sweet, how did you size it? Can't lay that thing down on a scanner can you?

I used mine today to put new graphics on an apron. Check it out here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/to-save-a-sorcerer-or-how-to-spend-3000-on-a-1200-machine/page/2#post-5153916

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Guess I know how I’ll redo the graphics on my BSD apron now, thanks! Going to try Oracal 651.

Does anyone have a cameo silhouette file for the backbox warning on WPC machines they would be willing to share?

Just type one up. Or you can easily make one from a scan.
I personally leave it out when redoing cabinet heads.

cameo silhouette 4 just announced
this might be the tipping point to get me to purchase one finally

https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/shop/SILH-CAMEO-4-WHT-W

And for those of us who do not need the bleeding edge technology, this should force prices on 3s down as some people dump them to upgrade.

I ended up going big and got the 28" SC-2 from US Cutter instead as I plan on doing at least a couple cabinets and figured 1 piece sides would be easier. https://www.uscutter.com/Vinyl-Cutter-Paint-Mask-Stencil-Kit-with-ORAMASK-813

Currently building an Alien Star cabinet and have done the backbox so far. Not perfect, and design from photographs so not as accurate, but it works for me.
Still doing the illustrator cleanup for the main cabinet art.

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Curbfeeler this was an awesome post I've learned so much about the silhouette machine.

Let me ask you this why did you pick the silhouette and not another brand like brother?

I've been thinking about investing into an electric cutting machine but right now i'm on the fence.
There are so many out there and the reviews are just hypes.

For starters a the portrait would be better? I recently came across this blog where the crafter
talked a lot about the negatives of the machines. I was like WOW somebody who is telling the truth?
Here's an example https://freshlypickedblog.com/silhouette-cameo-vs-curio Silhouette cameo vs curio comparison.

Is it true that the bluetooth connection is not working? Also how loud are the machines will it wake up the house
if I work at night?

I've got a couple more questions as I inch toward pulling the trigger and getting a Silhouette. Per the discussions above I'm thinking that I will do simple areas with frisket, stencil the more complex areas, and probably waterslide the keylines around the inserts. Anyway, I've got an HP4670 scanner, and have scanned all the playfield, with additional scans of the areas that I'm most interested in cutting stencils for. I've played with those scans in Gimp to clean them up (playfield is in pretty tough shape), and upon recommendations here, have been playing with Inkscape to vectorize them for their use in cutting stencils. My question is - what scanner resolution are most folks using? Mine defaulted to 200dpi, but I know the scanner is capable of 2400dpi. I went back and re-scanned one area at 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 just to play with those, and I have to admit - correcting flaws in a scan at 2400dpi seems MUCH easier, however, the time to scan, and the size of the resulting file is pretty horrible. It's also rather interesting to see all the flaws in some of the original artwork when examined closely. A question more to the capabilities of the Cameo itself - what's the finest detail that it is capable of cutting? There is some rather small lettering - maybe 1/4" or so - that may be beyond it's capability. And mine as well! Those may get the waterslide treatment as well since the smallest lettering is solid black. I'm hoping that some of the larger letters that are outlined in a contrasting color will lie within its capabilities.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

If anyone is interested, I want to sell my Cameo 2.
It has less than 45 mins of cutting time.

I don’t know about the others but I have a video of my cameo in action, from scanning through cutting and weeding over in my Flash resto thread. You can see it n action there.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/it-was-supposed-to-be-a-simple-flash-restore#post-5229279

The Silhouette can cut very precisely, the problem with small lettering is the tiny fragments can get dragged around by the knife or won't adhere properly because they are too small. So there does come a point where waterslide may be better, or you may have to touch up holes in letters with a tiny brush.

Screens for screen printing have a DPI value for the mesh, you can even figure it out by looking at stair-step patterns on curves that you scan. I think 600 DPI is adequate for redrawing the artwork, once it is vectorized it doesn't matter what the DPI of the underlying scan is.

The 4670 is a 600 dpi scanner, the 2400 stuff is just an interpolation of the 600, not real data. Having spent many hours staring at scans up close I have measured the original silk screening at around 110 threads per inch. I do everything at 600 dpi. You can scan at 200-300 and get a nice result assuming you are reprinting what you scanned. As soon as you start editing though, trying to blend in 200-300 into a source image done at 110 dpi you get what is known as aliasing and you have to blend things together more and your overall contrast between starkly different colours goes down and many playfields use very crisp line drawings. Modern computers can handle a whole playfield at 600 dpi without too much hassle.

I agree that 600dpi is more than good enough. Further, I would suggest cutting keyline stencils with the cameo. Less waterside decals is better.

600dpi it is then. I've been working with a couple of scans at that resolution, and it looks good. The borders between colors and keylines are generally sharp and easy to trace along. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but due to a lot of flaked paint, planking, etc. I'm trying to basically redo each scan to fill each color with one consistent shade, then I'll go from there. I have one scan where the lines are very blurry for some reason, but I think with some care I can get decent results even on that one.

