Cricut, Inc. is an American brand of cutting plotters, or computer-controlled cutting machines, designed for home crafters. The machines are used for cutting paper, felt, vinyl, fabric
Models
The original Cricut machine has
of , the larger Cricut Explore allows mats of . The largest machine will produce letters from a high. Both the Cricut and Cricut Explore Air 2 require mats and
which can be adjusted to cut through various types of paper, vinyl and other sheet products. The Cricut operates as a paper cutter based upon cutting parameters programmed into the machine, and resembles a desktop printer.
| + Model comparison |
|
| Personal
CRV001 | | | January 2005 | 2013 | With cartridges and third party extension for sure cuts a lot | Manual cut depth and speed | |
| Expression
CREX001 | | | November 2005 |
| Expression 2
CREX002 | | September 2011 | 2018 | With cartridges only | | |
| MINI
CMNI001 | | | No longer usable, as Craft Room servers are offline since 2018 | |
| Explore
CXPL001 | | | 2014 | | | Holds 2 tools | Design Space |
| Explore One
CXPL101 | | May 2015 | | | Holds 1 tool |
| Explore Air CXPL201 | | | | | Holds 2 tools |
| Explore Air 2
CXPL202 | | October 2016 | | | Automatic support for 6 tools, and 100+ materials |
| Maker
CXPL301 | | August 2017 | | | Automatic support for 13 tools, and 300+ materials |
| Joy
JCTR101 | 5 in/s | March 2020 | | | Automatic support for 3 tools, and 50+ materials |
| Explore 3
CXPL203 | | June 2021 | | | Automatic support for 6 tools, and 100+ materials |
| Maker 3
CXPL303 | | | Automatic support for 13 tools, and 300+ materials |
| Venture
| | July 2023 | | | Automatic support for 7 tools, and 100+ materials |
| Joy Xtra | | September 2023 | | | Automatic support for 3 tools, and 50+ materials |
| Explore 4 | 300 mm (11.7 in) by 3.7 m (12 ft) | 0.358 m/s
(14.1in/s) | February 2025 | | | Automatic support for 6 tools, and 100+ materials |
| Maker 4 | | | Automatic support for 13 tools, and 300+ materials |
Cartridges
Designs are made from components stored on
ROM cartridge. Each cartridge comes with a keyboard overlay and instruction booklet. The plastic keyboard overlay indicates key selections for that cartridge only. However, Provo Craft has released a "Universal Overlay" that is compatible with all cartridges released after August 1, 2013.
The purpose of the universal overlay is to simplify the process of cutting by only having to learn one keyboard overlay instead of having to learn the overlay for each individual cartridge. Designs can be cut out on a PC with the Cricut Design Studio software, on a USB connected Gypsy machine, or can be directly inputted on the Cricut machine using the keyboard overlay. There are two types of cartridges, shape and font. Each cartridge provides for hundreds of different cuts. In 2011, a total of 275 cartridges were made available, with new ones regularly released.
While some cartridges are generic in content, Cricut has licensing agreements with Disney,
Pixar,
Nickelodeon,
Sesame Street,
DC Comics and
Hello Kitty.
The cartridges are interchangeable, although not all options on a cartridge may be available with the smaller machines.
In 2017, physical cartridges were discontinued for digital cartridges.
Heat presses
In 2017, Cricut created a category of handheld heat transfer products starting with the Cricut EasyPress.
Cricut now offers heat presses and accessories for a variety of applications ranging from personal projects to commercial use. These press families are the Cricut EasyPress (available in , , and Mini), Mug Press, Hat Press, and Autopress.
Lighting
The Cricut Bright 360 LED lamp was introduced in early 2022 and comes in table and floor models. Both models boast four points of articulation, adjustable surface brightness up to 1500 lux (table lamp) or 3000 lux (floor lamp), light color temperature from warm to cool white, and a color rendering index (CRI) of 95.
Cricut also offers two portable craft light boxes: the BrightPad and BrightPad Go.
Software
Proprietary
To use Cricut cutters, users must use the company's own web-based design software, Design Space, which allows users to draw designs, select and combine designs from its own online library, or upload vector or bitmap files they have created in other software.
Past software
Cricut's first software was Cricut design studio. Released November 15, 2005, it allowed users to combine images from different cartridges, merge images, and stretch/rotate images; it does not allow for the creation of arbitrary designs. Support was dropped sometime in 2013.
The Cricut Craft Room software enabled users to combine images from different cartridges, merge images, and stretch/rotate images; it does not allow for the creation of arbitrary designs. It also enables the user to view the images displayed on-screen before beginning the cutting process, so the result can be seen in advance.
Citing Adobe's abandonment of Adobe Flash, Cricut announced it would be closing Cricut Craft Room on July 15, 2018. Users of "legacy" machines were offered a discount to update to models compatible with Design Space, however, made legacy machines incompatible with Design Space only usable as a standalone device with cartridges. As of July 16, 2018, Design Space is the only official software available to compose projects. Some third party programs are available and can be used to input the files into Design Space.
Controversies
Third-party hostility
Provo Craft has been actively hostile to the use of third-party software programs that could enable Cricut owners to cut out designs and to use the machine without depending on its proprietary cartridges. In a comparative review of die-cutting machines, review site
Future plc identified being "limited to cutting designs from a collection of cartridges" as a major drawback of the Cricut range, though the review noted that it could be a preference for some.
Two programs which could formerly be used to make and then get Cricut machines to cut out arbitrary designs (using, for example, arbitrary TrueType fonts or SVG format graphics) were Make-the-Cut (MTC) and Craft Edge's Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL). In April 2010, Provo Craft opened legal action against the publishers of Make-the-Cut, and in January 2011, it sued Craft Edge to stop the distribution of the SCAL program. In both cases the publishers settled with Provo Craft, and removed support for Cricut from their products. The programs continue to be usable with other home cutters.
According to the text of its legal complaint against Craft Edge, "Provo Craft uses various techniques to encrypt and obscure the USB communications between Cricut DesignStudio a and the Cricut e-cutter, in order to protect Provo Craft's proprietary software and firmware, and to prevent attempts to intercept the cutting commands".
User upload limitation
On March 12, 2021, Cricut announced it would soon start limiting users without a Cricut Access subscription to 20 free uploads per month to Design Space.
All previous uploads, which prior to this date had been unlimited for all users, would have remained available, but new uploads would have the limit imposed for free users. Because the Cricut machines are dependent on Design Space, Cricut's proprietary cloud-based image service, to upload and work with user-generated content, this change would effectively have required its customers to purchase a monthly subscription to use their machines past the most basic of use-cases.
The announcement was criticized by users at the company's unofficial Reddit and other mediums, as people saw it as a form of vendor lock-in. A petition was launched in protest. News organizations soon picked up on the story and began reporting about the imposed subscription requirement, causing further uproar.
External links
