Basic description of CNC cutting machines designed for home use by crafters. Focus on Cricut brand, including a demonstration of the initial program used when installing a new Cricut Explore Air. Presentation given at Trenton Computer Festival, 3/23/2019. NOTE: Original template used typefaces Kelson Sans for titles and Lato for text. Kelson Sans: https://www.dafontfree.io/kelson-sans-font-family/ Lato: http://www.latofonts.com/lato-free-fonts/, https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Lato

1. Introduction to
Cricut
and
Home Cutting Machines
Brenda F. Bell
Riffing Off Craft Trends

2. About me
Brenda Bell is an
independent crafter and
Cricut instructor. She is
Secretary of the Amateur
Computer Group of New
Jersey (ACGNJ) and the
leader of its Mobile Devices
SIG. She has been giving
presentations there and at
TCF for over fifteen years.

3. DISCLAIMERS
Brenda’s views are her own.
She does not speak for Provo Crafts (manufacturers of Cricut).
She does not speak for any of the other brands and manufacturers mentioned in this presentation.

4. WE WILL
COVER
What home cutting machines are, and some of
their uses.
The current series of Cricut cutters.
Using Design Space (Cricut’s software) to create a
simple project

5. HOME
ELECTRON
IC
CUTTERS
The general term for cutting machines is
“CNC” (Computer Numerical Control)
because the cuts, lines, and other
changes to materials are controlled by
internal circuitry, design cartridges, or a
computer program
such as
• Built-in scanners
• Rotary blades or other specialty cutters
• Scoring wheels
• Heavier-duty knives
• Rhinestone setting tools
May have
additional tools
and features
• To cut precise designs into a variety of
materials
May support a pen or
stylus
instead of or in addition to a blade
• To act as a single-pen plotter
• To create precise folds in paper or cardstock
Use small, sharp
knives

6. T-SHIRTS
CARDMAKING
AND
EVENTS
OTHER CRAFTS
Cutting machines can be used
to create greeting cards,
tablescapes, and décor for
personal and corporate events
One of the most popular uses
of cutting machines is to
create custom iron-on designs
for T-shirts, gifts, and
household linens
Including monogramming,
personalization, quilt piecing,
balsa wood models, seasonal
décor, etc. (depending on the
make and model of the
machine)
USES FOR CUTTERS

7. E l e c t ro n i c c u t t e rs a re
p o p u l a r fo r a n u m b e r o f
d i f fe re n t t y p e s o f p ro j e c t s .
O f t e n t h e d e v i c e
m a n u fa c t u re rs p ro v i d e a
l i b ra r y o f l i c e n s a b l e d e s i g n s
t o g e t y o u s t a r t e d .
THINGS
TO MAKE

8. IT CAN
CUT:
Stencil Film
Iron-On VInyl
Paper and Cardstock
Adhesive Vinyl
AND MUCH MORE…

9. CURRENT
HOME-USE
BRANDS
These brands all sell one or more
models of electronic cutting
machines at major craft store
chains and through home
shopping channels.

10. .
Brother
ScanNCut
SDX125E
Cricut
Maker 3
Silhouette
Cameo 4
(12”)
US
Cutter
MH 14”
.
.
.
. .
.
$399.99 $399.99 $299.99 $230.99
.
iPad only
.
.
Features
Supports pen and/or stylus
Supports vinyl rolls
(with/without accessory)
Scans loaded mat to conserve
materials
Additional cutting and
application tools available
Supports one or more deep
knife cutters
Price
.
Comparison includes top-of-the-line Brother, Cricut, and Silhouette models at MSRP.
Silhouette also makes wider carriage Cameo 4 machines (15” Plus for $399.99 and 24” Pro for $499.99)
US Cutter makes professional vinyl cutting machines. This is their low-end model, available through their web site.
*Cricut-brand Smart Materials only, with separate accessory
*
.
.

