Cricut's new compact crafter prints, cuts, and laminates stickers

Cricut has announced its first crafting machines that can print as well as cut, with both new models built around turning photos and other images into precut stickers. The Cricut StickerPix Print plus Cut and the Cricut StickerPix Print are also among the smallest machines in the company's current lineup, a design the company appears to be aiming at crafters whose space for equipment is limited.

The StickerPix Print plus Cut starts at $299 and is the larger and more expensive of the pair. It is also offered in pricier bundles that include additional consumables. The machine works with 4x7-inch sticker sheets and 4x6-inch photo paper, and it uses a dye-sublimation printing process that relies on heat rather than sprayed ink for better color reproduction. Both new machines include a built-in lamination process, a feature Cricut's larger crafting machines do not have, which makes the prints resistant to water, scratches, and fading over time.

The smaller StickerPix Print starts at $169 and is likewise available in larger bundles. It keeps most of the functionality of the larger model but drops cutting capabilities. Instead, it prints directly onto precut sticker sheets in shapes that include circles, rectangles, and squares, and it can also print 4x6 photos.

The main functional gap between the StickerPix Print plus Cut and Cricut's larger machines is in how the cut is made. The StickerPix Print plus Cut can only cut through the top layer of a print, producing kiss-cut stickers that remain attached to a larger sheet. Cricut's other machines can produce die-cut stickers that are sliced through the backing paper.

For US buyers, the two machines open a lower-cost route into printed sticker production than Cricut's existing lineup, with the Print plus Cut at $299 and the Print at $169. Both are positioned as all-in-one options for converting photos and other images into precut stickers, and both are designed to take up less storage space than the company's larger crafting machines. No release date for the two machines was included in the announcement.

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