How to Cut Stickers with your Silhouette Portrait (+some Tips!)
Hey Friends!
It’s been a few years since I have talked about the machine I use to cut stuff – silhouette portrait – so I wanted to do an update on how I feel about it. Of course, I love it. I have no experience with Cricut, though I would love to get one to play with to see the difference. I love what they are doing with their machines too and I know they’ve improved their design space (how I ended up with a Portrait)
SO A little back story. Back in like…2015? Maybe a little earlier or later. I picked up a portrait off Amazon for $70 (it has well paid for itself) and can say I loved it and was so happy and ecstatic. It was a lot of money for me (at the time especially) and I wasn’t sure it was worth it yet. It is. If you are thinking of getting one, pick a machine, and get it. It’s 100% worth it.
I also want to note, as I am wanting to get a new one in 2021 since mine is older, that I do know the price is substantially more now. I was pretty shocked myself, but I still think it’s worth it over the Cricut with the design space and options to do literally anything. I do think the engraving is pretty cool for the Cricut, but I wouldn’t utilize it really.
At the time, I picked the portrait because it allowed you to cut anything – any shape, any designs, etc and Cricut didn’t. It was much harder to use from what I had seen and required you to use their stencils and cartridges. Yes, that long ago it required it. I liked the Portrait’s freedom so I picked it up.
I also didn’t need the large size of their bigger model, so I got the dainty one. That is how I ended up with one. I had been hand-cutting stickers for fun at that point and was getting into planners and my own and was like. YES. this is the next thing.
Now for the tips, You can read my old tips here.
How to Cut ANYTHING
The Silhouette has a lot of ways you can cut, including PNGs and letting it do the lines. I’ve seen this method online and I struggle with the program to do this – it freezes up or takes a long time. I’ve tried it but I don’t like it as much as my method.
What I do is generate a silhouette version of my stickers as a JPG.
Stickers Sheet // Cuts
In the program, I drag and drop the files into the program, usually, it makes them huge, so I resize them both to what they are designed to be (8.5 x 11, for example). Then I use their built-in trace tool on the silhouette version.
You can also use their outline and cut tool – I have always had issues with it taking forever to load, so I do this method for ease and speed. If you import a PNG into the software it will automatically throw a cut line around it – wherever it ends (transparent works) as well. This can be handy for clipart but I usually have a border for safety around my images, so I prefer the JPG Method.
What this does is, very simple outline the solid pieces – works BEST on black since it’s automatically generated and the computer has to think about it. If lines are a little wonky I manually fix it as needed. I’ve also gone in and manually done boxes and circles – if they just look terrible. I use a lot of the same formats, so if you fix it once, you can input the next file and have great cut lines on each one.
Then you just drag the cut page over the art page, red (or any color) shows where it will be cut – so you just line it up where you want it. This means you MAY want to build a border on boxes and a white outline on some items (like icons!) into your silhouetted version. I do this in photoshop with outlines or making the boxes larger than necessary for the art portion.
That is how I generate my files, it is also why I include the silhouette versions in most of my stickers, in case you wanted to make your own file or toss it over some scrapbook paper, etc.
Okay now onto some issues, I have not had many issues in the last few years, (knock on wood) but here are some tips that help me when I do have it off a bit.
Issues I’ve faced
Are the cuts off just a smidge? Does it seem like it’s cutting a mm to the left or right, down or up what is on the page?
I’ve struggled with getting my machine to align, the first month I think I cried over it a few times, it’s so frustrating and you are just sad. I highly suggest this site for following the alignment directions. I also set my packets(data) that it sends over the USB to a higher number (all in this link) so I do recommend that too! https://angelicuts.com/2014/08/01/calibrating-your-silhouette-cameo-or-portrait-for-silhouette-studio/
Other things I did to help me out were:
- Using a sharpie to mark on the machine where the mat SHOULD be when it cuts well (helps you align it faster!)
- I tape my sticker sheets down to the mat, mine are not sticky anymore, so this works to extend my mats life with kiss cut items
- I use the $20 heavy-duty blade, I replaced the cheap ones 3 times, I haven’t had to replace this one in 3+ years
- Keep the blade clean of dust! It happens, unscrew it and check it every once in awhile, this can make it cut funky sometimes
- Make sure you have a light on it, it works by a little laser sight piece
Then Finally, still having an issue?
Sometimes, the program is stupid. I dunno why. But it’s happened to me a few times. The file itself needs to be recreated. I find if I am having issues with it after checking these things, I close it and remake the file from scratch, and it will work fine. This is a major reason I cut all my printable designs, just to make sure the file was OK and good to share. I am not sure what makes it corrupt, but it is what it is.
Not Finding the Marks?
Registration marks will not read if the designs are too close to them – or there are dark nearby. Try putting a small post-it note (a light-colored one) near the marks, it will still cut through them (mostly, you might need to tweak it) but it will separate the marked front he designs and find them. This is why my cut stickers are the size they are – the biggest size I can do without any issue every time. I’ve also used light-colored washi, same thing, it hides the design that might be confusing it.
I’ve also had this one weird glitch where it freaks out sometimes when registering and will make an awful noise and go down the page like it’s haunted by Satan himself. I dunno why, it doesn’t mess anything up nor does it cut, I just have to turn it off and on and it’s fine, but man the noise sounds terrible.
Those are the only issues I’ve encountered personally with this machine, again an older model. I will say make sure you use the updated software, I did have issues one day when I didn’t switch over (for like a year) the cuts stopped working. Once I updated, it was all good again and I actually really like the latest software.
I love my machine and if you are on the fence, don’t be! Just pick the one you want (and can get) and go for it. I am so glad I did and I use it for so much, not just stickers on Etsy but friends, family, cards, holidays, etc! SO MUCH. I love it.
When I upgrade in the new year I’ll do a new review as well, to see if the new machine still holds the best hype! I am mostly looking forward to the Bluetooth, as right now mine is tethered to the computer, which can be an inconvenience, placement-wise.
I hope this helped anyone on the fence
Feel free to share your glitches and fixes (or if you need help!) below