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

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.

Cricut announced its first crafting machines with printing capabilities that are primarily designed as all-in-one solutions for turning photos and other images into pre-cut stickers. The Cricut StickerPix Print plus Cut and Cricut StickerPix Print are also two of the smallest machines in the company’s current lineup and seem ideal for those whose crafting aspirations may be limited by their available storage space.

Starting at $299, the Cricut StickerPix Print plus Cut is the larger and more expensive of the two new machines and is also available as part of pricier bundles that include more consumables. It’s compatible with 4x7-inch sticker sheets and 4x6-inch photo paper and uses a dye-sublimation printing process that relies on heat instead of spraying ink for better color reproduction. Unlike Cricut’s larger crafting machines, these new offerings include a built-in lamination process making prints resistant to water, scratches, and fading over time.

The smaller Cricut StickerPix Print starts at $169 and is also available as part of larger bundles. It carries forward most of the functionality of the larger model but without cutting capabilities. It instead prints directly to pre-cut sticker sheets with shapes that include circles, rectangles, and squares, but it can also be used to print 4x6 photos.

The biggest difference between the StickerPix Print plus Cut and Cricut’s larger machines is that it’s only capable of cutting through the top layer of a print, producing what are known as kiss-cut stickers that come out still attached toa larger sheet. Cricut’s other machines are capable of making die-cut stickers that are sliced right through the backing paper.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.