Cricut Imagine ... is it worth it?

Hi, Im just getting into sb'ing for the 2nd time. I had a small business on ebay years ago selling pre-made books & gifts. I litterly burnt myself out working at it, so I gave in sold out ... and 10 years later Im getting back in!

Ive been eye'ing the CE2, but I really love the magic of this Imagine, the way it cuts & colors all the cuts, and you can make your own paper!

Does anyone have one? Or is it more of a thing that the Crictut Expressions would do it for me? Really all I love to do is Alphabets (diffrent fonts & such) but when I saw Id not have to buy stickers or card stock embelishments with making them with the Imagine, that really stole my heart.

I was given the old quickutz squeeze, and I sure do miss the machine. The 1st one I ever owned I believe was a Provo Craft but I cant remember its name, it was a small pink box like personal cutter or something (shrug) Oh well ....

So if you could lay me out some pros & cons before I drop $500.00 to get back into the SB world LOL!

Hi! The Imagine no longer cost that much money! It has been on sale, so please shop around first before paying full price.
I got mine at launch and do no feel bad for paying full price for it! I have used mine a lot and still have the original black ink in there and was still printing no the original color months after the low ink indicator came on...it was over a year old! They even have ink on sale and in the rewards program. To me, it is worth the money. I like being able to print the colors I want if I don't have that color in my stash. My ONLY complaint is when you flood fill an Imagine Image, you lose the detail. PC said they are working on this feature. Outside of that, I think it is a great machine!

Ive only seen it on HSN which is the 500$
so I will look around because this machine has really won my heart. Im thinking no longer having to by store made images (stickers ect) although I dont use alot ... and this machine looks like it does more then just for sb'ing! Thanks for the imput

I just saw you work with many machines. If you were only allowed to have one - which one would you pick and why?

If I were allowed only one "Provocraft" machine (lol) I would choose the Imagine. I like the print and or cut feature. I rarely use my 12x24" mat that the Expression can use (although I do like having it when I need it). The Imagine can cut thin chipboard so that would not be much of an issue either. There is so much that can be done with this machine! It is one of my favorites for sure

Ok, lets look at one machine all together -- eltronic or manual

Not sure what you mean. But I will give it a shot anyway:

Cuttlebug, big shot, grand calibur, texture boutique, creatopia are all manual machines. These can be used to emboss and or cut dies (texture boutique can only emboss). However, you are not able to change the size of the dies. The plus is if you have a power outage, you can still craft. For me, at least one of these machines is a must. I love to use embossing on my card/layouts.
I also like using an electronic cutter as well. I like to be able to change the size of images. With software, I can manipulate the images to further inhance them for my needs.

• HisGEM Said:

My dad just ordered an Imagine for me as a late xmas gift, and soon after he did i saw all the neg comments about it and was starting to worry that i made a bad choice. This will be my first die cutting system ever, and thanks to this comment from you, I am excited again, thank you!

No the Imagine is not worth it! If you want a machine that does perfect "Print 'n Cuts", buy a Cameo. It's quicker than the Imagine, even though you print the designs to your printer, then load into the Cameo. The Cameo auto reads the registration marks, without having to calibrate the machine all the time. In fact, I've never had to calibrate my Silhouette SD or Cameo.

And, you can't even use your own designs or purchased designs from other sources with the Imagine, that should be a deal breaker in itself. This is just my opinion, by the way I do own the Imagine. It just sits, since my Cameo arrived last October.

You are welcome! I had it since launch and I love it!

good question. either or. the imagine cuts and prints. to me is a great tool but can get expensive with ink. I've been doing well with just the Cricut. but I do plan on expanding my scrapbooking and such later with the imagine. with all the designer papers you can buy and you can now even buy printers that print out on 12 x 12 paper and beyond and are affordable. Personally I would recommend just the Cutter for now and possibly expand later with the Imagine. Both machines take the same carts and image takes more. I think you'll have a bigger library to work with if you get the ce2 first and later expand. PM me if you wanna talk more about this.