So staying at dwelling house and having too much time on your hands has finally caught up to you lot, and then you figured information technology would be a dandy idea to start a hobby, and crafting was the first thing to pop into your heed.

Well, unleashing your imagination is a good affair, and if yous have the correct tools to aid you plow your ideas into reality, so things volition be a whole lot easier (and potentially profitable).

Speaking of tools, there is 1 manufacturer that creates a broad assortment of tools that tin aid home crafters, and information technology'due south chosen Cricut.

How to use cricut maker 3 featured

Cricut's flagship motorcar is the Cricut Maker, along with the Cricut Maker three, with the latter bringing several improvements compared to the first generation of machines.

Unfortunately, non everyone knows how to utilize the machine to its full potential, and even if most of yous probably know their way around it, in that location's a loftier chance that you're not using information technology to its full potential, and y'all might be missing out on some astonishing features.

Creating Things at Home: A Grade of Therapy

How to use cricut maker 3 crafting

We all remember how when we were kids, our imagination would become wild, and we'd think virtually all style of things, getting ideas that ranged from featherbrained to downright genius just past staring at blank walls.

Truth be told, we don't lose our imagination and our desire to create things out of fun just because we grow older, we just lose interest in doing it because we have other things on our mind and very little time to spare.

Yet, the world has inverse, and working from home is something a lot more common at present, and since more and more people salvage precious time (sometimes even several hours) by not having to commute anymore, y'all suddenly realized that your viii-hour piece of work schedule really takes merely 8 hours.

With so much time on your hands, information technology's time to return to your roots and start creating things that are fun and whimsical.

That's precisely why we went ahead and created a complete guide to showcase only how you can employ the Cricut Maker and how you can use information technology to create some amazing dwelling-crafted items and perhaps make a few dollars along the way too.

How Does a Cricut Maker Work?

Cricut maker 3

Without going into details, the Cricut Maker 3 is a reckoner-controlled cutting machine specifically designed for domicile crafters, and it is used for cutting paper, felt, vinyl, all manner of fabrics, and even harder materials like leather, matboard, and wood.

The Cricut Maker is part of a long line of machines created by Cricut, beingness part of one of the 4 major device families:

  • Cricut Maker machines
  • Cricut Explore machines
  • Cricut Joy
  • Cricut Estrus presses

While somewhat like in terms of functionality to the Cricut Explore, the Cricut Maker 3 is the heavy-duty flagship model that features the best cutting speeds, the most cutting strength, and the highest potential for large-scale manufacturing.

With the help of this astonishing machine, you lot tin can create custom designs and cut diverse materials, assuasive you to decorate your dwelling, likewise as create custom gifts for your friends and family, and even make a small business of handmade objects.

For those of you that are interested in learning more about this astonishing cutting tool, know that we have already written a consummate review about the Cricut Maker 3 if you're interested in more details almost the product.

How to Use the Cricut Maker: Cricut Maker Tutorial

At present that you've learned about what the Cricut Maker iii is, it's fourth dimension to learn how you tin can utilise information technology properly.

Keep in mind that Cricut designed all of their machines to exist as easy to utilise as possible, but the Cricut Maker 3 is still admittedly the virtually complex of them all, so knowing how to use it fully isn't something y'all'll be able to do from the go-go.

Preparing the Cricut Maker

How to use cricut maker 3 preparations

1 matter you need to understand is that cut machines are generally loud, and even if the Cricut machine was created to be every bit silent as possible, there's simply then much the designers can do since y'all are still talking about a machine that is basically cutting and pounding abroad at all kind of materials.

That being said, the offset thing yous should do before you lot commencement off with your first work project is to find a room where your Cricut Maker 3 will be housed, and if y'all're i of the lucky few that can spare an entire room and plow it into a dedicated crafting room, it's fifty-fifty better.

In one case you have your room, the verbal spot where you'll exist placing the machine is equally important. This is mostly considering the Cricut Maker three is the largest Cricut car (22.six 10 seven.09 10 6.22 in or 57.4 x eighteen x xv.8 cm), so yous'll need to notice a place for it that will non hinder your movements.

Secondly, the motorcar is besides quite bulky (22.seven pounds or 10.3 kg), so make sure that the piece of furniture you're placing it on is sturdy. More so, since yous'll exist dealing with a machine that will probably be working for a few good hours at a time, cut and embossing all kinds of materials, y'all should also brand sure that your furniture can handle vibrations.

