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Please help a newbie...Cricut E2 or Silhouette Cameo?
Hi everyone! I can't decide what to do. I have a regular Cricut Expression that I have never opened. Don't ask me why. I think I was waiting to get my office cleaned up so I could have a place to put it. I bought it several years ago, on Black Friday. Well, last week, I saw on HSN the Cricut Expression 2, so I bought it. I thought I could sell my original Cricut and put that money on the new one. I have it sitting in my kitchen, unopened. LOL!
Right after I bought it, I saw a post on here about the Silhouette Cameo, which I started looking at. I really like that you don't have to buy cartridges for it. But of course, it hasn't come out yet, so there's no reviews on it yet.
What should I do?? Start using my Cricut E2 or send it back and wait for the Cameo to come out?? Please help me decide! Tell me the pros and cons of both!!!
If you want to do your own designing without the use of cartridges or use other files out there for cutting, avoid any of the versions of Cricut by Provo Craft. If you're content with cartridges, cut away. Provo Craft is not compatible for use with Sure Cuts A Lot and Make the Cut and sued these third party companies. There are several other brands of cutters that work with these types programs with the endorsement of the company that created the cutter. Look for something that is svg compatible..
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
I have had my original version Silhouette for a few years and the only thing that would make me sell it would be if I buy the Cameo. I just love it! One cool thing is that I have been able to upgrade the software for free so it's like getting a new machine anytime they have an update!
The shapes in the library are wonderful and I love that I can print and cut any jpeg image - not just those offered by Silhouette. Also, the customer service is amazing!
I got a Cricut on Black Friday 4 years ago and I have used it once. I got a Silhouette a few months ago and I use it all the time. I love it and there are so many designs available. I would imagine the Cameo works as well as the Silhouette since it us basically the same machine.
I don't do my own designing on the computer, only on my cards and soon to be layouts, so, I bought the E2 Anniversary Edition and absolutely love it!! It's so easy to use and with some of the more artistic cartridges they now have for the backgrounds and such, it's perfect for me. I love the new CTMH and Sophie cartridges so that gives you and idea of my tastes as well..... Good luck with your decision.
I have the E2 Anniversary and the Silhouette SD, not to bash the Cricut because it is a nice machine, but there are only two things I don't totally love about my Silhouette, it doesn't cut 12x12 and it doesn't cut chipboard, the Cameo will be able to cut 12x12 and if I have the extra money I'd buy it in a heart beat because I LOVE my Silhouette SD so much. The cameo won't cut chipboard but the other benefits of it will far outweigh all that, in my opinion. Plus even with the E2 you need to buy the deep cutting blade for that anyway. My advice would be sent back the E2 and get the Cameo.
I have the original Silhouette, from about 5-6 years ago, and would not part with it for anything. Its the best money I ever spent. I agree with everything Barbara32ca says, including their fantastic customer service. Biggest plus is never ever having to buy cartridges ever again! It cuts any TT font, including 'Dingbat' (picture) fonts- and you can get these for free from dozens of sites. You can buy the cutable images from Quickutz own site, and there are quite a few sites where you can find image files for free.
shazsilverwolf - question: When you cut out words, can you make it so that the letters "link" together, or is each letter separate?
Thanks!!!!
Yes, what you need to do is move all the letters in towards each other so they are touching/overlapping. Either by moving each letter individually, or if you look on the right hand side, (when you are on text) you can see a slider for character spacing. Just slide it to the left, and your letters will move closer together. Then you can click on the weld button and it will join them all together. HTH
I have the original Silhouette, from about 5-6 years ago, and would not part with it for anything. Its the best money I ever spent. I agree with everything Barbara32ca says, including their fantastic customer service. Biggest plus is never ever having to buy cartridges ever again! It cuts any TT font, including 'Dingbat' (picture) fonts- and you can get these for free from dozens of sites. You can buy the cutable images from Quickutz own site, and there are quite a few sites where you can find image files for free.
Hate to be stupid here, but what is a TT font? I have tons of fonts that I LOVE but have no idea what type of font they are.
Thanks for all the input on here! I have been surfing around trying to make up my mind on which machine to get and this answers my questions! come on Christmas!!!!!
