How to Keep Paper From Curling in Silhouette

Silhouette is a personalized cutting tool used by crafters and artists to cut paper crafts, tattoo art, card stock and vinyl. It is equipped with a small cutting blade instead of a print head and cuts any design from the Silhouette database or around any design you make. When using the Silhouette printer you must align the paper carefully, otherwise the new paper can jam or curl in the printer and damage the design. Even after printing, the paper or card stock can still curl as it is pulled through the printer and cut, so you may need to flatten it before removing the cut paper project from the backing material.

Instructions

1. Adjust the cut setting on the Silhouette to the setting required for the type of paper you are using. This is specified on the material packaging sold by the Silhouette Company. If using material not made by Silhouette, you need to perform a test cut. Change the blade cap to that specified by the Silhouette paper you are using.

2. Check the width of your paper if it is not wide enough to be gripped by the cutter rollers or the paper doesn’t have an adhesive backing; you need to use a carrier sheet that comes with the Silhouette. Load the sheet by aligning the left edge of the sheet to the left plastic guide on the front guide of the Silhouette cutter.

3. Align your paper with the cutting paper, vinyl, sticker or iron-on transfer side face up. Many paper craft materials have alignment arrows. Make sure these align correctly to the Silhouette feed.

4. Print colored images with defined lines around the outside of the image. Although Silhouette can scan and cut around previously printed images, these must have well-defined outer lines for the Silhouette to identify.

5. Remove the paper media or carrier sheet if you get a “Detection of registration marks failed” error message. This indicates that the paper is not correctly aligned. Readjust and align the paper again and place through the paper feed.

6. Turn the Silhouette off and then on again and press the arrow keys next to the LCD screen until you see the “Unload Media” on the screen, if you get an error that says “Carrier sheet stuck in Silhouette.” Press the “Enter” key to eject the paper; alternate between powering it off and on and pulling the paper out of the machine if the paper does not easily eject from it.

7. Cut the material as you normally do and feed the paper through the cutter. Curl the paper in the opposite direction of the curl if the paper curls after cutting. Continue to curl it in the opposite direction of the curl for a couple of minutes.

8. Lay the paper flat and place a heavy book or other object on top. Leave it in place for an hour or two. Remove the flattening object and gently peel the cut paper, iron-on transfer, vinyl or other craft from the straightened backing.

References

• What Is the Silhouette?
• Silhouette Studio User's Manual