Amazing Cuts and Great News for Cricut Imagine Owners

When the update to Design Space is released sometime during the week of September 22nd you will be able to see and use the images from the Cricut Imagine cartridges in Design Space with the Cricut Explore machine.  I know that some Imagine owners still have machines that work well but there are many who own the cartridges but can't use them since their machines have stopped functioning.  If you own an Explore you will finally be able to use the cartridges again.

Even better, all registered owners of an Imagine machine will have ALL of the Imagine cartridges (including even the ones they did not purchase) added to their accounts for FREE.

from "Lori's Garden" Cricut Imagine Cartridge

Here is the email that was sent by Cricut to all of the people that they had listed as owning the Imagine machine.  Please spread the word to anyone you know who owns the machine and didn't get this email.

To whom it may concern,

You are receiving this email because we have record that you are a Cricut Imagine owner. Very soon, we will be releasing the Print then Cut feature for Cricut Design Space™, the online software used exclusively with Cricut Explore® machines. Even if you're not yet a Cricut Explore owner, you'll want to read on for exciting news.

As a Cricut Imagine owner, with the launch of the Print then Cut feature, your Cricut.com account will be granted free digital access to all Cricut Imagine Art Cartridges (even those you haven't purchased!) in Cricut Design Space for use with the Cricut Explore machine, whether you have one now or purchase one in the future.

Because you are receiving this email, no further action is required—the images will be loaded to your account. We want to make sure everyone who is eligible for this offer receives it, so we need your help in spreading the word to anyone who owns a Cricut Imagine but did not receive this email. If you know someone who has a Cricut Imagine, please ask them if they heard the great news. If they didn't receive this email, they can still get free digital access—they just need to contact customer service at imagineowners@cricut.com with the serial number of their Cricut Imagine machine and the email they use to log into Cricut.com. Customer service will then update their Cricut.com accounts to give them full access to all the Cricut Imagine Art Cartridges. Whether or not they own a Cricut Explore machine, they'll need to claim this offer by December 31, 2014, so that the images will be linked to their account if and when they upgrade their machine.

You will also be granted access to Cricut Imagine Colors & Patterns cartridges in a future release of Print then Cut. Once again, we thank you for being a loyal Cricut customer.

Happy crafting,

The Cricut Support Team
877-7CRICUT
support@cricut.com

from the "Buccaneer" Cricut Imagine Cartridge

I collected most, but not all, of the Imagine cartridges.  While I have been previewing the Design Space update it has been a lot of fun to rediscover all of the great images and projects on these cartridges.  The Explore has done a fabulous job and is cutting the images with amazing accuracy.

When you print one of the Imagine images for cutting, the program adds a bleed around the edge.  This helps to cover any tiny discrepancies between the image edge and the cut line.  After printing the image with the registration marks on your regular home printer, you load the paper in the Explore and the optical sensor reads the marks using the light that you may have noticed going on and off at times when you use your machine.

Here you can see some of the leftover bits on the mat showing the "bleed" around some of the inner edges.  The result is a very detailed cut with no "white spots" on the front of the image. As far as I can tell, the cuts have been spot on with no need for the bleed, but it is nice to have that extra bit of "insurance" when you make a cut.  The bleed can be turned off and nearly all of the cuts I have made with it turned off have looked perfect to me.

from the Teresa Collins "Baby Boutique" Cricut Imagine Cartridge

The intricacy and detail is fantastic.  This image has lots of twists and turns and it cut beautifully.

Here is a closer view of the top of the design.  I certainly couldn't do this by hand with scissors!  It is really exciting to see how professional your projects will look when you use the Explore to cut the images.

Left - Cut by Cricut Imagine   Right - Cut by Cricut Explore

I did a little test to see how the cutting compares to the Imagine.  I was usually able to get a good cut at the top left of the mat with the Imagine.  The problem was that the calibration would not stay accurate to cut a full page of images.  The cookie label on the left was cut by the Imagine (it has a new black ink cartridge installed but there is an issue with printing black ink that I haven't been able to fix).

from "Santa's Village" Cricut imagine Cartridge

In this close view you can see that the placement of the of the cut lines is much closer to the image design.  These curls are very delicate and cut perfectly the very first time.  If you look at the holly sprigs in the photo above, you can see that they are also cut with much more detail than the Imagine.

from "The Good Old Days" Cricut Imagine cartridge

This cut shows one more example of the great detail cutting the Explore can do.  There are two little lines coming off the witch's hat (probably to show her movement).  I wondered if they would cut or just be skipped.

In this close view you can see how exact the cuts are.  This entire image is about 3 and 3/4 inches tall and the two lines are less than one inch long to give you an idea of the scale.  I can hardly believe that they cut and they even have the wavy edges of the printed image!

IMPORTANT:  If you own an Imagine and didn't get the email I pasted in to this post above, you need to take action to receive the digital rights to all Imagine cartridges in Design Space.

Contact customer service at imagineowners@cricut.com with the serial number of your Cricut Imagine machine and the email you use to log into Cricut.com. Customer service will then update your Cricut.com accounts to give you full access to all the Cricut Imagine Art Cartridges. Whether or not you own a Cricut Explore machine,  you need to claim this offer by December 31, 2014, so that the images will be linked to your account if and when you upgrade your machine.

I have lots more to share about this new update - if you don't have an Explore are you getting tempted?  If you want to shop for a new machine you can find all of the bundles on the Cricut site HERE.   

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I hope you are having a fabulous week - I am still waking up and sleeping a little off schedule but will be sorted out from the jet lag soon.  I'll have a few photos to share from our trip to Scotland too - it was so beautiful there!

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