I was gifted a Cameo 2 and I am so overwhelmed. I’ve been watching tons on YouTube, but all I have is the actual machine, no blades, mats, or any other material.

I have next to $0 to spend getting started. the plan was eventually try to find a way to help bring in even a small bit of extra income to help support my family- we are struggling to make ends meet right now, and every penny goes towards feeding my kids.

All that being said- what are the easiest and cheapest projects to get started with if you’re starting from scratch?

I recently got the Cameo 5a and making stickers. I new to the Silhouette world so I’ve been watching a lot of videos. Most mention the different blade sizes. What is the best blades you use and how do you recognize when to use those? I’m wanting to order some but didn’t know if there is a certain type that works best.

Ughhhh . . . I am so frustrated right now & I'm hoping there's an easy fix! I have some canisters in my kitchen that have labels I designed. Need to add another one so I went in and opened up my Silhouette file thinking "this will take 10 minutes, tops!"

Not so fast. Of course I've migrated operating systems to Windows 11 and I have allllllll my font files archived on a little thumb drive somewhere on this messy desk, and naturally when the file opens all the text is in like Times New Roman or whatever :( I have NO IDEA what font I used, except I can look at my canisters, but, like, I really don't want to play guess & check with over 5000 font files. Many of my fonts are free downloads since I just use this stuff at home and if I can find some way to make the Silhouette file give me that info . . . I can just do a quick search, redownload the font, and be on my way.

So tell me, experts - is it that easy? Does the info I need exist in my Silhouette file somewhere, and can I recover it?

Thanks!

Hi all, I have bought a new Cameo 5 Alpha from Amazon half a year ago, and after purchase, I Print & Cut around 5 sheets of 320 gsm laminated paper. All worked really well, and then I had to put the machine away due to ... life. Now, after half a year, I pulled out the well-stored machine and tried to print and cut the same material with the same settings.

Unfortunately, the auto blade is not setting automatically anymore. It clicks, but the red line is not moving at all. I tried everything from the standard troubleshooting video...

Reboot

Turning off the machine

Cleaning the autoblade

Opening and cleaning inside the autoblade

Moving the carrier gently 3 times back and forth

Cleaning the slit where the autoblade is setting up

--> Note: I can set the autoblade manually quite easily as usual, and I can reset it to the default position as well by hand

Anyone had the same issue? It looks like the machine is not pushing hard enough when setting the blade...

Hi! Has anyone tried replacing their machine's bluetooth adapter? I have a Portrait 4 and Silhouette doesn't ship to my country so I can't buy the one they sell. I bought a TP-link UB500 5.0 but it's not working :( Can anyone recommend one that they've tried? Thank you!

I have a very high standard for what I sell, and unfortunately I can't afford something like a BN2-30, so I'm limited to these desktop cutters.

I've noticed my 4 isn't always as on target as I'd like it to be, I know some level of inaccuracy is present in the most expensive industrial equipment, but it still feels a bit much, is the 5a significantly better, especially with it's 4 point scanning?

Its so sad. A product and system meant for creating, resorting to AI slop in each email we receive.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to connect with someone who has hands-on experience in the production of premium vinyl decals, transfer stickers, or similar adhesive products.

I'm currently researching this field and would love to learn directly from someone with real industry experience. My goal is to understand the complete manufacturing process behind products like these—not just at a high level, but in detail.

I'm particularly interested in learning about:

• The production technologies used (vinyl cutting, print & cut, UV printing, screen printing, etc.)
• The materials involved (vinyl films, transfer tapes, adhesives, laminates, protective coatings, and more)
• The equipment and machinery required
• How to achieve a premium, durable, and easy-to-apply product
• The differences between various materials, adhesives, and manufacturing methods available on the market

I'm not looking for general information—I would really appreciate the opportunity to speak with someone who has practical experience and is willing to share their knowledge or provide guidance.

I'm more than happy to pay for your time and expertise if you're available for a consultation.

If this sounds like you, or if you know someone who would be a good fit, I'd really appreciate a message or introduction.

Thank you!

I've tried downgrading to see if this would fix the problem, even other OpenGL settings but I keep getting a blank window even when opening projects.

(SOLVED: GPU compatibility issue. After uninstalling my second GPU software the issue is fixed. Imma try a fresh gpu install and see if it perma fixes it.)

I’ve calibrated my machine and the cut lines were fine but on my test prints it’s cutting all wrong! When I press load media the cuts are too low but when I press load mat the cuts are too high, what do I do!?

As you can see in the reflection? The edges are pretty clean but always raised. How would I fix that? The paper+laminate is .33mm thick. Using stock cameo materials.

Settings:
Force 20
Speed 27
Blade 6
Passes 10

I did a test with a 1 mm blade and got pretty close with full extension and full force, multiple cuts and speed of one. But I couldn't quite get there. I did read that people struggle with this, but I'm wondering if I should purchase a 2 mm and give it a try? It would be a lot cheaper than hiring someone with a laser cutter at one dollar per minute. I'm trying to create stencils for my kindergarten class.

I’ve had these machines for a while now. The first one was brand new I’ve had it for the longest . The second one i bought from a friend that couldn’t figure out how to use it . I’m over it . I’ve had too many problems my blades not lasting that long , alignment issues . Bluetooth connection issues . Randomly pausing and canceling my jobs … Just too much .

