Diecutting Machines for Dummies

I found a thread here from last December that has refupea info. scrapnnana , OntarioScrapper , and @amayalylac have a lot of great info in their posts, and htstepper also linked this article that discusses the differences between cutters.

Hope that helps! I have a baby cricut and a sizzix eclipse that I don't use as often as I'd like to, so I don't have much insight.

A few of us recently bought Silhouette Cameos and are very happy with our purchases!

I went back over and reread that thread, lol. It is almost a year old. That does change a lot in the ever fast die cutting machine market. What I wrote then still stands true.

ljs1691- Most of the blogs comparing machines are usually bloggers that got the machines free. The reviews tend to be a bit biased. Also the reviewers are not long time users of different die cutters on the market and know the cutters quirks, low points & high points. I am not trying to slam affiliated bloggers at all. That is not my intention. I don't want anybody to buy a cutter and then find the cutter is a terrible fit for them. I do recommend buying popular cutters when your new since there is so many tutorials but don't buy a cutter because of a review.

MTC forum is an excellent forum for finding a die cutter that fits you. Don't worry that is a software forum. Most of the top die cutting experts are on that forum. I highly recommend Jules. I have a lot of expertise in cutters but I enjoy it more for a hobby now. I had to stop doing a lot of die cutting recommendations when I started getting used badly.

Die cutters today you don't need cartridges, your not limited to certain brand files & with the Brother Scan n Cut and Cameo you don't even have to be online to use designs. You can scan in your own designs. That is a lovely plus, especially for stampers.

Since you have a baby Cricut & a Slice take a look at the Brother Scan n Cut. You can cut any file, you don't have to be hooked up to a computer. It is easy to learn.

The thread from last December was very Cricut. I do like the Cricut but I can say almost a year later out of the top three cutters on the market Cricut is #3. The only reason it is at #3 is the software. It is online still to this day. The iPad app apparently is not as full featured as it should be. The online software is just glitchy. The Cricut can be a frustrating cutter to use only because of the software. Hardware wise best cutter I have ever had. Software wise worst cutter I ever had. My big thing about the Cricut that annoys me is the software is so bad it teaches bad die cutting habits. If somebody was going to upgrade to a more advanced cutter even years after using the Explore they are going to have a learning curve on an advanced cutter that should be a little easier to learn.

Best software cutter on the market hands down Silhouette Cameo. The new Silhouette Cameo 3 is very comparable to the Cricut Explore. Definitely a cutter to check out. It is still only around 210 grams in force so you will only be able to cut lighter materials while the Explore is still the best for cutting heavier materials. If you don't need to cut leather,, for example, then look at the Cameo 3. Honestly, it is the same as the Cricut but with less force. Most scrapbooker's really don't need that force.

I hope that helps. Start with Brother Scan n Cut and then the Silhouette Cameo 3. If there is one a little more obscure you can ask me about it. My biggest ones that are a little obscure that I know about are Black Cat cutters, Janome & the Klik-n-Kut line. I know a lot about the Gazelle. I haven't used a Gazelle in three years so I don't really know if anything has changed on the cutter in the last few years.

Hope that helps.

Cricut is releasing another Explore Air???!!!! How many does that make? I am telling you everyone there is a conspiracy with these die cutters. They are the new smartphones, lol. Release a new one every three months.

I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos this week on the Explore. I like to set down and start following the YouTube side bar to see what kind of crafting videos I can find. I am not watching anything in particular about the Cricut just random watching things while I game. Every single video I watch the YT loves the Cricut. They hate or is frustrated by Design Space.

To be fair and equal I have watched a few Cameo videos too and have heard the YT say they found the Silhouette software hard to use and frustrating that you can not import SVG's for free which you can with Design Space.

To be honest I always forget about this SVG thing because with the Cameo I use MTC to cut SVG's with. I never had a need to cut SVG's with Silhouette Studio.

Point of this rambling is download Design Space & Silhouette Studio to see what is easiest to work with and what fits your needs. You can get demo's of Sure Cuts Alot & Make the Cut too. I heard Brother Scan n Cut has online software also. I don't know if you can try that software out before buying a cutter. Maybe a Brother Scan n Cut user has the answer.

It has been over 2 years that the Explore was released.   You know Cricut, got to get new machines out! Considering it is coming out with Explore Air 2 attached to it, makes everyone wonder how DIFFERENT it is going to be over the current Explore line. Will have to wait and see. Can't just be a new colour. Maybe it'll have an LCD screen so that you don't have to be hooked up to Design Space to use it! That would convert a lot who are still using their older machines and don't want to fight with DS.