Customer Reviews

Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutting Tool (QuicKutz)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Quick summary: great for average to above average computer users, like creating my own designs, like not having to buy cartridges, cheapest way to go for die cutting machine (in my humble opinion), overall good investment

First, a little about me. I'm a graphic designer with training in Adobe Illustrator. The Silhouette appealed to me because I could create my own shapes and it was cheaper than buying a more expensive machine plus a million cartridges with something like Cricut. I did a lot of research on Wishblade and Silhouette and found the most positive reviews for the Silhouette so I decided to buy it.

I bought the SD because I liked the idea of an auto-load/eject vs. the original Silhouette manual crank. Now, though, I think it'd be ok with the manual crank. I've never used the "SD" feature of this Silhouette.

I was a little nervous about the learning curve with this machine, but it hasn't been a problem for me at all (I consider myself about a 7/10 for computer savvy). I think this cutting machine might be more frustrating for people who are less computer literate or those who don't want to hassle with setting up shapes to cut in the most economical way (so to not waste paper).

I use the red cap (for "thick" paper) most of the time as the yellow cap just wasn't cutting well enough. I think I use average cardstock from the craft store, like the DCWV stacks. If you have really thick paper like bristol, the plugin I linked to below allows you to set the blade to run over the design multiple times. I haven't tried cutting vellum yet, but supposedly this machine can do that with the blue cap. I tried to cut out some pre-printed designs, but it seems like it never cuts exactly the same way twice, so I gave up trying (even after creating the template I talk about below).

PROS:
- make my own designs
- not much else to buy after the machine except cutting mats (see my tip below) and paper
- can cut very long designs (not even sure how long because I've never had paper longer than 12")
- small and light, super easy to store

CONS:
- with the proprietary cutting software that comes with it, paper is wasted [UPDATE: Silhouette Studio (SS) software greatly improves this!]
- a little difficult to use with Adobe Illustrator [UPDATE: easy to export AI as DXF and import into SS, just make sure to ungroup all objects and release compound paths otherwise you'll get errors]
- proprietary ROBO Master software is PC only Mac users need a plugin [UPDATE: SS software available for Mac & PC]
- for some, may have to buy shapes through the Silhouette store, but they are inexpensive
- only cuts up to 8" wide (if you cut the 1/4-1/2" wider they claim it can, you have an indented line on your shape from the wheels)
- loud!
- lint and pet hair clings to the cutting mats pretty easily. They are hard to keep clean, but still work fine when dirty like this
- when I bought in Dec 09, Vista users had to download a new driver from the Silhouette website (not really a con, just an FYI)

Even though I listed more cons than pros, this is a GREAT buy. I think the pros still outweigh the cons and I would buy it again and recommend it to friends. I guess I'm just paying more attention to the down sides that you probably won't read about anywhere else online.

I downloaded a free plugin for use with Illustrator (on PC, may work for Mac too) from the GraphtecCorp website.
You'll have to test and set up a template to get everything to cut on the paper with this plugin (I made a 8 x 12 document and added a small box to be cut just outside these borders and make sure all of my shapes are within a 1/4" margin of the document and haven't had a problem. The box doesn't cut on the paper, but it lines up everything else to cut properly. I can set shapes to cut almost right at the edges, so no wasted paper!!). If you know Illy and like the freedom it gives you, it's worth the frustration of figuring this out. This plugin gives you a lot of control over the cutting. You can set the paper type, pressure, how many times the blade runs over the design and even the line type (solid, dashes, dots!!).

[UPDATE] I had some trouble with the blade after a few months even when I replaced it with a new one so I called Silhouette customer support and they replaced the blade carrier and blade for free! Their customer support is really awesome and I highly recommend contacting them if you have any trouble (US only 800.859.8243). They also have a great blog with tips and tutorials for using your Silhouette and be sure to check the Silhouette store every week for a free shape download!

My best tip: buy the Cricut brand cutting mats. They are thicker and I feel like they last longer. They are a lot cheaper than the Silhouette brand cutting mats. The only down side is that you'll need to trim them to fit in the Silhouette, but it's very worth it. I thought the Silhouette brand cutting mats were too sticky and pretty thin; it seemed like I was cutting through them after a dozen uses. Paper doesn't stick to the Cricut ones but they hold it in place just fine.

P.S. Read the comments on this review, particularly the ones from "Becky" about how to cut your own fabric with the Silhouette! Thanks for letting us know about that, Becky!

