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I have been on the fence for a year or two with getting one. I've been trying to see how much and for what I would use one. I'm thinking the most part, may be using it for vinyl. Can I use to make stenciled wood signs? How are the colors? I've read the different FAQ's on the forum here. I just need to hear from those of you about which you have and how do you like them. I was all set to get the cricut air 2 today until I saw the silhouette also advertised on the same page and was like AHHHHH which on which one??? I finally was able to decide that the brother scan and cut wasn't the one for me. But I just cannot decide between these 2 now.
I own an older Cricut and no Silhouette. I have hated many of the features of my Cricut over the years. I rely on the cartridges, but can't stand how much I feel they tie my hands at the same time. I purchased Design Studio and it is not the easiest program to work with and top it off Cricut doesn't support it anymore. We have SCAL but I am not great working with the features of it.
One of my daughters has a Silhouette and loves it. I am constantly amazed at what she can do with that machine!! If she can find an image anywhere online, she can cut it. She does vinyl and fabric and I'm sure she could cut stencils. She does a very small amount with paper, but she is not really a papercrafter. She worked with the Cricut a lot and was constantly frustrated with it. She really hates the Cricut now, even more so now that she has a Silhouette.
Since I don't have both machines I am not a good one to offer an opinion. Out of curiosity, why did you decide the Brother Scan and Cut wasn't for you? I am getting very close to buying one but still not 100% sure, yet. I am interested in doing the things you mention and additionally (mostly) want to fussy cut stamped images. I want the freedom to cut anything I want to cut. Hopefully others will weigh in with their opinions.
I have had both machines and now my DIL has my Cricut. I purchased the Portrait and love how it works so over a year ago i added the Cameo. Love that I can purchase just one image or as stated can use images from other sources. Good Luck in your decision
__________________ Mary Jo
prairiepapercrafter.blogspot.com
So I'm still just as confused. I was thinking the new air 2 had more freedom but now maybe the silhouette offers more creativity. I was originally looking at the brother one but somewhere I read made me not so interested. I'll go back to reviewing them more I think. Today amazon had the cricut air 2 for $197 and I thought This is is I'm buying today and doesn't look like it yet. Lol
If you want to cut words/phrases, and use vinyl, I know the Silhouette range do cut vinyl. I've had my Silhouette since they first launched, and that is at least 10 years ago now. Still running fine, with no problems. I don't run it every day, but it gets used often. As for words/phrases, that was exactly my reason for buying mine- at the time, really the only Alpha dies about were the red sixxix ones, and for the cost on one Alphs set, I bought my Silhouette. I can't speak for the Cricuts, I have no experience with them, but I can say the Silhouette will cut any font installed on your PC from something like 1/2" high, to about 8" high. Also, you can download new fonts from all over the Internet- including 'Dingbat' fonts( which are just small pictures, really). My favourite font sites are dafont.com, UrbanFonts.com, Dingbat Depot,1001fonts.com.
Plus there is Melissa Viscount�s excellent �Silhouette School� website, with heaps of free how-tos and the helpful books you can buy. There is also the option of subscribing to her �Silhouette University� for even more help.
I have the Cricut Explore Air, and I'm really happy with it. I've cut several different kinds of material, including vinyl, and the projects turned out great. You can also get individual images from the Design Space store, so you aren't locked into buying an entire set of images all the time. You can also upload your own SVG and JPEG files. The software is much easier to use now. I think you need the upgraded version of the Silhouette software to upload your own SVGs. I have the original Silhouette machine that was pretty much gifted to me, but I prefer my Cricut hands-down.
Thank you all for your help and opinions. I was afraid I was going to be limited with cricut but it sounds like I can use my own jpegs as well and that's a plus.
Cricut vs silhouette help
