The process to load vinyl in Silhouette CAMEO 4 Pro is slightly different than all other Silhouette CAMEO machines.
This is true whether you're using a Silhouette CAMEO 4 Pro cutting mat or cutting vinyl without a mat.
How you load vinyl in the Silhouette CAMEO 4 Pro will depend on if you are using a cutting mat or cutting without a cutting mat and the width of the vinyl. It's slightly different for all three.
One thing that remains the same is you will want to use the semi-automatic mat load option on your 24" Silhouette CAMEO Pro to ensure the vinyl is loaded in straight which is crucial to avoid crooked cuts.
To use the mat sensor feature, before you begin loading press the Load button on the control panel FIRST then hold the mat or material on each side with two hands. The mat or vinyl should be covering the small mat sensor which then tells the machine's rollers to begin feeding in the mat or material.
How to Load Vinyl in Silhouette CAMEO 4 Pro with 24" Pro Cutting Mat
If you are cutting with a 24" Silhouette CAMEO Pro cutting mat, it's important to know where to place the vinyl on the cutting mat before you even load the cutting mat. Unlike all other Silhouette machines, all material that is NOT a full 24" wide should be aligned with the edge of the adhesive area on the Silhouette CAMEO Pro mat. Note: this is inside the 24" gridded area of the cutting mat.
If you are cutting a full 24" wide sheet of vinyl, the vinyl will be placed so it's aligned with the edge of the grid - partially outside of the adhesive area of the mat.
In either case, the right roller on the Pro should be placed either at the 20" or 24" notch. In addition, the CAMEO 4 Pro 24" mat should be loaded with the left edge aligned with the leftmost line on the front of the CAMEO 4 Pro.
It's the only width cutting mat that's loaded on this outer gray line and that's because it has a smaller margin area compared to the 12" and 15" wide mats.
Press the load button on the CAMEO 4 Pro touchscreen then hold the mat with two hands so the front edge is gently touching the rollers and wait for the rollers to pull the mat into the machine.
It's important to make sure the larger 24" cutting mat is fully supported in both the front and back of the 24" cutting machine otherwise the weight of the mat can cause cuts to be off as the vinyl rolls through.
How to Load Vinyl in Silhouette CAMEO Pro with Roll Feeder
If you are cutting a 24" vinyl roll with the CAMEO Pro and using the roll feeder, the right roller bar should be at the 20" or 24" mark.
The roll feeder should be set up with the roll of vinyl (no longer than 30' or the weight is too heavy) placed on roll feeder's rollers. I find lining material up with the outermost gray line secures the vinyl the best and helps prevent it from slipping while cutting.
Make sure both edges of the vinyl are under the CAMEO 4 Pro rollers. If the right roller is too close to edge of the vinyl, pull it to the 18" or 20" marking so it doesn't slip off the edge while cutting.
Cutting 12" Vinyl with Silhouette CAMEO 4 Pro With or Without Mat
You can cut widths of vinyl that are less than the full 24" with the Silhouette CAMEO 4 Pro too. Since the right roller can be moved, you can also use the 15" Silhouette CAMEO 4 Plus, 12" CAMEO, or 8" Silhouette Portrait cutting mats in the 24" cutting machine. You can also cut materials those widths - and others including 15", 18" or 20" wide HTV.
The left edge of the mat or material should be lined up with the leftmost gray line in front of the roller bar on the 24" CAMEO 4 Pro.
For a full tutorial on how to cut shorter rolls of vinyl with the CAMEO 4 Pro Roll Feeder this tutorial explains.
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I've heard that the Pro doesn't hold the mat and material well, so that it moves too much when cutting (even when supported). Have you experienced this? I'm looking to purchase one but as my main material WON'T be vinyl I'd love a review of other materials like felt....
ReplyDeleteWhenever I load the 24" matt, even doing that exactly as you say, Melissa, it always feeds in crooked. I am using the center section of the guides in front and I've even tried holding the outside end, the one opposite of the end that is fed into the machine. It's fully supported and still feeds crooked. I was using only 12" 651 vinyl aligned on the left edge as you've shown. I wonder if the difference in thickness between the area with and without vinyl could have caused it to skew?
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