So excited! My Cricut is being delivered on Monday! Does anybody have experience with both Make the Cut and SCAL who can recommend which one to buy? I understand that Make the Cut us newer but I've also read some posts that make it sound more user-friendly than SCAL. I definitely don't want anything so complicated that I get frustrated trying to figure it out. Any advice on which one I should buy?

Let me start off and say that in my career, I'm a technology analyst who works with Macs and PCs. I help people who go from complete novice all the way up to experts themselves

I just got a Cricut this week and tested it last night from my computer. (Mac) Before I bought, I tested SCAL and was very pleased with interface. It was very simple to use existing fonts on the computer to type out phrases. It was also very easy to take any graphic in Adobe Illustrator, save it as an SVG file and then just place it onto the mat in SCAL for cutting.

I've no experience with Make the Cut, but even after a few days and now cutting a few stencils, I heartily recommend SCAL.

PS - Avoid buying those cartridges and using he Cricut button interface at all costs...In this day of computers-in-every home, it makes much more sense to do this from a computer. You can find and download from the internet a vast of array of (legally) free TTF fonts and various images to use.

Thanks kevinmcc. I don't have Adobe Illustrator. Do I need it or can I use any graphic I find online and make it an SVG file? I thought I read that somewhere.

You might want to look around online for a free converter to turn graphics files (jpg, png, etc) into the SVG file that SCAL requires. Adobe Illustrator is not cheap - I happen to use Adobe applications in the course of my work, so it was easy for me to use (it has built in option to save any graphic as an SVG file). Also, I have access to some high end graphics art used by my co-workers I used for testing.

I also played a little with the trace image function. It appears to do a dandy job with graphics files that are closer to simple line-art. More complex images seem to need a bit of adjustment in the trace image import window.

I'm just starting into cake decorating, so there may be other folks here who have a little more experience with this procedure. I've seen several threads on the various results people are getting using SCAL and Cricut with fondant/gumpaste.

If you download Inkscape (free download) you can convert any jpeg into a svg file to be used with the SCAL.

Saves alot of money not having to buy the various cartridges for the Cricut.

Ok well I've been playing with the free trial of Make The Cut for a few hours now, and it seems pretty simple. I did find out that with Make The Cut you can convert JPG to SVG within the program itself, no need for Inkscape.

SCAL 2.0 also now does the direct conversion between .bmp and .svg - so Inkscape isn't absolutely necessary with the newest version of SCAL.

angleam
so what program did you end up going with? I just got my create on ebay and want to get one of the programs, but just not sure. I will not be doing any scrapbooking, cakes only, and want to get the best deal. Any thoughts.

I went with Make the Cut and I've been happy with it. It just seemed so much easier to use than SCAL. I've noticed a lot more people say they're going with MTC lately so I think it's getting more popular.

Can you make your own designs with the MTC, like make a drawing and scan it into the computer type of design? I am new to all of this and am interested in the difference between this one and the SCAL. I want to make my decision soon.

I just bought MTC and am still playing with it so far its pretty simple, I've yet to try converting to svg. Working up the courage and time for it.