Any Linux'ers using a cricut?

Paper & Vinyl Crafts Discussion and Questions
#1

I’ve had plans on getting a cricut machine for quite some time, as I really really really want to do more fern stuffs. However, since I’m a Slackware user (I haven’t touched a Windows computer in about 12 to 14 years), it looks like it might be a wee bit involved. So thought I’d ask, heh.

So far all that I’ve come across has been related to this library, Setting up Libcutter.

Just to give this post an image, here’s my favorite fern thing I’ve made so far. It’s a magnet of a Platycerium bifurcatum.

1OQIlHC.jpg3264×2448 1.79 MB

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#2

Me! We have Linux Ubuntu on our machines at home, but I have a Windows Virtual Machine to run my Cricut software and Photoshop. I did not set it up so can’t offer any real advice or anything. I really wish they’d get a Linux version of their app, because they’re moving more and more towards Design Space being all on our computers.

#3

We have Ubuntu on a home laptop but use Windows at work, there is no getting away from it. I can give zero advice about the Cricut but there are things Linux just does not do the same way and it’s sad because I otherwise love it.
Have you considered a manual cutter like the Bigshot? That’s what we have and it’s fine for a few projects here and there. I’ve seen lots of leafy die cuts on AliExpress for very low prices.

#4

It’d be really nice to have more things for Linux, but unfortunately we’ve been locked into Microsoft for far too long, and it’s just way too costly for companies to offer alternatives. However, they’ve made huge strides over the past 15 years, so who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky, heh.

As for the cricut machine. I really don’t have the finances to attempt it. So I may have to use the hand powered machine. That is after contacting the company to see about getting specialty dies made. O_o.

#5

Cricut uses Apple, too, but yeah. There is really no impetus for them to make a Linux version. Someone in a Cricut group, who I think might actually work for them in some capacity, actually suggested that I just get a Windows machine, like I mean why not spent another couple-to-several hundred dollars in order to use something that already cost a few hundred dollars and requires users to spend many more dollars for the required accessories? I mean, I use my VM for Photoshop, too, but it is the last version of PS to not be a subscription and of course does not support Windows 10. GNU… I had a hard time getting out of it what I use PS for, but I imagine I’ll be going to that at some point. I could not find directions that worked with my brain when I looked up stuff. Sigh.

#6

Gimp? Free, Linux based. Windows is not my jam.

#7

Yeah, Gimp is what I meant, not GNU. I tried it for months, it just wasn’t making it easy for me to get out of it what I use PS for.

#8

I’ve seen this in a group, too! And I thought the same. It was so nonchalant, la di da, just get a Windows machine. :roll_eyes:

#9

I’ve seen this in a group, too! And I thought the same. It was so nonchalant, la di da, just get a Windows machine. :roll_eyes:

That was exactly what was so… stunning about it, the nonchalance.

#10

This is far more common than people think. When I first attempted learning linux it was about all I ever heard, use windows…Use windows…Use windows…Hate to say it, but I’ve had far far faaar fewer problems with linux than I have with Windows, that is after I learned enough, HAH.

I guess unless some miracle happens, I ought to forget about trying it for the moment. Spending over $100 on an experiment is a little nuts at the moment, heh.

Although I use it fairly often, it’s still a pain in the arse, heh. I still need to figure out how to do Paths on it for vector graphics, but that’ll have to wait as my mind is just excessively muddled and I’ve been having a heck of a time learning “new tricks”.

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#11

Nothing to do with the topic other than the Cricut portion of it. I just wanted to be able to use an old Cricut Expression (with a Windows machine) and ended up purchasing the Design Studio in a box second-hand. Issue there now is that they can no longer verify that software. Not happy with the directions Cricut is going with only being able to control the machines with a computer/phone.

#12

It is a shame that Cricut are so fully following the trend of the digital cutters and just abandoning their older machines.

#13

Yeah and consider how many cartridges we now have as well. And then to want people to pay for a subscription on top of that for the digital images. :expressionless: I’m one that I would rather be able to just come up with my own and scan it in though so I guess that part may not affect me. :woman_shrugging:t3:

#14

They are definitely taking every penny they can get. But at least you can still upload your own svg files whether you get them from some other designer or make them yourself.

#15

Hi ThemistressT, sorry if I bother but
could you please give me advice about connecting my cricut (Explore Air) to Windows Virtual Machine? I’m having an error, don’t know what to do
You seem to be very profound in this topic, hope you can help :slight_smile:

#16

OMG! @Susy839 I am so sorry that I didn’t see this! Even though there was no tag, I should’ve at least seen the reply to the thread. UGH! I hope you found a solution long ago, but if not, here is what I remember from my own initial set up a few years ago:

I have to use a particular USP port on my laptop, not sure why, but I think that is about my hardware, not the operating systems or Design Space.
I have to have Design Space open/loaded AND my Cricut plugged into my laptop before turning the Cricut on.
I get two pop-up windows each time I turn on my machine mentioning some thing about devices associated or using that USB port. One for the printer, one for the Cricut. I just hit “OK” on each of those.

#17

I got a Cricut Maker recently, and I’m determined to use Linux to drive it! Besides, I don’t have windows installed anywhere so I don’t really have a choice.

A couple of people mentioned GIMP above, but that’s not really the right solution; you need a tool that deals in vectors instead of pixels. The Linux standard for that is a program called Inkscape. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it produces SVG images which you can then import into the Cricut mobile app (use the “Upload” button in the app) and send to your printer.

I’ve done a few prints this way and it been working pretty well for me!

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