2", for example, from the edge of the material.

The Cricut is not intended for cutting out pre-printed materials; it is intended to cut out shapes in different materials (of materials of different colors) that can be later assembled to form a multi-colored overall shape.

The Cameo is not a printer, but it does allow importing and designing shapes in any desired color or combination of colors. Then it will send the image to the printer of your choice, printing on the material to be cut; this is limited only by the ability of your printer (e.g. inkjet printers ate usually limited to printing on various papers, while laser printers, both black & white and color models, can print on paper as well as a variety of plastics). I would like to point out that 3M (the makers of Scotch tape and Post-Its) have a wonderful product called "Print To Last" paper, which is an almost indestructible paper-like plastic material designed for laser printers; it is very useful for crafts and industrial applications. Both the Silhouette tech support folks and I have verified the the Cameo will nicely cut this material using the 'Transparency' cut settings (and I fully expect that the Cricut can cut it too, but have not tried it). The Cameo software will print registration marks on the printed sheet, and when the printed sheet is then loaded into the Cameo machine, it uses an electric eye to scan for the registration marks, and will synchronize and align the cutting with the pre-printed images. This allows an infinite number of printed images and cut shapes to be made. The synchronized cuts are very accurate, matching the desired printed images. The user can specify where the cuts are to be made relative to the printed shapes, or the software can automatically figure it out. This even applies to graphical objects imported into the Cameo software, as opposed to being designed in that software.

The Cricut requires that all text come from the cartridges, so the user is very limited in regards to available fonts. The Cameo software can use any True Type font that is installed on the computer, which means pretty much all fonts available to other Windows applications, and of course you can download any font you want from the internet. Since none of the Cricut cartridges include a 'stencil' style font, you cannot easily use it to cut stencils for painting signs and such.

I find that overall, the Cricut is probably a better choice for people interested simply in arts & crafts projects, or for people who don't have or don't care to use a personal computer. I find that the Cameo is better for people who are prepared to use a personal computer and who desire complete freedom in what shapes they cut.

I have noticed that most crafts stores, such as JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc; carry the Cricut Machines and their supplies; I rarely see many cartridges sold in the stores though. Unfortunately, these same stores carry little or no Silhouette supplies. It seems that different chains carry the Silhouette. This may be marketing pressure placed on the stores by the one or both manufacturers. I have read that Cricut blades and cutting mats can be used with the Cameo, but have not experimented with this; some alterations may be needed. But in any case, Supplies for the Silhouette products are widely and readily available online.

Finally, I have found that emails to Cricut take four to fives days before a reply arrives, whereas emails to the Cameo folks are answered almost immediately, and with real and useful responses (and you are talking to people who apparently actually work at Silhouette, not some contracted call center where people read from scripts). I have found that phone calls to Cricut require long waits on hold (typically 20 to 30 minutes) and then often the person answering the phone does not know the answer and transfers me to another group of tech support people, with another long wait. Every time I have called the Cameo folks, I have gotten through very quickly. Most importantly, it seems that Cricut support people either know the software or they know the machine, but not both. The Cameo folks seem to know both the software and the machine, since they must be used together. My experiences with the Cricut software included issues with getting the software to recognize the machine, whereas in my experience, the Cameo software was more bullet proof and installed easily and recognized the machine every time without trouble.
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Cameo Cutter
by Stephie (3 out of 5 stars)
March 1, 2014

I chose this rating because the Cameo became a very disappointing investment. I like the fact that you can create and download designs for various projects on your computer and print, cut, or both. You can even sketch, make stamps, stencils or do things with fabric and vinyl which I haven't tried yet. It surely has a computer advantage (why I chose it), a large assortment of designs to download, and different functions. It does take a while (weeks to months depending on whether you use the machine daily, weekly or monthly) to learn how to truly use the machine and how to operate and navigate throughout the software. In the meantime, you must waste and go through lots of paper, ink, cutting mats and blades before getting a good basic hang of it. I'm a professional artist/crafter and pretty good with machines and computer stuff. This is my first experience with a computerized cutting machine. The cameo is definitely not for a beginner or someone not computer savvy.

What I dislike about the Cameo is that the instructions are not clear and leave out a lot of things you need to know beforehand and can 't remember since the instruction manual is very long. There should have been guided instructions with pictures (in addition to the You Tube videos) built into the software as you operate and do projects, especially for the expensive "Design Studio" supplemental software.

