What Is The Cricut Imagine Machine?
The Cricut Imagine machine, announced by ProvoCraft at the Craft & Hobby Association Summer Convention and Tradeshow (CHA) is one of its kind. It’s currently the only machine that allows the user to both cut and print using the same device, saving a lot of time and money. Featuring inkjet print technology by HP, you choose a design from an extensive library of cartridges, have it printed and than cut in one go.
But What Does It Mean To Scrapbookers?
The use of cutouts and shapes in various colors are a great way to improve and add pizzazz to all kinds of arts and crafts projects, including scrapbooking and card making.
These also called diets may be of a myriad of materials, like paper, card stock, vellum, thin plastics, foils and transparencies.
With most of manual and electronic cutters on the market today, such as the Sizzix and Cricut Expression, you have to plan ahead and choose the color of your die-cut before cutting. In other words, the color of your design will be the color of the paper (or fabric, or stock) you select.
In addition to that, when creating complex or intricate designs, you may need to change paper colors frequently.
Other systems, such as the Wishblade, allow you to print your desired shape using an ordinary inkjet printer, than run the printed page through the machine to cut. The biggest problem with that is that it’s a two step process, using two different machines, and that requires the user correctly set up registration marks so the machine will know exactly where to cut. This is often a trial and error process and the results are not always satisfactory.
Thus, the need exists for a system that allows the user to print an image and cut the image without manual registration. This is where the Cricut Imagine comes in, to fill a huge gap in the market and open a whole new world of possibilities for scrapbookers, cardmakers and paper crafters in general.
Main Cricut Imagine Features:
- With Cricut Pattern and Cricut Color cartridges, you can fill any shape with beautiful patterns, adding
- more dimension and variety to your designs;
- You can use all previous cartridges with the Cricut Imagine. But there will also be new cartridges released to work exclusively with this new machine, just like it happened with the Cricut Cake;
- The Cricut Imagine is also compatible with both the Gypsy and the Design Studio software;
- All the information can be easily accessed by the use of an LCD touch-screen navigation system;
- New cartridges for the Cricut Imagine include: 12 new Cricut Imagine Art cartridges and 12 new Cricut Imagine Colors & Patterns cartridges;
- The On-board color and pattern selector allows you to choose colors, sizes and more;
- The Cricut Imagine machine can cut shapes from.25″ to 11.5″, and works with large-format papers up to 12″ x 12″;
- Just like the Cricut Expression and other previous machines, the Imagine doesn’t require a computer to operate;
- Share the same blades and blade housings as the other Cricut machines, making it easy for users to upgrade without having to buy everything again;
- The only different is the mat, which is greatly improved.
This means no more no more buying tons of expensive scrapbook paper, changing paper colors between cuts or struggling with manual registration marks. All you need in one simple to use system that does everything for you and allows your creative to soar.
The Cricut Imagine is not only unique to the crafting industry, but to the world of technology. Currently there’s no another device that incorporates both printing and cutting the way the Imagine does.