Once you've found a place for your Cricut Maker 3, you can finally get alee and unbox it then plug it in.

Note: It's ok if you take your time and admire the auto purely for its pattern since Cricut arguably makes some of the all-time-looking cutting machines on the market.

Connect to the Net and Update Firmware

Ok, so you've unboxed the Cricut Maker 3 and plugged it in, merely that doesn't mean that y'all can go ahead and start with your projects, or at least not just yet.

You see, the Cricut Maker three is not but a simple machine, it is a complex device that is powered by dedicated software, and with Cricut updating their software on a regular basis, it goes without proverb that if your Cricut Maker three is brand-new, it may need a few firmware updates.

This can be done through the Net, and the dandy thing about the Cricut maker 3 is that it tin can connect to the Net both via a wired (USB connection to the PC) and a wireless (Bluetooth) connection.

Yet, while we do advocate for less cable direction, firmware updates may take a while to complete, and since Bluetooth connectivity isn't all that great for data transfer, we recommend that, at least for at present, you'll use a wired connection to the Internet.

Hither's how to set upwardly and update the firmware of your Cricut Maker 3:

  1. Go to the Cricut Design Space webpage. Easypress 2 review design space
  2. Download and install Pattern Space for PC.
    • Information technology works on both Windows and Mac.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  4. Sign in or create your Cricut ID.
  5. Ready your new Cricut Maker iii car. How to use cricut maker 3 product setup
  6. The Design Space app will automatically scan your Cricut Maker three and notice whether information technology needs any firmware updates.
    • Design Space will so list the available firmware version.
  7. Click on Update. Easypress 2 review update frimware 2
  8. Wait for the progress bar that appeared on the screen to complete.
  9. Your Cricut Maker 3 will restart by itself once the update is consummate.
  10. Select Continue.

Easypress 2 review update frimware 2

Notation: The Design Space setup will let you know when information technology is complete by prompting you lot to do a test cut.

Learn Virtually Cricut'due south Design Space

Nosotros talked earlier about using Design Space to gear up your Cricut Maker 3 and how yous can besides use information technology to update the firmware as well, merely that's merely scratching the surface of what this software can exercise.

You run across, Design Space is a free software used with Cricut smart cutting machines, and it is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, although only the Windows and Mac versions can exist used to prepare or update the firmware of Cricut devices.

Its master purpose is to be a proprietary graphics design tool that also lets your program and wirelessly cut with Cricut Maker machines.

You can use this software to create a project from scratch, or you lot can get alee and use some of the thousands of images, predesigned Make It Now projects, or even fonts that are available in the Cricut Image Library.

Cricut design space

All versions of the app, both for PC and mobile, are cloud-based, and thank you to your Cricut ID, all data and projects that you are working on are synced across your devices, allowing yous access to your designs 24/7, no matter where you are, whenever inspiration hits you lot.

For those of you that also use the smartphone app, you tin can apply your congenital-in camera to visualize your projection on a real-life groundwork (via AR).

Note: Blueprint space is installed locally on your PC, meaning yous can design whatever time, anywhere, even without an Cyberspace connexion. However, yous won't exist able to scan any of the resources from the Cricut Image Library.

Larn How to Utilise Blueprint Space

The Cricut Maker 3 lacks whatever onboard dials and buttons that permit you create your designs, and everything that the motorcar does from a creative standpoint is controlled via the Blueprint Space app.

That beingness said, you lot tin can't await to make even a simple cutting in a paper without beginning learning the basics of how to use Design Infinite.

Fortunately enough, you don't have to worry about how much it will take to acquire the basics since the software was designed to be as intuitive and user-friendly as possible.

Here'due south how to employ Blueprint Space on your Cricut Maker three:

  1. Launch the Design Space app and log in using your Cricut ID.
  2. In the top-correct corner of the menu, select Optimize experience for:
  3. Click on Cricut Maker 3.
  4. Click on New Project. How to use cricut maker 3 design space 1

You will now be presented with Blueprint Space's graphics design UI, and this where you can create pretty much whatsoever you want, from posters to greeting cards and T-shirt models.

The next steps that yous will need to take are purely upwards to yous since it basically involves y'all working around with Pattern'due south Infinite's toolset and fiddle away while you create something fun to cut with your Cricut Maker iii.

Bottom line is that once you think that yous are done with your pattern, all you demand to exercise is printing the Make It button in the top-correct corner, and y'all tin start cut into your desired materials.

