Side by Side Comparison of: TONIC STUDIOS vs Swingline

I really like this trimmer! It is easy to trim closely with this. Works great for scrap-booking!

Neat little item for cutting white.bopp non pet waterproof labels. Recommended

Great for small projects!

Just what I needed !

This little guillotine paper cutter is awesome! I love the compact size and it cuts perfectly. Blade is obviously very sharp because it cuts through paper so easily and clean. Good hard surface to work on. Has a measuring bar,which is convenient. Very happy I bought this!

I make a huge amount of cards and I was getting tired of replacing the blades in the types of cutters that you run the blade back and forth on. I finally got around to purchasing this small one and the larger one (which, unfortunately, is discontinued). I hadn't had much luck with guillotine cutters in the past, but these work like a charm. They cut through my 80# cardstock very easily. I would deduct half a star if I could for the fact that it doesn't have a measuring line on the clear plastic cover that goes over your paper. I like to use a 1/8" border around my layered papers, so I had to hand draw one in with a permanent marker.

This is awesome. I've been needing a paper cutter for the longest time but I never wanted to spend the money. I'm really glad I did and that I went for the guillotine style instead of the little dinky ones. This thing is sharp and does a great job of cutting straight. I have used it multiple times already for crafts.

A great paper trimmer for the house. It works well, is very sharp, and stores easily. Good value for the money. It doesn't cut as many sheets as other cutters, but if you are using it for stuff around the house (school photos, crafts) then it's a great option and well worth the investment.

I've used this quite a bit since I received it yesterday. I use it to cut down sheets of watercolor paper, which is a little bit thicker than your average cardstock, and other types of heavy artist paper too. It does wonderfully with this. I was honestly surprised by how light this cutter is. No complaints at all right now.

I bought this about two years ago, in October, and used it intermittently for making homemade books. I estimate that I've cut through a few thousand pages by now.

It still cuts perfectly fine on small stacks of paper (~5 sheets of average thickness) but it's starting to show its wear when it comes to slightly bigger stacks as well as odd materials. The largely unused part of the blade near the hinge is still sharp enough to make clean cuts down the soft plastic of trash bags, but the middle is worn enough to start catching and tearing in slightly larger stacks of paper (~15 sheets).

Still, for a paper cutter I bought at $38, I feel like I definitely got my money's worth. And it still works just fine on small batches of paper.

On a side note, I also got a lot of use out of the grid. It turns out that it's perfect for making straight creases in conjunction with a bone folder.

Our cub scout leader last year let me borrow one of these to cut out all our homemade den doodles, ribbons, etc. It worked like a charm so I had to have one myself for all the scrapbooking I do at home. Great price, arrived in perfect condition and the blade on this is wonderful. I've been using it for a few months now, absolutely no problems with cutting through anything yet. Love the side lock so that my 4 year old can't get curious. Highly recommended!

Good for cutting small pieces of paper or cardstock.

Smaller than I thought but it does what I need.

Wish it had a 4 inch width mark.

Love it to trim thin stripes of card stock. Wish it was at least 4.25" or 5.5" wide, but it's great if you need to correct something really small. Can't do that with my big trimmer; this one works great.

This product works great. The only thing I wish it could improve on is the amount of papers it can cut at once. I had a bunch of photos that all needed cropped, but I could only do about 3 at a time (maybe 4) or they would end up ripping. But it really is a handy little cutter!

I am not quite sure what the negative reviewers were expecting but this is quite handy and works very well on paper and photos within any reasonable cutting project.

Sharp works well. Think it can be easier made to cut exactly on the lines.
However it's great regardless just required a little bit more effort for me to line up but not enough where I'll say it's a deal breaker good product glad I bought it

Very lightweight but does the job. I was concerned that it might not cut straight, however, just the nature of these style of paper trimmers cause the paper not to be cut exactly straight but does a good enough job for what I've needed it for. The blade is plenty sharp though and I use it to cut through heavy card stock, though I can only do a couple sheets at a time. Which is fine, as I said, for what I need it for.

Nice and sharp so it cuts cleanly. The back edge is perfectly perpendicular to the cutter so that it makes straight cuts. It's lightweight and flimsy so it needs to be on a flat hard surface so that the rubber feet can make purchase. All in all this is a great cutter for the price.

I really needed an easier way to cut paper (for my small business) than by hand. This is a nice little paper trimmer and works great for what I need. I don't do very heavy duty cutting so its perfect for me. I cut a lot of card stock with it and it still cuts well, and the self sharpening feature is a nice touch. I would recommend to someone looking for a reasonably priced guillotine paper trimmer and light trimming needs. Gave 4 out of 5 stars because its not the best paper trimmer out there but great for my needs.

