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Cutting without the mat without losing your mind: Tip #8

January 17, 2018 By Cindy Eckhoff Leave a Comment

Today’s tip on cutting without the mat is all about another small thing that can make a HUGE difference. It happens even before you start cutting and has to do with how you load your material. In order for the material to stay under the rollers, you have to make sure you’re paying attention to the guideline on the platform of the machine when loading. (If you haven’t read tips 1-7, start here.)

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Tip #8: Use the correct guideline

Each machine has lines on the front of the platform that show you where the left edge of your material should be as you load. That ensures that those outside rollers — the ones that hold the material and move it in and out — will be able to do their job. If you don’t pay attention to this as you load your material, the rollers won’t grip the it properly. That means the material starts sliding around and your cut gets ruined. That’s no bueno.

Cameo machines

On a Cameo, it’s the short line at the left of the platform that has arrow pointing to it. The line and arrows are blue on a Cameo 2 or 3, the same gray color as the platform on a Cameo 1.

cameo mat guideline

If you ever use a material that is not quite 12″ wide and want to do your best to keep the rollers gripping as well as possible, remember that you want to have an equal amount of roller on both left and right edges. For more information and photos of this, see tip #7.

Other machines

On a Portrait, SD, or the Original Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter, it’s one of the short lines on the left. The problem is, even in the official documentation from Silhouette America, there’s no definitive answer on which line. I have searched high and low for a straight answer to the question of which line to use. The instructions just say to “center the media between the white rollers.”

Here’s a more logical answer. Craft vinyl comes in 2 widths – 9″ and 12″ (although you can buy it in other widths and cut it down). 12″ wide material is too wide for a Portrait, so it’s the 9″ that you use. A Portrait mat is 9″ wide. So if the left edge of a 9″ wide Portrait mat lines up with the farthest line to the left, so will a 9″ wide vinyl.

That’s all there is to this tip — just watch the guideline on the machine. Our next tip will have to do with your method of loading. Stay tuned!

Filed Under: Cutting, Machines Tagged With: guideline, htv, load, loading, no mat, vinyl

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