One reviewer downrates this because it is complicated. Well duh! It's a piece of software that controls a precision razor blade. All computer programs must be learned prior to use. This comes with a basic manual that lets you install the software, load the blade, load paper and cut a pattern. Horay it works! That's about all the "Basic Instruction Guide" does. Load the Instruction CD and a video pops up in your browser. This is about as detailed and well paced training video I have ever used. After viewing it I was convinced I had found the best thing since scissors...

Now for an honest admission: After I had my HORAY IT WORKS moment, I quickly opened Photoshop, did a mask of a profile picture I had, checked the import files supported and moved the mask JPG into the Silhoutte SD. Loaded paper. Selected the cut icon (called craft robo via ballon name) and the thing made some noise and the carriage moved and nothing happend. Hmph. So I did what any male would do, I hit the cut button again, and again some noise and some movement, but no cut image came out.

Oh. Must need a png file instead of jpg. Created that and the thing wouldn't import it. Tried a tif. Noise and movement, but not cutting!

Ok. I give up. Maybe I should send Amazon a note and send the thing back. I wasn't feeling so HORAY anymore. Maybe I should try the instruction disk. HMMM. It needs to rasterize the jpg before cutting, which it did nicely. (they didn't call it that, but duh! anyone knows that it should need to do that). Cut the silhoutte profile. Cool. Horay again.

So, to avoid the fun I had, do the unconsumerly thing and listen to the Instruction CD video. You might learn how to actually use the damn thing...

I suppose if you want something simple, get a pair of scissors. But I imagine it's OK to run with this thing...

All in all it will take about two hours for you to be able to use this for some pretty complicated designs and be able to import your own graphics and clipart.

AGAIN: take the time to view the videos, at least quickly. There are some details like different color lines for solid or perforated cuts. How to really line up landscape and portrait cuts so you don't waste paper and other little things that you might stumble upon eventually with trial and error.

Neat machine.

Thanks for reading my review.

Oh, BTW I bought the one with the extra mats and blade.
This one comes with two mats (for non backed media NOT ADHESIVE VINYL). The $275 one come with two mats, a cutter, and some pens (I guess for people who don't have a printer ... )

I have both the Silhouette SD and the Cricut Expressions. I love the fact that Silhouette doesn't need any more cartridges and Quickutz offers reasonable image subscriptions. It does take more time to learn to use the Silhouette. I went through all the tutorials on [...] and was amazed with what it can do. The tutorials will take time but definitely worth it. The cutting mat was a real pain, it was too sticky and thin besides the replacements are expensive. I've found a solution though but cutting up a Cricut 12x12 mat to use with Silhouette, it works perfect. There are many ways to make your own mats, just do a search online. There are also ways to make your cricut mat sticky again so one mat lasts almost forever.

After having used the Silhouette SD for a lot of cutting projects on vinyl, I'd say it's not a bad machine. However, I think there's an interface issue between the software and firmware of the cutter. If I use it to cut a few letters out on a 10"x6" sheet of vinyl, there's no problems. As soon as I try to do a bunch of letters, (the same word repeated), the cutter begins to miss parts of some of the letters. I tried the max of 8.5"x24" and had 30 decals cut out. out of the 30, I was able to use 26. I then tried a larger size of the same word and font. In the 8.5"x24" sheet, I was able to fit 18 decals, of which, only 15 were usable.

The software doesn't take to importing images very well. After importing an image, I found myself having to use the Robocraft software to redraw the lines in the image because the software didn't import the image as a solid image. Very time consuming if you have to sit and play connect the dots. There's also a lot of prompts to cut your piece, which can become annoying as well. Another large gripe is that there's no actual scale to the project you're working on. They give you a grid, but no numbers on the grid to determine how large the piece will actually be. That makes the grid next to useless if you're working on something that requires certain dimensions. Make sure to reboot your computer after installing the software. Even tho it doesn't ask you to reboot, if you don't, your custom TTF fonts will not work in the software.

The only reason I gave it a 3rd star is because it's far less expensive than other plotter/cutters in the same category and works relatively well, despite it's flaws. I purchased mine for $170 shipped.

I've had my Silhouette for about a year and a half now, and I Love It! I've cut shapes and letters out as small as 1/8th of an inch without any problems. I've used everything from very thin scrapbook paper to 110lb card stock.

