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Wondering what to make with the Silhouette Cameo 4? This post is for you! Learn all about the Silhouette's capabilities + project ideas.
Download over 200 free SVG cut files with commercial use. Includes Valentine's Day, Wedding, Home, Christmas, Halloween, Fall, and more!
The giant list of places to find free SVG files that you can use in your cutting machine - Silhouette, Cricut, Brother and many more.
New Silhouette CAMEO 5 Everything to know including CAMEO 5 Price CAMEO 5 release date, cameo 5 features and more!
Learn how to turn portrait photo into SVG & DXF cut file for Cricut or Cameo Silhouette craft project! It's simpler than you imagine, and trust me I have step-by-step YouTube video tutorial for you! Let me know how it goes!
22 of the best Silhouette CAMEO tutorials, free cut files, and Silhouette tricks that you missed - but need to read now!
One of the coolest things about the Silhouette CAMEO is that you can use any font that you have installed on your computer to make designs with it. If you are new to your Silhouette this will walk …
Finding the right cut settings for your Silhouette Cameo can be difficult. That's why we put together this handy chart with all of our products. We have the right cut setting for Oracal 651, Oracal 631, Iron-On, Cardstock, and more below.
Silhouette Cameo E-Books, Guides, Manuals, How To's and more. Want more free project walkthroughs, guides, product recommendations, and more? Visit Silhouette School. How to apply vinyl, heat transfer, silhouette studio guide, print & cut.
In November 2019 I taught a Foil Quill class on the Curio at the All Things Silhouette Conference and I hate to say it but I’ve hardly touched it since that time. Here is a photo of the project we did for that class. Note: this tutorial is photo heavy When creating classes, there is… Continue reading Silhouette Cameo 4 – Beginner Foil Quill
If you've been trying to figure out how to use your Foil Quill with Silhouette CAMEO 4 you're in luck. In this Silhouette tutorial I'll show you exactly how to get your Foil Quill tips working in the CAMEO 4 - even with the re designed CAMEO 4 tool carriages. Are you ready to make some stunning foiled stickers?! The key to making the Foil Quill play nice with the CAMEO 4 is to use the D adapter that comes with the Foil Quill tools. Best Foil Quill Adapter in Silhouette CAMEO 4 This is labeled for Sizzix and is shaped differently than the A adapter which is the adapter needed to use the Foil Quill in the other Silhouette machines. If you got rid of the extra adapters thinking you'd only need the A adapter to use the quill in your Silhouette machines, you can buy a replacement set of Foil Quill adapters OR you can get a full set with the purchase of any of the quill tips including the new Quill Bevel and Etching tips. Once you have the D adapter, thread it onto the Foil Quill and place it into the left tool carriage - Carriage 1. The adapter does not have teeth, but you can still press in the lock to keep the Foil Quill securely in place. Plug it into a USB adapter or use the WRMK Foil Quill power brick to warm up your Foil Quill tip while you prepare your design. Remember to use the metal plate to prevent the heated tip from damaging the cutting machine while heating OR have it heat up before you place it in the carriage. Foil Quill Cut Settings in Silhouette CAMEO 4 If you are used to using your Foil Quill in your CAMEO 3 or other Silhouette machines, the same settings won't work. They produce too much pressure so you'll need to adjust them. Head over to Silhouette Studio and start in the Send panel. Pick the CAMEO 4 from the machine list and then select the Action as "Sketch". Change the Tool to Sketch Pen. The best cut settings for using the Foil Quill in Silhouette CAMEO 4 are a Force of 4 and a speed of 7 with a single pass. By the way, I found no matter what settings I used with the fine tip Foil Quill it was still too much force and the foil ripped so I would only recommend the standard and bold FQ tips for use in the CAMEO 4. Preparing Your Silhouette Design to Foil Prepare your design in the Design area of the work space. Single line designs and fonts are ideal for sketching and foiling. I'm using the entire set of 16 Foil Quill Christmas Stamps and foiling onto clear (printable) sticker paper from Online Labels. I prefer to place my design slightly down on the cutting mat. I do this as a habit when foiling so IF I decide to foil and cut, like I did here, I can remove the foil before cutting and it's not stuck under the rollers. OPTIONAL