As far as keylines go, does anybody have any idea how fine a path the Cameo can cut? Most of the lines are either straight, gentle curves, or circles, but some are quite fine - on the order of 1-2mm wide perhaps. That's two cuts, one on each side - can this unit perform?

Thanks to all the great support on this site - here, and the other topics I follow!

Does anyone still have this photo grid file? The site links are no longer active and I cannot source the files located in the instructions.

I believe that joann fabrics or michaels sells something similar for craft projects that is 36" x 36" in size, however you can probably make your own. just create an image with a grid featuring squares that are 1/4", 1/2" or 1" in size and print it out

photograph your items on it so that when you bring them into photoshop, you can use the perspective/distort/skew tools to correct the angles of the photo

edit:
12"x18" mat
https://www.michaels.com/omnigrid--12in-x-18in-mat-with-grid/D082523S.html

18"x24" mat
https://www.michaels.com/omnigrid--18in-x-24in-mat-with-grid/D082709S.html

24"x36" mat
https://www.michaels.com/omnigrid--24in-x-36in-mat-with-grid/D082460S.html

edit 2: (joann's has just about everything on sale)
https://www.joann.com/36x59-cutting-mat/2622033.html

https://www.joann.com/omnigrid-12x18-cutting-mat-with-grid/16320939.html
https://www.joann.com/omnigrid-mat-18in-x-24in-with-grid/16349383.html
https://www.joann.com/omnigrid-24x36in-cutting-mat-with-grid/16320921.html

I literally did just this and documented it with pics and videos. Take a look, I hope it helps

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/it-was-supposed-to-be-a-simple-flash-restore#post-5229279

Thanks for the help! I'll give this a try and see how it works out. I don't have photoshop (use gimp) but I'm pretty certain the process will fit.

Just finished up a project repainting my Bram Stoker's Dracula apron. The apron on this machine had some rust and crappy stickers.

First I removed the stickers and paint from the apron with citrus stripper. Then it was primed and rattle can painted. Worked well enough, still some bumpy spots where the metal was eaten by rust.

Next I scanned an original screen-printed apron using my Doxie Flip https://www.getdoxie.com/product/flip/. It is a small battery-powered scanner that is so convenient to use for small scans. I do have an HP 4670 but only use it for large areas.

The scans were brought into GIMP where I used the "Threshold..." option to reduce it to black & white.
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After that the images are brought into Inkscape. The "Trace bitmap..." option is used to convert the scan to a vectorized image. Straight lines are redrawn and the paths are separated into two layers coloured for convenience.
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Next the SVGs are cut in Silhouette Studio. After opening the SVG the images must be scaled 125% due to DPI differences between Inkscape and Silhouette Studio. I am using GerberMask Ultra as the paint mask with these settings:
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Masks are cut and then weeded under a magnifying lamp with an exacto knife and tweezers. I didn't bother trying to keep the tiny pieces like the middle of the letter A -- they are too small to manage I found. I just painted those by hand with a brush after.

Next you use transfer tape on top of the mask. I used Cricut 2002363 Vinyl Transfer Tape which is completely transparent.

Position the paint mask on the surface and tack it down on one end with painter's tape. Then peel back and cut maybe an inch of backing and adhere the mask. Remove the painters tape and slowly remove the release paper from the mask while applying it to the surface.

Push down on the stencil bits before removing the transfer tape. Still I had some problems with paint leakage under the mask due I think to the not perfectly smooth surface of the apron.

I sprayed the blue first and then the red. For positioning the red, I included the corners of the blue in the mask. I removed the corners of the release paper and aligned the stencil against the already blue paint then covered it up with scraps of paint mask. You can also include registration marks to help alignment.

I used Golden High Flow paints. They have a handy mixer app here: https://www.goldenpaints.com/mixer. I used this with a Pantone swatch book to mix up the paint. The blue wasn't that close actually so I had to adjust to get it closer.

Since I am painting on a black background I first had to lay down white. You can see on the screen printed apron this is how it was originally done too since the coloured screen inks are not opaque. I found what was best was to spray a light coat of the base black colour first to help seal up the stencil from any leaks. Then a few light coats of white before the colour went down.

Spray very light coats. If the paint goes on wet it wants to crawl under any gaps in the stencil. Very hard to resist the temptation to paint too heavy.

I did have to do a bunch of touchups with a tiny brush and black to fix some leakage under the stencil. Still, it turned out pretty well and the next one will be better. Any questions please ask.

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Detail of the Dracula lettering. Color looks a bit washed out from the flash.

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Nice work, that looks great. I'm considering doing the same to my Stern Dracula, switching it to black instead of white to better match the cabinet and playfield art, table rails would be made black as well at the same time.

I appreciate the photos and process description there, thanks.

Most of the posts in this thread are about stencils and painting. Has anyone else put vinyl on the playfield like David Yopp did in this video? Note that he sands it down and clear coats over it.

What about the aprons? Why go through the trouble of painting when you can buy the colored vinyl? I'm not seeing the benefits of painting.

Lastly, what clear coating do you use? In the video he's got Varathane waterbased gloss. (screen shot included)

Thanks for the tips.