Whoever designed the machine must have only used Silhouette paper and products because all the paper I purchased that is not made by Silhouette doesn't seem to work right even though I use the correct settings. This is a key point because even though you can customize your media (paper, etc.), it still takes a lot of time and creates much waste until you get it right.

What's really irritating are the cutting mats that stick to the paper so well, that what you just cut out shreds as you try to get the sheet of paper or cut outs off the mat. They have a "light hold" cutting mat that seems to work a little better. Chipboard seems to cut the best regardless of the brand. The scraper and pick-up tools are a joke. The cutting mats aren't durable and well-made at all and the blades can cut right through them, especially if a misalignment occurs. You will spend a great deal replacing your cutting mats which are essential since they are optically read by the machine. Another disappointment is that the machine doesn't do embossing.

I wanted to make and cut out my own original designs which will take me months to figure out and do. I ended up buying the larger manual Spellbinder cutting machine which is fantastic for cutting and embossing compared. If the Cameo is able to produce my own designs, as it claims (after I learn how to do it well) and they improve their cutting mats, then I will update you and be happy with this investment.
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The Greatest Thing I've Ever Owned
by ThreesACharm (5 out of 5 stars)
March 24, 2014

I pined after the Silhouette SD for months, not being able to justify the price of the machine. When my husband PCS'd halfway across the country - and had to leave a lot of our household décor behind - the new Cameo had just come out, and I was about to order the SD at the cheaper price. My husband encouraged me to get the new one, rationalizing that the money we'd save in buying new décor totally justified the price of the machine. He ended up ordering this bundle for me as a surprise, when I still couldn't decide.

This is, hands down, one of the greatest presents anyone has ever gotten me! I don't scrapbook at all, but I'm a big DIY-er and this thing can do almost anything! I've done vinyl art for every wall in the house, customized everything from water bottles to kitchen gadgets, created custom clothes for my son, cut fabric for patterns and appliqués, made holiday decorations, cut stickers and temporary tattooes we printed ourselves, made wooden welcome signs and plaques...

The only downside is, it's an expensive hobby! You can never buy just one roll of vinyl; you gotta buy 20 so you have one roll of each color. I own boxes upon boxes of cardstock and scrapbook paper, printable fabric sheets, heat transfer vinyl, sticker paper, you name it, I probably have 12 of them in six different colors. It's highly addicting, especially when everyone comments on how amazing your creations are.

If you're between this and the Cricut, forget the Cricut! My cousin has it, and could not believe there was a similarly-priced system that allowed you to hook up to your laptop and design anything you want. The Cricut dies are insanely expensive and so limited in what they offer; I can open Photoshop and make anything I can think of, import it to Silhouette Studio and cut! And if you don't have Photoshop, or you're not a graphic designer, Silhouette's online design store has a frillion designs for 99 cents!

I did have some issues with cutting vinyl right out of the box - the machine cut a straight line through half a roll of vinyl - but a quick e-mail to Silhouette's customer service and they sent out two new blades (to replace the two blades in this bundle) and a new roll of vinyl immediately. The customer service that backs this machine is what makes me confident I'll be able to enjoy this machine for years to come.

I'm still using my original two cutting mats, which I re-sticky with spray-on adhesive (any craft store will have this), after maybe 300 cuts. They are a little worse for wear, and probably need replacing yesterday, but they still work great. I've since ordered two Cricut 12x24-sized mats, which work just as good with the Cameo and were a lot cheaper than the Silhouette brand, and it seems like a lot of other media can be used between both brands. I've also started using Oracle brand vinyl, which is cheaper and larger than Silhouette brand, since Silhouette vinyl is becoming harder and harder to find. Keep in mind you aren't limited to their brand, and shop around for better prices; the Oracle vinyl on Amazon is repackaged from another wholesaler, who will sell it to you directly online for less money!
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In love with my Silhouette Cameo
by Judith R King (5 out of 5 stars)
November 27, 2013

Silhouette Cameo Electronic Cutting Tool Plus Vinyl Starter Kit for Scrapbooking

I have had my Silhouette Cameo for almost nine months now. Since I am visually oriented, the first thing I did was go online and search for a "setting up Silhouette Cameo" and was greeted with many easy-to-follow video tutorials that start with unpacking the machine, very clear, concise and simple.

