The Print Then Cut Area Has Grown! YAY!

4 Comments / Everyone, Technique, Tips /

These Halloween stickers are all print then cut. And fit on one page! The print then cut area (formerly 6.75 X9.25) has grown!  It is now about 9 X 8 inches!  Print then Cut is a wonderful technique!  It allows you to put complex graphics in your project without cutting and gluing tiny pieces of paper.  But the technique can be a little confusing. The Crazy Cricut Lady is here to help!

I love this technique.  And now it is bigger!  But I still get a little confused and have to think about it sometimes.  I will walk you through some of the things you need to think about when using the bigger print then cut area.  

NOTE: I have recently learned that the expanded area is only available to the users with the Maler3 and the Air2

How to Turn Anything into Print Then Cut
Some images come with Access as print then cut images (Like the Halloween Stickers), some you upload as print then cut images and some you want to make print then cut just this once.  That is easy to do with the Flatten button.  The flatten button is at the bottom on the right side, next to the slice, weld and attach buttons.
Just select what you want to be print then cut, then press the flatten button.  BTW you can undo this by pressing the button again.  If the image is saved as a print then cut image when uploaded or comes with Design Space as a print then cut image this can be undone.  It just turns grey if you try.
Figure Out What Part You Want Printed or Cut
Design Space is very choosy on what it prints or cuts.  If you want to make an embellishment like in these pictures, it is important how you pick those items.

If you want to make stickers or ornaments like these you need to select different things

The key is to select and flatten EVERYTHING you want to print out.  Sometimes that requires placing a shape under the image and selecting the outline and the image so that the image is printed and the whole thing is cut out.  This is where I usually screw up when I do this technique and have to go back and correct it.  If you don’t do this Cricut will try to cut out the image from the background.

If you just want the image cut out and to glue it to the project, select only the image and flatten it.  This will cut out only the image, including any open spaces.  That makes a colorful embellishment that you can place anywhere.

What Printer Should I Use for Print then Cut?
I see this question a lot on Facebook!  The brand of printer doesn’t really matter.  As long as your computer or phone accesses the printer, it will work.  Whether a laser printer or Ink jet printer is  better depends on what you are doing. 
Ink jet printers work for any media you are trying to work with.  Laser printers work only for paper.  That’s because the laser printer melts the printable vinyl (yes you have to use printable vinyl) when you try to print on it.  I only have a laser printer now days so I don’t do a lot of vinyl work but I have an ink jet printer in my storage room if I need it (actually I have 3 because I can’t throw anything away.  LOL)
Conclusion

I hope this helps with the confusion, but if you still have questions feel free to contact me.  I will walk you through it.  You can post a comment below, use the contact me page or email me at blog@crazycricutlady.com.

Another way to get help is to post a question in the Crazy Cricut Lady Facebook group.  There are a bunch of really helpful people there who will give you tips.

The Halloween Stickers can be downloaded here.  The rest of these projects are available by searching the name of the project.

4 thoughts on “The Print Then Cut Area Has Grown! YAY!”

    2. Your not alone as i have latest version 6.15.204 and limit still 6.75 x 9.25 as exclamation appears in layers panel if you make larger….. Might be something coming rolling out slowly..nothing mentioned in whats new v6.15

      Reply

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