11. Features
Brother
ScanNCut
SDX125EGY
Cricut
Maker 3
Silhouette
Cameo 4
US
Cutter
MH 14”
BluetoothConnectivity
Built-inviewscreen
Canworkoffline
Androidand/oriOSapp
Acceptsuploadedimages . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
Imageformatssupported
.
.
.png, .gif, .jpg,
.bmp, .dxf,
.fcm, .svg
. . .
.jpg, .gif,
.bmp, .dxf,
.svg, .png
Studio, .dxf,
.png, .jpg,
.bmp, .gif, .tif,
.pdf
.svg, .pdf,
.eps, .ai,
.wpc, .pes,
.pec, .hus,
.jef, .sew, .vip
.
.
Comparison includes top-of-the-line Brother, Cricut, and Silhouette models.
US Cutter makes professional cutting machines. This is their low-end model, available through their
web site.
.

12. Cartridges
And
Built-In
Designs
Earlier generations of cutter either did not connect to a
computer, or did not connect to the Internet, or both.
While basic designs were built into each machine, to expand its
ability users needed to purchase disks or cartridges of designs
that could be temporarily uploaded to the machine.
While some modern machines are somewhat backwards-
compatible with these cartridges, most modern crafters license
their designs from online artists or they create their own.

13. Cricut Access is Cricut’s subscription
plan for its library of fonts and
images*.
It’s great for someone who needs
inspiration or wants to run a quick
project, or who regularly pulls
design elements from Cricut’s
design library.
If you only need the occasional
image or font from Cricut’s library,
it may pay to license those items
individually instead.
CRICUT
ACCESS
*some images and projects excluded and must be licensed sepa

14. DESIGN
SOFTWARE
• Devices may be designed to run on
• Proprietary software
• Separately-available software
• Available design tools vary from
package to package, and sometimes
level of package
• Free version of Silhouette Studio doesn’t
allow image import/export; paid versions
do
• Cricut Design Space doesn’t have Bézier
tools. Upcoming versions will limit the
number of images one can upload without
a Cricut Access subscription.
• Device license/use may restrict use of
non-proprietary software and tools

15. CRICUT
DESIGN
SPACE
Design Space is the software that connects
the Cricut device to the designs we wish to
create. There are versions for PC, Mac, iOS,
and Android. Most of the features are the
same from version to version, but they are
arranged differently.

16. After logging into Design Space your
home page will display a history of
your own plus projects Cricut and
other users have made available to
copy and use as inspiration.
Desktop Home
Page
Cricut
Design Space

17. PROFILE
Your Cricut Profile shows a little bit about
yourself as well as those of your projects
you’ve made public.

18. from the many available, and click
“Customize” to adjust its size and colors to
your project. Or just press “New Project” to
design from scratch.
SELECT A
PROJECT

19. Select your project from a number of
categories such as “Clothing”,
“Christmas”, or “Vinyl”, or search for
something more specific.

20. LICENSE PRICE
The green “a” means that the design elements are part of
Cricut’s Access library.
If you don’t have a Cricut Access subscription, the price of the
licenses you will need to purchase to make the project shows up
near the Access logo on the lower left of the project description
screen. (For Access members, the price disappears.)
Designs that are not included with Cricut Access (e.g., Disney or
Martha Stewart) will have their prices listed here as well.
You will not be charged until you actually make the project.

21. COST
BREAKDOW
N
S c roll d own th e
p rojec t p op -u p for a
b reakd own of
materials, tools,
an d at th e b ottom,
th e lic en se costs.

22. The canvas is where you customize and
compose your project. You can change
colors and sizes, add shapes or images
(both from Cricut Access and your personal
library), change fonts and type sizes, and so
on.
When you’re ready to finally draw, score,
and cut your project, click on “Make It.”
Canvas View
Cricut
Design Space

23. S o m e o f t h e t o o l s , a n d
t h e i r p l a c e m e n t , a re
d i f fe re n t o n t h e i Pa d t h a n
t h e c o m p u t e r.
Canvas View (iOS)
Cricut
Design Space

24. H e re , t h e s m a l l e r
fo r m a t o f a p h o n e
e n d s u p w i t h
d i f fe re n t
n a v i ga t i o n a n d t o o l
p l a c e m e n t .
Canvas View
(Android)
Cricut
Design Space

25. Canvas View (Android –
Landscape)
Cricut Design Space

26. DIY – Importing
Your Own Designs
Use the “Upload” tool to import custom
graphics into Design Space, or the “Image”
tool to browse your uploads along with
Cricut’s library of images.

