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Clever Someday

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Cricut software comparison

December 22, 2009 by Kay

I have seen so many questions and there is so much information to slog through, that I put together a chart with as many relevant parameters as I could think of. I anticipate frequent updates in the near term so please send others to this page instead of sharing the file. Thanks for your cooperation.

Click here to download the latest chart in PDF format

Latest update 12/23/10. MTC 3.2 and SCAL 2.038

You may also be interested in the 4 part series on this blog http://www.createyourheartout.com

or a short comparison article from Darcy

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Comments

  1. Heidi says

    December 22, 2009 at 1:02 am

    You are SO awesome. I love your blog because you always share something that is important and helpful. Thanks for all the good info….I just bought SCAL2 so I’m not sure I will be changing, but this will be helpful when I decide…..

  2. Vidamor says

    December 22, 2009 at 6:43 am

    I had SCAL and SCAL2, but when I demoed the MTC software, I had to have it. The interface is just so much nicer and more fluid. The ease of use is great. If anything, you should at least give the free demo version a try. And if your interested, I found a coupon code when I bought mine that saved me an 10%. It’s MATT-IIPM (all caps).

    • sarah says

      February 21, 2010 at 7:08 pm

      hello, just wondering where you used this code and if it’s still good?

  3. Beverly says

    December 22, 2009 at 9:28 am

    This is AMAZING…to see the comparisons, thank you so much for doing this. I agree, you always come up with very useful information that no one else thnks of!!

    I was intrigued by the new software, and I haven’t had scal2 for very long, but use it regularly along with my cartridges i have. My thinking is scal2 will add any feature it can that others have, so think i’m staying where i am.

    Competition is good though, makes others try harder!

  4. Marg says

    December 22, 2009 at 9:54 am

    this comparison chart is terrific. thank you for doing this.

  5. andy says

    December 22, 2009 at 11:19 am

    thanks for doing this!
    I am now working my way down the list and adding everything possible that has a “no” next to it.

    PDF support is interesting. Is this something that would really be worth adding?

    I love the “align” idea.

  6. andy says

    December 22, 2009 at 11:20 am

    oh yeah — and the initials are “MTC”, not “MCT”, but no big deal — just a heads up!

    • Kay says

      December 22, 2009 at 2:59 pm

      Thanks, fixin it on next update

  7. Beanie says

    December 22, 2009 at 11:32 am

    This is wonderful Thanks for doing this…. I am so loving this program. Sadly my SCAL2 is lonely

  8. Etha says

    December 22, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    This is terrific!! I’ve studied the table, you did a lot of work putting all this together!
    So far I have only worked with DS, not jumped on the scal wagon ๐Ÿ˜‰ The new software looks tempting though.

  9. Mary says

    December 22, 2009 at 4:11 pm

    This is a Great chart, great to see the differences!
    THANK YOU!
    Mary

  10. Darcy's Designs says

    December 22, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    Great chart! Can we link to you from our web site? We are trying to put together a whole tutorial, video section for this great new software! Darcy :o)

    • Kay says

      December 22, 2009 at 9:40 pm

      Sure Darcy, I welcome and appreciate all links as long as they are to the blog post. Thank you!

  11. Brenda says

    December 23, 2009 at 4:49 am

    Kay,
    Thanx for putting this info together for us. I was curious about how the new software compares to scal2.

    Have you tried the George workaround? I would like to see a better photo of how to make one.

    Thanx,
    Brenda in WA

  12. Vidamor says

    December 24, 2009 at 9:49 am

    Hey, for all the Mac users:

    Right now there is no Mac version — BUT, if you use Parallels or Bootcamp, Make The Cut! will run just fine.

    I’m posting this because there are a lot of people who love the software but are bummed because there isn’t a Mac version.

    Vida.

    • Kay says

      December 24, 2009 at 1:13 pm

      Just a reminder that Craftedge continues to support Mac users with a native version of SCAL2.

  13. Alice says

    December 26, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Hi, this table is amazing. I’d like to know if you’ll let me translate it (with all the credits to you) into Portuguese so I can post in a Brazilian forum.

  14. Natalie says

    December 30, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    I love this chart. Good job, however; I cannot open it as a PDF. It says it is not the correct type of file…..hmm… I sure would like to save a version that I can see better.

    • Kay says

      December 30, 2009 at 11:11 pm

      Natalie,
      Try updating your Adobe Reader.

  15. susannah cuckow says

    January 1, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    have been using inkscape and scal for a while now,love the results i can get,tried various clipart and stuff to use the trial version of mtc and i have to say am not to impressed with the results you still have to do so much to get something you can use. with simple designs it works but think i will be sticking to scal and inkscape.
    thanks

    • angela mclean says

      January 2, 2010 at 10:54 am

      Susannah, that is exactly my experience also at the mo…. the MTC software is not advanced or stable enough as yet to trace with any decent results at all.
      Just downloaded the latest SCAL2 update and it is ace, so will be using this for a while at least.

  16. Angie C. says

    January 2, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    I was wondering – if we buy scal, do we get these updates for free??

    Thanks!

    ps. I love your blog! It’s what convinced me to buy a cricut!

    • Deloris says

      January 2, 2010 at 8:50 pm

      The new update is free. Just go to the Craft Edge website and click downloads.

  17. Robin says

    January 2, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    Thank you so much for all the time you take to create information to help all of us with navigating through the confusion. I’m just starting out with sure cuts alot then mtc is released and I wonder did I order the wrong item? So you have helped me regain my sanity by putting my foot in front of the other and learning with what I have before jumping onto something else. Happy Blue Moon New Year!
    Robin

  18. Debbie says

    January 2, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    Thanks for putting all this information together.

  19. Deloris says

    January 2, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    The new update to SCAL2 is awesome. The break apart feature is something I will use a lot. Kudos to Todd at Sure Cuts A Lot. I love my Cricut and SCAL2 and use it all the time.

  20. Kathy says

    January 5, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Great comparison chart. I just purchased a cricut expression and was looking at MTC, but I was disappointed there was not a MAC version. Do you know if they are working on a MAC verison? I think I may try the SCAL 2…it looks like it is very similar to MTC.

    • Kay says

      January 6, 2010 at 12:27 am

      MTC is not working on a Mac version at this time, but hasn’t ruled it out for the future. Personally, I would like to see Mac users support developers like craftedge who support the Mac platform. SCAL2 makes that easy as it is very close in feature set to MTC anyway.

  21. Kim says

    January 6, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    I’m hoping to make the new upgrade tonight. I’m extremely happy to hear of the new upgrades to SCAL2 as I really did not want to purchase another program so similar so soon after I purchased SCAL2. I’m glad to see a little friendly competition to give us users what we want! Thanks peeps! You Rock!

  22. scrapbookcircus says

    January 6, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    …wonderful post! I’ve added you to my “worth reading” link list. Thanks! XO Char

  23. MamaD says

    January 10, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    Thanks for all your work on this, Kay! Being a Mac user, I feel a particular loyalty to SCAL,too!

  24. Imam Nirwan says

    January 12, 2010 at 10:07 am

    Thank u..

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