FAQ
Click below to expand the answers!
Hello Cricut machine owner.
All about Circut
How do I know which Circut machine to choose?
It can be overwhelming to decide on which Cricut machine to buy. This post is to help you to understand your choices with the budget in mind. The analysis will begin with least expensive machine, middle of range price, and finish with looking at most expensive machine.
What are the Must Have Cricut Accessories
I present you with the list that captures all extras that you need to get going with your crafting journey.
Tell me all about the types of Cricut Blades
Look no further! These charts will help you discover everything you need to know about the Cricut blades.
What about weeding tools?
You love cutting intricate designs with your Cricut machine. You love weeding. Wait, what’s weeding? Do you need to pull weeds off? Not exactly, but close enough!
Why does Cricut have so many cutting mats?
Cricut offers four different type of Cricut machine mats for Cricut machines. Each of these mats is used to cut different types of materials (from popular lightweight materials like copy paper and washi tape sheets to heavyweight materials like faux leather and corrugated cardboard). The material you are cutting with your machine can help determine which mat to use.
To learn more and compare, visit this post.
What do you think of the Cricut Explore 3 Machine?
This review is my personal, honest and unbiased opinion based on my overall crafting experience, understanding about business and solid beginner’s knowledge about vinyl.
Why My Cricut Machine Isn’t Working?
You turned your Cricut machine on, send the project, and the machine isn’t cutting. Oh oh… What’s happening? This could be happening for several reasons.
Is your machine properly powered on? If the machine has no power, or only intermittent power, first ensure that the plug is secure in the power port on the machine, in the power adapter, and in the wall outlet. It is possible for the cutting mat to unplug the power cord and/or USB cable from the machine as it is moving through the machine during a cut.
Follow these steps to see if these will resolve your issue:
- Turn your machine off completely, before turning it back on
- Check the power supply and socket
- Check for an update on Cricut Design Space
- Log out of Cricut Design Space then back in
- Check that nothing is stuck in any part of your machine if so carefully remove it
If the power button light is flashing or blinking red when you first power the machine on, try using a different cord to connect your machine. If this doesn’t resolve your issue, you will need to contact Cricut’s Member Care for assistance. Always make sure that you are using most updated firmware for your Cricut machine to work correctly.
One of the most common complains about machine is that Cricut machine is making clicking sounds. First thing you want to do is to make sure that your Cricut machine needs to be greased. Make sure that the Cricut machine housing doesn’t move. The housing should not budge at all unless it’s going through the motions of cutting. With you being able to move it free hand, as well as the clicking, are big red flags hard to slide the carriage. If you are experiencing any of that you need to call you will need to contact Cricut’s Member Care for assistance.
Hardware Products For Cricut
What is the best laptop?
What about other types of devices?
While many of us love our laptops, others prefer mobile devices. One of the most popular devices is iPad. The coin is usually tossed between iPad or iPad Air. What’s difference between the two? Apple’s “iPad” is an entry-level device providing many of the perks of an iPad at a lower cost. Apple’s iPad Air comes with a liquid retina display, offers up to 256GB of RAM, and includes a 12MP wide camera.
What's the best type of printer?
If you are going to explore Cricut print and cut feature then a printer is a must to have. The key to understand is that inkjet printing way is an old way of printing and the most amount of money will be made on ink, because you will be running out of it all the time. You basically have two options – get a cheaper printer but one that comes with great ink refill program. Your other option is to look for middle price range such as EcoTank Epson which are very popular for variety reasons, one of them is for their economic approach to inks.
You can learn more about the best printers here.
I want to explore sublimation...
If you choose to explore sublimation, you’ll need a sublimation printer. PRO TIP – you can’t have a single printer serve as inkjet printer and sublimation. If you intend to utilize Cricut print and cut feature and sublimation, you will need two separate printers. A printer can be either for print and cut or sublimation. It can’t be both. EcoTank Epson are popular for converting into sublimation printers.
How to I adhere a graphic to a surface?
A heat press is used to permanently adhere graphic to a surface, such as fabric. Common transfer types are Heat Transfer Vinyl, aka HTV or sublimation. In Cricut world, a heat press can often mean using a household iron, or Cricut Easy Press and/or heat press machine. Read this excellent Heat Press post to learn the difference between each one.
Can you tell me more about heat presses?
Can you imagine crafting world without heat iron on vinyl? Neither can I. With a heat being the keyword let’s learn about the equipment that is needed for working with HTV. Click here to learn more. I am going to start from the cheapest options to the more expensive and outlining the plus and minus attributes for each.
All About SVG
What is SVG?
SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics, with Scalable being the keyword.. It refers to the idea that a drawing can be scaled to any size without losing details. It also means that that a drawing can be composed of an unlimited number of smaller parts that can be reused many times.
Why SVG is so popular in the crafting world?
It all has to do with the technology behind cutting machines such as Cricut Maker, or Silhouette and etc. These machines were developed based on plotter technology. Our machines are cutting plotters. A plotter was designed to produce vector graphics drawings. And what is SVG if not a vector!?!?!
Can I design my own SVG?
Yes, you can. You will need graphic design software such as Photoshop, Inkscape, Gravit, etc., are capable of creating and exporting files as SVG files right away. When you import the SVG file into Design Space, it gladly accepts it because it is designed to read it. It is important to remember that all these software take time to learn how to use them. You need to evaluate your time investment when deciding to design your own SVG.
Where can I find SVG?
One of the best places to get free SVG’s is Design Bundle
One of the best places to buy an SVG is Design Bundle
Can I convert google image into SVG?
Yes, you can. The correct term is to “vectorize” it. All the images that you import into Design Space to cut are vectorized by Design Space application. When you upload png file into Design Space, Design Space converts the png into an SVG type of file format. When you are creating a cut file in Design Space using shapes and or text, etc., it is already created as a vector behind the scenes. Please note that that when you vectorize a file, i.e. when you take a black and white png file and try to clean it up in Design Space, that conversion will always degrade the quality of the file. When something is created as SVG versus something that was converted into SVG, the first will always be of higher quality. This tutorial demos what happens when an image is vectorized.
Why do you not allow this practice in your Facebook group?
It is an unethical practice. Unless you can prove that an image was meant to be shared away by a person who originally created/designed, you are essentially using what’s not yours to use. Additionally there are real copyright/trademark issues involved as well. Read this post to understand the depth and complexity of why I don’t allow this practice in my groups.
How do I download/unzip/upload SVG into Design Space?
Follow this tutorial for detailed steps!
I bought a file on Etsy, but it won’t upload into Design Space.
Several things could be the reason. You bought a file from an unethical source that either did a sloppy job when transforming design into path and/or simply used online tools to “convert” google images into SVG and sold it to you. If you run into any problems with uploading your files into Design Space, you should always go back to the seller and ask them to fix the file.
What does SVG, trademark and copyright have to do with each other?
The copyright/trademark topic is complex and deserves its own separate post. The shorter answer is SVGs are vector graphic files. They are created by a person. Any artwork/text work/etc that is created will typically have copyright applied at creation. A person does not have to register a copyright on their art to have it protected by copyright laws. To pursue an infringement on a copyright, it typically is required that the copyright be registered. Trademark is used for logos and “identifying” marks/phrases/etc. Trademarks MUST be registered. It is important to always be aware of what entity owns the copyright or trademark to any art/logo/identifying mark that you wish to use, to protect yourself from fines and litigation. If you do not have permission from the entity that owns the rights to the image, then you put yourself at risk if you use said image.