I was going to be excited to report that SCAL2 for Mac was out in a form I would now call stable. I’ve been cutting with it for a week or so with no issues and looking forward to doing a full review once the Christmas rush was over… and then, without even a whispered rumor in advance, a SCAL competitor emerges.
The first version of Make-the-Cut software (for Windows only) has been released by an independent developer. First reactions are positive, at least at the introductory price of $78. Andy has taken pains to address the most painful aspects of SCAL and it is obvious from just a couple of screen shots that the interface is more polished than its predecessors. Will be interesting to see where things head with this in the coming weeks as lots of people find Black Friday Cricuts under their trees.
HI!
I am the programmer of MTC and was wondering if you could shoot me an email…
Thanks!
Hi,
I am inquiring on behalf of a special needs school where I provide support on an RM network. They have recently bought a CriCut Expression A3 unit (on my advice). This unit is great, so we are now buying a 2nd unit.
Being ‘special needs, the school uses software by a company called WIDGIT extensively. The previous product was called Writing with Symbols 2000 and used Makaton characters. These trnaslate words into pictures as the children type on the screen. We need to use the Makaton set of saymbols if at all possible, is this software you might be familiar with, or offer anything that does the same job please?
I am a complete novice to CriCut, so perhaps we could even import the symbols using your MTC software?
Any help you can offer is much appreciated.
regards
Tim Turner
Hi Tim,
I went to the WIDGIT site to look at the symbols and I think you will be able to cut them out with either Make The Cut software or Sure cuts a lot software. If the symbols reside in a true type font then it is easy. Otherwise you will need to snap a screen shot in your WIDGIT program and then autotrace the symbol to cut it out with either of these 2 programs.
I bought this “make the cut” software and really really regret it. It is not polished or advanced at all. Still needs inkscape, for example. And yes, I am experienced in DS and Scal2. let the “guninea pigs” loose for a year or so to test this stuff then buy it is my advice.
Isn’t there a moneyback guarantee?
It is unusual for software, but I thought I read that somewhere.
I purchased a copy of this software over the weekend and played with it all Sunday. I LOVE IT! The fact I can use my own fonts, download images off the internet and edit them…AWESOME! Plus, I found a coupon code MATT-IIPM which took another 10% off…I have found my Cricut companion!
I for one love MTC and am happy I bought it. I also own SCAL 2 and have fro about 3 months now but i must say i have been able to do more in MTC than I have ever in SCAL2. MTC is much more user friendly in my opinion. Andy the designer seems very interested in working out any “bugs” and taking suggestions to make the software better…I will stick by it and keep using MTC.
BEST…SOFTWARE…EVER.
Why would anyone complain about this? This is so much better than any other cricut software available.
SCAL just crashes all the time! You can’t edit anything!
Make The Cut is by far leaps and bounds ahead of DS or SCAL.
Jenny, the disappointment for me was that the image tracing is not developed enough (to develop your own SVG’s) and so Inkscape is still needed. Also, their library of cuts has hardly anything in it. The software adds nothing more for me at the moment as I have DS and Scal2 and Inkscape already. So, I feel a bit cheated, it is expensive for what it is.I wished I’d not spent the money and waited for the Provocraft product that’s in development instead. But hey, we are all entitled to a view.
I’m a MAC user, so it appears that SCAL will still be on my wish list for the new year. I don’t imagine Provocraft will think about us.
If anyone is interested I have a working code for an extra 10% off of the Make The Cut software: DWD-22TT & we are also going to be offering a free package of designer files to go with it.
Happy holidays!! Darcy :o)
Is this still a good code? Where to purchase it from?
Price is still good. Don’t think a code is needed. Use this link.
I have SCAL 2 so I will not be buying this software. I just don’t feel like it does that much more then SCAL and I can’t afford to buy a new software all the time.
I find it hard to understand why they have to be so expensive.
Thanks for sharing the info, Kay.
Big Hugs!
I’ve had this software now for a week and really love it. The SCAL my friend has and has let me practice with it to see if It was something I may want, was hard for me to get the hang of after using for many days and this program was up an running in just a few hours. I also have DS and love that program and MTC seems to be closer to that program and a better fit for me. Pam
I am a Mac user and a new Cricut owner. I downloaded the demo of SCAL and have not been able to accomplish much with it. Overall, compared with the cartridges, they seem easier but of course not available for everything you want to cut out. Is there any other software out there or even being developed for Mac users?
No, Leda there is not that I am aware of. SCAL is not perfect, but it is the only way to drive a Cricut with MacOS.
I have scal and scal 2, I love it, I havenot tried make the cut cuz I’m happy with scal:) I use it alot but I do not have the crashing problems, I think scal 2 crashes more but the new update seems great:) choices are good though, happy new year!
I am a Mac user and a new owner of a Cricut. The MTC FAQ suggests that Mac users could use Parallel sofware to run their software. Has anyone tried this? I have not wanted to introduce any Window product to my Mac and so I have never used Paralell either but would love to use the SVG programs.
I recommend that Mac users look at SCAL2 instead. Very similar in feature set to MTC, plus an almost 2 years track record supporting a native Mac version. http://www.craftedge.com
I am a Macbook Pro User who has VMware Fusion and Windows XP Pro running on my machine. I have the Cricut DS, Gypsy and MTC and they all run perfect in my virtual environment.