How to use cricut maker 3 preparations 2 (2)

Acquire About the Cricut Maker'south Accessories

Nosotros've already mentioned that the Cricut Maker iii is a cutting auto at heart and that it can piece of work with a wide multifariousness (300+ materials), but that doesn't hateful that it uses the same blades for all materials.

You run across, the Cricut Maker 3 has an adaptive system that supports thirteen unlike tools to adapt your need. These tools not just brand the Cricut Maker 3 proficient at cutting, only they also get in well-suited for other operations like scrapbooking, quilting, leatherworking, engraving, debossing, and more than.

Hither'south a cursory rundown of the 13 tools:

  • Knife Blade
    • Best used for deep cuts on hard materials with a thickness of upwards to 3/32 in (2.four mm)
    • Works best on balsa wood, chipboard, matboard, and tooled leather.
  • Rotary Blade
    • Best used for sewing projects
    • Recommended for soft fabrics like cotton, fleece, or denim
  • Fine-Bespeak Blade
    • Best used for effectively projects where your working finer designs on softer materials, and it comes in three variations:
      • Premium Fine-Signal (Gold) – Works best on newspaper, cardstock, poster board, vinyl, and iron-on.
      • Deep Point (Black) – Works best with magnet, chipboard, postage stamp textile, thick cardstock, stiffened felt, foam sheets, and cardboard
      • Bonded-Cloth (Pink) – Works best with bonded fabrics or fabrics with an iron-on backer
  • Pens and Markers
    • Used for designing and drawing shapes on your work materials
  • Foil Transfer Tool
    • Used to add a foil finish with Foil Transfer Sheets
  • Wavy Blade – Used to brand wavy edges in newspaper and thin cardboard
  • Debossing Tip
    • Used to create detailed debossed designs
    • Works best on paper, craft foam, leather, poster board, and more
  • Engraving Tip
    • Used to engrave texts and designs onto materials
    • Works best with newspaper, sparse cardboard, and leather
  • Scoring Wheels
    • Used to create creases that make folding materials a lot easier, and it comes in two variants:
      • Single Scoring Cycle – Works best on softer materials like crepe paper or low-cal cardstock
      • Double Scoring Wheel – Works best on softer materials like poster board or cardboard
  • Perforation Tools
    • Used to brand perforating lines that can be ripped easier afterward
    • Works best on paper, acetate, cardstock, and more than
  • Deep-Bespeak Blade
    • Considering of the deeper angle and more than durable steel, it is used to make cuts in harder materials
    • Works best on chipboard, thick cardstock, and more than.
  • Bonded-Fabric Blade
    • Best used for cutting bonded fabric or fabric with an fe-on backer
  • Washable Textile Pen
    • All-time used for writing and designing instructions on material, and it tin can hands be done later on

Cricut tools

Note: Each of these tools can be bought together in a single package along with a make-new Cricut Maker three, but they are also be sold separately, so yous don't have to worry about ownership an entire set of 13 tools but because y'all need the one bract.

Using the Cricut Maker 3 the First Fourth dimension

So now that y'all've presumably institute a place for your Cricut Maker 3, have set up it up, updated its firmware, and learned all about its tools and what it tin exercise, yous tin get ahead and actually start using the car.

Use the Right Tools

Cricut maker 3 2

Now that you know about the Cricut Maker three's tools, you need to call up that they were specifically built with certain purposes in mind.

That being said, while it goes without saying that y'all cannot utilise a cutting blade fabricated for soft materials on something difficult, you can't do the exact opposite either.

The aforementioned applies to the pens likewise, since certain pens are fabricated to be used on sure materials, and don't forget that some of them are permanent, while others are washable too.

The bottom line is that y'all need to choose the right tool for the job, and then if you're cartoon, use a pen, and if you lot're cutting, use a (proper) blade.

The Cricut Maker iii makes things easier and allows you to multitask to some degree thanks to its dual carriage feature, which allows you to perform two actions simultaneously.

The same affair applies to the cutting mats too, since at that place are 3 dissimilar kinds fabricated for 3 dissimilar categories of materials, and since they are consumables, it's wise that you know which to utilise in different situations and then that they can be used for equally much as possible.

Setting Up Your Kickoff Cut

Speaking of cutting mats, the first thing that you lot need to do once you're prepared to make your first cut is to place the cutting mat in the Cricut machine. But remove the mat cover and place it on your Cricut Maker iii.

