My grandfather got me a cricut explore 3 for Christmas. So excited to use it. It’s my first time ever. I’ve wanted one forever and know very little about these machines. I’m so excited.
The smart vinyl says 13 inches, but is actually 12.992 inches. 33 centimeters is 12.992. So possibly that little difference in size made it not lay smooth. Would like to see the ones that didn't work sized to 12.992 to see if it made a difference.
I won’t ever know because I’m super happy with my original maker and have no desire to give Cricut any more of my money until they improve design space and not keep making new products to sell us
My thoughts exactly…. Especially when it only cuts at a faster speed when no mat is being used but you need a mat for the majority of the materials. Not a wise investment at this time. Their marketing / R&B teams didn’t think this one out enough.
The reason the other vinyls were wrinkling and wavy was because when you cut those, you cut them at 13". They will load properly if you cut the roll 1/8" inch short of 13" and load aligning with the left guide and grey guide wheels
To those held accountable to tight budgets or spouses, look for the original maker which is now heavily discounted. Those who have been in the cricut world long enough and watched much loved cricut experts come and go, know that cricut subtly tries to monopolise options for cricut users. As in, making void warranties if third party items are used and chopping and changing with regards to you the user using your own designs if you don’t have a membership. Regarding the maker 3, there’s a hike in price between this model and its predecessor for a feature that has been around for some time in other brands. While other brands are more flexible in mat-less choices, with the Maker 3, you pay extra for the privilege of "having to buy the oddly sized 13" cricut (smart) vinyl rolls. Again, if your accountable for your pennies, don’t buy into the mat-less hype from Cricut.. Angie, your a beautiful soul who is thorough in your videos. Impeccable. I pray you understand this is not an attack, but rather just advice for the those going in blind…
While I understand your frustration, Cricut did resend any charges for uploading designs. I keep seeing this mentioned over and over again and new users are getting misinformation from these types of comments and posts. I do wish you would change your wording a bit in the future to make that clear.
@@AngieHolden thank you. You could have easily removed my post but your commitment to your audience is amazing. In response to the statement from cricut being withdrawn it needs to be noted that "for now" was added to the new wording. I’ve also just noted on my design space the something to the affect of "congratulations, because you have a subscription, you can upload unlimited images. Don’t get me wrong, I own the original maker and the joy. I even bought my daughter the first maker, cricut press, tools and vinyl early this year. I pay for a subscription for my daughter alone. Im concerned that they did in fact attempt to limit personal uploads. They did say " for now". What makes me nervous is many like my daughter are financially accountable and unaware that the feature this machine offers is limited to cricut smart vinyl. Not hobby lobby or wall mart vinyl.. Even the cutting force is 10 x the original expression. 10 x 400g. 4000g. Identical to the original. Would I buy it for her again? In a heart beat.
@@Just-a-girl honestly, I think when it comes to expensive luxury purchases such as this - which is totally the case - people should be doing their research. It's *very* clear that only smart materials work without a mat, it's written everywhere on the information for the machine. It specifies 'go matless with Smart Materials'. Additionally, there are a number of blogs explaining this. I just can't see why anyone would make a purchase like this without thorough research. If you're on a budget, you need to know what tools you need. How much does it cost to replace them? Are there alternatives? If it matters, you check it. People feel rushed by sales but they happen so frequently that waiting is an option, at least at this price point. It's much more cost effective to ensure you're buying the most appropriate item for you, rather than rushing and buying the wrong thing. Just my opinion on the matter. I understand what you're saying, but I just only see that as an issue if someone isn't actually doing the research. Which seems bizarre if you're on a budget.
Thanks Angie this was a good overview hopefully other options will come out in future. I’ve just ordered one because I like the latest gadgets anyway excited to test it out
Well Silhouette Cameo 4 has all the features Maker 3 has without charging extra. I have a Silhouette Cameo 4 and a Maker and I plan to wait until December to get the Maker 3. Hopefully prettier colors will be available.
How smart of Cricut to force people to use their vinyl, which in general, most people don’t prefer. I hate it when companies do this kind of stuff! Cricut had not been on my “good” list lately! I’lm happy with my regular Maker and stick with my favorite brands of vinyl and HTV.
@@AngieHolden Oh, I totally understand! But it would have been nice to be able to use whatever brand of vinyl we want, matless (for longer cuts), on the new machine without having to use Cricut's "Smart Vinyl" and the Smart stuff is oddly sized at 13" (not 12) on top of it. I appreciate your experiments Angie!
they seemed to only have made it so you can only use the smart vinyl I get it that is basically what this machine is for using their materials. No problem in that. Thanks for sharing the info
Just get a silhouette. They kept their machine exactly the same to make other products that will work with it instead of actually improving their machine. Silhouette can cut any brand and any width up to 12 inches, 15 inches for the + and 24 inches for the pro. They had to make smart vinyl just so it would work with their machine so you would spend more money.
