Okay, I recently purchased the Cricut. I have also purchased several cartridges and have used them some. But my question is how do I do custom cuts that are not part of the cartridges. Like if I wanted to cut something to match an invitation, napkin, etc.? How do I get the machine to do this? Excuse my ignorance. lol

To make custom cuts, you need a program like Make the Cut or Sure Cuts a Lot. Then, when you connect your computer to your Cricut, you can search internet for whatever image or shape you want to cut. I believe both these programs will let you load a trial version to try.

Ahhh, okay. See, I haven't researched it enough to know this stuff. Obviously. haha Thanks.

there was another thread here recently saying that ProvoCraft (makers of cricut) successfully sued Make The Cut. I'm assuming any firmware updates made to your cricut will no longer support MTC. I haven't researched this fully, but beware!

Yep, MTC will no longer work with cricut according to their website, and I'm sure SCAL is not far behind. I think the only option about to be left software-wise is cricut design studio. If you do end up buying SCAL, you probably won't be able to do any firmware upgrades on your cricut