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Cricut / Business Insider
- Vinyl cutters are incredibly versatile, invaluable machines for creating custom stickers, decals, labels, magnets, signs, stencils, and more.
- Vinyl cutters can not only cut but also etch, emboss, scan, draw, and more.
- The Cricut Explore Air 2 vinyl cutter is the best all-around model because it's dependable, precise, and versatile - in materials as well as in functions.
Although I enjoy crafting, I've never used a vinyl cutter and had no idea what one was until my hardcore crafting friends enlightened me. This tool is essential for designing and producing stickers, decals, labels, magnets, cards, signs, wall decor, banners, stencils, T-Shirt heat-transfer prints, bulletin board decorations, and more.
You can personalize anything or, as one friend said, "make something ordinary something special" with customized designs. Another friend commented that a vinyl cutter helps with upcycling because you can "breathe new life into anything old" by sprucing it up with new embellishments.
A vinyl cutter does more than just cut vinyl. It can also carve through different materials (e.g., card stock, foam, foil, fabric, balsa wood, etc.); some models can draw, emboss, etch, and/or scan. You can use a vinyl cutter to create small items (as gifts or for sale) and logos for business. My vinyl-cutter friends confess to rarely using scissors anymore. When slicing shapes precisely - sometimes repetitively for multiple copies - they use their vinyl cutters.
Think of a vinyl cutter as a digitally controlled scissor, shaped like a printer with a computer's brain. Instead of printing images, a vinyl cutter carves letters and shapes from sheets of vinyl or other materials. You first upload an image - either premade or your own design - and adjust font, sizing, etc. Then, load the machine with a sheet of vinyl from which your design will be cut. Adjust the cutter's settings (e.g., speed, knife depth, cutting pressure) if your cutter model doesn't do this automatically. Push start: The machine carves the image before ejecting the sheet with your design cut out.
Sound too simple to be true? It isn't, especially if you choose the right model for your needs. Consider size (to accommodate your projects); speed (especially when producing multiple copies); output quality (precision in cutting), versatility (in materials it can handle and in its functions), and software (user friendliness and library of designs); and connectivity (wired vs. wireless, online vs. offline functionality).
It may seem like a lot to think about, but don't worry - plenty of crafters recommend watching YouTube tutorials on vinyl cutter use and searching project ideas online. Just be sure not to use copyright images on items you plan to sell. After reading crafter reviews and interviewing users, we compiled this list of top vinyl cutters for different needs.
Here are the best vinyl cutters you can buy:
- Best vinyl cutter overall: Cricut Explore Air 2
- Best budget vinyl cutter: Silhouette Camio 3
- Best vinyl cutter with scanner: Brother CM350 ScanNCut2 Electronic Cutting Machine
- Best portable vinyl cutter: Silhouette Portrait 2
- Best vinyl cutter for big projects: USCutter Vinyl Cutter MH 34in
Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.
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