The part that confuses me is that Cricut and RU-vidrs are saying that you save material because you don't have to use a mat. However you used to pay for 12 inch wide material and could cut up to 11 1\2 wide projects therefore losing 1\2". Now with Smart Materials you have to now pay for 13 inches of material and can cut projects up to 11 3\4 losing 1 1\4". Aren't you just paying extra to throw away an extra 3\4" of vinyl? It might be more convenient to not use a mat but isn't it wasteful? I've seen several people cut without a mat on the older Cricuts. Don't get me wrong I truly appreciate the work and testing you do. It's helped me make decisions. There have only been one or two videos that seemed a little biased. For the most part I think you do a great job and I appreciate your work and videos.
I think the statement of saving materials only comes in when you have say a huge sign and you need to break it into parts for the hold machines. You would end up with excess waste on the ends of each mat most likely. However, if you don't make a ton of large signs or other larger projects, no you won't be saving material with this machine.
my guess is the waving is coming from on the hand cut ones are because being rolled up there hole life and then u cut them the at 13 the paper is just doing what it knows how to roll up great video
The actual dimensions of the cricut smart vinyl is actually a little less than 13 inches. If you were to trim your sheets to a little under 13 inches you might eliminate the waves in your sheets.
Cricut are sneaky because they've increased the width to 13" (or just under) knowing full well that non-Cricut rolls of vinyl come in 12" widths so will therefore not work with the matless cutting. As I think Cricut vinyl is rubbish, I will be sticking with my Air 2
U can only get 12 in wide rolls in store. U can order diff brands of 13 in online.and even order orical 13 in online alot cheaper than the craft stores
I’ve recently purchased a silhouette cameo 4. The machine itself and the software are far superior to cricut and this means that my cricut is now gathering dust in the corner. I can’t see any reason why I would choose to use the cricut and it’s antiquated software over the silhouette.
So my question is - can you use those other brand materials with a mat? Do they have a 13 inch mat to be able to use those materials on? Because why would you want to buy a machine and have to get different size mats? This is what I don’t understand. Using a mat is not really an inconvenience.
You can still use ANY material with a mat. The mats are already 13 inches. There is no difference when cutting with a mat and this new machine. I use material on a mat in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RlLCGesuAhQ.html
Well the reason really is if you wanna make a cut larger that 24 inches. The biggest cricut mat is 24 inches you can't cut larger than that. The purpose of matless cutting is to cuz large projects. But cricuts vinyl is trash. So it kinda defeats the purpose. I bought the maker 3 and wouldn't recommend. Especially since I already have the maker
I’m looking to upgrade to the maker 3. What about taping down the vinyl on a few mats lined up? Just look at the settings when using a mat. Just looking at cutting longer images than 24”.
Cut the width of the HTV down a bit and you'll eliminate the wrinkles. My friend has never used Smart Vinyl on her Maker 3 since she got it. I still say Silhouette is better as it's had this option and cuts wider with the Pros.
Hi Angie. Thanks so much for your tutorials. I’m finding them to be so helpful. I was wondering if you could answer a question, I’m wanting to know if I am on an image that is for say a paper cut. But I want to cut image on say leather. Can this be done by changing material blade ?? I’m brand new to Cricut, bought maker 3 literally a week ago. Thanks so much Angie.
The Cricket vinyl isn’t actually 13 inches so whenever you use other vinyls you have to cut it a sliver shorter than 13 inches and it will feed through just fine without buckling
Hi Angie, thank you for this video demonstration. I have a question though. I feel like I waste a lot of HTV since it has to be 13 inches wide. Would using a mat help save more material? Can a mat be used on the Cricut Explore 3? Thanks.
Yes you can absolutely use a mat - that's generally what people will do with off cuts of the smart material as well. This is mostly just when you cba with faffing with a mat!
i really want to get the maker 3 or explore 3 but apart from cricut its hard to get rolls of vinyl 13 wide i have and i hate cutting the vinyl i like to just apply the roll on the mat, when finish printing i cut off the design piece
I did the exact same experiment today - only success with the Oracal 651. It also occurred to me that there is a LOT of waste with this method of sheet feeds. I'm curious if there is a way to be thrifty with the no-mat method.
I’m trying to decide between the 2 models of the Explore. Since I’m a brand new hobbyist-only customer, I don’t NEED the upgraded speed, and I don’t mind putting stuff on the mats, because I’m never doing much at any given time. If I’m not concerned about the cosmetic changes of the elimination of the cartridge plug, and the knob never bothered me, is there ANY reason I might want to upgrade? Because if it’s only speed....I’m not sure it’s worth the extra $100. However...if they’re now going to stop making the Air 2 and the technology or any necessary materials are going to become obsolete and hard to find in a few years the $100 becomes more worth it. Advice from ANYONE to this newb Cricut crafter?!
