I recently faced a challenge in utilizing the Print then Cut feature on my Cricut machine. My goal was to print an existing image and then precisely cut around its outline to create a custom sticker.
Although I encountered several tutorials on creating stickers with the Print then Cut feature, they all assumed that the images being used were already set up for the feature. This left me struggling to configure my image correctly within Cricut.
However, after trying different methods and experimenting, I finally succeeded in figuring out the process. To my surprise, it was much simpler than I had initially anticipated. I realized that I was overcomplicating the task and adding unnecessary steps.
Steps
1. I started by uploading the image from my photo library.
2. Once I selected my image from my photo library, Cricut open the upload image screen to clean up the image so it knows what to cut. I have this image of Snoopy that I want to use on a card. But I don’t want to cut out everything. I just want Cricut to cut an outline of Snoopy.
Before I do anything to the image, I just want to show that if I view the image as a Single Color, all I have is a black rectangle.
3. So I used the Select tool with a tolerance of 40 to take out the parts I want to cut out, which is everything outside of Snoopy.
4. Since I want Cricut to cut a silhouette of Snoopy, I only took out the outer parts of Snoopy to get his silhouette.
If I choose to view the image as a Single Color again, I will see Snoopy’s silhouette. This is what Cricut will cut; just an outline of Snoopy. Everything else in the image will be printed. Exactly what I want!
5. Once I clean up my image, I clicked on Apply, which brings me to the Upload Type screen. Here, I chose the Print then Cut upload type to print and cut my image.
If I chose the Cut upload type, I will only have a silhouette of my image with no details of my image printed.
6. After I clicked on Upload, I have my Snoopy image on Design Space.
7. Now I’m ready to send my image to the printer to print, then to my Cricut.
8. Lastly, sending my printed image to Cricut, ready to be cut.
My finished Snoopy. Ready to use for my card!
Below is what I did wrong in my previous project, when I couldn’t figure out why all of the lines in my image was being printed and cut.
My mistake was taking everything out from the image, except for Snoopy’s lines. This is my mistake when cleaning up my image to upload. ONLY take out what you want Cricut to cut.
I thought that choosing the Print then Cut feature will let me choose what lines to print and what lines to cut in Design Space. I thought wrong!
The key is to set up the image to cut what needs to be cut when it’s uploaded, and everything else will be printed.
