ATG Gun vs. Scotch Advanced Tape Glider

I went to a craft store looking for an ATG gun. They didn't have it (I think I could order online here). They did have a Scotch Advanced Tape Glider, which is huge, like the ATG Gun. It works fine so far, but I can't help but wonder if I'm missing out by not going with the ATG? If I remember correctly, I heard that the ATG just has a cartridge that snaps in and out. The Scotch glider has to be threaded, which I hate. Anyone know if one is better than the other?

Are you talking about the pink ATG? If so, you might want to look at this superstore link. It gives details about it, a video and there's 38 user reviews.

http://store.scrapbook.com/jv-cat085.html

I hate to break it to you, but ATG stands for Advanced Tape Glider---YOU HAVE ONE!!

Jeneppers..that is hysterical, I just figured that out after I posted!! I'm such an airhead! But IzzyB, that video was really helpful because it showed the original ATGs and the newer pink one made just for scrapping. The pink one is just $30 and the old ones are twice that. It makes me wonder if the pink one is not made as well! The lady on the video said it's more for "consumer use"! Still not sure if I should have gotten the more expensive one!

I've never heard of the ATG having a cartridge that snaps in and out.

I think you're confusing the ATG and Glue Glider.
The Glue Glider Pro is not made by Scotch, so you probably do have the ATG.
It looks like the Glue Glider Pro may have a snap in refill.

Check out this video. It may answer some questions.
http://www.scrapbook.com/videos/1383.html

The ATGs (both of them) have to be threaded. The Glue Glider Pro (which I have and love) has cartridges that just pop in.

I've been debating over the pink ATG, but also HATE threading, and am still on the fence.

The threading really isn't bad....think of the savings from refills with the atg!

• HisGEM Said:

Big savings with the atg refills and it's more eco-friendly...less plastic being thrown out. It takes me two-three minutes to change my adhesive roll; max. I love my 1/4" atg.

• madmatter Said:

Refilling the ATG is really simple and it takes about 2 minutes tops.

I'm all into being green and I like how little plastic waste there is with the ATG at the end all you have is the tape backing and a plastic ring (which I WISH was cardboard, but whatever...) and you aren't throwing away a huge plastic cartridge. Also...it's sooooo much cheaper.

I love the ATG...it soothes my green side and my cheap side LOL!

• Sunnydi Said:

YES! Sorry i should have read the whole thread before posting...EXACTLY! So much less wasteful!

ATG stands for Automatic Transfer Gun,,,for some reason, when they made one especially for scrappers, they called it the Advanced Tape Glider,,,,,

I think they were trying to freaking confuse us,,,,

and/or compete with the glue GLIDER pro,,,,because you know, if it SAYS "glide" in the name, it's a lot more sellable (eyeroll),,,,,

they are basically the same product,,,,,the pink ATG (so they say) is a bit less sturdy than the red and yellow ones that were made for commercial use, but basically the exact same gun.

Have fun with it, they're wonderful,,,,,,and watch the You-Tube vids on how to load the thing,,,,much easier than the directions on the gun!

• madmatter Said:

I got the Glue Glider Pro for free and it came with two adhesive packs. It worked well but refills are so much more expensive. Retail price of a refill for a Tombow adhesive is 3.99 and a refill for a Glue Glider is 8.99 and there's only one more inch. I didn't notice a difference in tack. Are the ATG glues more tacky than a Tombow adhesive?

I think they're more tacky, but that's just me. I love my ATG and wouldn't be without it.

Where do you get your tape from for the Pink ATG?

I order my refills from the Pink ATG from the Tape Jungle (online). I can order bulk and the shipping is incredibly FAST!

They are essentially the same thing. ATG actually stands for Adhesive Transfer Gun, but Scotch renamed the pink one the Advanced Tape Glider. They both work the same way and take the same refills. I love mine!

I don't think the red and yellow are any more sturdy I've broke a yellow one and a red one my pink is still going. If you drop any of them often enough they break

I think I'm going to get myself a purple one.

The pink one is 1/4" tape and is the most economical to use. I'm just careful to get the acid free - I've made a mistake a time or two when it was new and bought general purpose and gave it away. Card makers often have two ATG's - one for general purpose and acid free for scrapbooking.

I have two pink ones - one for my scrap desk and one that stays packed for crops.

I priced the 1/2 tape and it is very expensive to use - no savings at all! It would end up costing me a lot more because I use my ATG so much. And with the way I scrap I don't need the 1/2" width. It was explained to me that professional frame shops use the 1/2". Overkill for scrapbooks.

I buy 24 boxes of tape at a time with 2 rolls per box. I know 48 boxes at a time sounds like a lot to buy and keep on hand but I don't like to run out, I refuse to go out shipping just for adhesive because I will buy so much else if I go into the store.

I buy from a framing supply place on line - seems to be the best price I've found.

I always time myself when I put in a new roll of tape - it is threaded. It has the arrows on the inside of the plastic and its super easy. My record for changing it is 15 seconds and I always try to beat my record but I can't get it below 15 seconds.

Henri, I love that you have timed yourself and are trying to beat your record! I must do that!

I love my ATG gun...everytime I use it I get a little idea of why guys love their power tools, etc....there is just something fun about using that big tool! lol

I love my ATG!! I tend to buy 12 rolls at a time and lasts me awhile!

