Eclips (first impression comments)

[sstehman]

What can I say...so far I love it. Just arrived. Easy, easy set up. Had out of the box, blade holder and blade inserted and all hooked up within 30 min.

This is what I like so far --
1. The mat. It is not over sticky and when I took my paper off it did not curl into a megaphone. That's alone is a winner. The paper pulled off so nicely and I had no problems with tearing of my card stock. The remaining pieces came off easily and I did not have to scrape my mat in frustration. Now understand I only cut 2 items, so will update on how long the mat lasts without having to respray it (understand there is a spray available from Sizzix just for this). Will probably get some to have it when needed.

2. eCal worked flawlessly for me the first time. I am posting 1 picture that I cut using eCal (image from Gj1). It is the green frame.

3. The remote is nice...I haven't used all of the bells and whistles with the remote, yet....so have some to learn there. eClips comes with one cartridge and the yellow frame picture is from that cartridge. It cut out beautifully too. There is a project booklet with the cartridge also very nicely done. You do not need to use cartridges (and if you want them, they are a considerable bargain compared to those others out there.)

2. A hard copy of a manual very nicely put together.

3. Had an issue initially and Sizzix customer service could not have been better. Have not had the pleasure of customer service like this in a long time.

I have not used PnCut, laser feature or anything special with the remote yet......but give me time. Can't wait to check everything out and will keep you posted.

[papasue]

Welcome to eCal!. I have had mine for almost two months and am still finding little goodies to do with it.

We will kep in touch as we both discover the things we can do.

[gj1]

Congrats...did not know you were getting a new machine. I will look forward to hearing and seeing all it does. Please show lots :)

[RosemaryH]

I got mine last week as well and have a similar experience. I have had another cutter for some years so the learning curve was not as big this time.

I did things the other way round as the eCal software didn't arrive till after the eClips. I played with the cartridge quite a bit, cutting random pieces and tried on vellum, medium and heavy cardstock. I found the vellum a bit tricky to get the settings right but once I had it was fine. The 2 different weights of cardstock just cut beautifully first time.

I now have the software installed, had a bit of an issue with the driver but with help from the questions and answers here I managed to get it sorted quickly. Now I need to find time to play with some SVG files I have downloaded and maybe try some other mediums to cut.

[sstehman]

I downloaded the software ahead of time in anticipation that the cutter was in the works....and it cuts from my Mac which is a plus for me. My school tech people left me do the install and I was afraid it might not cut as I had to use my ancient PC with SCAL because of a driver conflict with my Mac school software. eCal gave me no conflict....just a screen that said a new interface was detected and did I want to install. I chose cancel and went on to cut.

Here is a funny, FedExpress drove by my house and I was in the driveway talking to a neighbor. Tried to flag him down but he was fastly driving to the other end of our street to a business. My hubby hopped in the car and followed him. (gotta luv him). The delivery guy was walking out of the business and up walks my husband and says I think that box might be for us. He was a little surprised as he didn't know where to deliver it.

[alliellis]

I have had my eclips for about 3 weeks now. I am really impressed with it. It cuts like a dream. The print and cut is very easy to use and the laser feature is fantastic. I love how easy the blade is to fit and the mat is to load. The sticky spray isn't available in the UK but Sizzix have advised me about 12x12 adhesive film which you somehow transfer the adhesive to your mat. Will probably try that out soon. I have not had any problems with ecal. My only problem is the limit of my imagination, but I am getting better. Love that there are so many files posted on here to try and you all have such great blogs.

[pennsylvaniakate]

Did Sizzix recommend the Renu sheets? If so, they are really quite good. I just ordered one sheet (it will do 2 12x12 mats), and I like it better than anything else I have ever used. There was a big discussion about them on the MTC forum. Don't worry about taking the old adhesive off first, just give the mat a good scrub in warm soapy water to get off any paper. Be sure not to touch the side with the adhesive dots to anything but your mat when applying the Renu. Burnish really well, and you are good to go. I had a few dots pull off with my paper the first few times, but it seems the more you use it, the less that is an issue. Quite similar to the original adhesive on the Cameo mat.

[alliellis]

Yes Sizzix did recommend them and they sent me a good list of ideas to get more from your mat
http://www.sizzix.co.uk/images/static/Cutting Mat Tips and Tricks.pdf
They are very helpful

[mitsim]

I've had my Eclips for a few months now and I really do love it. I have not had one bad cut since I got it. There are still a few glitches they are working out, but they are working really hard on them and really want feed back so they can make this new software work well. One suggestion for all of you newbies. There has already been an update in the software, so make sure you are running 1.002. If you are running 1.001 and save a project as an scut file, you may not be able to open it once you have updated to 1.002. So, I'd suggest to do that update right away so you won't have any issues with it. You can get the update right here on craftedge.com.

I also love the scoring feature. No more of those dashed scoring lines for me. I take all of my files and add straight lines on a new layer over all of the perforated score lines, then delete the perforated score lines layer. Then I tell the eclips to change the new scores lines from cut to score. It works really well. I did turn down the level of the scoring. I believe the default the score pressure at 5, but I changed it to 3 and it scored plenty deep on my cardstock.

Enjoy everyone! Oh, and Sandy, I cut that frame for my first cut also. I accidently cut it at 1-1/2", and it cut perfectly! It's a great machine for making really clean cuts, that's for sure.

[AnointedHands]

Glad You guys are enjoying your new machines. I opted for the Zing and pretty happy with it except for the bladeholder. Since I already have a Gazelle I just use that holder and it cuts like a dream.

Now I just gotta learn Make The Cut software that came with the machine.

Althea