Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8")

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I have been a photographer for for well over 50 years and have used many trimmers of varied sizes over that time, but all have been the guillotine type.

The extreme accuracy of the Dahle 552 almost makes a pleasure of the routine task of properly trimming photographs.

I wish I had made this purchase a long time ago.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Give precise cuts that are reproducible
portable and no setup time needed

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Dahle has a good reputation. Compared to what is available in most local art shops, the Dahle is far superior. [...].Overall a very good product. There is some plastic, mostly just the guide, end caps, etc. All the major components are of various metals.The only disadvantage to US users is that most of the guides are marked in metric units. The left edge (call it the x axis)has inches, but the other axis does not.Price point is perfect for the quality and size. Again, worth the extra cost over what may be available in a local retailer.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Very sturdy construction

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Well built, easy to use, precise:
It even has a nice feel to it.
Paper will be "pushed" down automatically as you start engaging the roller.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I bought this to accompany the Epson Stylus Pro 4880 17" printer. I chose this size so that I could print 16x20 on 17" wide media and be able to cut down to borderless after printing.

The action on this cutter is delightfully smooth, and the paper hold-down works great every time.

Like one other user I found that the guide edge was not square to the cutting edge, but I was able to adjust it with a piece of standard copy paper and a square using trial-and-error.

I haven't used any other trimmers, so I can't say that this is better than any other trimmers, but it does precisely what it is supposed to do, leaves a beautiful clean edge, and can trim even the slimmest diagonal sliver from a finished print. I've used it on up to 290 gram/sq meter paper and it hasn't slowed in the slightest.

Overall, it does the job at a competitive price.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Cuts a nice clean edge. The cutter head has to be parked at one end or the other to allow paper to be moved under the plastic paper holder as the plastic will help hold the paper for you when the cutter head is moved then releases it. It appears to cut inkjet and photo paper very well. I have not checked it for square to the guide so far but it is easy to see the edge being cut when it lines up under the plastic.
It could have some instruction about the holder being lowered as I was first concerned about it marking the paper but eventually it becomes obvious.
Normally only cutting a page at a time edges. Would be nice if some information was included for replacement blade when required.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I got this trimmer to trim papers that are thick and that have been printed from my printer that prints 13x19 paper. The blade cuts cleanly and accurately. From the consumer grade trimmers that I have used in the past, this one is far more durable and accurate. The blade is made of high-grade material and will resist becoming dull over time.

It comes with handy mounting holes that allow you to mount the trimmer to a wall to keep it out of the way when its not in use. The handy ruler guides help make sure you have the right measurement without the need to rely soley on crop marks.

In short, if you intend to do a lot of cutting and want a professional result every time, then the Dahle brand is the one to get.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I use the 552 to trim photos. Clean cut edges are critical to my use and this trimmer delivers.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Having recently attended a master class in photography I realised my compositional strength was in the square format - this meant much cutting of A3 photo paper. The 522 works beautifully, easy to use with clean cutting and no tearing of the paper. I am very happy with this.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

The Dahle model 552 professional rotary trimmer is used by our labor union office staff to prepare 6,000-7,000 piece postcard and half-sheet mailings, as well as materials for layout paste-ups. It is a substantial improvement in speed and ease of use compared to our old Dahle guillotine-style trimmer.

It's only drawback, as a German-designed product, is that the baseboard has metric and A-sized layout markings only; as an American office, we'd benefit from a grid in inches and quarter-inches. Nothing that can't be fixed with a machinist's scribe and a little Sharpie infill, though!

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I was worried that this much cheaper and lighter trimmer might not work as well as the others.
So far it's been great!

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

This is a great cutter for photographs -- gives you a clean cut every time. Solid enough to be stable , yet light enough to move around the office or store when not in use. It is perfect for light to moderate use. Highly recommended.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

In the past have bought Rotatrim cutters which are well built but also expensive. Bought Dahle as it does the job at a cheaper price. Not as well made so more care needed to look after.
Wish someone would design a print trimmer that also had an extendable measure/ruler on the right side of the trimmer that you could pull out to always give the correct amount to cut off or an extension of the right angle edge that the print bumps up to,so that the ruler extends to the left beyond the width of the baseboard. Would make trimming large Ink jet prints so much quicker than having to measure each one.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

We use the 552 for trimming large numbers of photographs. It is sharp, easy to use (trim marks near the edges of the photo sheets help) and sturdily made. We tend to have many sheets with the same photo layout. Setting the backstop arm and making all cuts of that size then adjusting it for the next batch of cuts is a terrific time saver and improves accuracy and consistency.

On the down size: Documentation is purely graphical and sparse--no printed warranty, no adjustment instructions, no cutting wheel replacement instructions or part number, etc. Also our scale bar was not mounted truly square to the cutting edge. Its attachment screws have enough play to solve the problem but it required a large drafting triangle, a couple of clamps, two attempts and about an hour to achieve good but not perfect registration.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I recently purchased a large format printer but was having a terrible time trimming with an old quillatine type cutter. The 552 works great! It is extremely accurate and gives a professional cut. I haven't experienced any cons regarding this product.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I bought the trimmer to cut photos from Epson 2880 printer. It handles all the standard paper sizes that that printer uses. It does a great job of squaring up the edges on roll paper and canvas.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

Since my office space is limited I wanted to find a trimmer that I could wall mount. This trimmer fit the bill. Costing less than 1/2 of what a Rototrim cutter cost at Calumet. You can't wall mount the other brand. Although not as heavy as the other one, it does not have a dual rail either, but the ability to hang it on a wall makes up for that.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

I purchased the trimmer to cut photo roll paper from my 17" wide Canon printer. The trimmer has saved me alot of time and the quality of the cut is excellent. Great value for the price.

Comments about Dahle 552 Professional Rolling Trimmer (20-1/8"):

WE USE THIS TRIMMER TO CUT TRANSFER PRINTS. THIS IS A HARD SURFACE FOR SOME TRIMMERS BECAUSE IT IS SO DELICATE. BUT THIS TRIMMER DOES A VERY GOOD JOB.