STEP: To cut out the stickers, I selected the outer circle and created a small offset. This line will NOT be foiled, only cut. Now you're ready to foil. Place your sticker paper or paper on your cutting mat and your foil on top of that held down with tape or with the edges stuck to the cutting mat and pulled taunt across the paper. If you do this be aware you will get foil bits on your cutting mat. Due to the big metal bar on the CAMEO 4, it's challenging to use the Foil Quill Magnetic Mat in the CAMEO 4 because the magnets want to stick to the bar. Load your cutting mat into the CAMEO 4. If you haven't yet loaded the Foil Quill into Carriage 1 do so now - just make sure it's been warming up for at least about five minutes. Move back to the Send panel. If you created an offset to be used for a cut line, turn that cut line off by selecting it (only) and clicking "No Sketch". When you're ready, click "Send" to begin the foiling. When the foiling is done you can remove the cutting mat if you are completely done. If you created the offset line to cut around your stickers, DO NOT REMOVE YOUR MAT! If you need to cut something out, like I did with the stickers, remove the foil from the mat (leaving the paper or sticker sheet on the mat) and take the Foil Quill out of the carriage. Pop the Autoblade in Carriage 1. Return to the Send panel in Silhouette Studio, this time turn OFF the cut lines for the areas that have already sketched. Turn the cut lines on for the outer offset circle. The AutoBlade and Auto Cut action should automatically be detected. For the Online Labels Clear Sticker Paper, I use the default cut settings in Silhouette Studio for Sticker Paper, Clear. Click Send again to begin the cutting. Once the cutting is done you can unload everything. You should easily be able to remove the negative space of the clear sticker sheet. I just LOVE these clear stickers with the gold foil. They are so classy and look gorgeous! I mean really, how cute are these?! And how happy am I that I can still use my Foil Quill in CAMEO 4. Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine! Get Silhouette School lessons delivered to your email inbox! Select Once Daily or Weekly. Subscribe Here!
Silhouette Cameo has so many functions to make your work easier and to give you advanced functions. Here's some of the best tutorials to help you along.
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Learn how to use the Silhouette Pixscan mat with this easy and simple tutorial. Use your own images and designs to create your own unique projects.
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One of the big brags of the Silhouette CAMEO 4 is the power of the high pressure right side tool carriage which is reserved for just three tools: the Rotary Blade, the Punch tool and the 3mm Kraft Blade. The 3mm Silhouette Kraft Blade, which can ONLY be used in the CAMEO 4, is a very powerful tool which not only can cut through thick materials, but can also take advantage of the increased force of Carriage 2. However, it requires a whole different type of cutting - and thinking and planning. I would suggest you read this blog post first before you get started as I've intended it to be an overview with some best practices for using the Silhouette 3mm Kraft Blade. Unlike the AutoBlade or even the CAMEO 4 Rotary blade, you can not just pop the 3mm Kraft Blade in the Silhouette machine and expect to have a successful cut. You need to plan. And you need to be patient. This is NOT a fast process - in either the design or cutting process. If you rush, if you pick the wrong design, and if you try to cut corners you will end up wasting a lot of material and potentially damaging your machine and certainly your materials. THIS is what happens when you put the 3mm Kraft blade in and try to cut with NO knowledge or planning of how to use this very powerful tool. I have spent days upon days and a whole lot of money in testing materials and bad cuts to finally crack the code on the best practices for using the 3mm Kraft Blade. This blade is so new there is NO information out there from Silhouette and there's hardly any default cut settings for materials the manufacture claims to cut. For that reason, I am giving you MY best tips. This is what's worked for me...based on the EXACT materials I'm using. There are a lot of variations of leather and balsa wood and mat board... What Materials Can the 3mm Kraft Blade Cut: The 3mm Kraft Blade should be considered for thick, dense materials. I have successfully cut - multiple times - this genuine Cricut leather, this 2mm balsa wood, and I am currently