My 3 favourite Print Then Cut tips

Morning!

I know just how intimidating Print Then Cut can be, so I wanted to share the best 3 tips to help you get better Print Then Cut Projects, and a resource designed to help you solve all your problems!

1 - Use Your Material Space Wisely

Cricut Design Space doesn’t always lay out your Print Then Cut images in the most space-efficient way. It often leaves large gaps between items, wasting expensive material!

What I like to do is use a template to try and optimise the space I have available. I play "Cricut Tetris" and rotate my designs as much as I need to cram as many elements onto a single page as I can. Once I know I have used up as much of the space as possible and there are no elements overlapping, simply attach them all together.

You’ll fit more onto a single sheet, save materials, and spend less time reloading your mat for multiple runs. A little upfront effort here goes a long way!

This also has the additional benefit of saving any printed pages when Design Space crashes!

Grab a free Print Then Cut template here.

2 - Tame the Glossy Glare

If you are using glossy material and your cuts are slightly off, it might not be your calibration. So if you have calibrated (once, twice - a hundred times!) and still have inaccurate cuts on your glossy material - this might be the tip you never knew you needed.

Glossy sticker paper looks stunning and can produce such vibrant colours, but it often causes big problems for your Cricut. The shine from the glossy layer creates a glare that can make it difficult for the Cricut to "see". When the Cricut tries to read the registration lines, the light from the little sensor reflects back and throws everything off. It is kindof the same as taking a photo in your mirror with the flash on - you can't see anything, and neither can the Cricut!

To fix this, place a strip of matte clear tape or draw with a white crayon over each registration mark. It reduces the glare just enough to let your Cricut "see" the lines properly. It's a simple hack that I can't live without!

3 - Always Use Bleed!

I always see people say "turn off bleed" when they are giving advice, but often, leaving bleed on is the best thing you can do for your sanity and your projects in so many ways. It is so misunderstood, and actually an incredibly helpful feature!

One way to use bleed is if you don’t want a white border and prefer full-colour, edge-to-edge stickers; the bleed feature is your best friend. It adds a few extra pixels of the colour from the border of your sticker to the edge, giving a little buffer in case your cut is slightly off.

That means you won’t end up with a tiny white piece on the edge of your sticker - how neat!

The second reason you should use bleed is to see if your design is correctly flattened. The bleed is added everywhere your Cricut is going to cut, so if you see the bleed somewhere in the middle of your sticker, you will immediately be able to tell that something is wrong. Allowing you to fix it before wasting time waiting for the machine to scan and cut the entire page.

This is also a great argument for doing test prints on copy paper while you find your feet - wasting a piece of copy paper is a LOT cheaper than wasting a page of vinyl!

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Ok, so that may have been more than 3 tips - but honestly, I just can't help it when it comes to Print Then Cut! 🤣

If you find yourself struggling with Print Then Cut often, or if you can't figure out what the problem is exactly, my Print Then Cut Problem-Solving Guide will help you with your projects.

It has over 60 solutions to your Print Then Cut problems, covering design setup issues, printing issues, as well as issues you might have while cutting your projects.

This resource guides you through the above problems and many, many more to help you quickly locate your issue using a handy visual reference guide, and take you step-by-step through the process of fixing it.

It is the resource I WISH I had when I started playing around with Print Then Cut. I know it will be incredibly helpful for you, which is why I want to share it with you!

Can't wait to hear how helpful this guide was for you, thanks so much for being here!

And remember, be kind to someone today.

See you soon!

Kelly

P.S. - Don't forget to sign up for the Free Cricut Crafting Adventure Summit happening 29 Apr - 3 May.

It is a 5-day event with 40+ free workshops designed to help you Explore your crafting horizons, bring Joy back into crafting, and bring out the Maker in crafters of all skill levels! (hehe see what I did there? 🤣)

Be sure to also check out the VIP Pass for the summit - you can dive in straight away, have lifetime access to all of the workshops as well as get some super fun bonuses like my Printable Materials Compatibility Guide (worth $12!), and nearly $800 worth of additional bonuses which are all included in the VIP cost!

The VIP ticket is valued at over $2950 - so it is an invaluable resource for you to be able to take your time and enjoy everything it has to offer you at your own leisurely pace!

Cant wait to see you there!!