And as a side note, I am a librarian and have a Cricut Maker in my library for the patrons to use. In addition to the typical materials, it also cuts wood and fabric. However at home I have a Cameo, which I believe to be superior for those interested in manipulating images and vector points.

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Interesting idea. I’ve used the cans of spraymax2k and with a thick enough coat it could work

Debating the same thing right now. Painting would be closer to factory, but I doubt anyone who isn’t scrutinizing the apron would notice. Vinyl might attract build up of dust on the edges over time. Personally I think I’ll paint— doesn’t seem like that much more effort.

I've heard that something like spray max would eat up the vinyl, so I don't think that would work. But I've only heard that, not experienced it personally.

Yopp

Continuing to work on and refine the vinyl process for inserts and other graphics on the PF. Here are some before and after pics. The machine had cupped inserts and playfield wear. Scanned playfield (insert areas) using my Doxie, pulled inserts, touched up paint, placed new inserts, cut new vinyl for all the graphics that were on the original inserts, placed vinyl, sanded vinyl ever-so-thin, 3 cans of Varathane (many thin coats), sanded, wet sanded, polished, waxed. Done!

One thing to note: I'm extremely satisfied with the evenness of light transmission through the vinyl when laid over a lit insert. Notice the "STAR" letters as well as the World Cup and Superstar insert. When they light up they look pretty good. And the black is far more opaque than any water slides I've ever managed to create.
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nice work

Tip of the week (maybe) might have been posted by others, I did not look back...

Doing a custom street sign for a customer this week, when doing large stencils, or in this case vinyl letters, have the cutter add 'relief' cuts (in RED).
This makes weeding so much easier as I find them to greatly reduce the risk of tearing the cut material during the weeding process.
I've had to re-cut too many stencils before I decided to pre-cut relief sections.

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What type of paint (enamel,Acrylic water etc) are you using for playfield stencil work. I've tried airbrushing water thinned craft acrylics on glass before and had little bubbles pop up. Looked funny.
I am trying to learn this stencil and cutter stuff. Really cool thread. Thanks everyone.

Airbrush grade acrylic. Createx is a common choice.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration

Thanks for the replies. I will look into createx I'm not lazy, just old and with all the info on this site, it is easy to get side tracked. Lol I wish this was around years ago, only had a user group alt.something back then.

I’ve been slowly working on repainting a firepower over the last year or so. It was a learning exercise for me, both with the airbrush and the Cameo. I’ve got almost 150 pics I took throughout the process, but I’ll try to weed it down to just a few.
Through the process, I’ve gotten pretty good with the cameo, and I couldn’t have done it without it.
Here’s where I started, some pics from the process, and the final result. Note that I chose to not try to repaint the planet...too many ways to screw that up. I ended up repainting everything BUT the planet area. Started out as a “fix up that pop bumper” and kinda snowballed from there. Overall, I’m very happy. Just need to figure out the best solution to clear it before I do my playfield swap.
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I actually ran a test to try out an idea to paint the planet. While it turned out ok, it wasn’t good enough to do on the real thing. Besides, weeding was a major pain.

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I tinkered around with this today. I think the issue is when separate cuts/colors need to overlap. As you can see in the photo, it doesn’t look good. I think I might do stencils instead for this one.

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Just FYI... Woot has the Silhouette 4 at a $199 deal of the day

When you airbrush make sure you thin the paints correctly. Using paint too thick will give your paint a slightly rough surface. Check this with a light at an angle. When you get used to it you should easily be able to lay 4 - 5 coats of a colour and hardly feel any raised surface between your painted area and the adjacent surfaces.

If using createx stay away from the wicked line and use the opaque colours. The wicked line is too transparent and you will be layering like crazy to get coverage.

Really? I’m haven’t noticed that at all. Maybe just some specific colors?

Thanks, I will certaintly use all the info you have given me. Going to order cutter and createx if I can get it shipped with corona issues. Just need to find clear coat to seal playfield before stencil apply.

Paint, varathane and portable spray booth ordered. Just need to decide on cutter, cameo or us cutter. This will keep me from obsessing about corona. Hope all in this forum are healthy as well.

I recently purchased a cameo 3 based on what I read on this topic. I have been playing with it making paint mask prior to actually using it on a playfield. The accuracy of the cutting has me amazed. It has exceeded my expectations. My only complaint is that it is limited by the size of the media that can be cut. If I thought that I would be getting into this on a larger scale such as stencils for cabinet restoration ,I would definitely consider one that could cut larger media.

Point taken. I'm still on the fence. I dont know if that USCutter brand and software is comparable to Cameo. I do have cabinets to repaint also with complete play fields too.

I've had success piecing stencil together for cabs using Cameo. It took some practice but hell for the cost, it's manageable - well for me anyway.

Ordered uscutter 28 sc2 and some oramask stencil. Wanted the cameo pro but not available yet.

Sweet, please be sure to update the results!

nice. that's the same setup I have and very happy with it for the cabinet stencils I did (had a post earlier in thread). I have not done any smaller work with it yet.