Honestly, I think most of us aren't using any nail art stamping machine. Yes, I'm aware of those contraptions that have sliding and pushing steps and that stamp with a specific alignment if your finger is in the exactly correct place on the machine, but I've actually never tried one. I think the average person who does nail art with image plates probably, like me, has 1) the image plates, 2) a scraper (or old store card), and 3) a stamper. That's it! I had left this question when I initially came across it to see if someone with stamping machine experience would answer it, but I imagine you're excited to get started with nail art. If you haven't bought a machine yet, hold off, get the basics, and then you might be in a better place to decide if you feel you still need the machine. I think the machine may slightly help with lining up images at the huge cost of much more required cleaning work. The benefit with a simple stamper and scraper is that you can also use any shape or size image plate, and they exist in many forms - round, square, rectangular, hexagonal, etc! Check the stamping thread for many discussions on what you need to get started etc. Good luck!