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Okay, I am behind the times. I have used a Cricut once; wasn't super impressed, but maybe it was the paper I used.
Do you like the Silhouette? How does it compare to the Cricut or another electronic cutting tool? I understand the Silhouette connects to your PC and you can download designs & fonts from there; the Cricut uses programs you buy. Do you like how it cuts? Is it easy to use? Do you pay for images/fonts you download for the Silhouette? Are they (images/fonts) available from only the Silhouette company or several? How does that work? Any other feedback about ANY of those machines I'll gladly read!
TIA!!!
__________________ Kelly God doesn't give us what we can handle. God helps us handle what we've been given.
Okay, I am behind the times. I have used a Cricut once; wasn't super impressed, but maybe it was the paper I used.
Do you like the Silhouette? How does it compare to the Cricut or another electronic cutting tool? I understand the Silhouette connects to your PC and you can download designs & fonts from there; the Cricut uses programs you buy. Do you like how it cuts? Is it easy to use? Do you pay for images/fonts you download for the Silhouette? Are they (images/fonts) available from only the Silhouette company or several? How does that work? Any other feedback about ANY of those machines I'll gladly read!
TIA!!!
I actually have both. I started with the Cricut, but then was frustrated with buying so many cartridges. So DH bought me the Sihouette, which at first I didn't think I would like. It was different to learn to use, and I was accustomed to the Cricut already. But then I wanted to use a different font than what I had for the Cricut, and the Silhouette came to my rescue. You can use any font you have on your computer with the Silhouette. I have used it a lot more since then. They have an online site that you can use to search for images and pay for. That part of it is pretty easy. HOWEVER!!! If I had known about Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) before getting the silhouette, I would have gone that route. It is my understanding that you can use the SCAL program to use any fonts or images that are on your computer.
I have a Silhouette SD, Gazelle & Cricut. I love all three for different reasons.
Silhouette SD is my print & cut machine. I mainly use her for that. I use the Gazelle as my mixed media machine. My Cricut for cartridges and other things. I do have SCAL to go with my Cricut.
The Silhouette store has the most amazing designs. They are really cheap. They cost $1 for each design. You can join a club per month to download a certain amount of designs. The Silhouette blog they are always giving away free designs. Silhouette has several major scrapbooking companies that have designs in their store. If you download the software, it's free, you can look through the store. Here's a link: Silhouette Support
What I also like about the Silhouette is that you can store images on your SD cards and use your cutter as stand alone without being connected to the computer. Useful for crops.
Cons of the machine:
The blades can be expensive but they do last a long time. I have a Wishblade that was four years old. Both machines use the same blades. I only had to replace the blade twice. You can sharpen the blades.
I am not too crazy about the mats. You can make your own mats for pennies.
Silhouette can cut Bazzill. It can not cut chipboard or other heavier materials. It does cut thin fabric, vinyl and all the trendy lighter items that are out now.
I have a Silhouette as well, and wanted to know: how do you sharpen the blades?
My biggest (only) frustration is with more intricate cuts. It's hard to get a clean cut; I've had the same trouble with the cricut. I do love the "cut any font" feature on the Silhouette, and I love being able to find an embellishment for a page for $1.
I have a Silouette and I love it. I purchased it after doing a bit of comparison with the Cricut and found that the Silhouette handles the detailed cuts much nicer than the Cricut. And I love the Silhouette store!
I have a Silouette and I love it. I purchased it after doing a bit of comparison with the Cricut and found that the Silhouette handles the detailed cuts much nicer than the Cricut. And I love the Silhouette store!
Ryann, the more you talk about your Silhouette the more I want to bite the bullet! I'm thinking that will be my Christmas present to myself ;)
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iheartart
Sizzix, Lawn Fawn, Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft, CupCards To Go
To the OP, I love my Silhouette SD. Call it instant gratification, but I love that I can purchase shapes and use them as quickly as they download from the online store; I love that I'm able to buy what I want when I want. I love that the Silhouette has the print and cut feature-- a feature that Provo Craft has recently added to their latest machine, The Cricut Imagine. With the Cricut Imagine, you'd still need to buy cartridges both for die cuts and ink; with the Silhouette, you could use the printer that you already have at home.
Thank you guys for this post. I was about to go buy a cricut, but now am seriously looking into the silhouette. It sounds amazing. I hated the idea of having to buy the cricut cartridges and I would mostly be using it for fonts, and didn't want to be tied to just a couple fonts, and I always have my computer in my scrapbooking room anyway. I'm glad I fond this thread.
I want to check out the eCraft. Seems it'll be better than what's out there. But, I don't want to be the person to test it out unless the companies sends it to me for free :P
I have a craftrobo which is basically the same machine as the silhouette. I hate it with a passion. I have to multicut bazill and even then it's 50/50 whether it will cut through or not. It's 3 times slower than my cricut (I use scal instead of carts) on a single pass, 6 or 9 times slower for multicut. Blades and mats are quite expensive compared to cricut and I can't get them in any of my local shops. All of my robo using friends have switched to cricuts and scal after seeing the 2 machines side by side cutting the same pattern.
Does the Silhouette SD automatically come with the Print and Cut feature, or is that an add on with the purchase of additional software? thanks for your help, just researching digital die cutters, trying to decide what to get (had a Cricut original and sold it cuz I never used it). I want a machine I can download images and use my fonts I already have. Thanks for your help.