I'm really mystified that anyone would find this machine or the software that it comes with difficult to use. When I first got it, I had it up and cutting in less than 15 minutes. I really understood how it worked in less than an hour. One thing that may have made it easier for me is that when I first started using the cutter, I didn't immediately try to start cutting patterns that I made myself. At first, I only cut the patterns that came with the machine. I then moved on to cutting patterns that I downloaded from the Internet (there are a ton of free patterns out there). By doing this, I was able to see how various designs were created before I tried making my own. I now make most of the designs that I cut out myself.

The other thing I did when I first started was that I focused on cutting regular weight scrapbook paper before trying heavier card stock or really light weight papers. Doing this really gave me a much better feel for the cutter and its capabilities.

The software that comes with the machine is pretty basic, but if you really get into it, there is 3rd party software that has more capabilities that can be used with the Silhouette (KNK Studio GE, Funtime 2010, etc.).

There are also a lot of online groups that you can join to get help from other Silhouette or Craft Robo users if you need it. These are particularly helpful should you decide to try some more advanced techniques. Yahoo has a number that are very active where everyone is quite friendly.

Overall, I highly recommend the Silhouette. It's inexpensive, a lot of fun and a lot more flexible than the Cricut.

A friend of mine bought the Cricut and allowed me to borrow it. The cartridges are expensive, you can't see the design and have to remember what buttons to push to get the design to pattern out the way you want. And I felt like I had to cut out a bunch of stuff just to make it worth while to have out.

Saw the Silhouette advertised in a magazine. Looked it up and fell in love. Received it in the mail and fell in love all over again.

All the reviews that discuss the "instructional video". That is a must. You MUST view this video, and to be honest, before you even install the thing-watch the video. I didn't find the instruction booklet very helpful. The video answered all my "unanswered questions".

I have it hooked up to my laptop - which keeps everything mobile. I LOVE that I can view my design BEFORE I cut. And if you want to do the patterns with different colors, like with the Cricut - you "ungroup" - move the portions of the design you want in a different paper to the "out of cut range" and Taa-dah! You print in the papers as you want! No thought process required (or very little-which I love).

The machine has the ability to put in a SD card (same as you would use for your digital camera) to transport your images without the computer, but I have not played with this feature - yet!

I have played around with the different designs, and downloaded some more. I have cut, saved, and have more ideas than I have time for this little machine.

I see from some of the reviews that apparently there are additional programs to use for creating your own images - this I will look into, because that is the one feature that is limited from the program included - although you can "weld" multiple images to create a design from your library.

I even plan to now make my own Christmas cards this year. Did I mention I love this thing?

It is a great die cutting machine. It does what it says. I had a little difficulty figuring out how to layout the paper for cutting. After that, I was able to put my creativity to the test. Downloads are CHEAP, and you only buy what you need. Some are even free. I would buy this machine again. Great product for the money!

I baught this machine because I wanted to cut my own vinyl stickers. This cutter works better than I could have ever imagined. It cuts very precise shapes and letters. I baught vinyl from a local sign maker rather than buy the silhouette brand as it is much cheaper. Works perfect everytime. Would recomend this machine to anyone looking at making some die cut vinyl stickers.

I purchased the Silhouette SD in November, 2010, after researching and considering several different machines. I have probably cut around 200 sheets of light card stock with it, and cuts are still sharp and precise using the original blade. I have 3 carrier sheets that i alternate, and 2 of them are just about used up, although i will try applying a low-tack adhesive spray to rejuvenate them when the time comes.

I've cut paper, vinyl, and card stock up to about medium weight. All cut very well, with intricate details. On 2 or 3 occasions, the stock being cut came loose from the carrier sheet or backing and got caught up in the machine. This happened when there were many small separate pieces, or, on vinyl, something like a long thin flourish near other elements. Also, when cutting vinyl, there seems to be an area approximately 2x3" that does not cut as well as the rest of the design. I have not found a solution for this, as i have not cut more than 15-20 vinyl designs, but i plan on trying using a roller on the vinyl before loading it, or using a very thin backing sheet to provide a more solid foundation. This is probably a quirk specific to my machine.

For me, the greatest plus of this machine over others is the native Mac software, and the ease of creating my own designs. The Silhouette Studio software is fairly easy to use, especially if you're at all familiar with vector drawing. Even if you're not, it's simple to draw basic shapes and weld them together, or subtract one from another. It would be nice if there were more keyboard shortcuts assigned in the software. Printing and then cutting from the Studio software is flawless, and VERY impressive. The registration is so tight that after it's cut, there is not a bit of ink left on the scrap.

