I need some advice on which machine to buy between the Cricut Maker and the Silhouette Cameo 5 Alpha. My main reason for using the machine is to print and kiss cut stickers (I use 135gsm glossy paper) and also cut some card stock. Speed is really important to me because I want to cut as many stickers as possible.

Right now my biggest problem with Cricut is the print then cut area. It doesn't allow me to maximize the whole page so too much of the sticker paper is wasted. Because of that I was leaning towards the Cameo 5 Alpha to get the most out of my sheets.

But I am really hesitating because I keep reading about this firmware 1.05 bug on the Cameo 5 Alpha. I read that it breaks the print and cut and makes the machine think it's the older cameo 5, so you are forced to use a software workaround for the registration marks. I am going to be buying a completely new machine and I really don't want to get caught up in this issue or have a buggy machine right out of the box.

Is the firmware issue still a huge problem right now? Is the workaround easy enough that it's worth dealing with just to avoid Cricut's wasted paper space? Or should I just get the Maker and deal with the waste?

Also I heard that the Cameo 5 Alpha works with the auto feeder? Anyone tried it? Is it any good? I want to speed up my cutting can I reliably use it?

I am new to Silhouette Cameo 5s, or any cutter really. I'm trying to cut a pattern on 2mm leather so I can make dice bags. I don't understand why the Designer would make it cut so strangly. Am I putting in my settings wrong? The red should be slightly drawn on, the blue is where it'd be cut.

https://preview.redd.it/ugg99tu8suyg1.png?width=2115&format=png&auto=webp&s=325b21a5ce18cbca05c0f6ef29686a33b871af7f

This is what it is looking like, but below is what it SHOULD look like.

https://preview.redd.it/kau4gzxbsuyg1.png?width=1112&format=png&auto=webp&s=94d997e898f324112e9366c0cd5b96a4f3d3b9dc

Can someone offer their advice? Thank you!

I have been trying to get into sticker making and greeting card making and trying to find stuff here and there - got to know that these printers, cutters (I have no clue) are there for making stickers or doing other papercrafts.

Can you guys help me explain what they are, also lmk if any resources are there to learn about them or sticker making.

I need to cut some 0.5mm thick polypropylene sheet but not sure whether the Cameo 4 or 5 would cope. It’s the kind of tough, flexible plastic that document envelopes/folders are often made from. Does anyone have any experience of cutting materials like this? Thanks!

Hi All,

I just set up my new machine! I have illustrator/design experience, but am wondering how I can make the most of my 30 days/free credits.

What are some must haves, or designs that you find worth it?

This week I would like to make some things for my friend who is getting proposed to (shhhh it is a surprise). I wanted to work on a design today for a sign and then I had an idea to make little cards that say "words of love" on it, for attendees of the surprise party to sign and pin to a shadow box as a "guest book" for the couple to look back on.

I got the silhouette because I am getting married next year and would love to make my own invites/guest gifts to make it more personal.

Any advice will help 😄

Can anyone tell me where I can find the file for this card? (not using the same papers if fine,) Thanks for all of your help

https://preview.redd.it/569njzlmpjzg1.jpg?width=502&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=877be9027bf53bbb025ba3c1b93438b5f3f7f23f

File needed

I am having this issue and have no idea how to fix it. I am doing two passes on 300gsm cardstock. It will go through the first cut and then on the second cut I hear a jam/knock noise and then the alignment is thrown off. What can I do to stop this?

https://reddit.com/link/1t6x5fx/video/lfi8sunbbuzg1/player

PHOTO OF MY SETTINGS

https://preview.redd.it/tpxza269tl0h1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39ae3b6f5e10d006cd563683f910df2e6e3f1e72

TLDR: Trying to cut business cards with thick photo paper and 5ml laminate (pretty rigid). Autoblade is about 80% good for the most part with the right settings, but I still have some hiccups. Will aftermarket blades with different angles, or any of the premium/deep cut (2mm)/ (2/3mm) kraft blades work better, especially the 3mm kraft blade (dialed back down so its not so deep of a cut) on carriage 2 (which should produce more force than carriage 1 I believe?)

Hey all.

Just got my Cameo 5 Alpha, and I do love it!. Great cutter, accurate, and much easier than working by hand, really helping to automate my business card making process.

Essentially, I have 300 GSM (around 90-100lb) photo paper, that I laminate with 5mil laminate. They end up being roughly 0.75mm +/- thick. Pretty rigid papers that need to be cut.

For the most part, I can get really good cuts tho! Albeit, I do have some hiccups here and there sometimes. Currently, I only have the Autoblade setup on Carriage 1, using the sticky matt, and my settings usually are these:

Force: 35, Speed: 10, Passes: 10, Blade Depth: 10

Took a while and lots of testing to get the right settings down pat that work about 80% ish of the time. I have the corners get slightly rounded off because I could never get clean sharp corners. But the rounded corners honestly look much better imo!!

However, the main issues I'm having sometimes are as follows:

1. Too much force (over 35/36) and the cutter will jam and get stuck to where I have to cancel everything and restart it. Either that, or it gets stuck for a second or two, keeps moving, and then the whole programed route for cutting is off by a lot and I have to restart anyway since itll start cutting in the wrong spots.
2. Sometimes the corners of my cards get nicked or hit by the cutter (might be an issue with them peeling up from the adhesive matt), but if I can somehow get my number of passes lower than 10 then that's not an issue since it only happens on 1 or 2 cards towards the end of the 10 passes.
3. Even at 10 passes, the blade depth high as possible, and the force as high as possible, some cards (like 1 or 2), will not be cut all the way through and need just a bit of manual slicing with a razor blade to get them to release easily. Nothing crazy, but I'd like em all to be able to be plucked off easily like the majority do. (Always seems to be the one on the bottom left side)

And a few issues here and there that will work themselves out if I can get the speed higher or the number of passes lower. 👍

(An issue I had earlier too, was with registration marks not being read at first due to the high gloss, but using some matte clear highlighter tape over the corner markings fixed that immediately. Thank you to this post.)

Eventually I would love to scale this up to 5 machines running when I need to make bulk cards after printing and laminating, but that's another day in the near future when I get there. 💪😁

So here's my question:

I did some more research and saw that you can get all kinds of different blades! I'm thinking of getting some aftermarket ones from amazon, with different cutting angles (30, 45, and 60 deg).

Would either the...

• Aftermarket Blades
• 2mm Deep Cut Blade (or 2mm Manual Blade - think those are the same)
• 2mm Kraft Blade or 3mm Kraft Blade
• Premium Blade

...fix my issues to give me consistent cuts all the way through, with no jamming or getting stuck due to too much force? Theres not much info or videos out on a lot of the accessories or other cutting blades it seems.

I read online that the Carriage 2, for the 3mm Kraft Blade, and etc - produces more force. So maybe that blade on that carriage, dialed back on the depth so its not so deep, would be good to produce more force and cuts with less passes? That or maybe just a deeper blade on Carriage one will let me do less passes? Idk. :P

Hoping someone with more experience can point me in the right direction. I don't mind buying all these to try em out either.

Thanks!