You will then have to place the cloth over the cutting mat while besides making sure that it perfectly adhere to the surface, and once you are done, simply load the mat and the material into the machine.

Notation that you lot tin can cut down on grooming times by using Smart Materials, which piece of work without a cutting mat, pregnant that you can just load the material directly into your Cricut Maker 3 motorcar to get it started.

This is due to the fact that Smart Materials come already fastened to a special capitalist that can feed through your Cricut Maker 3, which basically acts as a old employ built-in cut mat.

These Smart Materials come up in a variety of fabric types, such as:

  • Smart Vinyl
  • Smart Fe-On
  • Smart Paper Sticker Cardstock

More so, the Cricut Maker 3 works best with Smart Materials, allowing up to 2x times the cutting speeds compared to their regular non-smart counterparts.

As presently equally the materials are loaded, the commencement thing that your Cricut Maker 3 will practice is check whether you inserted the right tool into the slot.

It knows this because this is i of the settings that you set up earlier when you lot created the design via Blueprint Space, so if you loaded the Foil Transfer Tool instead of the Fine-Point Blade, the motorcar would not offset the operation until yous replaced it.

Weed Out Excess Cloth

1 thing that you need to remember almost the Cricut maker 3 is that information technology cuts your materials, but it doesn't also go rid of the backlog and leftovers, which means that you'll need to accept focus, a good pair of eyes (or glasses), and a very steady hand.

Unfortunately, this is something that you will take to do manually, although Cricut did call back of a few means it tin help to make things a bit easier, and it comes in the course of a device chosen the Cricut BrightPad.

How to use cricut maker 3 brightpad

The Cricut BrightPad acts as a pad on which you can place your materials and, thanks to the light that information technology emits, you can see the cuts and holes more easily, making it easier to pick out the excess material.

Then again, if you don't accept the budget to buy it, yous tin can also go ahead and place your cut cloth against a bright window, although sitting in that position for extended periods of time tends to get uncomfortable at some point.

Finishing Your Project

Cricut maker 3 3

In one case the materials have been cut and properly weeded out, y'all can go ahead and use them further in your other projects, some of which can fifty-fifty involve using other complementary Cricut machines.

For example, don't forget that vinyl is among the many materials that the Cricut Maker iii can cut, and this includes HTVs (oestrus transferable vinyls), meaning you tin employ the Cricut Maker 3 to cut the HTV into shapes and designs, and then utilise a heat press like the Cricut EasyPress ii to apply it to wear and fabrics.

Combining these two tools can help you lot create astonishing projects, such as creating custom T-shirts that you would normally pattern and purchase off of the Cyberspace (at an exaggeratedly high price given their quality).

Go Used to Your Cut Materials

Since the Cricut Maker iii can support so many materials, it can get a bit overwhelming, especially if y'all brand the mistake of watching simply crafting tutorials where they use 7 different materials to make simply one Christmas card.

Not only volition you lot have to modify the machine's settings 7 times, but you might likewise need to change the blades a few times every bit well, and for a beginner, so many tasks for just one project can seem daunting and can pb to a loss of interest very fast.

Because of that, our recommendation is that you stick to simpler projects, preferably ones that involve as few materials every bit possible. In fact, nosotros recommend that the first few times you lot really use the Cricut Maker 3, yous just do test runs over and over on just one blazon of material, only so that you tin can get used to information technology.

For case, you lot tin can go alee and make greeting cards just by using one type of cardboard, and while the end result may non exist as impressive equally a greeting card covered in a felt pattern, y'all'll still be creating something while also mastering paper-thin.

FAQ: More than Information Most the Cricut Maker

What tin can the Cricut Maker iii do?

The Cricut Maker iii is a PC-controlled cutting machine that tin can be used on +300 different materials that range from delicate fabrics to plywood.

It is powered by a software tool called Design Space you tin can create and blueprint your ain projects, and it features a smart tool system that allows yous to switch between 13 different tools that can cut, draw, score, deboss, engrave, and foil.

Is there a new Cricut machine coming out?

Cricut has still to denote any new Cricut Maker model, and, as of the writing of this article, the newest Cricut Maker machine that you can get is the Cricut Maker three.

Does the Cricut Maker 3 need a mat?

Under normal circumstances, all materials that you plan to cut using the Cricut Maker 3 will need to exist placed on a cut mat.

