Granddaughter wants for cutting shapes and t-shirt transfers. I have high end plotters but know nothing of the Cricket. Anyone have any experience?
I agree with Texas, many people have them and use them for small projects, seem to work very well for this type of thing! I don't have one but I know a lot of women who do and never hear anyone complain. A teacher at our school has one and she uses my old scraps for various sayings and the such for around the school.
YES, I believe you are correct! OP should check into this for her as he/she will know the best formats.At one time Cricut (they still may, it's just hard to find on their site now, so I don't know if it's been discontinued) had a "commercial" version that was a grand or two (in that range). I remember seeing them at the local apparel trade show (I was shaking my head at first as I was thinking it was just a consumer line and thus not having the warranty that people that were in business (I'm assuming in business as it was a business trade show, not a consumer one)), but that has been a few yrs.
If I recall correctly, like most home machines (and if they still have the "commercial" version available, I think it would still apply) the file format is proprietary. So if it's a pattern made in their own software, it will only cut on their own machines. I do think you can bring in SVGs etc into the machine and it will convert on the fly to the desired format, but if it was created from the ground up in their software, it will be locked in to their format. Unless that has changed, it may have, it's been a few yrs.
I only mention that about the format in case your granddaughter wants to go from the cricut to a non cricut machines and may want to take her designs with her and use them.
Exactly. Being frustrated trying to figure out how to use commercial software will suck the fun out of the hobby. Thats a lot of the reason why the cricuts are so popular.I don't agree with starting out someone with a "real" sign plotter...mostly because of the SOFTWARE required. Even the free software is hard to learn. I've seen the stuff that Cricket uses and it's simple to use and polished. Like someone else here said is like "Apple" stuff, it just works. I've seen many (mostly ladies) that I know are not that computer savvy, pickup that software very quickly and start making impressive stuff right away. It took me a while to learn Flexi and a lot of ****ing around with connecting the plotter and stuff.
Like someone else here said is like "Apple" stuff, it just works.
Personally I'd get her a roll cutter. Even a cheap uscutter option - Cricuts limited in sheet size... Unless you want to cut all your vinyl down for her, get her at least a 24" roll cutter.
It's not as "cute" and there is a little bit more of a learning curve... But Thats not a bad thing. Cricuts are the apples of the world... Theyre pretty, over priced, and just "work". get her a MH Cutter... Then when she learns to use it properly, she can come work at your shop on weekends and help you out, without messing up your high end plotters.
Personaly I think "just works" is bad.
A little bit of a learning curve is good. It helps you understand WHY you need to set stuff up a certain way, how to diagnose it when it goes wrong, what the best practices are for the best results, etc.
One of the benefits of going with the cricut is the crafting community that comes with it. I was involuntarily inducted into the Crafting & Quilting Cult when I picked up an Accucut die cutter to do some shelf talkers. Now my inbox is filled with helpful suggestions on everything from cute DIY gifts to getting glitter to stick to quilts.