Cricut Design Studio news

[BernardandMissBianca]

Apparently there will be a trial version available for those with Cricuts this weekend on Cricut.com

You will be able to test it out with George, Plantin Schoolbook, and Accent Essentials.

* note from me* there is no confirmation that "available to all", in the below mentioned clip, will or will not include Macs.
And yes, I am bitter about it. But I will get over it.

Excerpt from their blog:
We know you’re on the edge of your Cricut DesignStudio seat, so here’s the scoop on the trial version:
Look for it on Cricut.com by this weekend.

Hooray!

And to clarify, the trial version is a download available to all. It will work with both the original Cricut and the Cricut Expression machines. It will allow you to cut using only the George and Basic Shapes cartridge or the Plantin SchoolBook and Accent Essentials cartridges (whatever came with your machine). What you are buying from stores right now is the full version of the software and not a trial version. Enjoy!

 

[clh2]

I hope I've got some time this weekend to play a little! The weekend is very busy though...

 

[PrincessNancy96]

OOH! DH will have to take a look at that for me..

 

[aroyer]

OOOO, thanks for letting us know! I will definitely have to check that out. I am on the fence about it.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

OOOO, thanks for letting us know! I will definitely have to check that out. I am on the fence about it.

I'm not (on the fence that is), the welding feature alone is the reason why I want it so bad.

The Non Mac compatibility really burns my butt.

 

[TiggerFamily]

thanks for posting, I haven't even read about this on the Cricut site yet. I'll have to try it out. right now I'm not sure if I'm interested in buying it or not.
Have a good weekend.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I wonder if DH's work would mind him loading it onto his laptop......

I really really want to try this!!!

 

[hopemax]

The download is up

http://www.cricut.com/promotions/CricutDesignStudio/

I dug around in our "bag of what I thought were useless computer cables" and found the correct USB cable! So I am installing now and will report back when I cut stuff.

I have both George and Accent Essentials, so hopefully I can use them both.

 

[hopemax]

Well, phooey. Since I only have the personal cutter and not an Expression it won't cut from Accent Essentials even though I have the cartridge.

Okay, now to try something from George.

 

[rlovew]

I don't feel like moving the machine close enough to the computer to cut but there are a few things I really like about the program. Welding seems to be a pain in the but, doable it just takes a long time to me, also the automatic weld seems to have a very small overlap and doesn't seem very stable to me (although I haven't cut one). I do love the idea of being able to make a ten inch border with the welding though.
One thing I love is that all the cartridges are there so you can see all the options on each cartridge and really look at what you might want. I found some really cute things on my paper pups cartridge on design studio and I haven't even bothered to take the cartridge out of the box. I really want paper dolls so this can show me more of what cartridges can do and have on them before I buy.
I do like that you can cut different sizes on the same pass. Anyway from what I see you can keep the trail version on your computer for a while you just can't cut from cartridges that didn't come with your machine.

 

[eeyore29]

Ok...please don't think I'm a total PC-idiot...are there different kinds of USB cables out there? How do I know which is the right kind? Just looking at the USB for my MP3 and camera, they don't look like the same size as the USB port on the back of my brand-new-just-got-it-yesterday Cricut.

 

[ddavis860]

So cool that we can just play with the program. I didn't d/l the booklet, just playing around, and I thought it was very user friendly.

 

[calanniebu]

Ok...please don't think I'm a total PC-idiot...are there different kinds of USB cables out there? How do I know which is the right kind? Just looking at the USB for my MP3 and camera, they don't look like the same size as the USB port on the back of my brand-new-just-got-it-yesterday Cricut.

Yes, I think it's one that would work for a printer back in the day. I'm looking through my cables now.

 

[hopemax]

Here is something I made

First I typed all the letters out at 1". Tomorrowland is one "group" Transportation another "group," Authority a 3rd group.

For each group, I clicked the "Welded" box. And I hit the "Apply" button with the kerning at 0, which scrunched everything up most of the way. Then I used the nudge arrows to position the letters as close as I wanted.

Then I resized the longest group to the width I wanted, and took note of the height of that group. Then I resized the other two groups so the height would be the same.

Then I used the move to arrange the 3 groups so they would overlap slightly. I kept having to "preview" it, because if the letters overlapped too much, it wouldn't pick up that it was supposed to cut out the inside of the letters (O, P, R) When the letters were bolded the way I wanted, then I was ready to cut.

Now to figure out how to shadow it.

PS. Yes, those of you in the Fill in Gaps Group F are getting a preview But this is just my test cut, so the color will be different.

 

[missesdisney]

Here is something I made

First I typed all the letters out at 1". Tomorrowland is one "group" Transportation another "group," Authority a 3rd group.

Hope - this looks awesome - was it hard to pull off the mat? I find skinny letters difficult and with so many it looks so perfect!

Was the usb you used from the machine or just one laying around?

