Cricut’s $99 craft cutting machine helped me feel creative again
Cricut’s $99 craft cutting machine helped me feel creative again
Cricut 99 美元的工艺切割机让我重拾创作热情
The Cricut Joy 2 delivers quick, satisfying results, though the companion app’s onboarding could use some work. Cricut Joy 2 能带来快速且令人满意的成果，尽管其配套应用程序的入门引导仍有改进空间。
I’ve always been skeptical of products that claim to help you lead a more creative life. But one recently won me over. I’ve spent three weeks with the Cricut Joy 2, a smart cutting and drawing machine that made it easy for me to get back into making stickers, cards, bookmarks, and more. 我一直对那些声称能让你生活更具创造力的产品持怀疑态度。但最近，有一款产品成功赢得了我的青睐。我花了三周时间体验 Cricut Joy 2，这是一款智能切割和绘图机，它让我能轻松地重新开始制作贴纸、卡片、书签等手工艺品。
The small $99 gadget isn’t perfect, but its capabilities and app-provided templates were just what I was looking for. Caregiving, self-criticism, and mental health struggles have made it tough to tinker and doodle like I used to, and yet the Joy 2 clicked with me. It doles out quick wins when you’re in the mood to create. 这款售价 99 美元的小巧设备并不完美，但它的功能和应用程序提供的模板正是我所需要的。繁重的照料工作、自我苛责以及心理健康方面的困扰，曾让我难以像过去那样随心所欲地进行手工创作，但 Joy 2 却与我产生了共鸣。当你想要创作时，它能为你提供即时的成就感。
I’ve been testing the Cricut Joy 2 and Ultimate Plus Bundle, which normally costs $229 and comes with a bunch of extras, including smart vinyl and iron-on sheets, as well as tools like a fine-point blade. Getting started didn’t take much time. I connected the machine, installed Cricut’s Design Space software on my laptop (also available on iOS and Android), and ran my first test cut in well under 30 minutes. Watching the machine cut that first design made me clap in excitement. 我一直在测试 Cricut Joy 2 和 Ultimate Plus 套装，该套装通常售价 229 美元，包含许多额外配件，如智能乙烯基贴纸、烫印纸以及精细切割刀头等工具。上手过程非常迅速。我连接了机器，在笔记本电脑上安装了 Cricut 的 Design Space 软件（iOS 和 Android 也支持），并在不到 30 分钟内完成了第一次测试切割。看着机器切割出第一个图案，我兴奋地鼓起了掌。
That part was easy, but the app’s onboarding needs some work. For something marketed as beginner-friendly, it’s not obvious what to do next or how to fully take advantage of the hardware. None of it is difficult — figuring out placement on the mat or aligning materials correctly — but none of it is exactly obvious either, especially if you’re new to these concepts. Early on, I tried unsuccessfully to print something from scratch and grew discouraged after wasting some materials. 这一步很简单，但应用程序的入门引导确实需要改进。作为一款主打“新手友好”的产品，它并没有明确告知用户下一步该做什么，或者如何充分利用硬件功能。这些操作本身并不难——比如确定垫板上的位置或正确对齐材料——但对于初学者来说，这些并不直观。起初，我尝试从零开始打印一些东西，但因为浪费了一些材料而感到沮丧。
Design Space’s interface is partially to blame. It buries helpful tutorials and project checklists at the bottom of its landing page, and visual learners should know that a lot of the instructions are written out. That’s strange, given that Cricut offers a trove of clear, digestible YouTube tutorials online that seem perfect for the app. Design Space 的界面难辞其咎。它将有用的教程和项目清单隐藏在落地页的最底部，视觉学习者需要注意，大部分说明都是文字形式的。这很奇怪，因为 Cricut 在网上提供了大量清晰易懂的 YouTube 教程，这些内容本应非常适合集成到应用中。