I am a high-volume scrapper. We travel a lot, I take a lot of family photos and I scrap every picture I like. One time after a trip I developed 1,800 pictures and scrapped a lot of them, sent the rest to family and friends who were in the photos. (I don't keep current loose photos if the event has been scrapped.) My only loose photos are my boys baby and childhood photos because they don't seem interested in having them scrapped so I'm not doing it. A few odd and end photos from the past that aren't worth scrapping in my opinion.

Anyway, I scrap a bit differently - I get my pages to the glue stage and then quickly sketch it out on a scrap of paper so I remember what photo or title goes where. I make mats and title letters and select embellies - its all on the sketch.

At the crops I visit and glue. I try not to take a lot of stuff - chalk for edges in case I forgot to do some, extra black paper for matting, ATG, trimmer - clear ruler - the basics and I just get busy and reconstruct my pages and glue 'em down. I do take plenty of eyelets and brads and my crop-o-dile so I can add brads if the page looks a little bland after it is glued down.

I went to a 3 day weekend crop 2 weeks ago - got 116 pages nailed down! That was my best weekend. I changed my ATG tape 10 times between Friday afternoon late, all day Saturday and 3PM on Sunday when it was over!

A lot of other people just hand theirs to me because I can change the tape so quickly.

After that I spent 2 weeks get another 16 or 17 pages ready and glued them down at a crop this past weekend. Changed the tape 3 times, maybe 4 - not sure.

Right now I'm preparing pages for the next crop - working on Venice and will be at least 7 pages. But I will wait until the crop (probably the one in January for 3 days) to glue any of it down.

Between the crop 2 weeks ago and the crop this past weekend I used 14-15 rolls of ATG tape.

But from now until the next crop I will use very little.

I have at least 150 pages to put together for the January crop and some of the ladies said they cropped every Thursday and invited me to join them. Looking forward to that!

You are my hero Henri. I don't only scrap for the memories, but for the art too. My LOs take half a day each on average by the time I've faffed around and changed my mind several times. Even if I had prepped everything in advance, I wouldn't get more than half a dozen finished at a crop. I would get my LOs planned, then think of a better idea and get frustrated that I didn't have the bits I wanted with me.

Anyway, end of hijack. Please return to your regular scheduled ATG conversation!

You are funny Rosey! There were two ladies in the back of the room selling the last of their Creative Memory items - they weren't scrapping and I spent most of the day yesterday visiting with them. Had an awesome time and noticed the friended me today on Facebook. Was great.

My pages go easy when they are travel page because I pick the theme of how I'm doing each cruise.

This last one - each port is in a different neutral patterned paper. Just finished Corfu, Greece yesterday. Took a half day to get the 7 pages together.

The paper I used was a khaki and off white diagonal stripe for those pages. Each port has black mats, flowers brads and accessories so they are black and the neutral pattern.

Each title page for a different port has the title in Gypsy Wanderings (I think) font which is welded together and goes 12" across the page. I take out the letters and use the negative space with the letters cut out so you see the patterned paper which is very laid back paper and not busy so you can read it.

I'm formatting so much on this cruise and I'm loving the results! Very neat and clean and nothing takes away from the photos and journaling.

I have some full page diecut or photo pages I've purchased with pictures of the places and those are added in on a right side like individual title pages and then when it goes into the port, I go back to the format of black with the title cut out of it showing the patterned paper and using the same patterned paper for each port and black mats and accessories.

I have a lot of specialty stuff for Venice and Athens and Cairo which I will use, then go back to the black and neutrals.

All journaling is done while we are on the trip - just have to delete what I don't want, add any more thoughts sometimes (not often) and print.

Its when I get to the family layouts that it can take several days for a page because I don't have a format to fall back on - I have to think about what I'm doing!

Most of my cruise scrapbooks have s theme running through them. I like the look of that, plus it ties the ports together.

Okay, I'm through hijacking to - back to the regular scheduled ATG conversation!

I have such a hard time threading my ATG gun. My tape seems to come off the side of the small spool and then I have a mess to undo and that tape can't be used. I just use score-tape because of my lack of eye - hand coordination. The weight of my pink ATG is a liitle on the heavy side for these old hands. I also have a pro glider which works great but I won't use it because of the cost of the tape cartridge. I feel that they made it large so you think it has a ton of tape....who didn't read where it says 40 FEET? Yes, they made a fool of me, but they are definitely deceiving. Also, the empty cart should be recycled through the craft stores.

The products and their packaging can be deceiving and I get fooled now and then when I don't take the time to read the description or do research before buying products.... that still happens when I get in a hurry/ excited about a product...
I found the ATG a little daunting when I first started using it, it is on the heavy side but learned to live with that and it can be tricky learning to thread it..... although I have good hand eye coordination.... so far.
I have seen a lot of different systems out there for adhesive and find for me, the ATG is the best deal. I purchase my refills with coupons so very rarely pay full retail price which helps a great deal. PLUS I don't use tons and tons of tape on each piece I adhere to my layouts. I don't need coverage on all four (or more) sides to get my pictures and embellishments to stick and stay in place!
Adhesive is one of those things that is a continuous cost for paper crafters and it can be costly!!

I bought an ATG gun and struggled and struggled with it for months. Not only was it difficult to change the tape, but it was simply too heavy and unwieldy for my comfort. I ended up selling it at a garage sale, and I'm happily back to using my little old Tombow tape roller adhesive! Note, I'm not saying this would be the case for everyone - most people love their ATG's - it just wasn't for me.