So far, i've been able to cut all my Illustrator designs using the plug-in, also, but have had strange results in Illustrator using printing with registration marks.

The Silhouette cuts amazing detail. It will cut a line as thin as this font, and tiny dots 1/16" or smaller. Make sure you also get a pick tool so that you can REMOVE these tiny bits!

The only con is that the width is limited to about 8". Would love to have a 12" model. I have seen cost of replacement blades and carrier sheets mentioned, but i'm satisfied with their longevity and cost per use.

Regarding the online store; although many designs in various styles are available with a couple of clicks, i haven't been happy with many that i've purchased. First off, the license is Personal Use Only--probably fine for most people, but i need to be able to use purchased art in commercial projects, also. Lines are unnecessarily complex, with dozens or hundreds of anchor points, which makes editing them a real nuisance. Another problem is that many designs, particularly the cut-and-piece type, look great in the store. After you've purchased and opened the file, it contains ONLY the pieces to be cut, without a guide as to how to assemble them or even what the finished design should look like. Fortunately, it's pretty simple to make your own designs, even if you draw them on paper, scan them and then trace them in the Studio software.

Check out the CraftROBO Megastore site to get an idea of what can be done, or see here for a comparison with the Cricut:[...]

I had a lot of trouble at first getting what I wanted from this machine. I struggled with some aspects and figured out some tricks which I wanted to post here for others.

At first I wanted to use Print+Cut mode. They don't tell you in the specs but in this mode you have a reduced cut area. You cannot cut the full width due to built in margins that reduce it from 7.9" to about 7.2" max. This was important for me because I had designs I made to fit what I thought was spec'd as the 7.9" limit.

Tips: When pulling photo paper off the carrier it helps to put the carrier on a table edge and bend it down as you pull the paper off keeping the paper straight. This prevents most of the "curl" you will otherwise get. At first my cut photos were rolling up into tubes and this worked to stop that.

I didn't use the Print+Cut in the end. By locating the paper onto the carrier accurately and loading the carrier accurately you can get fairly good results without registration. In my brief experience about 1mm of registration accuracy is typical.

I found the force setting in the software has only limited control over cutting. You really need to choose the cut cap that best suits the paper thickness.

The blue cap indicates 0.1mm depth but seems to cut deeper. It's very hard to "score" paper with it as it cuts too deep even under lowest force setting. I found that by cutting a 7mm donut (with 3mm hole) on bond paper and placing that inside the blue cap it raises the blade slightly and causes it to cut slightly less deep and works well for scoring photo paper (for folds). This technique can be used to fine tune the depth for other cases too. (Better yet would be if they made the holder adjustable like the after market ones out there - switching caps is a time waster at best).

I always cut and score on the back of photo paper as it doesn't leave white lines on the scores on the front of the paper. This also means you are cutting blind as far as registration (unless you copy the marks to the back and mirror your artwork).

Tips for Studio software: If you have a complex multi-layer design (with different cut depths) then it's better to get it all on one document and then save it with a different name for each layer. Then delete the unwanted elements from each layer. I started out going the other way and copy/pasting into new documents but found that the copy/paste is very unreliable regarding position. Things seem to get moved around. The software is usable but a far cry from the best available.

You can import AI files via Inkscape (free). Load the AI there and then save as DXF (with polylines not Robo Craft checked). Studio will read that format. First make sure paths are compound and grouped or else it will explode everything into bits. Even then you need to re-position and scale the imported paths as it seems to miss read scale and document values.

Hope this helps someone trying to do their own designs. I'm told that new DXF import features in the software are coming soon. I found the Illustrator plugin available to be useless. It forced re-positioning of the design to the top-right corner and so makes it impossible to cut at an exact position. The Print+cut mode in the Illustrator plugin did not work at all and always gave me read errors when trying to cut.

In the end, after working through issues and learning how to control the machine I'd say this is a very useful low priced tool for cutting. It does work well once you've mastered it. It won't do everything you can throw at it but it's pretty good for many jobs. Email support did answer my questions promptly but wasn't that useful in the end.

There are more tips out there for users so if you're having trouble I'd suggest googling for a while and see what you can find out. It can be tricky to get good results but once you master it, the thing works.

I love that you can put files on an SD card and use it simply from the lcd screen without a computer (again, does not work with Print+Cut reg marks).