Is this a vinyl die cutter similar to a small Roland model?
I use one of these. If you export your Adobe Illustrator artwork as .Dxf AutoCAD files you can load them into Silhouette’s cutting program. Works like a charm.
Buyer BEWARE! I am so irritated to see this for sale again! I bought this the last time it was offered; the $25 Download Card was NOT in my box. It was clear the tape on the bundle box had been cut and re-taped. (I sent pictures.) Woot said I could return the entire thing for a refund, or address the manufacturer, instead of offering a $25 refund or credit towards another purchase. I was completely disappointed by Woot and their customer service. No more Woot purchases for me.
[MOD: See my post below]
Is this new or refurbished?
It’s new. You can see the condition listed near the price on the detail page.
When you register on their site, the $25 worth of downloads is put into your account.
Regardless of your Woot feelings, do you like this machine? Does it work the way you would like it to? Any issues with the machine itself? Thank you for a reply.
Is this the Cameo 2. The pictures show that it is but it does not say it in the description.
Is that the only type of file that it is capable of importing? Have you used any other type of files? In a couple videos it shows importing a file from the web, but they don’t indicate what type of file it was. Thank you for your help.
Which Cameo is this? It shows Cameo 2 but doesn’t specify.
It’s the latest model.
If you use Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW, Silhouette offers their Connect product for $39.99 (download). It cuts directly from those programs using the Connect plug-in. Most often I use my Cameo from Illustrator. Design Studio is powerful software, but I already know Illustrator.
You can find the Connect download on Amazon for $25.59 as well as other Silhouette products.
If you upgrade to Studio Designer Edition you can import .svg, the most common format for cutting machines, .gsd, and .dxf files in addition to .png, .jpg, .bmp, .gif, and .tiff that the standard Studio software imports. See my comment on Adobe Illustrator using the Connect plug-in. Designer Edition download is $34.17 on Amazon.
And you can cut using the fonts on your computer.
As far as I know you need the Designer Edition to import DXF.
You can import ANY image right into the program and trace it. Design edition software ($25) allows you to paste any image from anywhere. You are limited only by imagination and patience.
You can read my comments from the previous two sales for fuller reviews; I am an avid Silhouette Cameo user and I extoll their virtues (and know their limitations).
As for file importing - you can import in the regular software DXF files. So you can design in Illustrator whatever you like, UNGROUP everything, highlight EVERYTHING, take the color out of the fill AND the lines (so everything is invisible) and export as DXF. Then you can import into the Silhouette software and it will be perfect 99% of the time. Every so often you will have to fix a point or line here or there, but it works nearly all the time.
I do think that upgrading to the second level of software is worth it if you plan on making your own files in Illustrator to not have to jump through all of that because you can import SVG with whatever colors and groups that exist. Do not upgrade with the software directly, you can get the upgrade card cheaper on eBay or on SEARS or other places.
I will, once again, post a link to what you can (and I have) made with the Silhouette. Some of these are designed entirely by me (like the Star Trek card) and some of them are purchased files from the Silhouette Online Store (like the dinosaur). Some are traced from things from the internet (the baby pop up cards). The only thing that limits you is your imagination.
*Edit - don’t forget about print and cut. The doorknob hanger and the Scrabble card are examples of that.
Silhouette hosts a comparison chart for Studio and Designer here:
http://goo.gl/MSNqag
And this states that DXF is limited to Designer. I’ve assumed that their info is accurate.
Out of curiosity, what are you using these for?
You cannot open a DXF, but you can IMPORT them to your library. I just had my husband download and install the latest non-upgraded software (it’s free on their website) and I sent him a DXF as described in my instructions above (invisible, ungrouped) and it worked fine. Once the image is in your library, you can work on the file as if it were a shape in the software. You can add it multiple times, group the lines, color pieces of it, create compound paths, whatever.
Go ahead and try it for yourself right now if you don’t believe me.
*Edit - here is a link to someone else who is giving a tutorial on how to do it.