Wednesday

[ehyde]

❧ Black Friday deals -- Cricut vs Silhouette -- I've been intending all year to get a cutting machine this holiday season, and now's the time to do it, but I'm still undecided between a Cricut or a Silhouette. Cricut has slightly more functions (although possibly with not quite as much customization?) -- mainly it does embossing/debossing, which I would like to explore for book design. Its downside is needing an internet connection to cut--iffy in my craft room--and potential software shadiness from the company (they planned to go to a paid subscription model, backed off when literally no one supported this, but the threat is there). I think I'm still leaning towards the Cricut? But I'd like to hear what other people think, if you've used either one.

❧ WIP Wednesday -- I've been working on another typeset for @renegadepublishing's exchange, so I can't share details, but I can share fonts! I'm using Newt Serif for the body text (a serif font with a bit of a whimsical, fantastical vibe). I loved this font when I first saw it but it wasn't suitable for the book I was working on then, and I kept it in the back of my mind till now. And I'm using Son of Time by Pia Frauss for the titles--no special reasoning here, but I knew I wanted something handwritten, old-fashioned vibes, but upright, and I recalled this site had some possibilities. I've used the same designer's Tycho's Elegy (based on the handwriting of Tycho Brahe) in a different typeset before.

❧ I've been reading Priest's Lie Huo Jiao Chou (danmei, urban fantasy) and in theory I like it a lot, but I've been kind of bouncing off it, and I can't point to any particular reason why (as opposed to Mr Melancholy Wants To Live A Peaceful Life, which I didn't finish, where I could point out exactly why it wasn't clicking for me). I might just not be in a reading mood; I haven't been reading any fic lately either. I don't think the fact that it's an unfinished translation is helping, either, knowing that I'm going to have to stop somewhere and not binge the whole thing whether I "get into it" or not.

Comments

[finch]

My spouse got a Cricut Joy a couple of years back and has had a lot of fun with it, so we updated to the Cricut Maker earlier this year when it was on a ridiculous sale. It's pretty easy to use and they recommend it a lot but we've never had a Silhouette to compare it to.

[momijizukamori]

I like my Silhouette a lot, but it does sound like the newer Cricuts has slightly better cutting power. The software shadiness is personally way too much of a turn off for me, though.

[ehyde]

Costco is one of the places with a sale, so I figure in the worst case, I can take advantage of their return policy if cricut starts asking for money for the software.

The premium version of the Silhouette software is a one-time purchase, right? Do you need that SVG capability to do lines (like for foil quill stuff) rather than outlined shapes?

[momijizukamori]

It's a one-time purchase, yeah, and the SVG is only for import formats - I've converted SVGs to DXFs and imported them a few times, or done text styling directly in the software. Most of the time when I use the machine, though, I'm using an Inkscape plugin to go directly to the machine. I think there's also some third-party software that works for it on Windows but I've never bothered investigating.

[coffeeontherocks]

I only ever hear things about Cricut, but I've never used either so I'm no help lmao.

I haven't read that one from Priest yet, but I wonder if I'll feel the same when I get around to it.

[sunlit_stone]

I have no experience with either so I can't advise, but good luck!

[bcgphoenix]

Having tried both, I much much prefer the Silhouette, just because the software feels a lot less janky than Cricut. Even aside from the need to be connected to the internet with Cricut's software, it feels a lot harder to make it do what I want to do? Like, they've made it "easy to use" at the expense of not being able to design much beyond the kind of stuff that shows up on Pinterest.

[ehyde]

I'm downloading the Silhouette software now to take a look (I used the Cricut software a little bit before, with the library machine).
[plays with it a bit] okay, this does feel a lot more like an actual drawing program, I think I see what you mean.
Do you find being unable to import SVG files a hindrance? Or are you using the upgraded version of the software?

[sunshine304]

The fonts look great, had to download immediately! XD
Aren’t we all just avid font collectors?

I’ve heard some say that Priest isn’t the easiest author to get into. I haven’t read anything by this author yet, but I’d also be not very motivated if I saw that the TL isn’t finished. What if I’d gotten totally into the story after all and then – there’s no more? :(

 

 

[ehyde]

*looks at font collection* nothing to see here...
Interestingly I see a lot of bookbinders settle on one or two favorite body fonts, while I feel like I've used a different body font for every book (I haven't really gone quite that far).

I've only read one other novel by Priest, but it was really good--but yeah maybe it would be better if the next thing I jump to is complete. Although, MDZS wasn't fully translated when I started reading either--the translation stopped right as WWX had been thrown into the burial mounds. Worst cliffhanger ever. (my friend who recced it to me had read the whole thing in Chinese and I don't think she'd bothered to check the translation status, lol).

[sunshine304]

I've been super boring about body fonts and have mostly used TNR. XD But I've been very daring and used a different one recently because it ran a bit wider. Now, I'm again using a different one for the current project to get a bit of an "older" feel, though it's nothing fancy at all. I like to be fancy with title/header fonts and keep the rest very clear and similar to what we're used to from published books.

Oh no having to stop at that particular point in MDZS must've been so awful!(*/ω＼*) When I came into the fandom, it was completely translated by the time I actually went looking for it, whenever that was in 2020. But yeah, if it's not finished or looks like it's slowing down a lot, I'm reluctant to commit. I don't want to be left hanging.