To Cricut’s credit, it offers a free 30-day trial of Cricut Access, which costs $9.99 a month once it expires. It contains many templates, tips, and guided projects created by Cricut as well as other users who share their designs in the app’s community library. It’s useful if you appreciate some structure with your creative pursuits. More crucially, it teaches you how to use the materials and tools included with the Joy 2. That’s when the real fun started. Projects came together more quickly, and I once again felt the satisfaction of watching a design go from screen to finished product in minutes. 值得称赞的是，Cricut 提供了 30 天的 Cricut Access 免费试用，试用期结束后每月收费 9.99 美元。它包含了许多由 Cricut 以及其他在社区库中分享设计的用户所创建的模板、技巧和引导式项目。如果你喜欢在创作时有一些结构化的指导，这非常有用。更重要的是，它教会了你如何使用 Joy 2 附带的材料和工具。从那时起，真正的乐趣开始了。项目完成得更快了，我再次感受到了那种看着设计在几分钟内从屏幕变成成品所带来的满足感。
Simple projects are where the Joy 2 works best, but it can handle some more complex ones if you’re willing to step in. Multicolor designs, for instance, have to be cut in separate layers and assembled by hand, which takes time and focus. That’s not necessarily a flaw, but more just something to keep in mind before you take on new projects. 简单的项目是 Joy 2 最擅长的领域，但如果你愿意投入精力，它也能处理一些更复杂的项目。例如，多色设计必须分层切割并手工组装，这需要时间和专注力。这不一定是个缺陷，只是在开始新项目前需要注意的一点。
If you’re trying to make stickers or other printed designs, like iron-on transfers for shirts, Cricut’s “print then cut” feature comes in handy. It lets you print a full-color design with an inkjet or laser printer you already own, then precisely cut it out with the Joy 2. I was happy with the results, and the process is simple: The Design Space app adds cut lines around your uploaded design for the machine to follow. You then feed the printed sheet into the Joy 2, and voilà! It scans and makes the cuts. 如果你想制作贴纸或其他印刷设计（如用于衬衫的烫印转印），Cricut 的“先打印后切割”功能非常实用。它允许你使用现有的喷墨或激光打印机打印全彩设计，然后用 Joy 2 进行精确切割。我对结果很满意，过程也很简单：Design Space 应用会在你上传的设计周围添加切割线，供机器识别。然后你只需将打印好的纸张送入 Joy 2，瞧！它会自动扫描并完成切割。
Technically, the Joy 2 can handle larger projects, such as large wall decals and full-shirt graphics, but the machine can only cut about 4 to 4.5 inches at a time. You could split the design into multiple sections, manually cut each piece, then align and assemble them by hand. Then again, if you imagine yourself wanting to make larger designs more often, I suggest springing for the $199 Cricut Explore 5. The $349 Cricut Maker 4, meanwhile, can handle thicker materials, like fabric or leather, and can engrave, deboss, or perforate materials. 从技术上讲，Joy 2 可以处理较大的项目，例如大型墙贴和全衬衫图案，但机器一次只能切割约 4 到 4.5 英寸的范围。你可以将设计拆分为多个部分，手动切割每一块，然后手工对齐和组装。不过，如果你预见到自己会经常制作大型设计，我建议直接购买 199 美元的 Cricut Explore 5。而 349 美元的 Cricut Maker 4 则可以处理更厚的材料（如织物或皮革），并能进行雕刻、压凹或打孔。
While my idea of how a “beginner-friendly” cutting machine should onboard users differs from Cricut’s, the Joy 2 is a fun, relatively inexpensive gadget that’s easy to recommend. I’m not about to reopen an Etsy store anytime soon, but for the first time in a while, I want to keep creating. 虽然我对“新手友好型”切割机应如何引导用户有不同看法，但 Joy 2 确实是一款有趣且相对便宜的设备，值得推荐。我虽然不会很快重开 Etsy 网店，但这是很久以来我第一次有了持续创作的动力。