{"id":16728,"date":"2021-01-28T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T08:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.disneyexperience.com\/news\/?p=16728"},"modified":"2021-01-20T16:27:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T00:27:47","slug":"breathing-new-life-into-the-craft-robo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.disneyexperience.com\/news\/breathing-new-life-into-the-craft-robo\/","title":{"rendered":"Breathing New Life Into the Craft ROBO"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have an old Craft ROBO cutting machine, it may be time to bring new life to it for use with modern software. I’ve had my Craft ROBO CC200<\/a> for nearly 12 years, and it’s been good to me. But, I recently came to the realization that it was either time to get a new cutting machine, or I would have to find a solution that would make it compatible with modern programs.<\/p>\n

I’ve been using the same old CS5 versions of the Adobe<\/em> programs, like Photoshop and Illustrator, for 15 years, and I thought is was high time to upgrade to Adobe<\/em>‘s Creative Cloud subscription<\/a>. After I replaced my old programs, it dawned on me that I would no longer be able to use my Craft ROBO with Illustrator!<\/p>\n

Graphtec<\/em>, the former manufacturer, had a plug-in (Cutting Master 2<\/a>) for sending cutting data directly from Adobe<\/em> Illustrator to the Craft ROBO. It was an extremely handy tool, but it only worked with Illustrator 8-CS6. I was using the CS5 version, but I had now upgraded to the 2021 version. Sadly, Graphtec<\/em> doesn’t seem to even sell consumer products any more, nor do they update their older software<\/a> for use with modern programs. Luckily, there was another option.<\/p>\n

Sometime over the past 12 years, the Craft ROBO machines became Silhouette machines<\/a>. There was even a period when both existed on the market at the same time, the Silhouette machines simply being re-branded Craft ROBO machines. Even the software was eerily similar. After looking into the new machines and their software, I seriously considered updating my cutting machine to a Silhouette.<\/p>\n

My Craft ROBO still works just fine\u2014it does tend to drift a tad on occasions\u2014but, compatibility with a modern Illustrator program was going to be problematic, so why not upgrade? Digging deeper, I found that Silhouette has a plug-in that works with their machines and Illustrator just like the Craft ROBO did. After looking at the machine\/program compatibility, I was surprised to see that the plug-in, Silhouette Connect<\/a>, supports the old Graphtec<\/em> Craft ROBO CC100-CC300 series machines! Woo-hoo; I don’t have to buy a new machine!<\/p>\n

I did have to pay $40 for the plug-in, a small price to pay compared to the hundreds of dollars I would have to dish out for a whole new machine. Plus, I would still have to buy the plug-in since it’s not included with new purchases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Silhouette<\/a><\/p>\n

The Silhouette Connect software is a lot more user-friendly (and prettier) than Graphtec<\/em>‘s Cutting Master 2 software. There are a lot more options for different cutting materials and paper sizes, and it has other options like weeding. I may be wrong, but the cuts also seem to be far more accurate; my Craft ROBO used to drift just a little, but now it’s ridiculously accurate.<\/p>\n

\"Test<\/a><\/p>\n

What has<\/em> changed a little in Illustrator are the registration marks. They now appear upside-down, and the data of those marks are spread across three Illustrator layers instead of one. The program will even hide registration layers made by the old Cutting Master 2 plug-in.<\/p>\n

Overall, paying $40 to use my Craft ROBO with my new Adobe<\/em> Illustrator 2021 with a slick, new interface was a great investment. I can confidently use my Craft ROBO until it dies.<\/p>\n\r\n