It will first be available on September 14 on HSN. This version will come with 3 cartridges. It will be available in stores in October; this version will come with 1 cartridge called Imagine More.
Yes, this machine both prints and cuts. Cricut partnered with HP to develop this machine. It uses 1 black (around $39) and 1 tricolor cartridge (around $34). These cartridges are exclusive to the Imagine and will be sold where the machine is sold. If you print full 12x12 sheets like pattern paper, you should be able to print 50 pages per ink cartridge. If you print separate images, you should be able to get 150 sheets of images per ink cartridge. Cricut estimates that 1 full page print costs 23 cents.
The Image comes with a touch screen like the Gypsy, so more functionality is available. The Imagine cartridges come with both images and colors and patterns. The images come precolored or you can change the colors and patterns of the images. You can also select colors by Pantone RGB numers. You can print a layered image as one image or print the layers separately so you can piece them together with foam tape for a 3D look.
You can also use your old Cricut Cartridges and the Imagine cartridges to add color and patterns to the images. The Imagine machine will hold 2 cartridges at once.
There will also be a Gypsy update available on September 13. The Imagine will be compatible with the Gypsy, but not Design Studio, although one rep said that PC software will be available in 6 months, but would not confirm it it would be a Design Studio upgrade or new software.
There will be 2 types of Imagine cartridges, images/colors/patterns ($89.99) and just colors/patterns ($49.99). There will be 12 image cartrdiges and 12 color/pattern cartridges when the machine is released. Some of these cartridges are: Friends, Country Carnival, Kids Kitchen and Best Friends.
There are new mats just for this machine, they have black register marks that the machine reads for printing and cutting. Once you select Go, the machine prints first, then cuts. You only have to load the mat once. Also, the adhesive for the mat has been improved. You can use these new mats in your other Cricut machines, but you can't use your old mats in the Imagine machine.
You can print on anything you can put in the Expression, except for chipboard. For printing, the mat and paper are curled under rollers, so thick items will not be able to be used.
Here's the Imagine. See the new display and your old cartridges go on the left side and the Imagine cartridges go on the right (there is no label on the Imagine cartridge here). Notice the black registration marks on the mat that the machine uses to read placement of the image on the mat.
Here's a closeup of the display.
Here are some samples Cricut had in the booth. To see more, view my Walgreens albums, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Not much was said about other new Cricut cartridges. Members of the Cricut Circle get to see new cartridges first, so only a few images were show at CHA. Pictures of the new cartridges shown can be seen in the Wednesday album.
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