I ordered this paper trimmer to place my Erin Condren Life Planner in my A5 Filofax. I use guillotine paper trimmers at work (I am a teacher) so I know they work well if they are well made and sharp. I was hesitant to purchase this to work on my project, because I know they can sometimes make jagged cuts. The product itself is made of purely plastic and does not have a solid surface area. It is hollow underneath rather than being a solid block of wood or plastic. It has little feet to keep the trimmer from sliding around. The blade is sharp and comes with a lock so the arm can be locked in place. Overall, this product worked for the project I had in mind. I did have a few pages come out with unclean cuts, and I had to take scissors to them. I will continue to use this trimmer at home and in my classroom for small projects. I think the $26 I paid for it is a good price. I wouldn't pay anything more than that based on the quality.

Not as clean a cut as I had hoped for. I am a fuss budget about clean/straight lines

mini guillotine is ok for smaller jobs for cutting or trimming paper. It does perform lousy for cutting wax paper though still useful for cutting construction paper, typing/drawing paper etc;

I returned it. I needed a larger one, this is not cut out for my needs. It's still okay for smaller jobs .

Everything else is fine especially for portable this item is lightweight and very easy to pack. But the length is not long enough for most of the normal size paper, such as letter-size.

It's compact, the little orange triangle at the top is a shallow magnetic dish, but it just doesn't want to cut!I wasn't asking much of it, either. Just a piece of construction paper at a time so that we could make a "Days Dad has been deployed" chain garland in our spare room/play room. It would cut fine at first but as the blade hit paper further from the joint, it just bent the paper instead of cutting it. It cut through a piece of cardstock just fine but it just didn't want to cut through construction paper!It's still a bit useful but our garland turned from construction paper and colorful to white printer paper about 1/3 of the way in. I suppose it has something to do with the "build" of the construction paper as opposed to printer paper or cardstock.

Does a good job if you cut less than five pieces. Any more than that it won't cut all the way through.

This product is okay. It handles less than 10 pages the best. The underneath is hallow so it's not entirely sturdy. It did the job of cutting my wedding invitations decently. I had to be careful though because it did cut several of them loop sided even with me be very careful about lining them up straight

It was sharp, inexpensive, and cut a few sheets okay. Snap on handle tip appeared at first to be missing, but found it later buried in the packaging. It is very lightweight, not like those heavy and stable maple wood trimmers you remember from grade school (if you are old enough), but okay for occasional use.The design flaw is that it should have a hinged, clear, fold down ruler on the table near the cutting edge to keep the paper from moving and flat while cutting.

Cuts well ... but it's SO lightweight! Which normally might be a good thing but it moves easily when using sometimes. Especially if you're in a hurry and that's never a good thing. I wish it were a little heavier so it wouldn't move just from making a cut. Other than that it cuts extremely well. I have given up on using my previous trimmer.

Nice sharp blade, cuts straight lines. Would be totally satisfactory for use in hobby--scrapbooking, cardmaking, etc. However, I ordered this for use for cutting and assembling wedding invitations. My major problem with it was the lack of precision in the measurements. At the top, each 1/8th inch is marked with a line, 1/2 inch and inch with a larger triangle marking. These didn't match up with the grid precisely, which made cutting larger pieces a little more difficult. A couple inches further down there was another ruler; this one also included metric (which also didn't quite line up with the grid). However, these two rulers still didn't quite give me accurate measurements. If I didn't have such a need for precision, this would have worked quite well enough!I am returning in favor of continuing to borrow someone else's X-ACTO brand trimmer with wood cutting surface and gridlines that extend from major points of measurements (each 1/2 inch and each centimeter) all the way to the bottom of the surface.

Pros:> The blade is sharp and works well to deliver clean cuts. The tension between the blade edges is just comfortable so as to be allow trimming of upto 1 mm thin strips of paper.Cons:>Though the build quality is good the body is made of plastic, I would have preferred metal.>Also, the ruler which holds the paper against the platform is a thin metal rod that is NOT adjustable. The ruler guide in comparable units is made of transparent plastic with measurements of upto 1 mm and could be used to hold paper feed pressed close to the base so as to achieve better/ more reliable cuts. With the thin metal rod paper has a tendency to slide & slip.The CONS outnumber/ outweigh the PROS. Hence, the OK rating

flimsy

The one I received grabs the paper and does not cut a straight line. Now I'm waiting on amazon to approve my return request. I don't know if it was just a defective individual item I received or the design is flawed. I think the cutters that have a sliding blade are better.

It doesn't cut the best, especially towards the last half of the board. It tends to instead fold the paper and crease it. Pretty disappointing.

The first couple of cuts were great, however we have noticed that as we have been using it more, the bottom portion of the cuts are anywhere from 1/8-1/4" wider than the top. Would love to contact the company directly to report it and return it, but for whatever reason the information is no where to be found here on Amazon.

I am very disappointed with this cutter. I wanted this to cut InkJet paper for T-shirt designs.. I only cut ONE piece at a time and the cutter does not cut a STRAIGHT line.. The cut is perfect at the top of the paper but towards the bottom the cut is way off.. I thought maybe my Paper was not lined up correctly.. After a ton of tries, and my whole household trying it out we could not get it to cut straight. Its possible the handle has been bent. I would not recommend this product. If I wouldn't have used st the package to start a fire in the pit, I would return this..

