The software you will use on the Cricut is called Design Space. For new vinyl crafters, it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out all the little tips and tricks for each software type. In order to make your designs come to life, you have to be able to draw them up just how your creative mind wants them. Software Usabilityīeing able to use the software for your vinyl cutter is extremely important. They were designed for the home user and it is clear that this was a focal point when developing the machines. There are also some tricks with aligning your rollers to ensure the material feeds properly into the machine that you will pick up along the way.īoth of these machines are easy to use. One example is that with the Silhouette, when cutting in reverse for HTV projects, the cut will begin on the opposite side of the machine. There are some small little quirks you will have to learn along the way for each. Ease of Useīoth the Cricut Explore Air 2 and Silhouette Cameo 4 are very simple and user-friendly in terms of the machine itself.
We’re going to go through all the categories listed in the chart at the top of the page one by one. Now to the fun part… Which Cricut and Silhouette Machine is Best for Cutting Vinyl? To sum it up, the Cricut Maker is a little too much machine for vinyl crafting so I landed on the Explore Air 2 which will do everything you need for cutting vinyl or iron on vinyl. Something else everyone should consider is that the Silhouette machine that was chosen is pretty much the top of the line product for Silhouette, for Cricut that would be Maker. I want to make sure everyone is aware of this. So, the best machine may be different for you if you are planning on using your machine for something besides vinyl. Also, this is a vinyl site, we’re looking to suggest the best vinyl cutter for shirts, wall decals, and other cool vinyl projects. There is a breakdown of each of the categories in the article below if you want to know my reasoning behind each score.
The machines have the same cut width, can cut the same type of vinyl, and are both Bluetooth ready, so I didn’t include that in the ratings. I chose each of the categories carefully because these are really the most important things to consider when choosing your vinyl cutting machine. A goal I had in the back of my mind when reviewing all the machines was to find the best quality vinyl cutter under $300 and both of these meet those criteria. It’s always a good idea to buy from the manufacturer if possible in case you were to have any issues with the machine. The prices listed above are the suggested retail price on each of the machines by the manufacturer. You can see how these were picked as the winners from each brand by checking out my Cricut machine review and Silhouette machine review pages. I have narrowed it down to the Silhouette Cameo 4 and the Cricut Explore Air 2 for the purpose of cutting vinyl. The two most popular brands are undoubtedly the Silhouette and Cricut cutting machines. Cameo 4 also offers a special “Pop-out” cutting feature for paper and cardstock materials where a cutting mat is not required.This is a question that everyone asks before purchasing a vinyl cutter. Materials with liners or backing, such as vinyl, heat transfer, and sticker sheets can be fed directly into the Cameo 4 without a cutting mat. * Matless cutting options available depending on material type.
Silhouette Cameo 4 Machine features include: