The America Silhouette Curio is a great companion piece to its other two cutting tools, the Silhouette Cameo and the Silhouette Portrait. The 5mm clearance allows for ample space for cutting and, as such, makes the Curio the most powerful and best printer for crafting. Where other popular printers may sacrifice performance for looks, Curio does the opposite.
Related: Are you looking for a scanner? Read the Scansnap IX1500 review
Why We Like It – Silhouette Crafting Printer
The Silhouette Crafting Printer is probably the best crafting printer you can get in this day and age, bar none. It has brand new stippling and etching functions which allow you to print more items with more special effects. It also allows you to cut many different types of materials previously not thought possible, such as balsa wood.
- 5mm Clearance
- Sacrifices Design for Efficiency
- Silhouette Design Doesn’t Need Internet to be Used
- No Speed Specs
- Costs Money to Unlock Everything Silhouette Design has to Offer
Related: For those who want to shop around for other printers, check the Workforce WF 7210 review
Speed
We would love to tell you how fast the Cricut Silhouette Machine is compared to other inkjet printers and laser printers, but unfortunately that information is nowhere to be found on any product pages. What we can tell you is that you can adjust the speed via the Silhouette Studio Design Software. But if you would like something with a more defined print speed, check out the Canon TS9521C Wireless Crafting Printer.
Print Quality
The Silhouette Vinyl Crafting Printer features brand new features like stippling and etching functions. The printer also introduces three types of embossing methods: Path Emboss, Score & Emboss, and Print & Emboss. But where the Curio shines is the 5mm of craft room clearance. Where most die cutting machines have limited space, Curio doesn’t, and this enables the cutting mat to handle thicker loads so you can transfer paper of different thicknesses from one project to the next. But if all this sounds just a little too advanced for you, consider the Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000.
Efficiency
While the design of the machine may seem a little bland, it helps to push the machine to its absolute paper crafts-making limit. Of course, if aesthetics are more important to you, you can check out the HP OfficeJet 3830. The Curio can also print cut many different types of materials thanks to this design, such as vinyl, paper, matboard, craft foam, and balsa wood, just to name a few.
Advanced Features
The Silhouette Studio design software can be used without access to the internet because the software itself is cloud-based. This is a far-cry from cricut explore and cricut maker which need the internet to be used. The Curio can also give you a stunning faux-letterpress effect on your projects thanks to the embossing tools and the heat press and heat transfer operations the printer has.
Value
Another upside to the Silhouette Design Software over the Cricut one is the ability to import/export SVG files, files Silhouette is familiar with and probably the best choice when having to cut files. On the flipside, though, access to some of the more advanced features requires you to upgrade the plan. But at the very least, you’ll get it for one month free to see if you really need these features or not.
Silhouette Crafting Printer Wrap Up
There are some drawbacks like the lack of speed specs and extra money to fully access Silhouette Design. But if you’re printing crafting projects, would you prefer speed or print quality? And when was the last time a program with hyper-advanced features was free? Try it out for a free month and see if you need these features. If not, no harm, no foul!