I've been using this cutter for about a year. There are plenty of good reviews here so I'll just skip to my pros/cons.Pros: It is still cutting as well as it did a year ago. I've cut cardstock, chipboard, and paper - probably totaling a few thousand cuts. Also, it is sturdy. I've had no issues with cracking or sticking. It balances well.Cons: The biggest, and the reason for my low rating, is that the handle/blade/grid are not properly aligned. If you align your paper to the vertical grid, it will be off. If you align it to the horizontal grid, it will be off. If you guesstimate, it will be off. Cutting perfectly even paper requires pre-measuring with a ruler for my unit. Also, the latch that is supposed to hold the handle down rarely secures it for more than a few minutes. Then, it falls off. Finally, you must hold the paper down close to the guard bar or you'll get slippage toward an incorrect cut.I'm finally going to break down and buy another paper cutter. It's sad because this one still cuts but the hassle of never having even pages without a few extra steps is more than I want to deal with right now. I hope that my unit was just defective and no others are having this issue. Still, I thought I'd share a review in case it happens to someone else. I didn't ask for a replacement because I always thought I must be doing something wrong. Finally, after a year of botched cuts, I asked someone else to try it. When their cuts also failed, I realized it is the tool.

**Please read with the caveat that I purchased this for trimming of photos for framing.**Upon first opening the package, this trimmer was disappointingly light and did not seem of high quality. Minor assembly was required -- simply snapping the handle onto the blade -- and ready to go. I took a test slice of the instruction manual, and it cut well, although with a pretty nails-on-chalkboard kind of sound.I then took it to its main task -- trimming small sections off of photos so they could fit in frames. For reference, I was cutting high quality photo paper, professionally printed, and I was cutting sections ranging from 1/4 - 1/16". The paper cutter did not handle the small cuts well at all, resulting in significant fraying and creasing, rather than cutting. The trimmer fared marginally better with the larger cuts, yet I still had to position and reposition and try different techniques to get it it cut well.Verdict -- fine for cuts where convenience is required, but not quality. Would not recommend for photos.Pros:+ Cost-effective based on what else I saw on Amazon.+ Sharp blade. Talk to my girlfriend's hand.Cons:- Feels cheap and plasticky.- Does not cut photos at all.- Felt like I needed to try different techniques / ways of holding, yet nothing worked.- Markings were not as small or precise as I would have liked them to be.

Cuts horribly! I couldn't get it to make a clean cut no matter what I tried. It was a waste of money.

I bought one of these for a friend of mine and brought it to her in Canada, as a gift. She has one, but has worn it out over the years. She was so excited when I gave it to her. She opened the package and tried it out immediately. The trimmer ripped up the paper. It would not cut the paper at all. We looked at each other and the trimmer and were so disappointed! We tried several types of paper/cardstock etc and it would never cut anything. It went in the trash...a waste of money. :0(

I bought this to clip smaller coupons on the go & to complement my large full page cutter. The blade does not extend the length of the device so any paper at the bottom gets torn & mauled instead of cut! Even the locking mechanism at the bottom gets in the way of a good clean cut. I burned/melted the notch off but this device is still a disappointment. Don't buy this mini cutter. Look for another option !!!

It was a waste of money. Good for tiny projects, but it can't cut all the way to the end of the paper once it was placed. You get what you pay for.

This this is a toy, do not buy for home office.It cuts bend, not straight.I still have to use my scissors

This trimmer is a waste of money and wouldn't even be a good deal at a $5 price point. The blade wouldn't trim a single sheet of photo paper, not to mention the blade guide moves making it near impossible to get an accurate cut. Will be returning this garbage to amazon for a refund.

Very unsafe!Cut paper in an inclined line not straight so the papers end up having white ages from at the end.

Had to return. Would not cut a straight line. Every page I tried was a slightly curved edge.If you just need things cut and don't care about precision, this will work. If you need a straight line, try something else.

Does not cut thick paper evenly all the way. the item is made so cheaply that the plastic bends and it is hollow and thin. the blade wobbles and flex like a bow when cutting a few sheets together. this one for $40 is not worth the price ( cheap plastic+ blade=$10 worth)

After only a few cuts, this paper trimmer started tearing my paper instead of cutting it. As I trim mostly expensive, quality paper, this just wouldn't do. The plastic base seems too light for the blade. Perhaps this imbalance caused some of the cutting issues. For light trimming tasks on standard printer paper where accuracy isn't important, this might do the job. Otherwise, I would not recommend it. Spend a couple more dollars for a trimmer with a sturdy metal base.

The blade on both side was made of poor quality rough edges. The blade is just a piece of metal that wasn't sharpened. There is no way it will cut 1 piece of photo paper sharply and like a scissor. When I try my first cut it thorn my photo didn't even make through a quarter of the paper. I regret having bought this product. I do not recommend this product at all.

After a few uses, doesn't cut regular paper. Paper just slides between the edge and the blade uncut. Waste of money.