The Brother ScanNCut is a unique electronic die cutting machine that has a built-in 300 DPI scanner. With the Brother ScanNCut, one is able to scan virtually anything into the scanner to have the machine automatically create cut lines. You can scan stamped images, hand drawn designs, magazine cutouts, or photos. Once these designs are created, they can be saved to the Brother’s internal memory, or saved to an external USB drive. The Brother ScanNCut comes with a built-in touch screen to manipulate and move images, and works without a computer or cartridges. With such features as a scanner, we found this Brother ScanNCut review to be fun and unique.
*Note: Be sure to also check out the newer Brother ScanNCut2!
Design and Features
- Built-in 300 DPI Scanner can be used to scan and cut designs, create custom shapes, or save .JPG files.
- USB Drive input allows for saving files or downloading new designs.
- Internal memory stores custom designs and comes preloaded with basic shapes, borders, and fonts.
- Full-color LCD touch screen to manipulate designs.
- Built specifically with fabric in mind to create seam allowances and sewing guidelines
- Cut and draw using the 12″ x 12″ or 12″ x 24″ cutting mat.
Using the Brother ScanNCut
The Brother ScanNCut is a stand-alone machine, meaning it doesn’t require a computer to operate. In fact, there is no way to connect it to a computer. There is still software you can use with it, however (more on that below). The machine is also cartridge free, in the sense it doesn’t use cartridges. I will mention that Brother does sell USB drives that contain images, but these USB drives are not required to operate the machine.
This machine is a fairly straightforward machine to use, and there isn’t too much of a learning curve compared to other machines. The Brother ScanNCut manual is easy to understand.
Cutting Mats
Anytime you scan, cut, or draw, you’ll want to use the cutting mat. The cutting mat comes in two sizes, 12″ x 12″ and 12″ x 24″, and two different types, a regular version, and the low tack adhesion version, which is used for more delicate materials.
One downside of the Brother ScanNCut are the mats. The mats aren’t sticky enough. One has the option of taping the edges of the material to the mat, to prevent the material from moving around.
Scanning
The Brother ScanNCut comes with a built-in 300 DPI scanner. Images can be scanned into the machine from a variety of places. This includes hand-drawn designs and fonts. Once the material is scanned, the Brother detects the scanned pattern and automatically creates cut lines. The machine can then proceed to start cutting the traced designs, or the designs can be saved to internal memory, where they can be cut on different materials.
What’s neat about the Brother ScanNCut is that scanned images can be saved to a USB drive as a .JPG file, where it can be kept as a backup or altered further using 3rd party software.
Cutting
Once an image is selected, either from the USB drive, internal memory, or from a scanned image, it can be cut in 3 ways:
Outline detection: The outline of the design is cut. Cut lines inside the design are ignored.
Region detection: The outside of the design is cut, as well as any inside designs.
Line detection: Only the inside lines are cut.
The Brother ScanNcut also comes with 2 different blades, a regular blade and a deep cut blade for thicker materials. The blade holders are color coated to tell the difference between them.
Drawing
In addition to scanning and cutting, the Brother ScanNCut can also draw. You can even draw hand-drawn designs or phrases.
To draw, you’ll need to purchase both the pen holder and pens. The pen set is somewhat limited when it comes to color.
Cutting and using fabric
The Brother ScanNCut was designed with quilters in mind. Cutting fabric does require a few extra steps to prepare compared to paper materials.
Here’s how to cut fabric with the Brother ScanNCut:
- If possible, starch and iron your fabric to make it flat
- Next, apply the fabric sheet to the standard mat
- Then, apply your fabric to the mat.
- Use the spatula and press it against the fabric to make sure there are no air pockets
- Start cutting!
It’s always good to do a test cut on a smaller piece of material to test the blade depth and blade speed.
Check out the video demonstration of cutting leather:
The Brother allows you to add seam allowances to the fabric in 1/4″ increments, which is perfect for quilters.
With the erasable pen set, one can draw seam allowances or other temporary lines on fabric. The ink in the blue pen can be washed out with water, while the ink in the purple pen is designed to disappear after a few days.
Brother ScanNCut Canvas Software
The Brother ScanNCut doesn’t connect to a computer, but there is still software for the machine. The software is called ScanNCut Canvas, and it’s a free cloud-based program.
The software comes with some designs and fonts ready to use, but you can import other file formats such as .JPG and .SVG. These file formats can then be converted to .FCM, where they can be downloaded to a USB drive and uploaded to the Brother machine.
Tracing JPGs can be more complicated than shown in the video below, but there are tutorials you can find online.
Overall Review
The Brother ScanNCut has some features that no die cutting machine on the market has. The scanner is quite useful, and so is the ability to draw seam allowances and create sewing guides. Even though it’s stand-alone, it comes with the free online Canvas software and the ability to work with USB drives.
One of the cheapest places to purchase the machine is from Amazon, as it comes with free shipping. Click below to check the price!
