dies
 

When placing dies through the Big Shot, is the proper placement of the die - cutting side up OR down...I am so confused. I have tried placing it up, however, when I place my cardstock over it, I can't see what I am doing. If someone could tell me what order is best - die, CS and the plates, I would so appreciate it. Thank you.

I know some directions say to put the die with the cutting side up but that never worked for me either.

These are the sandwich layers from bottom to top for using the Sizzix platform that has the tabs.

Platform with all tabs closed
Clear cutting pad
Paper

Die centered over image or on specified area of paper you want to cut from. If centering die use small pieces of a post it or painters tape to hold it in place.

Top clear cutting pad.
If you have trouble cutting through intricate dies you might want to purchase a Precision Base Plate. This is magnetic and is used in place of the bottom clear cutting pad. It is used only for detailed dies not circles etc.

The sandwich for the magnetic platform is:
Magnetic platform
Cutting pad (or precision base plate)
Paper
Die
Cutting pad

Hope this helps.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Did I thank you...lol. I so appreciate this - you have no idea.

Glad it helped. If you want further information you can got to the Tools and Products Forum and they have a permanent thread (Sticky) on all things Bigshot.

Great. Good to know. Thanks again for your help.

I do both, as long as your "sandwich" is correct the die should cut. I have found that if cutting something out in the middle of the page, placing the die down instead of up sometimes helps avoid the edges of the die leaving creases and indention on my paper.

Thank you - much appreciated.

I don't think it matters.

Thank you.

I do both methods. Most of the time I do cut side up because all I need to see is that the paper covers the die. If I need to have perfect placement then it's cut side down on the paper. I prefer cut side up so I can protect my "good" plate from getting cut marks.

That's great. Thank you very much.

It matters which side up depending on what you are doing. If you are only cutting out a shape then it's cut side up...........but if you want to cut out a stamped image ...it's cut side down so you can place the die properly over your image. That is why some say it does not matter. Just alwAys make sure your cutting plate faces the cut side and you will only mark up on of your b plates.

Perfect. Thank you sooooo much.