Paper Cutters: Product Overview

Paper cutters are an excellent tool for making neat, accurate cuts in all types of paper. While a pair of scissors can do the same job, a dedicated paper cutter will do the job faster and more accurately.

Most paper cutters for offices, studios, and workshops fall in the 12" to 36" size range, but they can be much bigger for specialized applications. They can also be much smaller: handheld cutters are useful for non-linear cuts.

Typical paper cutters feature heavy, flat bases for stability, often with grid lines for measurements. Larger cutters may be freestanding, suitable for placement next to a printer or copier, and some can be mounted on a desk or wall for more permanence.

Types of paper cutters
There are several types of paper cutters to consider. Arm paper cutters use a long, curved blade on a swinging arm to make cuts through 1 to 30 sheets of paper. Arm paper cutters are relatively inexpensive, but may not be suitable for more demanding use.

Rotary paper cutters use a round blade mounted on a rail. Instead of requiring a blade as long as the paper to be cut, the round blade rotates as it slides along the guide rail. These cutters are available in sizes up to 10' for working with large banners or cloth.

Guillotine paper cutters are designed for much larger volumes: cutting 200 or 500 pages at once. They're mostly used by print shops and document centers in large corporations – and they carry a hefty price tag. Same goes for electric paper cutters, which use motors and paper feed systems to automatically feed paper through a set of blades and trim it to the precise size you set.

With any manual paper cutter, cutting many sheets of paper at once can lead to shifting or pulling that makes the cuts on the top of the stack inconsistent with those on the bottom. Paper cutters designed for higher paper volumes feature clamps that hold your stack of paper in place, preventing this problem.

Paper cutters: for more than just paper
Make sure the cutter you choose is appropriate for the material you want to cut. Special care is needed when cutting extra thin materials like tissue paper, and heavy-duty blades are required for cutting heavy cardboard, leather, vinyl, and other tough materials. Some film cutters feature backlights to help you see exactly where you'll be cutting.

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