How to use Cricut Cutting Machines (For Beginners!)

hi guys welcome back to my channel into another video so today what I'm going to be doing is a complete walkthrough on how to use the Cricut machines I have the Cricut maker here and I also have to click Cricut explore air - back here these machines are very similar they cut exactly the same the Cricut maker will cut a fabric and the Cricut explore air tube has a little bit different of a material knob on the front of it so we're going to be going over that complete step-by-step from start to finish on how to use these machines [Music] so both machines come with a power cord and a USB cord and you'll want to attach those at the back of both of those machines then you connect to your computer or laptop using the USB cord if you're using a Mac you may need an adapter for this and also if you have the cricket maker you can connect to an iPad through bluetooth the maker does have bluetooth connect ability [Music] [Music] next you'll want to install design space it is the software you will need for these cricut cutting machines just go to Cricut design space and select the system you are using Mac or PC and then download it to your computer once you have it installed you can setup your machine from the menu and select which machine you want to set it you'll want to make sure your machine is connected and turned on when you start the setup you can also set up a free account at this point if you have a machine I believe you get 30 days free access to crickets projects and fonts after that it is a monthly subscription but I've never had Cricut access so you really don't have to purchase it if you don't want to then you'll select the machine that you'll be using in the maker or the explore air series and you'll be ready to start designing here are some tools I use all the time with my machines this is the squeegee and it actually comes in this small size and also a larger size but this is necessary when you are applying decals to surfaces and it also helps to remove some materials from the mat then you have the weeding tool I literally use this every day and every time I work on a project it has a little pic on the end that makes it easy to pick up vinyl and weed out bottle there's also a pair of reverse tweezers I find these helpful when you have tiny bits of vinyl such as dots and you need to place them where they go these are so handy I also use small scissors for cutting an optional tool is this little spatula if you make stickers or die-cuts this is handy in removing them from the mat and keeping them flat and last is the exacto I use this if my machine blade is getting dull to cut around areas that are stuck if you're just starting out I would start with the squeegee weeding tool and a pair of scissors and the last thing you will need are your cutting mats they come in to several different sizes I use mostly the 12 by 12 and 12 by 24 they also come in different grips a lot grip which is for paper products and cardstock a fabric cutting mat with use for your fabrics a standard grip mat which is what I use mostly for vinyl they also come in a strong grip mat and that is for your glitter vinyls and things that don't adhere as well [Music] [Applause] [Music] if you're uploading a PNG file you can choose from simple to complex if you have multiple colors and parts I would just choose complex you can also select and erase areas of the image you don't want to keep or just use the eraser to erase parts and you can also crop the image [Music] now you can save your design as printing cut or as a cut image choose printing cut if you're going to be printing out your design on a regular printer you'll want to choose cut image if you're going to be cutting out vinyl decals then you can name your file and save your design if you're uploading an SVG file the only thing you have to do is name your file and save it once you have your image on your canvas now you can resize it to whatever size you want to just make sure the little lock box up here it remains checked that way your proportions will remain intact and you can also change the color of this image with the color box that is at the top left of your screen there's other tools at the top of your screen you can flip your image rotate your image and other things like that we'll get into those in some later videos now you are ready to cut out your image you just want to go ahead and at the bottom right hand side of your screen you will see a little icon that says attacked you want to click attach so that Creek it cuts it out exactly the way it appears on your screen at this point you can go ahead and select which mat size you want to use Cricut already chooses the mat size for you according to the size of your image but you can change the mat size if you need to do so if you click on the three dots on the left side of the image this lets you move your image to another mat and this comes in handy if you're trying to fit all of your images on one piece of vinyl or you can altogether hide the image if you are using heat transfer vinyl at this point you will want to mirror your image if you're using regular vinyl you'll leave this box unchecked and now you're ready to start cutting make sure you place your vinyl exactly where it is shown on the screen [Music] [Music] now press Continue and you can select your material if you're using Cricut maker you can select your material type from the drop down menu you can also type in a category or a word you need to spell your word exactly correct or it will not find it in the search results I'm using holographic vinyls so I topped in holographic and it found it if you're using explore air too you can adjust your knob on the front of the machine or turn your knob to custom and then select from the drop-down menu on your screen when you are installing your mat you want to make sure and get the corners of the mat underneath the gods on your Cricut machine and then you'll want to hold some pressure how do you hit the load button it will prompt you on your screen when you are ready to start cutting if your mat has not loaded correctly you can always go ahead and just hit the load button and it will unload your mat [Music] [Music] when removing your bottle you want to be sure to pull the mat away from the vinyl that way your decal will come out flat [Music] thank you guys so much for watching this video if you're not subscribed I would love it if you would subscribe to my channel and check out all of my videos I'll leave a link for all the products I used in this video down in the description box and if you have any questions you can always leave me a comment so thank you for watching I hope you found it helpful and I will see you in the next video

Channel: Christy Cain - Appalachian Home Co.

Views: 1,253,765

Keywords: Cricut, Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2, how to use cricut, cricut tutorial, Cricut for beginners, cricut step by step walkthru, how to use a Cricut machine, how to use Cricut Maker, how to use Cricut Explore Air 2, how to upload a file to Design Space, how to cut decals with Cricut

Id: XNnGkTR_89A

Length: 9min 1sec (541 seconds)

Published: Wed May 27 2020