Hate to be stupid here, but what is a TT font? I have tons of fonts that I LOVE but have no idea what type of font they are.
TT, or True Type fonts mean that what you see on the screen when you type is exactly what you will get when you print or cut it. Not all fonts are TT, and then what you get is the closest TT match to it. When you are choosing a font, at the start of it in the drop down list, you will see the letters TT. You can also check by going into the start menu, choosing 'Computer', Then select ' Windows(C drive, usually).This opens a list of all the folders on your Windows drive, double click on the Windows folder, then when that opens, double click on the Fonts folder. All your fonts will be displayed, then you can double click any one of them. A box comes up displaying how the font looks at various sizes, in the bar at the top it will tell you if it is True Type.
The other type of font is 'Open', and these are usually used for web display etc.
There are a few good programmes available for organising, viewing & choosing fonts, I now use Printers Apprentice. This will show you all your fonts in a list, then when you click one, it shows you what it looks like when typed. It also shows you the keyboard map, which is really useful for dingbat fonts. Just Google it. There is a trial version, and if you like it, the purchase is only a few dollars.
One word of warning here, if you have a Silhouette, Don't use the Font Fitting Room program. I had this installed and it used to work fine , even with the Silhouette, but when they changed to Silhouette Studio, I began getting cutting problems( it was scoring rather than cutting). As I had just had some hardware upgrades, my Beloved Husband had reloaded my pc just before this started, and obviously put in the new Studio. I gradually got round to loading up all my extra programs over the next couple of weeks,but I had used Studio fine, then suddenly it stopped working. Process of elimination, the only different thing between uses of Studio was the addition of FFR. So I took it out, and Studio worked fine again. I passed the info on to Quickutz, in case anyone has a similar problem.
TT, or True Type fonts mean that what you see on the screen when you type is exactly what you will get when you print or cut it. Not all fonts are TT, and then what you get is the closest TT match to it. When you are choosing a font, at the start of it in the drop down list, you will see the letters TT. You can also check by going into the start menu, choosing 'Computer', Then select ' Windows(C drive, usually).This opens a list of all the folders on your Windows drive, double click on the Windows folder, then when that opens, double click on the Fonts folder. All your fonts will be displayed, then you can double click any one of them. A box comes up displaying how the font looks at various sizes, in the bar at the top it will tell you if it is True Type.
The other type of font is 'Open', and these are usually used for web display etc.
There are a few good programmes available for organising, viewing & choosing fonts, I now use Printers Apprentice. This will show you all your fonts in a list, then when you click one, it shows you what it looks like when typed. It also shows you the keyboard map, which is really useful for dingbat fonts. Just Google it. There is a trial version, and if you like it, the purchase is only a few dollars.
One word of warning here, if you have a Silhouette, Don't use the Font Fitting Room program. I had this installed and it used to work fine , even with the Silhouette, but when they changed to Silhouette Studio, I began getting cutting problems( it was scoring rather than cutting). As I had just had some hardware upgrades, my Beloved Husband had reloaded my pc just before this started, and obviously put in the new Studio. I gradually got round to loading up all my extra programs over the next couple of weeks,but I had used Studio fine, then suddenly it stopped working. Process of elimination, the only different thing between uses of Studio was the addition of FFR. So I took it out, and Studio worked fine again. I passed the info on to Quickutz, in case anyone has a similar problem.
Wow, Thanks so much for that answer! While I'm asking questions... Where do you get most of your clipart downloads? Do you use the Silhouette site or are there others?
Some I buy from Silhouette, some I get from this site Here. Its a Robo/Silhouette forum. You have to join up, and make a set number of posts, (I think 10), then there are masses of templates put up by other members. They are free for personal use, by that they mean you can use them for yourself, just not distribute them/ sell cd's of, etc.There is also a ton of useful info, tutorials etc on here, so its well worth joining up.
My other source is Dingbat fonts! I have some really cool ones that have Flourishes, flowers and so on. I have made a load of my own masks, a la Tim Holtz, using acetate & flourish fonts. I recommend DaFont.com, I use it a lot,and they have a huge selection of fonts. Also there are no nasty bugs on the site! for the same reasons I also use;1001fontsUrban fontsand Fonts101.
