As of now, Cricut has two different lines of vinyl out with their brand as of now. These are premium and Smart vinyl. One thing that I had always wondered when getting started with Cricut is: what is the difference between the two lines? I already have a post out there about my favorite types of vinyl so here is a link to it. Here I talk about to big differences between the two.
How It Is Used: Difference Between Cricut Smart Vinyl and Premium Vinyl
The biggest difference in these two brands is how it is used. With most vinyl brands, you have to put your vinyl onto a mat and then feed it through to cut your vinyl. With the Cricut Smart Vinyl, the key is to be able to feed the vinyl through without a mat. The only downfall is that if you have any machine older than a Cricut Maker 3 or Cricut Explore 3. This means that you can’t use it without a map. Although, you should be able to put it on a mat with older machines.
Quality
The biggest and most obvious difference is the quality. I tend to stick to premium vinyl for my bigger projects because it seems to me it’s easier to use. Smart Vinyl on the other hand, does not tend to be easy to work with sometimes. I think the convenience of not using a mat encourages me to use it more for some projects. Ultimately, which vinyl I use depends on what the project is, and how big of a project it is.
Overall, these are the two main differences between Cricut’s Premium Vinyl and Cricut’s Smart Vinyl. Depending on what the use depends on what you may use these lines for. Overall, these are good lines to use when starting out.
