Cricut Software.... SCAL vs Make-the-Cut

 Off topic...

I don't usually talk crafts, but may do so more now that I have a Cricut :) 

I've been contemplating the purchase of SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot) for my new Cricut for a few weeks.  I was actually prepared to purchase it, but with Christmas coming up didn't have the time to invest in playing with it right now and thought I might be frustrated with having another addition to my new toy that I didn't have time for.

For those of you in the dark about what I'm talking about....
The Cricut is basically a printer that cuts.  You have to purchase cartridges that allow you to cut different shapes/fonts to use with scrapbooking/craft projects.  These programs I'm talking about make it possible to use fonts and images that are not on cartridges, and even make your own which in the long run saves money if you use your Cricut much at all as the cartridges are very costly!!

On with the story... a new program! 
My dear friend Jill alerted me that there is a new similar program available now called Make-the-Cut.  There have been some discussions about it on a message board, but it keeps being shut down and I was unfortunate to not have been able to read it.

The Makes-the-Cut program is possibly a bit more user friendly for those that want to use an image on their cricut that is not already in the right format (SVG).  This makes it easier to turn your school or business logos, etc into an image that is quickly and easily cut on the Cricut.  To do the same thing with SCAL you would have to import the image into another program such as Inkscape and convert it into an SVG image before you could load it into SCAL and cut it.  This seems to me the main advantage to Makes-the-Cut.

SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot), on the other hand, has been around for awhile and has had time to get many of the bugs worked out.  It also appears to have possibly a few more features that Makes-the-Cut does not.

I have not had the opportunity to try either of these programs and would like to hear your opinions about them.  If you've used them and had good/bad experiences... leave a comment and let us know what you like or don't like about them.

Haven't heard of either one?  You can find them below.  Each has a trial you can use that will work same as the regular program, but will cut a line through the project rendering it unusable (thier watermark).  I may find myself trying each one with the trial before making my decision & I will try and post about them when I do to let you know what I like/dislike about each one.

SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot)
Make-the-Cut

If you have a Mac... SCAL is your only option right now unless you're running a program to make it compatable with Windows... like mine :).  Make-the-Cut doens't yet have Mac version.  

Let me know what you think!!