Does the Silhouette SD automatically come with the Print and Cut feature, or is that an add on with the purchase of additional software? thanks for your help, just researching digital die cutters, trying to decide what to get (had a Cricut original and sold it cuz I never used it). I want a machine I can download images and use my fonts I already have. Thanks for your help.
Yes, the Silhouette already comes with the Print & Cut feature added in. No additional software to purchase.
I have a Silhouette( Original) and its the best buy I ever made! I read recently that over this year, the Silhouette, Wishblade & Craft Robo will all be sold under the Silhouette brand- they are all the same anyway.
Any font in your pc, or that you can download can be cut with it, even 'dingbats'- I spent most of the last two days cutting out flourishes etc, from inkjet film to use as masks, a la Tim Holtz. My co-mother in law inputs photos into hers, creates the cutting path, then cuts them out with hers. She did a batch of card with a decoupaged photo of the Nursing Home her Mother was in, for them to sell as a fundraiser.It is a brilliant machine, to me the biggest selling point was the font cutting. My machine cost roughly what 1 Alpha die set for a sizzix would cost, yet I'd only have 1 font in 1 size. Now I can cut as many fonts as exist, in whatever size I want- no contest. Btw, you are not limited to specific font sizes- you get a box around the letter/font that you adjust yourself- so you can make it short & fat, tall & fat, or skinny- entirely up to you.
Also, some of the online comparisons are a little out of date, the Silhouette has a new software that does things like weld, which the old one didn't. Here is a good place to go for info.
Just ordered mine. Really looking forward to playing around with it. Did research and found the cost of having to buy so many cartridges for the other machines daunting. Thanks for the link on how to sharpen the blade. It will come in handy.
Would you share how you can make your own mats? TIA!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lylacfey
I have a Silhouette SD, Gazelle & Cricut. I love all three for different reasons.
Cons of the machine:
The blades can be expensive but they do last a long time. I have a Wishblade that was four years old. Both machines use the same blades. I only had to replace the blade twice. You can sharpen the blades.
I am not too crazy about the mats. You can make your own mats for pennies.
Silhouette can cut Bazzill. It can not cut chipboard or other heavier materials. It does cut thin fabric, vinyl and all the trendy lighter items that are out now.
I had a Silhouette SD, and currently have the Silhouette Cameo and Sizzix Eclips. The Cameo and Eclips are both nice machines, so if I were you, I'd consider both.
I've put a review of how the Eclips cuts cardstock and plastic (for making reusable stencils) on my blog. I show pictures of how delicately it will cut. I'll be putting similar photos up for the Cameo within the next few days. My machine is working away at this very moment
Tim Holtz has recently teamed with Sizzix to make rubber stamps that you can cut out with the Eclips.
I had the original Silhouette and it would not even cut card stock properly so, I sold it. I then researched die cutters. E-craft machine went through two recalls in the first six months. I then contacted BossKut and found out it would cut through a sandwich of double-sided tape/card stock/ double-sided tape...I got really excited.
According to the website the Gazelle:
The Gazelle will cut 12" media. It's software is easy to use and designed especially for the scrapbooker with the features that all the crafters want. 500 g of pressure. Cuts cardstock, glitter paper, chipboard, balsa wood, foam, Grafix plastic sheets, metallic papers, vinyl and other media.
Make decorative borders with the scissor tool or create a design with the embroidery tool.
It has easy to use welding right in the software, Auto-trace and many more features. The Gazelle comes with Funtime Software with hundreds of great features. 700 built in shapes, and 200 fonts plus can cut true type fonts. You can import .ai files, .wpc files, .plt files, .jpeg files, .pdf files, .svg files and .bmp files.
AND...the machine will do rhinestone layouts and emboss...there yah go, embossing the clouds from another topic!
I love, love my machine...there has never been a recall....there has never been a "new and improved" version...the tech support is incredible. The only major upgrade happened this year with the new motherboard because Bosskut Gazelle went from a one-point to a three-point "print & cut".
Cathy
__________________ I stand alone without beliefs...the only truth I know is you
I'm trying to decide on a die cutting machine as well - now I am totally confused! The cricut seems to have a few different versions of their machines and I have no idea what the differences are. A friend of mine suggested the cricut over the silhouette (she has the silhouette). I just don't know which direction to go!
I am mainly interested in making boxes, cupcake and candy wrappers. Does anyone have experience with these types of projects specifically and the merits of one manufacturer over another?
I appreciate any further feedback you can give me.
Donna - The Silhouette Cameo is not recommended for cutting even thin chipboard, so I wouldn't go with the Cameo if you are looking to make boxes and may want to cut something thicker than cardstock.
I dont' own a Cricut, but I do like the Eclips, which will cut cereal box thick cardboard.
You want to make sure too that whatever machine you buy, you are able to get the shapes that you will be wanting to cut. The actual machine is only half of the equation.
Thanks, Diane. I have been surfing the Silhouette downloadable shapes and I have 30 items in my cart, just waiting for me to click a few buttons, but I don't want to make a rash decision and possibly end up regretting it!
I love my Pazzles Inspiration. It can cut fabric, almost any paper, even fondant! What I love most is the website that you become a member of. With all the free files! also I can take many jpg's and make them cut files. It has sooooo many applications and tools that I am still learning. Great video's on line that teach you how to use it too.
Silhouette vs Cricut/other cutting tools