Then a month or so went by before I started to use it. I don't know I was intimidated or I just thought it was going to be a time commitment to learn how to use it. Big mistake. Now that I've started using it, I think of more uses for this wonderful machine everyday.

Again, anytime I can't figure something out or have a question about anything, I do a Google search and have found a recommendation by other helpful users or forums. Example: question, "cutting mat too sticky", online answer, "put a sofa pillow on the mat when you first get, press it down, pull off. Stickiness doesn't come off on pillow but pillow leaves very light fibers on the mat which reduces initial stickiness."

Just some of the projects I have used the cutter for include, making Christmas cards, cutting a vinyl stencil to etch on glasses as gifts, cutting out a logo for our business, cutting out paper dolls for our grandkids.

The online store has a huge selection of design choices. Not only are they reasonable priced, most .99, but they have frequent sales. That being said, as a long time Photoshop user, I am creating many of my own designs. The point is, you can easily design your own if you are inclined, but you don't have to. There are also many Silhouette users who offer their designs on various blogs, for free, or very reasonably priced.

I wish I had known about this machine before purchasing all my expensive dies for my Cuttlebug I am keeping that handy little machine(?) because of it's ability to emboss but I am in the process of scanning in die cuts, saving them as Silhouette images and selling all my dies.

One of my favorite features of the Silhouette is easily being able to scale the image to any size I want, up to 12x12. It has always frustrated me with one-use dies is that if I want to cut out an oval and then cut one slightly larger for a "frame" around that oval, I couldn't do it w/o owning two dies. With the Silhouette I can easily re-size and design.

There are small glitches along the way. I learned early on to do practice cuts if I'm working with specialty papers that are either fragile or thicker. I also do a lot of practice cuts on 4x6 recipe cards. Occasionally I will get a bent corner on a small design but the intricacy of design the Cameo can cut is amazing. Most errors turn out to be something I've done like not cleaning off small pieces of the last cut or not having card stock stuck down enough.

For the several months I have shuttered as I watch my sister buy single-purpose die after another at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Since she's only a casual computer user she was afraid of the Silhouette, thinking it required too much computer knowledge. Recently I showed her how easy it is to use and she now has it on her Christmas list.

I could go on but, if you're on the fence, jump and then use it. Answers to your questions are just a Google or Youtube search away.
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My favorite toy!
by Heather E. House (5 out of 5 stars)
December 9, 2012

I asked for and received this item for a gift for Mother's Day. Originally, I had wanted a Cricut but after reading a lot of reviews and seeing the problems people had with them and the fact that you have to buy and store all those cartridges I began to rethink that. I had never even heard of a Silhouette up until that point Someone did a Cricut vs. Silhouette review and after reading that I knew that the Silhouette was the choice for me. I think my husband had some reservations that he would buy it and I would never use it. Well, nothing could be further from the truth! I probably use this thing every day for things from scrapbooking, cardmaking, to school projects for my daughter.

It is very easy to set up and get the machine turned on. Once you have downloaded the software and set up your account you are ready to go. It did take me awhile to figure out how to use the various features and there are many I still don't know how to use. If you are trying to do something, you can usually figure it out from the help portion of the software or just do a google search to find directions. For some people it is a drawback to have to have your computer to use the Silhouette, but it really doesn't bother me at all as I am not someone who is going to be dragging a cutting machine around town with me. I suppose if I wanted to, I could, as I have a laptop but I do my crafting at home so this is not an issue for me.

For the silhouette online store, I found that buying a subscription for $20 a month gets me $150 of credit towards designs. If you don't do a subscription, most designs are $1 each to purchase. I know I would easily buy 20 a month anyway so the subscription just makes sense. They put up new designs every week and there are always at least a few I love and have to purchase. There is also a clearance section of designs each week that are $.50 each, as well as a free design every week. Unlike Cricut, Silhouette doesn't have any Disney licensing, so you are not going to be able to just do things with Disney characters like you can with Cricut. There are some Disney inspired designs, but they are not listed as such and you have to kind of seek them out. Another cool thing about the Silhouette is that it automatically imports all of your fonts from Microsoft Word and you can use them with your machine to do lettering.