 

[hopemax]

It came off the mat, no problem. For this I used the value pack cardstock from Js/Ms and it was perfect. I am nervous though because when I did my first sample cut last night, I used Bazzill and it barely cut all the way through (blade/pressure at max). The DSS cuts seem to cut at their own speed, independent of the speed dial.

The USB was just a spare one we had laying around. I think it came from our old printer; alot of people sat their printer cable works. When you buy the full version you get one in the box, I think.

I have figured out the process to get the shadow, just a matter of getting right. However, it seems to be having problems figuring out where all the cuts are. First, I made a blackout layer, and it was 98% fine. It didn't cut out a spot between the R and T in the middle of "Transportation." I figured, that was close enough and I could get that part cut out with an exacto. Then I tried a regular shadow layer, and there were many more areas that it missed.

I am going to try and redo the whole thing tomorrow, without so much "nudging" in places and see if that makes a difference. Each time does get easier to figure out when and how to do things, but it does seem to require a lot of patience. And I haven't even tried slanting anything yet.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

I've been playing with the trial version today and I am pretty happy with it, although I think they missed the boat on some things. Example: the Wishblade always lets you create an instant shadow for a welded object. With the Design Studio, you would have to be a magician to cut a really nice shadow for something like the TTA cut I saw earlier in this thread. I'm really disappointed in that. I always want a shadow, and it really bums me out that it's so hard to do it here. I don't have the time to fiddle around that much!!!

But I do like it and I will be purchasing it ASAP. DH already gave me $40 towards it today!

 

[hopemax]

Okay, now it is shadowed!

I frustrated myself trying to do the shadow last night, and I decided to start completely over from scratch, using some tips from the cricut boards.

I redid the top layer, mostly using the same method, although this time I didn't nudge them quite so close together. And for the moment, I left the three words separate.

Then I shadowed the three words. Unlike the top layer, which I could have all the letters in the word be one group or selection, for the shadowed layer each letter is a different selection. It is really annoying that there isn't a way to combine selections. So I would select a shadow T, click the weld box, resize it and moved it so it looked right combined with the unshadowed T. When I got one shadow the way I liked it, I would copy and paste for the other identical letters (So only make one T, one O, etc). At this point, I had the word "Tomorrowland" and then the word shadowed, so it looked the way I wanted on the screen.

Then I moved the unshadowed word to it's own space. Repeated this for "Transportation" and "Authority." So I ended up with 6 words total. Then I previewed to make sure everything was welded.

Then I selected the "New Page" button, which gave me two work spaces. I copied and pasted the unshadowed version of the words (since they were a single selection each) into the new page, and then deleted them from the first page. You can rename the page by right clicking in the mat area, and then type in the box to rename it. You can also select which one should be on top, and which one on the bottom.

Then on the "top layer" page, I arranged the three words so that they would weld (make sure their weld box is checked first). Under "View" is an option to "keep preview as mat background" I checked that off. I previewed, and then you can see both layers even though they are on separate pages. When I got the "top layer" arranged the way I wanted it, I went to work on the shadow page.

Each letter has to be moved individually, and when you have the preview set as the mat background, when you move a letter it doesn't delete it from where it was before, so the mat can look a bit messy, so every 5 or 6 letters I would re-preview. Eventually, I got all the letters shadowed. I thought it would all cut out correctly, but I missed that part under the A in "Transportation" but it's close enough, and I plan on using the exacto to cut it out.

Then I cut the "top layer" page, and then I cut the "shadow" page, and put everything together.

I think it will be possible to just start off with the two page (one for the top, one for the shadow) method, instead of putting both the shadows and the top layers on one page initially, but since I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing yet, I preferred doing it this way even though it added a step.

I am happy the way it came out.

Things I dislike about the program. You pretty much need to work in the 200% view for things this small, which means that you have to scroll. Everytime I would click, it would take me back to the upper left corner, so I was having to scroll A LOT to arrange everything.

One button shadowing, would be really, really nice.

I wish there was a way to tell it that it missed cutting out something and be able to click on a line and turn it bold, like for that miscut A section.

 

[party of 3]

Okay, now it is shadowed!

I frustrated myself trying to do the shadow last night, and I decided to start completely over from scratch, using some tips from the cricut boards.

I redid the top layer, mostly using the same method, although this time I didn't nudge them quite so close together. And for the moment, I left the three words separate.

Then I shadowed the three words. Unlike the top layer, which I could have all the letters in the word be one group or selection, for the shadowed layer each letter is a different selection. It is really annoying that there isn't a way to combine selections. So I would select a shadow T, click the weld box, resize it and moved it so it looked right combined with the unshadowed T. When I got one shadow the way I liked it, I would copy and paste for the other identical letters (So only make one T, one O, etc). At this point, I had the word "Tomorrowland" and then the word shadowed, so it looked the way I wanted on the screen.

