A good paper trimmer disappears into your workflow. A bad one announces itself every time you try to make a clean edge. Over the past month I tested six of the most popular trimmers on the market against the same stack of patterned papers, cardstock, and vellum.

The winner, by a comfortable margin, was the Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Trimmer. The blade glides without resistance, the alignment grid is genuinely accurate, and the swing-arm protects your fingers without getting in the way.

Honourable mentions go to the We R Memory Keepers Mini Guillotine for tiny, precise cuts and the Tonic Studios Guillotine Trimmer if you mostly work with cardstock.