Like the Cricut, the Silhouette uses the sticky mats for your media and blades for cutting. Getting the right blade setting for your media really does require a little trial and error. There are some sites with suggested cutting speeds and blade settings for various types of paper but I've found that you kind of just have to play with it a little to see what works for you. I think like most beginners, when I first started with my Silhouette I had the blade set to cut way too deep and wound up digging into my mat. Since then, I have never had my blade set above 5 and I rarely even use that setting. Mine is usually on a 3 or 4 depending on thickness of paper. I haven't done anything with vinyl or fabric on my machine.

The blades seem to last pretty long but I guess there had been some defective ones out there for awhile. Mine have all been okay before. I do sometimes use some of the compressed air sprayed in the blade housing to clean out any miniscule scraps of paper that may be up in there. The mats are pretty sticky when you first get them but I didn't really have a problem with them being too sticky. Both the blades and mats are pretty expensive to replace but with the mats, when mine lose the stick, I just scrub them with a green scrubby thing and some soap and then run my scotch adhesive dot roller thing over them alternating either horizontally or vertically and they are good to go for awhile again. There are a lot of ways you can find on the internet to restick your mats but this seems to be the easiest way for me. When your blade wears out, there is pretty much nothing you can do but replace it.

Overall, very happy with this product and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to do paper crafts or work with vinyl and fabric. Very versatile machine that anyone could have fun with!
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Do Not Purchase this item.
by RoamingTech (1 out of 5 stars)
June 14, 2018

Let's start by saying if you a MAC (which seems like it was build for) using this machine is nice. As a IT professional let's go on to say there is to many issues to connect it to Windows. I have been a week trying to get working on win10, no success. Their help desk is reading a script, so no help. Can only have the cameo as the only printer configured on your PC, unless others are wifi wireless printers. Even Microsoft support has a case on this that does offer more help. But don't help there software connecting. I would like to close with his just Google cameo 3 conning issue before purchasing to see there is pages of sites where people are trying to get it to work. I have done them all, even fresh install of windows with no success. The 1 star is for if you use MAC.
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The Verdict is Still Out
by Sandy (2 out of 5 stars)
September 8, 2018

I will have to return with a Part II review, because for now, I am still trying to figure how to assemble and use the machine. All I can say is, God bless the people who have provided support and instructions via YouTube. This company's instructions are pitiful, and the guidance they provide within the package itself is downright awful. (i.e. there is a pull out drawer beneath the device which I would never have found if it hadn't of been for someone on YouTube. So far I've spent around 3 hours unpacking and setting up. There's the machine and then there's the software...both take time to understand. More to come once I have it up and running....(perhaps the number of stars I give will go up one notch).
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No Slouch Among the Cutters
by Florida Hillbilly (4 out of 5 stars)
January 13, 2013

After using cutters for years, I am an avid graphic design artist, needed a print and cut desperately and this was the answer to a long wait. Newbies, do not fret. This machine with the included software is mighty powerful, yet easy enough to start right away.

If you are familiar with CAD software, you will find this package somewhat easy, but full of needed controls like mirroring, welding words to a knife that lets you deal with the design and customize them. Some of the intricate design features are a bit more wonky to work with compared to SignLab, and even SCAL is a little easier... but that is because I just started working with this package today. I did print and cuts today. All worked like a charm. A really fun thing you can do, which is not really shown is you can paint in some of the graphic pieces you buy or ones that come with the package. When you color them, you can print them in color on you printer, remember to select to show and print the registration marks so the cutter will then use those registration marks when you tell it to automatically recognize them after you load your mat with proper sized paper or cardstock into your cutter. You can use white cardstock this way and make customized color projects. I think the sky is the limit with this machine.

I am giving this a 4 instead of a 5 because of the blade situation. There is really no clear instructions on how this thing fits in the machine. This can prove to be very frustrating. I was cutting air on my first few tries because my blade was not set in properly. I looked everywhere for some instructions and could not find any. I know how to change the blade depth, but not sure still if I have it seated in the machine the way it is supposed to be.

