Step By Step Silhouette Vinyl Cutting
The Quickutz Silhouette machine is a great companion for any crafter. It is a very versatile machine that can cut many materials. One of the most popular materials that it will cut is vinyl. Silhouette vinyl is available directly from Quickutz, but vinyl from any manufacturer will be compatible with the Silhouette machine. Vinyl for the silhouette machine is just typical sign making vinyl, and after all the silhouette is just a miniature version of a commercial vinyl cutter.
It’s really easy to cut vinyl on a silhouette machine. There are just a few things to know that will really make using vinyl a lot easier and more enjoyable. I personally have heard from quite a few people that are really frustrated with vinyl cutting. Really it’s not that hard, you just need to know the right steps and it will be an enjoyable experience.
Silhouette vinyl cutting steps
1.Understand the vinyl. Uncut vinyl is made up of two parts. The vinyl itself and the backing material. You only want to cut through the vinyl layer with your machine and not the backing too. You almost never want your machine to cut through the vinyl and the backing. The silhouette has a whole host of settings to allow you to make the blade cut only through the vinyl. You also want to make sure that you are cutting all the way through the vinyl layer, if you don’t quite cut all the way through it will make it very difficult if not impossible to weed out the unwanted vinyl material. You may have to experiment a bit to get your settings dialed in.
2.With the proper cutting done you can now weed out or remove the unwanted parts from your design. This is an important part of the vinyl application process. You want to leave behind just the vinyl elements that you want to see on your finished project as well as a larger square of the backing material.
3.You don’t have to use transfer tape, but if you don’t you’ll probably wish you had. This allows you to lift all of the vinyl elements at one time from the backing material and transfer them to your project. Transfer tape has a mild adhesive and is very similar to masking tape, but comes in much larger sizes to work with your vinyl. So you’ll cover your entire cutting with transfer tape and rub it down. Then trim off any excess around the backing material square. Now you have a sandwich of backing material and transfer tape with a vinyl design filling. At this point you have a piece that is either ready to sell to someone for their own final application or is very transportable to the final application spot.
4.The final step is application and it is really quite simple. Just remove the backing material to expose the adhesive of the vinyl. You now have all the vinyl perfectly arranged on your transfer tape and ready to apply. Next simply stick it down to where you want it to be. It’s best to apply it lightly and make sure you are happy with the alignment. When you are ready you can give it a good rub down. A squeegee or application tool is handy at this point to work out all the air bubbles and get the vinyl stuck down.
5.Next remove the transfer tape. The vinyl has a more aggressive adhesive than the transfer tape does so you can remove the transfer tape and leave the vinyl behind. There will be places that the vinyl will try to come up with the transfer tape. This is normal. Peel back the transfer tape at 180 degrees. Work slowly and watch to make sure the vinyl is staying down. If it tries to come up just lay it back down and rub it a bit until it stays down. Be patient.
That’s it. Working with silhouette vinyl is really pretty simple. You just need to know all the proper steps and you can get started making project after project. I wish you all the best with your future projects and hope you have a great vinyl day!
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