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Print Then Cut on colored paper

Cricut Maker, Cricut Maker 3, and Cricut Explore 3 contain a more powerful Print Then Cut sensor which allows you to Print Then Cut on colored paper and cardstock!

 

Things To Remember

  1. Lighter colors are best. Darker colors do not allow enough contrast between the paper and the printed sensor marks.
  2. You may find that you can Print Then Cut on some patterned papers. The sensor wasn't designed with this functionality in mind so there is no guarantee that it will work, but you may have some success.
    • Always do a Print Then Cut test with your material first to be sure it will work.
    • Simple, subtle, light-colored patterns are better. Busy patterns may confuse the sensor, and dark patterns do not allow enough contrast between the paper and the printed sensor marks.
    • Patterns with dark vertical and horizontal lines may confuse the sensor as it scans for the printed sensor marks.
  3. Print Then Cut is not recommended for reflective materials such as epoxy papers, glitter paper/cardstock, or some embossed papers. These may reflect the light from the cut sensor, causing it to fail when scanning for the cut sensor marks. Again, you may have some success with Print Then Cut on these materials, but the results may vary from one attempt to the next. Always complete a Print Then Cut test first to be sure it will work with your material.
  4. The maximum print area for Print Then Cut is 9.25 in x 6.75 in (17.145 cm x 23.495 cm).
  5. Print Then Cut on colored materials is possible with the Cricut Maker, Cricut Maker 3, and Cricut Explore 3 only. All previous Cricut Explore models must use white materials for Print Then Cut.

 

How do I set my shape to not print in color when printing on colored paper?

Most standard printers do not have white ink - usually, they use just black, cyan, magenta, and yellow - so in Design Space, select your shape in the Layers panel and set the color to white.

  1. You can, 1) Select the white tile from the basic colors palette; 2) Slide the custom color picker to select white (usually the top left corner); or 3) Manually enter the hex color code for white which is #FFFFFF. Because the printer doesn't print with white ink, the shape will not print in color, but your machine will cut around the shape.

    Color_picker.png

  2. In the mobile app, tap the Layers tool at the bottom of the screen, then tap the arrow next to your image in the Layers panel to access the color options. Slide the custom color picker to select white (usually, the top left corner), or manually enter the hex color code for white which is #FFFFFF. 

    Mobile_color_picker.png

  3. Then Flatten your text or other images to the white shape, and you are ready to Print Then Cut!

 

What if my printer does print with white ink?

Unfortunately, aside from using a printer that does not use white ink, there is not a workaround for this. Design Space does not have an option for setting the color to "no color" or "transparent", and if your printer does print with white ink, and you set your shape to white in Design Space, it will print the shape in white on your colored paper.

Note: You can design Print then Cut projects in Design Space app for Android, however, you cannot cut them through the app at this point in time.

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