testing to find the right combination of materials and cut settings for mat board and basswood sheets. Preparing Your Material and Cutting Mat A high tack cutting mat is suggested for a lot of the materials that can be cut with the 3mm Kraft Blade. The mat will keep the material in place - and help prevent slipping - during the necessary multiple passes. You'll also want to tape your material onto the mat to ensure it doesn't move. I used washi tape on all four sides of my material to secure it to the mat. If possible try to put your material towards the center of the mat as opposed to right near the edge of the grid - or at least position your design there. I used both the Silhouette Strong Grip mat and the Cricut Strong Grip Mat. The Silhouette mat is thinner and more pliable. While I successfully cut balsa wood on it, I found the mat bubbled a bit - side to side - while cutting. I think this was due to taping the material to it and then it slowly moving out from under the roller. The bubbling caused the multiple passes to be slightly off which resulted in some bad cuts. There are also no mat supports on the CAMEO 4 so you need a mat sturdy enough to support itself and the material on it. The Cricut mats are thicker and more sturdy. I did not experience any bubbling or mat movement with them. However be aware the thickness of your mat CAN change your cuts because a thicker mat may result in more pressure during cutting. Finally, I found it best to cut from the back side of the material (so the design is cut in reverse). This keeps your mat cleaner (especially on materials like this leather), your cuts cleaner, and if you get a bad cut on the first pass you likely won't even see it on the front side. ;) Picking the Right Design for the 3mm Kraft Blade The 3mm Kraft Blade - and 2mm Kraft Blade for that matter - are NOT for small intricate cuts. I repeat, the Silhouette Kraft Blades are NOT for small intricate cuts. This is a big broad blade. It can not make small intricate cuts. A few other things to keep in mind when picking designs for your Silhouette Kraft Blade. It does better on curves than it does on sharp corners. Designs should be at least a third of an inch wide at their narrowest point. Designs should also be positioned so they are NOT too close to the edge of the material to avoid splintering and to avoid the blade going off the edge of the material. If you have a design - like this three piece bow - I would highly suggest you cut each separately and not all in a single pass. The reason is, if the blade gets caught up at any point, the multiple cut lines can end up off. It's better to have one piece off than three. Trust me...I did a lot of testing. Multiple Passes with Varying Force and Blade Depth Remember that video I shared with you up there? There are two big reasons it did all that grinding. The first is I tried cutting with the loops or smart cuts on. Those are the small cuts in the negative space that the software automatically adds for rotating the blade, when you use the Action "Kraft Cut". The problem is the blade often got stuck in them and then it messed up the entire cut. Turning those off helped significantly. Secondly, I tried to just cut the material at full force at full blade depth from the start. That's NOT how the 3mm Kraft Blade works....if you want to get good cuts. Believe me. I know. Basically you need to first puncture and then score the material with the initial pass. Then you need to add a few more passes increasing the force SLIGHTLY with each pass then finish it with a deeper cut but lesser force. What this does is after you have cut through the material about 95% of the way, the deeper blade depth then does the last pass with just the tip of the blade slicing through the very last layer of the material. By backing off the pressure on this last pass you are preventing the blade from digging in and grinding into your cutting mat. Setting Up Your Design for the 3mm Kraft Blade Since the Silhouette software can't automatically apply varying force with each pass - you'll need to force it to do it. You do that in both the Design area and the Send panel by setting up a stacked set of copies of your design and then utilizing the Cut By Fill Color option. Each of these layers will then be assigned a different cut setting - each with a different force. Cutting by Color with Multiple Passes and Varying Settings In the Send Panel, it will look something like this. You'll notice each color layer has a different Material. All of those custom material settings I had to add manually - and each has a slightly different