Just had a look at Printers Apprentice on This page and it says you can browse all your fonts without installing them first, This may be what you need. Must admit, I have all my fonts installed. I am running windows 7, and it doesn't seem to struggle over how many fonts it has, unlike some of the older versions used to. I do find that Printers Apprentice is very stable too.
I see what you mean, I think I hadn't got the full gist of it, sorry. Have you tried e-mailing PA, and asking about what you want to do? You probably already have, its just a thought. Yes, I wouldn't want to load 7000 fonts either. I have a back up disc that I have filled with fonts I have acquired over the years- If I put them all on it would probably never start up! Actually, might that work? Putting them onto a disc? Do you have them on an external drive?
Hi everyone! I can't decide what to do. I have a regular Cricut Expression that I have never opened. Don't ask me why. I think I was waiting to get my office cleaned up so I could have a place to put it. I bought it several years ago, on Black Friday. Well, last week, I saw on HSN the Cricut Expression 2, so I bought it. I thought I could sell my original Cricut and put that money on the new one. I have it sitting in my kitchen, unopened. LOL!
Right after I bought it, I saw a post on here about the Silhouette Cameo, which I started looking at. I really like that you don't have to buy cartridges for it. But of course, it hasn't come out yet, so there's no reviews on it yet.
What should I do?? Start using my Cricut E2 or send it back and wait for the Cameo to come out?? Please help me decide! Tell me the pros and cons of both!!!
Don't waste your money on a cricut. They are completely inflexible when it comes with using 3rd party software. Trust me, you'll regret it when some day you want to use a software like Make the Cut or Sure Cuts a Lot so cut your own letters, svg files, etc. Don't be tied down with having to buy expensive cartridges for the rest of your days. I was fortunate enough to buy my cricut YEARS AGO when I could still use SCAL with it and I just haven't updated the firmware since the big lawsuit deal with Provocraft so I can still use SCAL with my machine. If I were to do it all over again, no way would I buy a cricut.
If I wanted to cut images from My Digital Studio, would I need something like Inkscape, SCAL, or MTC to cut them with the Silhouette Cameo? I want to replace my Cricut E cutter, since I hedged and didn't buy SCAL in time before the lawsuit settled.
If you want to cut with the cameo, I would either upgrade to the silhouette software that costs (I think $50) or get SCAL3. MTC can be used but it's in a roundabout way and kind of a pain.
I wanted to get MTC over SCAL3, but for this very reason I may end up going with SCAL. Now I'm wondering if I should get SCAL3 over the Silhouette Designer Edition software. Price is about the same.
And if you sign up for their newsletter BEFORE you place the order, you will probably get a coupon code to use at checkout. I used mine, and my total came to $229.00.
Is anyone looking to buy a lightly used SIlhouette SD? I bought it this past spring and totally love it but i had to upgrade cutters as i am in the vinyl cutting business and needed a large format machine. The Silhouette is amazing and works beautifully!!! If anyone is interested, please email me at [email protected]. I am also getting rid of rhinestone cutting software, the accublade holder with 2 60 degree blades, and an engraving bit designed for the silhouette!
I think the advice given to purchase SCAL is probably the right path to take. When I purchased 3rd party software, I wobbled between MTC & SCAL. I went with MTC because there are no charges for updates. But now MTC has partnered with KNK cutters to come out with the "Zing" cutter and I think the program designer is a little overwhelmed with the "birth" of his new machine. He has essentially stated in the forum that until someone "gives" him a Cameo there will be no plug-in. I know there are other plug-ins that are not functioning well, (according to posts on the forum). Just two days before he posted his comments, I ordered a Cameo, assuming since he advertises that his software works with the Silhouette SD that he would come out with a plug-in for the Cameo. Now not so sure...and not sure what I want to do at this point. I think I was probably one of the first people to purchase MTC and I really don't want to buy another 3rd party software program, I think my "E" is dying and I WON"T buy another ProvoCraft product and the "Zing" is simply out of my price point and I really don't need that much machine. The whole thing is leaving a sour taste in my mouth and taken the pleasure out of cutting/crafting for me. Okay, whine over, good luck with whatever choice you make!
Please help a newbie...Cricut E2 or Silhouette Cameo?
