I have a Silhouette CAMEO. Now what do I do with it?

Do you have a Silhouette CAMEO that’s still living in its box? Don’t be embarrassed, you’re not alone! I’ve had mine for a few months and I just took it out of its box. Why has it been sitting in its box? Are you not quite certain what to do with it, which projects to start with, etc…? I’ve been feeling overwhelmed too, so how about we learn how to use it together?

I have a Silhouette CAMEO. Now what do I do with it?

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Silhouette CAMEO – Let’s get started!

Step 1: Open the box that contains your Silhouette! You can do it! :)

Step 2: Once the box is open you’ll find these things inside:

• Silhouette CAMEO
• A/C adapter and power cable
• USB cable
• Silhouette Studio software
• Crosscut blade
• 12” cutting mat
• Blade with ratchet cap
• One-month basic subscription to the Silhouette Design Store – I’m not certain if this is included in all boxes or if this was just a promotion.

Step 3: Remove packing tape from your Silhouette CAMEO. You’ll find two pieces of blue tape on the front and one piece in the back.

Step 4: Open the front and you’ll see more blue packing tape and a piece of foam. Remove them all.

Step 5: Time to install Silhouette Studio! Insert the CD into your computer and follow the instructions in the installation window.

Step 6: Now it’s time to connect your Silhouette CAMEO to your computer. Start by attaching the A/C adapter and power cable to your machine and plug it in. Once that’s done, insert the USB cable to your Silhouette CAMEO and connect it to your computer.

Step 7: Turn on your Silhouette CAMEO. Once turned on, the blue LCD touchscreen will appear. It will ask you a few questions in order to set it up. It will ask you your preferred language, if you want to enable help icons, and it will ask if you would like to follow a brief tutorial (which you should do). After that, the initial setup is complete.

Step 8: Click OK and your Silhouette CAMEO is ready! The blue touchscreen LCD will display LOAD: Load Cut Mat, Load Media, and Unload.

Step 9: Go to your computer and open Silhouette Design Studio. This screen will appear.

Step 10: Yes, there are a lot of options, but don’t get overwhelmed with them. I believe the best way to approach the software is one project at a time. Get to know the options as you need them. I found this graphic from Silhouette really useful.

Silhouette CAMEO

Taking out your Silhouette CAMEO from its box and setting it up wasn’t so hard was it? I still can’t believe it took me so long to take out mine. Thumbs up to us for finally doing it!

Next up… doing our first project! Who’s up for it? I’ll be back shortly with an easy to do first Silhouette CAMEO project! Yes, a Silhouette CAMEO project for beginners… like us!

While you wait for the step by step of our first project, I would suggest you check out this video from Silhouette. You’ll get more details on how the Silhouette CAMEO works.

Also, Silhouette has a great blog FULL of great projects: Silhouette America Blog. It’s a great place to inspire you to use your Silhouette machine.

I really hope I’ve inspired you to take your Silhouette CAMEO out of its box and that you’re ready to start using it! As I said earlier, I’ll be back soon with a great first project for you to try out with your Silhouette CAMEO.

We will go from Silhouette Beginners to Silhouette Pros in no time!
We can do it!!

Have a GREAT day!

Disclosure: Silhouette America provided me with a Silhouette CAMEO. The opinions on this blog are my own.