force as we talked about earlier with the scoring then adding increasing force with each pass. This is something you'll have to do one time for each material you try to cut. Once you add the material set you don't need to do it every time you cut that material again. So the next time I cut a piece of genuine Cricut leather, the settings will already be in there for me. If I cut a different type of leather I will need to add settings for that leather since there are likely variations on thickness!! I will, of course, have a Silhouette tutorial soon on how to add these special types of custom material settings. For today, however, I don't want you to get overwhelmed with information. I just want you to be aware of this different type of cutting when using the 3mm Silhouette Kraft Blade. The final step is to hold on tight. Say a prayer. Sip your wine and press Send. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM YOUR MACHINE WHILE IT'S CUTTING. I would actually suggest you keep a light hand on the edge of your mat. This first pass is basically a score. You're making a track of the blade to follow for the rest of the passes. If the blade stutters at all - just kind of help it out of the rut by pushing or pulling lightly so it keeps moving. Don't worry if the second pass is slightly off from the first. As long as passes 2-5 are in the same spot you should be okay! The machine will slightly lift the blade between each pass as it adjusts the pressure/force you set up before completing passes 2-4. You'll adjust the actual blade depth after the 4th pass for that final pass. Before you unload the mat and material, check that you can pop your cut out. It should be a clean cut. Once you've confirmed it's a clean cut you can unload the cutting mat and your material. Now you're ready to either cut your next piece or start assembling your project!! Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine! Get Silhouette School lessons delivered to your email inbox! Select Once Daily or Weekly. Subscribe Here!
Change the colors of any SVG or Silhouette design in Silhouette Studio with just a few clicks.
How to make DIY personalized bookmark with Cricut. This trendy personalized gift will be perfect for any occasion like birthday, back to school gift, graduation gift, Christmas gift and more heart
Learn how to create a reuseable stencil with your silhouette cameo. Use Digital Cut Files from Scrapbook.com exclusive product, recently released.
Makers Gonna Learn
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Are you the proud new owner of a Silhouette Cameo and don’t know where to start? Here's a step-by-step guide to making your first cut!
This question came up on my Facebook group last week, so let’s take a look at the current tools available for the Cameo 4. Affiliate links may be present in the following blog post and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Cameo 4 – Tool 1 Tool 1 on the Cameo 4… Continue reading Let’s Explore Cameo 4 – Tools
Use your Silhouette Cameo 4 cutting machine to create all these beautiful home decor projects. Cut fabric, burlap, felt, card-stock, HTV, vinyl and labels.
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Inspiration for MAKING a pretty life!
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Video and written tutorial on how to DIY split monogram with Cameo Silhouette Studio. Easy to follow, and easy to understand tutorial by Caluya Design!
These free SVG, DXF, PNG files are available for instant download at Helacrafty.com. Compatible with Cricut, Silhouette Cameo, Glowforge, or any other laser cutters and cutting machines. Visit Hela Crafty for your next DIY project.
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Makers Gonna Learn
Silhouette CAMEO tutorial for beginners on how to cut vinyl with Silhouette. Blog post will walk you through step by step on setting up Silhouette Studio to cut vinyl and then actually cutting your first vinyl decal.
Easy beginner stickers using Silhouette. This Silhouette CAMEO tutorial will walk you through all the steps to print and cut perfect stickers at home!
I compiled a list of the Best Sites to Download FREE Cricut Designs and Silhouette SVG Cut Files that I know you’re going to love. If you’re a total newbie to the electronic cutting machine world, this is
Learn how to use the Silhouette Pixscan mat with this easy and simple tutorial. Use your own images and designs to create your own unique projects.
Download over 200 free SVG cut files with commercial use. Includes Valentine's Day, Wedding, Home, Christmas, Halloween, Fall, and more!
Makers Gonna Learn
