Welcome to the step by step blog on how to apply adhesive vinyl. We are going to show you the basics of prepping the vinyl, taping, and applying it to your project using Oracal 651 Vinyl. First you will need a few things before we begin.

Before we cut our vinyl out, we need to first select our cut file. The Silhouette Design Store has Thousands of cut files to choose from and our choice for this project was the Coffee Mug Pulse cut file (Silhouette ID #150281).

Simply purchase it from the store and it will automatically download to your library. From there you will double click to open it into your designing studio work space.

From this point, select your image, and you will see the dimensions around your image and you can adjust it to your desired sized either by dragging in and out or setting the exact dimensions in width and height.

Now that you have the image(s) sized how you like, lets move onto getting your vinyl ready to be cut.

Apply your Adhesive Vinyl to the sticky mat, by lining the edge of the vinyl with the top of the grid on the cutting mat, with the color-side up.

Then smooth down the whole piece of vinyl, making sure there are no air bubbles to get in the way of your blade.

You are now ready to load into your machine.

To load the mat, line up the left hand side of the mat with the grey arrows/line. While holding the mat up to the rollers select the load option.

This may appear different depending upon the machine you are working with. We are working with the Silhouette Cameo 4 today so the load and unload icons are touch arrows.

When it comes to cutting our Oracal 651 Adhesive Vinyl, Silhouette will have some pre-set settings, but that is for their product and does not work well with ours, so we have already done the work for you, just check out our cut settings chart, for further information on cutting and test cuts. Make sure that your mat is turned on since we are using a mat with this cut.

We are using our Silhouette Cameo today and recommend... Blade: 2   Force:7   Speed: 5

(TIP:For smaller intricate cuts, slow your speed down)

Once your image has successfully cut out and you've unloaded the mat from your cutting machine, you will then want to remove the vinyl from the sticky mat. To safely do so, without rippling or curling your vinyl, simply flip the mat over, and peel your mat away from your vinyl.

This is probably the funnest part. You are now going to weed away the excess vinyl that you do not need.

We like to use our Siser Weeding Tools, they have a nice sharp point and have a rubber grip handle which makes weeding a breeze and it wont cramp your hand up. Starting from the corner and work your way down until all the unwanted pieces are gone, showing your fun image.

Now that you have all the excess pieces weeded away, you are going to apply your transfer tape. We are using our Clear Blue-Grid Transfer Tape for this project, but we have several other Transfer Tapes to choose from.

Start by cutting a piece to the size of your image and begin with one side of the vinyl

(TIP: Transfer Tape is only needed for Adhesive Vinyl projects)

Once you have your Transfer Tape positioned, rub the tape with some firm pressure, making sure to avoid bubbles or ripples. Our ExpressionsVinyl Application Tool is a must-have too when it comes to applying your tape correctly and smoothly.

Once you have a smooth finish, you can trim the excess tape from around the edges.

Now that the vinyl has been burnished; slowly peel up the transfer tape to lift and expose the adhesive on the backside of the vinyl.

(TIP: If your Transfer Tape does not want to lift up the vinyl, rub it some more, and try flipping the vinyl over and remove the paper backing)

Start by lining up the middle of the vinyl with the middle of your cup as best you can. The Grid Transfer Tape is a great way to visually line images up straight.

(TIP: Before applying adhesive vinyl, clean the surface of your mug with soapy water and or rubbing alcohol)