However, if you opt to use Smart Materials instead, they volition already come adhered to the surface of a cutting mat, and the Cricut Maker iii will go through these materials faster every bit well.

Which is better, Cricut Maker or Cricut Maker 3?

For all intents and purposes, the Cricut Maker iii is superior to the Cricut Maker. Not only does information technology support Smart Materials, but it also has a much longer cut length (Up to 12 ft compared to the first generation'south two ft).

More than so, the Cricut Maker three works in Fast Mode by default, cutting at 2x the speed of the first generation Cricut maker.

Another noticeable footstep forward is that the Cricut Maker 3 supports the Whorl Holder tool, while the first generation Cricut Maker doesn't.

What is in the box of a Cricut Maker?

Fifty-fifty if you buy the most affordable Cricut Maker 3 package, you will still receive several other useful materials and tools besides the machine itself:

  • 1 x Premium Fine-Point Bract
  • 1 10 Blade Housing
    • Pre-installed in the B clamp
  • 1 x Accessory Adapter
    • Pre-installed in the A clamp
  • 1 ten Quick Start Guide
  • 1 x Rubber document
  • 1 x Warranty document
  • 1 x USB Cable
  • ane x Ability adapter and ability cord
  • Enough materials for a exam cut
  • Bonus materials to start off some projects

What is the maximum size I tin can cut?

The maximum cutting size on both the Cricut Maker and the Cricut Maker three when using non-smart materials depends on the cutting mat that you are using:

  • On a 12 in x 12 in mat (thirty.five cm x 30.5 cm) you can cut materials upwardly to 1i.5 in 10 eleven.5 in (29.ii cm 10 29.2 cm)
  • On a 12 in x 24 in mat (thirty.5 cm x 61 cm) y'all tin can cut materials upward to 11.5 in x 23.5 in (29.two cm 10 59.half dozen cm)

What is the Adaptive Tool System?

The Adaptive Tool System that is present in every Cricut Maker machine allows it to automatically adjust the blade'south position by lifting and rotating it into the proper position whenever a new cut needs to be made.

This organisation was created with precision in heed, which is something that is needed when dealing with smaller and more detailed projects or when working with thicker materials.

Cut Smart technology in Cricut Explore machines have a like system chosen Cutting Smart technology, and it allows the machine to cut whatsoever fabric past passively dragging the bract across it, irresolute the blade's direction based on the curves and angles of your design.

Does Cricut Maker have Fast Mode?

If you're talking about the Cricut Maker, then the reply would be aye. The Fast Mode selection allows the motorcar to cutting and write twice as fast, although it is near viable to employ when working with sure material settings.

However, if y'all're talking about the Cricut Maker 3, and then y'all should know that the Fast Mode feature is something that exists as a default setting. Because the Cricut Maker three was optimized to ensure top speed and precision (with Smart Materials), a dedicated Fast Manner was deemed unnecessary.

Do Cricut Maker machines have to exist connected to the Internet?

This used to be the case in the past, especially if you used the Besign space web client that was accessible via web browser, just that's no longer the case.

You see, with the Pattern Space app installed on your computer or iOS mobile device, yous tin can now blueprint and send projects to your automobile via USB or Bluetooth without an Internet connection.

However, you won't exist able to utilise Blueprint space to its full extent since you can't sync your content, upload images to the app, or access content from the Cricut Image Library.

Can I apply other brands of vinyl or iron-on without a mat?

Unfortunately, no. If you plan on using any other of the supported materials instead of Smart Materials, then using a cutting mat is mandatory.

How To Use the Cricut Maker: Endmost Thoughts

This concludes our in-depth article on how you can use the Cricut Maker 3. Nosotros promise that yous'll experience similar you take a better grasp on what your Cricut Maker iii can do now that you've finished reading and that using it for the first time will not seem equally intimidating.

Don't forget that we've written a consummate in-depth review on the Cricut Maker 3, and we've likewise looked at the Cricut Explore Air ii, a car similar to the Maker, although information technology has a smaller frame, a more limited toolset, and it is geared more than towards the common household user with smaller projects in mind.

Here are DIYS we love Cricut machines for what they are capable of, and we'd like yous to let united states of america know what other related topics yous'd want to read most, and we'll go ahead and create a comprehensive guide just like the 1 to a higher place.

Just get out your submissions in the comments section beneath, and our writers will go over them equally soon as possible!