Door Decorating Show - Question About Cricut

[mjaclyn]

Hi all! After listening to this week's show about personalizing your Stateroom door I looked up some information about the Cricut. I'm a little confused - what I normally do is buy magnetic paper for my printer, print the image I want and cut it out myself. I LOVE the idea of not having to cut things because I am not very good at it either. However, how do you get actual images instead of just shapes? For instance, one of the cartridges feature Mickey and Friends. So if i wanted an entire Mickey Mouse for my door, does it print the Mickey picture first and then cut it out or do you have to cut everything out in pieces and glue it all together? Lots of things on Mickey are different colors - like red shorts, yellow shoes, black ears, white eyes, etc. Do you have to cut out a different piece for every element on Mickey and then put it all together or does it come out as one piece looking like Mickey Mouse? I hope this makes sense...

I guess the question is.. is the cricut only a cutter or does it print the image as well?

 

[safetymom]

It is not a printer. You can use markers in it but it would just do the outline and other details.

When you want to do Mickey Mouse for example, the different parts are broken down by layer. You would have to cut out each layer in the different colors and put it together. For example you would cut out the eyes and shorts on a black piece of paper. Then assemble all the parts to make a complete Mickey.

We did a Mickey birthday party for my Grandson using the Cricut. We didn't do complete Mickey's but cut out the different parts of him and made banners, had some parts scattered on the table, etc. You could do complete ones very easily, we just didn't do it.

 

[mjaclyn]

Thanks Kathy!

One more quick question - I saw on the video that you had cut out the mickey ears for the stateroom door. Is there a Disney Cruise cartridge or can the Cricut do things that are not on a Cartridge? (Like perhaps some of the other door ears that Teresa was showing from the DIS - Mickey with pirate hat, captain's hat, etc)

Can you recommend your top 5 or 10 cartridges?

I'm also looking at the Silhouette Cameo which is a very similar machine but does not use cartridges at all. You can design your own shapes on your computer or purchase shapes from their website for .99 per shape. Does anyone have experience with this one?

 

[safetymom]

You wouldn't be able to cut out the ears that go around the circle on a Cricut. Those would need to be cut by hand.

Only images that are on the Cricut cartridges or their digital images can be cut on the Cricut.

Awhile back there was software that allowed you to use any image but Cricut sued those companies to stop selling their software.

Believe me there are plenty of great cartridges out there. But you don't have to buy all the cartridges if you only need it for a few images. You can download the digital version and cut them.

I will warn people that the software for cutting the digital images is buggy and can cause problems. I just had to call tech support the other day and I never have to call. They couldn't resolve the problem.

So to avoid frustration stick to the cartridges for the time being if you are going to be cutting lots of images. As I mentioned you can find loads of already cut images on Ebay and Etsy for a reasonable price.

I'll have to get back to everyone on my 10 favorites. Let's just say I haven't found a cartridge I didn't like.

 

[SA mom]

My sister-in-law has a silhouette cameo and it has a trace function. Apparently she prints out shapes and then the cameo cuts it out.

 

[dgthree]

My sister-in-law has a silhouette cameo and it has a trace function. Apparently she prints out shapes and then the cameo cuts it out.

I have an older Silhouette machine, but it uses the same software. You can import an image into the Silhouette Studio and trace the image, then resize it and cut it out. I do this for jewelry templates now. It's fun. =)

I think you can do something similar with fonts as well, but haven't played with that feature. Some time this weekend, I'll try downloading one of the free "ear" fonts and seeing how it works.

 

[jodiey]

I've had both the cricut and silhouette and in my opinion the silhouette is much better. There's no buying cartridges which can get very pricey. Most images in the silhouette shop are just 99 cents. You can also get images online and trace them. Plus you can cut any font on your computer whereas with the cricut you have to buy font cartridges. And I've never tried it but there is a print and cut feature where you can print the image on your computer and then use the silhouette to cut it out

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Thanks OP and everyone for this thread and info! After the segment, I was wondering the same thing! A friend of mine has the cricut and we talked about it but then when I went online for some info, (and after several hours later - **squirrel!**) someone mentioned the Silhouette Cameo and now I'm still confused as to which to buy.

 

[mjaclyn]

I think after considering both the Silhouette Cameo is probably better suited for me. I have a graphic design background so I love the idea of being able to design my own things for the machine to cut out instead of only using what's available on the cartridges.

 

[Quicklabs]

The Cricut is good for those who are content to use what is one the cartridges and nothing more.
The Cameo is good for those who are willing to learn the software required to cut an infinite number of things and to make their own designs.

Cricut cartridges are expensive; SVGs (cut with the Cameo) can be had for free or just pennies.

Once I got the Cameo, I have barely touched my Cricut. Since you are a graphic designer, I think you would be much happier with the Cameo. Also, check out a software program called Make the Cut and use that as your design/cutting/printing software. It fully supports the Cameo. You can do print and cut with it as well. I've designed so much of my own Disney stuff, right from my own photographs, using a pixel trace and cut feature. It's amazing and the tech support, (I've never needed it) is awesome. I would definitely dump my Cricut and its cartridges if I could get a reasonable price for them..

 

[DisneyDoc5]

get the cameo. I got the cricut before I did research and wished I got the cameo for the reasons already mentioned. The cameo is much better for the Disney fan. There is TONS of helpful information on this subject on the disboards scrapbooking thread under creative community...enjoy! Dis member Reddy on this board does amazing work, check it out. I believe she has the old cricut that can share files, but now you have to get the cameo to use the SCAL program needed to do this. I have one on my wish list.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=123

As far as the magnets, I made a TON of them for our past October cruise. Check out the threads on the cruise board under door magnets (do a search). I went to photobucket and copied images from shared files there, then you can add your name and whatever else you want, then I printed them on the magnet paper (not cheap!) on my ink jet printer, then cut them out, it really wasn't hard to cut them out. It was much easier to manipulate the designs on photobucket and just cut them out rather than create them on my cricut.

I hope this helps.

 

[safetymom]

We did mention the threads about creating the items on the Podcast. We stressed you could do it anyway you liked. I happen to love my Cricut and my photo printer for crafting but whatever way works when you make your own.