Craftsy Unlimited FREE 7 day trial at Craftsy.com
Happy Cloud Quilt Batting by Fat Quarter Shop
Cricut is Easy as 123
Loralie Designs

Friday, April 8, 2011

Updates....

     Ok so I have tried to upload the PDF file for the Cricut Craft Room, help guide. I am sorry to say I will have to put a link here to my website for the file. It is 27 or 28 pages. I am waiting to hear back on the Official Cricut Craft Room (CCR) launch date. As soon as I can get that information out of them I will let you all know.
     On my website, I will have a page titled abbriviations. This will help decifer other blogs. I plan on explaining everything for the Cricut beginner. I also plan on have 3 levels of projects. That way after you learn how to use the Cricut you can still visit my blog and website as your experience grows. ALSO I would love to have people ask questions on how to do something and I will try to make a video of how to do it, if I can. Because if one person wants to know how to do something, there is usually someone else who wants to know too.
     I plan on doing daily videos and chats beginning April 26th, That is the official release of the E2, The New Cricut EXPRESSION 2. While on the topic what is the E2 all about? Well it is just like the Imagine in the sense that you can use Legacy (regular) Cricut cartridges and the Imagine cartridges. So you get some new types of images. Such as birds (Lori's Garden), pirates (Buccaneer), cartoon type girls (Best Friends). Many more things also. Also it is wireless, now I dont know if this can be used yet, but it has the capability to be wireless. Which works great with the new CCR software. You design on-line with CCR, then use the desktop version of CCR to cut. I have no idea why this is like this, but you CANNOT cut from the online version. You have to use the desktop version. Which they look the same. But I can desing from any computer online. My laptop desktop, public hotel computers. But I have to use one of my two computers to cut from. This is so people do not share one account with 30 different people. I know if that were the case I would do that. Because my grandma lives an hour away and I would love to design soemthing and send it to her to cut for herself, my mom lives in Florida and I would love to share with her. But you have to have the cartridges that you own registered and uploaded to your CCR. So it is a way to get you to not share cartridges. However, I can create a file and share it, you can cut it if you have 'unlocked' or 'uploaded' your cartridge. So if I use the new Everyday Pop-up Cards Cartridge, I can send you a file containing images from the cartridge and you can view it in your CCR, BUT you cannot cut it unless you have unlocked the Everyday Pop-up cards cartridge. So I can share until my hearts content, and you can view it on a cutting mat in CCR. But will only be able to cut it if you own the cartridge. Now to upload cartridges, I know you can do it from your Gypsy. I have them all so I know everything is unlocked, but I am not sure how to upload one cartridge at a time. I will get back to you on that. You can design with ANY cartridge, but can only cut with what you own, very similar to how the gypsy works. If you don't knwo what I am talking about please ask, but I will have a video on that soon.
     When using CCR I recomend designing in Imagine mode whether you use the Imagine, Create, Personal, or Expression. So I would design in Imagine mode then before you go to Cut, in the choose the OPTIONS tab, Then select your DEFAULT MACHINE. You can begin there and choose the Imagine machine to design (Remember you can only design in the on-line version) So design in the Imagine mode as the DEFAULT MACHINE, save in the online version. Then go to your desktop version when you are ready to cut, now you cannot edit in the desktop mode. So if you dont like something, go back to the online CCR to make a change, save it then log back into the CCR desktop application. Then choose the OPTIONS tab, select your machine. Then click on the cut button on the far right hand side.
     This way you can design in color and see what your image will look like when you use colored paper.
I just went to log in the the desktop version and it told me that there was an update to the desktop version. Well it took about 3 minutes then it closed itself. The actual update took 2 minutes. Then I had to click on the CCR desktop version and it opened and the new update was installed (So ALOT faster than the Gypsy updates take)
   The update was a small light yellow border on the virtual cutting mat. that shows you where to not place images and they will not cut if they are in the yellow border. This can actually come in handy later when you don't want to cut all of the way through something. I am thinking of folding over paper using the non-cutting side as the folded spin of a card... I will test this out and see if it will do what I think it will.
    One thing I just found out, or actually tried was to change a pattern on the desktop version and it logging me right into the online version. They desktop and online version look IDENTICAL, but the desktop version has the CUT buttom on the right. That is how you know which version you are working in. Well off to make dinner, I am workking like crazy waiting for Cricut to launch CCR publicly. Keep checking back when they do, the videos and files will flow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Donna said...

I am so impressed by all the various projects you are working on and can't wait to have them all at my finger tips.

Donna C.
goCricutgo (CC)

Rebecca said...

That is a good reason to design in Imagine mode. I wouldn't have thought of that. Thanks for the tips. Your write ups are very thorough.