Adding a virtual environment is not hard, I installed my own and added my own Windows OS with out a problem. If you have an old PC license for Windows laying around all you need to do is get a copy of the disk and use the license you purchased for your old machine and you are off and running. Your Mac is now able to run any PC related software you want and you still have the wonderful world of Apple too!
Thanks for the info Tracy, but I prefer to support Mac developers rather than Microsoft when I have the option.
I’ve held off on buying SCAL and just today saw an ad on Facebook for MTC. This blog entry and all your comments is of great interest to me! What’s the software from Provocraft you allude to? Are they finally going to give their customers what they want?
I don’t remember alluding to any PC software. Doubt if we are going to see a change in the business model. I hope you checked out the comparison chat in the post above this one, too,
I was referring to Angela McLean’s comment above; I should have specified. And, no, I have not read anything on your blog except this individual post, which I found directly via Google; my previous comment I left was during a quick drive-by while skimming search results about MTC vs. SCAL2 and deciding which sites to revisit later. I’ll have to read more on your site as time allows.
Angelas post was referring to PC (Windows as opposed to Mac) not Provocraft.
This post has been superceded somewhat by the comparison chart and all the updates to SCAL so it will be much more helpful to you.
http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/cricut-software-comparison/
Ok, I have the demo version of Make The Cut, and just played with it a little bit. Originally, I thought it wouldn’t open any of my Sure Cuts A Lot svg files, but IT DOES. And Make The Cut is FAR easier to use than Sure Cuts A Lot, BUT I am not giving up my SCAL 1 & 2 because of the expensive cost of Make The Cut software — my philosophy is — money does not grow on a tree!! But I do have a quilt order to finish and will use that payment to purchase this software. (I find the resizing of loaded image far easier than SCAL software!!!) Thank you.
I have 2 .MACs, but a PC in my craft room. I was looking at SCAL for the possibility of running it on my MACbook. However, there was so much negative feedback regarding updating the software of the Cricut machines, crashing, etc. that after deliberating and researching for 3 weeks I decided to purchase Make the Cut. I will have to wait until I get the CD, but what’s another couple of weeks. I am very excited about the possibilities ahead! I run VM software on my MACbook, so I may decide to try it on the laptop anyway:)
Happy cutting!
Nancy,
I hope you realize you don’t need to wait for the CD to arrive to be able to download and run MTC. Go to the website and download it, and put in your registration number. Then enjoy!
Has anyone tried using autocad .dwg files to make cuts with the circut using MTC? They are scalable vector files. Do they have to be converted and how?
Any info appreciated–KDR
If you have a program that will open and print .dwgs you can use the print to svg procedure here and then simplify once you get into MTC. Many .dwg files are not suitable for cutting, though, due to open paths, intersecting paths, etc. In that case you would need to open the .dwg in Inkscape, fix it and then save it to SVG.
I recently purchased MTC software and I am very very pleased. I have purchased some of the SVG Files from SVG.com and also they give you so many free files and they all work beautifully with MTC. Any time I have had a question I just clicked Help and was taken to FAQ’s Blogs whatever, but I always found the answer. I am pretty Savy with Graphic Software programs, but I think most people who have a desire can pretty easily figure this out or easily find the answers. A couple of times I had to go to Help and the advanced section to change the rate of the data to my cricut but other than that no crashes or any other problems. I just love it. I stumbled on the software as I was on Ebay buying quite a few cartridges, which are by no means cheap. Being able to do shadows, and the autofill feature along with everything else, makes me truly question the need to spend 40-80.00 on Cricut cartridges ever again. Well I could go on and on, but I’ve got to get some sleep, so I can Scrap and Cut and Cut and Scrap tomorrow.
First off thanks to everyone for the tips. I too am tired of purchasing CRTs and am intrested in getting software for my cricut.I am however stuck on the idea of having spent a small treasure on the CRTs, then not needing them anylonger. Is SCAL or MTC really that much better then DS. I am a person who struggles with computers to begin with.
Jestine,
I would suggest you download the trial versions and see how you like them.
Jestine,
It’s not that you don’t need your cartridges any longer, you’re just not limited by them in MTC. Do download and play around with both programs, check out their messageboards / forums, and make your own decision.
I took the plunge and bought MTC Sunday evening since it was on sale for under $60 through Monday. Your info at this site was helpful in my making the decision. I also liked the trial better than SCAL2, though I hadn’t cut with either yet and I was looking primarily at usability and a good fit for my style. Looking forward to doing some awesome hand-drawn and digitized designs on my Cricut! 🙂
wow!! i have been interested in scal for a while but have not taken the plung – as i am not a avid scrapper… i just really use it for school projects and sports posters for the kids… i was ready to take the plung on mct after reading all of the reviews…. but i have a mac!!!!
guess i will be waiting for something else to come along…..i feel like a step-child with mac now…. lol
ds,
Go ahead and get SCAL! I don’t scrapbook either, but I use it every day. It is quite comparable to MTC and supportive of the Mac platform.
Well I have to pick one to buy and being the one is 58 bucks —guess which one I am going to buy. I will keep my fingers crossed I made the right choice.