Then I moved the unshadowed word to it's own space. Repeated this for "Transportation" and "Authority." So I ended up with 6 words total. Then I previewed to make sure everything was welded.

Then I selected the "New Page" button, which gave me two work spaces. I copied and pasted the unshadowed version of the words (since they were a single selection each) into the new page, and then deleted them from the first page. You can rename the page by right clicking in the mat area, and then type in the box to rename it. You can also select which one should be on top, and which one on the bottom.

Then on the "top layer" page, I arranged the three words so that they would weld (make sure their weld box is checked first). Under "View" is an option to "keep preview as mat background" I checked that off. I previewed, and then you can see both layers even though they are on separate pages. When I got the "top layer" arranged the way I wanted it, I went to work on the shadow page.

Each letter has to be moved individually, and when you have the preview set as the mat background, when you move a letter it doesn't delete it from where it was before, so the mat can look a bit messy, so every 5 or 6 letters I would re-preview. Eventually, I got all the letters shadowed. I thought it would all cut out correctly, but I missed that part under the A in "Transportation" but it's close enough, and I plan on using the exacto to cut it out.

Then I cut the "top layer" page, and then I cut the "shadow" page, and put everything together.

I think it will be possible to just start off with the two page (one for the top, one for the shadow) method, instead of putting both the shadows and the top layers on one page initially, but since I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing yet, I preferred doing it this way even though it added a step.

I am happy the way it came out.

Things I dislike about the program. You pretty much need to work in the 200% view for things this small, which means that you have to scroll. Everytime I would click, it would take me back to the upper left corner, so I was having to scroll A LOT to arrange everything.

One button shadowing, would be really, really nice.

I wish there was a way to tell it that it missed cutting out something and be able to click on a line and turn it bold, like for that miscut A section.

OMG!
holy cow! i am still learning how to use my bug and you're doing stuff like this!
i love it~ but could no way ever do that!!!!!! maybe i need to quit my job and stay home and play with my cricut so i can get used to it - then maybe and just maybe i could attempt something like this!!!!!
pat yourself on the back for a job well done! i am so jealous!!!!!!

 

[party of 3]

Okay, now it is shadowed!

I frustrated myself trying to do the shadow last night, and I decided to start completely over from scratch, using some tips from the cricut boards.

I redid the top layer, mostly using the same method, although this time I didn't nudge them quite so close together. And for the moment, I left the three words separate.

Then I shadowed the three words. Unlike the top layer, which I could have all the letters in the word be one group or selection, for the shadowed layer each letter is a different selection. It is really annoying that there isn't a way to combine selections. So I would select a shadow T, click the weld box, resize it and moved it so it looked right combined with the unshadowed T. When I got one shadow the way I liked it, I would copy and paste for the other identical letters (So only make one T, one O, etc). At this point, I had the word "Tomorrowland" and then the word shadowed, so it looked the way I wanted on the screen.

Then I moved the unshadowed word to it's own space. Repeated this for "Transportation" and "Authority." So I ended up with 6 words total. Then I previewed to make sure everything was welded.

Then I selected the "New Page" button, which gave me two work spaces. I copied and pasted the unshadowed version of the words (since they were a single selection each) into the new page, and then deleted them from the first page. You can rename the page by right clicking in the mat area, and then type in the box to rename it. You can also select which one should be on top, and which one on the bottom.

Then on the "top layer" page, I arranged the three words so that they would weld (make sure their weld box is checked first). Under "View" is an option to "keep preview as mat background" I checked that off. I previewed, and then you can see both layers even though they are on separate pages. When I got the "top layer" arranged the way I wanted it, I went to work on the shadow page.

Each letter has to be moved individually, and when you have the preview set as the mat background, when you move a letter it doesn't delete it from where it was before, so the mat can look a bit messy, so every 5 or 6 letters I would re-preview. Eventually, I got all the letters shadowed. I thought it would all cut out correctly, but I missed that part under the A in "Transportation" but it's close enough, and I plan on using the exacto to cut it out.

Then I cut the "top layer" page, and then I cut the "shadow" page, and put everything together.

I think it will be possible to just start off with the two page (one for the top, one for the shadow) method, instead of putting both the shadows and the top layers on one page initially, but since I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing yet, I preferred doing it this way even though it added a step.

I am happy the way it came out.

Things I dislike about the program. You pretty much need to work in the 200% view for things this small, which means that you have to scroll. Everytime I would click, it would take me back to the upper left corner, so I was having to scroll A LOT to arrange everything.

One button shadowing, would be really, really nice.

I wish there was a way to tell it that it missed cutting out something and be able to click on a line and turn it bold, like for that miscut A section.

OMG!
holy cow! i am still learning how to use my bug and you're doing stuff like this!
i love it~ but could no way ever do that!!!!!!