You are fine with the older machine. The only thing that I would say is the 3 has an upgraded print then cut sensor. If you are going to do print then cut on anything but WHITE paper, you will need the Explore 3 to do that.
I wouldn’t waste my money. Itt’s ridiculous that cricut changed the size by 1inch just to make it harder!! I love my maker and wouldn’t change it at all
Can we use narrower rolls? I have a bunch of Joy smart materials and now have a Maker 3. But I can't change the mat size in Cricuts antiquated software.
You should have measured the real size of the Cricut Smart Vinyl. I don't think it is 13" exact. I haven't received my bundle to confirm yet but you should really try that. Just curious and I know you are a experiment expert.
Angie I am going crazy! I am trying to print my name in Oracal 165 bronze matte and I can't I have try all settings in cricut maker a new green mate and is not cutting. I dunno what to do but beg for help. Thank you in advance keep rocking ya da best🖤
Hey, I’m new to all of this and just starting my small business! I’m not doing anything big right now just small vinyl projects. I bought the explore air 2 and I’m questioning if I made a mistake. I wanted to save money because I’m just starting out and didn’t know if I needed all the fancy stuff the explore 3 comes with and pay $100 more. I see people saying the vinyl is more expensive for the explore 3 and I wanted to be practice on vinyl that isn’t soo expensive. The knob and mat stuff doesn’t bother me.. Am I okay with sticking with the explore air 2? Or am I missing out on other things the explore 3 provides ?
So I went and got a super expensive roll of Cricut smart iron on vinyl for my brand new maker 3 just to experiment with. Basically all we need is a manufacturer to make rolls at 13 inches on a super thick carrier so it doesn’t buckle. Until that happens we keep using the mat I guess……
I'm new to circuit and the video is hard to understand. My question is can I use other vinyl brands on this machine? If we can use other vinyl brands on this machine do we have to use a mat? Also have you tried other brands in the roll holder yet? I'm looking to purchase either the maker or marker 3 this weekend but i don't want to just buy circuit vinyl. Kindly reply me please
This video explains the answer to all of your questions. There are no other vinyl brands that come in the right size to cut without a mat in the new machines. You will have to use a mat. You can't use other brands in the roll holder because of what I just mentioned.
@@AngieHolden thank you sorry I’m new to cricut and trying to learn. I’m sure your channel will teach me everything I need to know. I just bought the maker for $279 at Joann fabric and I’m so excited to get started!!!! Thank you for your time and help!!!
Hi, In a day or 2 I am upgrading to maker. Which one should I go Maker or Maker3? I am buying it to improve my very tiny business that I run. Both does similar works and few add-ons in maker3 so I am confused!
Hello angie, can we print with inkjet printer on any smart materials from cricut? im looking to print on beautifull mat like holographic or whatever also i have a maker 3 and i'm new (watching your videos now ^^) and i want to know if we can use the cutting table on the maker 3? or not?
@@AngieHolden ok thanks for your help but then if i want a printable paper and its A4 paper, how do i feed it? the cutting table are 2.5mm and it will not fit in the maker 3 , am i wrong? thanks again
@@AngieHolden when i feed the maker 3 with my holographic vinyl a4 paper its going crazy moving left right and cutting wrong, i mean how do i cut that properly? It seems i have to handle it on something so it wont move
I took the deep dive and bought the Cricut explore 3. My question is, what kind of vinyl would I buy to make a reusable stencil? I'm going to be using the stencil to spray paint a sign on wood.
Even a blind person can see that the width cricut gives you is not 13" its under by a thousandth or so .... other companies know how wide 13 inches is.
Thank you for your kind comment. I did make the ones I tried the same as the Cricut brand I had on hand. Feel free to do your own experiments with the precise measurements you are able to get.
Well DUH it’s obvious that it’s not really 13 inches! You can cut all of those that you tried with the proper width cut. Others have done videos. It has to be under 13 inches!!
the early machines locked you down to cartridges and later to there software only that you had to pay to import your own designs and even blocked any third party software. they had a lawsuit against a third party software developer that made a better design tool that worked with cricut machines.
@@AngieHolden your right not anymore but you used to have to pay. Now they just make it require their smart materials as it’s an odd size so you buy thru them. And still block third party software from controlling the machines.
You never had to pay. There was a brief few weeks where they were going to change their upload policy but they never actually changed it. You can use ANY material on this machine not just the smart materials.
This also works with the first cricut machine. Don’t be fooled by company lingo and smoke and mirrors. The first maker is just as capable of not more trust worthy than this new machine. I’ve already seen soooo many videos and cases of people having to replace their feed rollers so soon. I e had my maker for 3 years, use it a lot for my business and just this week had to replace the rollers. Don’t waste your money.