I'm having a lot of fun with this machine. I can make a design round for my button maker, set it at the perfect size, set up a circle to cut perfectly around it and then fill the page with the design to print and cut. Then I remove them from the mat and make my magnet buttons. I don't have to worry if my blank will be uneven. It is cut perfectly. Because of the super tacky mat, be careful with that. I did not get the spatula, but successfully used an exacto knife to remove the rounds. The sticky material can tend to stick to the back of your project, so watch for that too because if you stack your pieces, they may either tear or color will be removed when you unstack them to get ready to use your pieces. I plan on doing some decoupage and step cards using this. The software store has loads of inexpensive projects. You will not have to worry about finding what you need to cut. You can search for a project with a nice search feature in the store.

One more thing, in comparison to the proprietary Expression by Circuit, which I also have, the Silhouette Cameo has many more features and you are not as limited in your creativity in my opinion. I also have a larger cutter that has not handled the Windows upgrades very gracefully, from way back and still love it... but it does not Print and Cut. This Cameo is a truly to die for feature that this machine seems to do very well.

Okay, I'm off to have more fun. Enjoy!
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Updated from 1 to 4 stars
by kateford (4 out of 5 stars)
March 27, 2013

Have a Cricut which I actually love BUT cartridges are so expensive, like idea of being cartridge free and could buy images that I wanted not complete cartridge so decided to purchase Silhouette. Arrived has virtually NO Instructions. Just says install design software then plug machine into computer NO other info. I've tried installing, uninstalling 4 different times now, on both desktop and laptop. Unsuccessful. So tried to call Silhouette customer service at 6:00 pm they are closed. Will try calling tomorrow, if unable to contact them will be boxing back up and returning. Will report back whether I can get any customer support or not. I've had the Cricut for 3 years and they have great phone customer support I've called them for all kind of questions whether regarding cartridges, craftroom, software or hardware and they've always been very helpful, so I'm hoping when/if I'm able to get Silhouette on phone they will be as helpful.

Update: Spent about 1 hour on phone with tech support and they remoted in and got it working. However don't really like the machine. Seems cheaply made. Of course I'm comparing to Cricut. The software is mind boggling. I cant begin to imagine I will be able to figure it out. The mats are Too adhesive. I tried a regular piece of scrapbook paper and it tore while being removed. Did not have problem removing a piece of vinyl. I'm on the fence as to whether will keep or return. The ONLY reason I want to keep it is because of ability to purchase single images rather than cartridges for Cricut. I have the Cricut expression which is manually set. With Silhouette the machine can set the settings (except blade depth) when you pick type of material to be cut. But on Silhouette you have to remove the blade from the machine to adjust depth, whereas on Cricut you change blade depth whie blade is in Cricut.

I would say if money is really not a big issue, go with Cricut. Machine is better quality, Craftroom is extremely easy to work in and intuitive. Only concern cartridges are $30 to $40 each. Silhouette is poor quality. Software extremely complicated. Benefit, images are only about $1 each and you purchase only images you want.

Update: now that I'm using machine really liking it. I purchased the pillow box design and made 26 little boxes for party favors and I was blown away by what a great job it did it not only flawlessly cut out all the boxes but perfectly perforated so assembled with ease. Used cardstock and had no problem with mat being too sticky or not sticky enough. Then purchased rosette pattern and it worked just as well, scored all the lines so I was able to fold with no problems. I'm really starting to love this machine.
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More Precise Cuts than the Cricut
by cgall (5 out of 5 stars)
September 16, 2014

I own a three-year-old Cricut Expression with software that allows me to cut my own vector files. My understanding is that the cut quality of the latest Cricut machines is about the same as the one I own, and I do know that you can no longer use software that allows you to cut your own designs on the current models. For that fact alone, I'd recommend buying this machine, as the software to cut from your own files is a heck of a lot cheaper than the multiple cartridges/files you'd need to build up something unique.

I'm a professional graphic designer, and I have found multiple uses for this machine. I mostly cut vinyl decals and tshirt transfers, and professional-quality custom packaging (boxes) and tags for my self-produced products. The detail is great and I've successfully made triangle-shaped cuts about a square millimeter or less in size from vinyl.

The blade takes corners sharp as necessary and a fresh blade cuts clean through even the cheapest thick cardstock. My experience with the Cricut was that it often "approximated" shapes, leaving corners slightly rounded and very small complex shapes (say, a multi-pointed star) like round "blobs." This isn't to say the Cricut isn't a good machine, just that I wouldn't go back unless I absolutely had to due to the nature of my business.

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