27. Use Design Space’s tools to resize,
rotate, group, ungroup, and weld
image elements to each other.
Use “Arrange” and “Align” to
organize your elements in layers.
Use “Attach” and “Weld” to
organize the elements of a given
color so that they cut as a single
image, or as multiple images on a
single printed page.
Manipulate
Design
Elements

28. When you’re ready to make your project, Design
Space sorts the design by color and by the size of the
shapes you wish to cut, presenting them on default
12” x 12” pages as loaded onto cutting mats.
You cut one mat at a time, select “mirroring” one mat
at a time, but select material size for all mats at the
same time.
Mat View
Cricut Design Space

29. CUTTING MATS Light Grip Mat
Standard Grip Mat Strong Grip Mat
Used for vinyl, HTV (iron-on),
heavy cardstock, poster board,
etc.
The most commonly used mat.
Used for paper, cardstock, and
materials that do not need as
much strength to keep them in
place.
Used for heavy and/or slippery
materials such as leather,
wood, posterboard, craft
foam, etc.

30. Cricut
Design Space
Make It screen
This is where you make sure your device is
set to the correct material setting and the
correct tools are loaded.

31. Material
Selection
Cricut
Design Space
The Cricut Maker series, Joy, and Explore 3
do not have a materials selection dial, you
set the material from Design Space. The
same set of selections work for the Explore
series when the dial is set to “custom”.

32. Cricut
Design Space
Material Selection
Clicking on “Browse All Materials” brings
you to a menu of settings for a number of
materials, plus you can add your own
custom materials and settings.

33. Load Mat
Prepare Mat “Go” (Cricut Icon)
Place your cutting material on
the mat in the appropriate
orientation (vinyls and iron-on
are placed carrier down). For
most iron-on vinyl, set Mirror
to “On”.
When the up-and-down
arrows icon is flashing, press it
to load your mat into the
machine.
Press the blinking Cricut icon
to start drawing, scoring,
and/or cutting the material on
the mat.
Check Design Space for cues
on when to change pen colors
or tools.

34. Weeding
Cricut Result Weeded Design
The machine will score, draw,
and cut, but it won’t remove
the parts of the substrate that
are not part of your design
The removal of unwanted bits
of your cardstock, vinyl, etc.
You can see where all the bits
that were not part of the
original design have been
removed.

35. This card was designed to have a
contrasting underlay.
The “Hello Phone” project was the
first project for a new Cricut
Explore Air machine (each
machine has a different intro
project); the original underlay
came already cut to size.
HELLO PHONE

36. Basic
Material
s
• HTV aka Heat Transfer Vinyl or Iron-On: vinyl on a clear
carrier, uses an iron or heat press to adhere to a base
material. Usually cut from the wrong side (set Mirror
“On”). Good for t-shirts, tote bags, fabrics, wood, etc.
• PSV aka Pressure Sensitive Vinyl, Adhesive Vinyl, Self-
Adhesive Vinyl, or Sticky-Back Vinyl: vinyl on a non-
clear carrier, uses either a low-tack clear transfer tape or
transfer paper to move the design from the carrier to
the base material. Good for hard surfaces (walls, cars,
mugs, drink bottles).
• Transfer tape: low-tack (not too sticky) clear vinyl used
to transfer a design from the carrier sheet to the base
material.
• Infusible Ink: Sublimation ink on a moderately-stiff
paper-like carrier, uses an iron or heat press to infuse
into a polyester base fabric. Cut from the wrong side (set
Mirror “On”). Good for light-colored, polyester-based t-
shirts, tote bags, etc.
• Cardstock: Heavy paper, used for cardmaking, party
décor, and other paper-based crafts.

37. Resources
Cutter information
• Cricut website
• Silhouette website
• Brother website
• US Cutter website
• New York Times review, March 9, 2022
Design Resources
• Creative Market
• Design Bundles
• Creative Fabrica
• Pixel Surplus
• Medialoot
• Pixelbuddha
Training Resources
• Cricut YouTube channel
• Design Bundles YouTube channel and Community
• Makers Gonna Learn website and YouTube channel
• Pixel Surplus YouTube channel (graphic design tips)