Have you ever wondered about the lineage of the Circuit machines? I have collected information and images for a variety of machines that have been made. Cricut machines are manufactured by Provo Craft & Novelty, Inc. Provo Craft is located in Utah. The company is 15 years old and was created on December 21, 2003. I don’t have the manufacture dates for each machine. If you have this information, I would love to be able to add it to this article.
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Current Models:
(Introduced Feb. 12, 2020 - available March 2020) the Cricut Joy is a smaller, more light-weight version at 5" x 8" and less than 4 lb. The Joy introduces two new features not elsewhere available in the Cricut product portfolio. With specialty accessories and materials (labeled Smart Materials™), the Joy is able to cut single designs up to four feet long and repeated cuts up to 20 feet.
Cricut Maker
(released on August 20, 2017) The Cricut Maker machine is used with Design Space, which is a cloud-based, online software. It does not function stand-alone. When using Design Space on a desktop or laptop computer, an internet connection is required. When using the machine with the Design Space app on an iOS device (iPad/iPhone), you can use the offline feature in that app to use your machine and Design Space without an internet connection. The Cricut Maker is an adaptable machine with interchangeable cutting and scoring heads.
Cricut Explore Air 2
A slight update from the Air, it cuts two times faster. Comes in a variety of colors and works with the current Circuit Design Space application.
Cricut Explore Air
This is a wireless machine that can cut paper to fabric and more. It works with the current Circuit Design Space application.
Cricut Explore One
Similar in look to the other Explore machines but only has a single tool holder. You can cut and write but you have to do so in two steps.
Cricut Explore
The Cricut Explore, ExploreAir, and Explore Air 2 each have a double tool holder so that you can cut & write (or cut & score) in 1 step. The Explore One has a single tool holder, so it can cut & write (or cut & score) in 2 steps.
The Explore Air and Explore Air 2 have built-in Bluetooth, but for Explore One and Explore, you will need a Cricut Wireless Bluetooth Adapter in order to use it with your iOS or Android mobile device or to cut wirelessly from your computer.
Legacy Machines:
Cricut Expression 2
The Cricut Expression 2 was designed as a standalone machine. The LCD touch screen and Cricut® cartridges allowed you to create projects without being connected to a computer. A computer was required to update the machine's firmware, however.
Cricut Expression
The Cricut Expression machine had several fantastic features available. A few favorites are the Auto Fill and Quantity features. They allowed you to cut multiples of the same image so you could quickly create a batch of invitations, place settings, party favors, or other projects. There was a scoring tip that could be used.
Cricut Mini
The Cricut Mini relied exclusively on using Cricut Craft Room, a computer program which no longer functions. The Circuit Mini is obsolete.
Cricut Imagine
The Cricut Imagine machines use a special cutting mat with a white border and black registration marks that the machine will read prior to cutting your printed images with precision and accuracy. The Imagine machine was unable to read any other mats.
Cricut Cake
Cricut Cake was specifically designed to cut edible material, including gum paste, frosting sheets, and more. As such, it was designed with parts made of food-safe material. In fact, any part of the machine that touches food was made of food-safe material.
Cricut Create
The Cricut Create machine was designed to function with the Cricut® cartridges as a standalone machine.
Cricut Personal
The Cricut Personal/V1 machine was designed to function with the original Cricut cartridges as a standalone machine.
Additional Machines:
Cricut Cuttlebug
The Cricut Cuttlebug machine is compatible with most leading brands of dies and embossing folders. The B Plates - Cutting, A Plate - Spacer, and C Plate - Adapter (sold separately) are different thicknesses so that you can mix and match.
The Cricut EasyPress comes in three different sizes and is used to heat iron-on vinyl. You may find it has alternative uses similar to an iron.
Here is a printable chart for heat settings. [EasyPress chart]
The Cricut BrightPad comes in Mint Green and Rose Gold. It is a modern light box and works great for weeding, tracing, paper piecing, and jewelry making.
Cricut Gypsy
The Gypsy was a portable personal design device for use with your Cricut® Personal, Create, Expression, Cake, Cake Mini, Expression 2 and Imagine machines. It allowed you to store Cricut® cartridge content, design with that content, and then connect to your Cricut® to cut.
