Cricut vs Silhouette craft cutter

[angelbearmom]

I haven't posted on this board before but have followed some of the discussions. I'm wondering what people's opinions are of the cricut vs. the silhouette cutter? I want to purchase one of them soon. I'd planned on getting the cricut but my lss has the silhouette on sale for a really good price. It looks like it might be more economical in the long run as you don't have to buy cartridges for it. What do people think. I just got back from a trip to DW and have a ton of pics to scrapbook. I really want some Disney characters and fonts to use.

Thanks,

 

[rlovew]

If you want to use a lot of Disney stuff the cricut is easier. I have a craftrobo (similar to shilouette). I bought this machine first and I can design files on it although I buy and trade more files than I make many times. It has quite a bit of a learning curve unless you are very familiar with vector drawing programs and very computer savvy. I love this machine and do more on it than my cricut for titles and such. I bought my cricut expression becuase I wanted the disney files (I never bought disney font because I had that because I can cut TTF on my craftrobo). There are not many disney files available for trade or purchase becuase they are copywrited characters.

Rebecca

 

[angelbearmom]

Do you know much about how the silhouette works? Is it similar to the one you have? I'm just wondering how user friendly it is for someone that is useless with a lot of design stuff-I got Adobe photoshop elements a year ago and still haven't figured out how to use it. Can you just take pictures on your computer, like clip art and then cut them out with the machine or is it more involved than that?

If I decide to go with the cricut, which is the best one to get? I'm thinking that the expression one would do the most.

 

[rlovew]

My understanding is that the programs have been getting a bit easier to use since I started but there is a large learning curve. If you just want to cut the outside of a piece of clip art (not make it into a paper piecing) than I believe you should be able to import it into the program and have it autotrace (I know craftrobo know has autotrace and I believe the other machine do also (they are all the same basic machine-silhouette, craftrobo, and wishblade with different logos). If you want to do a paper piecing then you need to bring in a coloring book page into photoshop (or similar program) and work to make sure all the lines are well defined. Then you import the file into the machine's program and autotrace it and you will get the various layer to sort out and recolor to make sure the lines are good.

Anytime you autotrace you need to delete a number of points along the line. It generally takes me about 30 minutes to set up a basic file and get it ready to cut. There are a lot of files for various things that are ready to buy and cut as well as many offered for free. You just will not find many that are disney related.

If you want paper piecings then the cricut is easier- if you want to cut clip art then the craftrobo is easier.

As far as which cricut- I only bought the expression because I like the additional size options and things you can do with it. They are now offering a cricut something that has the options with the smaller size. If you want things larger than 6 inches then you want the expression machine.

Ask if you want any more details.

Rebecca

 

[SalandJeff]

If you haven't already, I suggest you go and join one of the groups on Yahoo (try Wishblade). There are users of the Wishblade, Craftrobo and Silhouette in that group, and you can read some of the info or ask questions and the people there can probably help you with your decision.

 

[pixiedustforever]

I have a Wishblade and a baby Cricut. I do not use the Wishblade software, tho! I use FunTime Scrapbooking software - it is much more user friendly than Wishblade software. And it can used with the Silhouette, too (and many other cutters).

You may want to look at the software first. It's sold on Ebay and at the Funtime site. They've done several updates based on owner requests.
We've got an active Yahoo group for Funtime users going, too. Lots of file sharing - nothing copyrighted tho'.

If you can, get both! It's great to use all the TTFs out there and all the Cricut has to offer!

Marylee

 

[tlrotzoll]

I have the cricut & love it. I use it all the time for various projects. It is very user friendly - even my 2 boys use it with ease for their homework projects. I really can't compare to anything else, as the cricut is all that I have used.

 

[Raenstoirm]

I have both cricuts and the Pazzle (a "fancier" version of all of the other machines mentioned) is on my Christmas list. I know that Pazzle makes paper piercing easy with its software, but you have to understand layers. If you are not all that tech savvy, cricut is the way to go.

 

[michelleBD]

I've never owned the Silhouette, but I absolutely love my cricut. I love the Disney Mickey and Friends cartridge has all my favorite characters and my kids love em too. There's so much more cartridges too

m.d.