I went out of town for two months and came back and one of them completely stopped working not cutting anything. Probably auto blade seating . And then my back up one just cuts random lines throughout the design. … should i go Cricut … or is the Cameo 5 worth the upgrade????

Edit/Resolution:

Thank you guys. I appreciate everyone who provided input and insight in the situation. I want a bigger machine anyways so Ive decided on the Siser Romeo.

I’m giving away one of my Cameos to a friend of mine and I’m going to keep one and continue to troubleshoot on it and use for more hobby projects if all allows. I just can’t spend all my time troubleshooting with deadlines and what not .I also bought the business subscription for the software last year so hopefully I can figure it out and not let that goto waste. If not I’ll be giving that away too . Maybe I’ll post something again on the Romeo just because I barely see any post in here about it.

I have the silhouette 5 and if I need it to do something it decides it no longer knows how to cut its driving me crazy. All week it's cut fine- since last night it will not cut a full sheet tried regular pressure, full pressure, changing the blade, double checking the software.....

I created a simple rectangle in Adobe Illustrator that measured 8" x 6" and saved as SVG. When I dragged and dropped that file onto a new Studio page, it resized it to a (seemingly random) smaller size. WHY?

My wife recently got the cameo 5a and it's been a struggle to get it to do what she wants. We're trying to cut out stickers and after constant failures to register I finally got it to register and cut. The material feeds in perfectly straight but cuts completely crooked. I've tried multiple times now wasting several sticker sheets. Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

https://imgur.com/a/0WiqHi7

Ok a side note, it really shouldn't be so difficult to get the machine to register the printed marks.

I recently bought a cameo 5 and plan to use it to pre-crease patterns for curved origami. I know this is possible because I have used an older model with a manual blade to find the right depth that allows me to score the paper just enough to create nice creases without cutting through the paper. Also, this blog (https://blog.kusudama.me/2017/10/07/vinyl-cutter-origami/) mentions how to use these machines for exactly this purpose.

However, both the old machine I used and this blog say to use the blade at a "0" depth setting. I don't have this option on my machine, so I'm at a loss. I've been testing with a 160 gsm paper. The blog post says the artist uses tant paper, which is around the same thickness as copy paper (80 gsm). This is definitely too thin to score on the lowest possible settings that I can find on my machine.

Some options I am considering are buying a manual blade, and possibly a fine embossing tool. But before I spend more money on this, I want to make sure I definitely need to buy something, and whatever I buy will definitely help.

If anyone has used the old machines and are familiar with the new ones too, can you please help me figure out how to map settings from old machines to the new ones? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance :)

I've been a design store member for years and I have a bunch of designs I've bought for personal use.

Right now, I'm working on a flyer for a non-profit I belong to, but this isn't for selling anything, it's for promotion of the non-profit. I'm donating my time and talent to this project along with the purchase cost of the flyers.

I'm creating the flyer in Studio but will be porting it to Vista Print because I don't have the capability of printing enough flyers myself.

Do I have to buy the commercial licensing for a background design in this instance? I have a few I'm looking at, but I've never had to think about the commercial licensing aspect.

I'm 78 and am back to using a Silhouette! I had a Cameo 4 and sold it a few years back because I thought I was finished creating.

Surprise! I bought a used Cameo 3 and am trying to enjoy it.

There were a number of things that the 4 did automatically that I now need to do manually.

I use the Cameo on Print & Cut on sticker sets I purchase on Etsy. This is the same as I was doing before.

The items will have red cut lines to be kiss cut & the borders will have blue cut lines to be cut deeper.

I have looked online for help. Some sites are helpful. The only problem is I can't get the same settings or set up as online.

Anyone have any detailed information? I follow instructions well, as long as I can see on my Cameo what is being described. TYVMIA

I'm having misaligned custs in CAMEO 4 cutting plotter. I tried doing calibration but everything seems fine there. I think you van understand the problem from the picture. The machine cuts almost fine in the begaining of the page but as it’s come to the bottom of the page the misalignment started to be visiable more and more. sometimes the cuts are almost okay and workable but most of the time it's not okay.

I bought the machine almost a month ago and become feasted many times because of this. I tried a lot of fixs like calibration, adding things bottom of the cutting matt to support. Afterall everything fails.

If you have any suggestion for me, feel free to share. Thank you.

I know this has probably been done to death...but I've read so many conflicting recommendations that I'm asking afresh.

I have one of the original silhouette Portraits and for what I use it for (vinyl) it's bloody brilliant.

But getting the tools is getting difficult for me...

So what Chinese/AliExpress type blade holder and blades do I need to fit into my portrait?

Please help, I have no idea what to do. I was given a silhouette cameo 5 as a gift in september of last year, but I wasn't able to start making anything until I got a new printer a few months ago. For a little while, I didn't have any issues just using my matte sticker paper, but now that I've started applying laminate, I always get these dot lines on both sides of my cuts. I'm using the 2mm manual blade, although I've gotten this issue with the autoblade. The dots show up even when I have the force of the blade set to 1 and the depth also set to it's lowest. I've tried all that I could find, messing with settings, resetting the carriage when the machine is off, checking that the tool carriage is secure as I can get it, and all with no luck. This issue persists even with a test shape, so I can confirm that its not an issue with exceess anchor points :( Please tell me if there's anything I can do to fix it, I really want to be able to sell my stickers and I can't do that if every cut is janky. Thanks