EveryCutFileRead what you see
Compare the preview on the mat with the design: a thin line where you expected a shape means the file holds a line.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A slit down the middle of a thick line | The line is a stroke: a path painted with a width. The blade follows the path | Convert the stroke to a path, then export |
| An outline that never closes | An open path: its ends do not meet | Join the end nodes so the shape is closed |
| The machine draws instead of cutting | The layer's Operation is Draw (the swatch shows as an outline) | Set the Operation to Cut (a solid swatch) |
| Two lines close together around every edge | The shape has both a fill and a thick stroke | Remove the stroke, or convert it and union it with the fill |
A worked example
Draw a 50 mm line with a 2 mm stroke and it looks like a strip. Cut it and you get a 50 mm slit, because the file holds a line with no width. Convert the stroke to a path and the file holds a 2 × 50 mm outline, which cuts out as a strip. Every shape on this site is a filled outline already, so the blade always goes around it.
Fix it in your design program
- Select the line. In Inkscape choose Path > Stroke to Path (Ctrl+Alt+C); in Illustrator, Object > Path > Outline Stroke.
- If the shape also has a fill, combine the two into one with Union (Ctrl++ in Inkscape).
- Close open paths by joining their end nodes.
- In Design Space, check the layer: a solid swatch means Cut, an outline swatch means Draw.
Check before you cut
The checker counts open and closed outlines. A cut shape should be closed; an open outline is a line the blade will cut along, which is right only for a slit or a score line.
From the maker’s documentation: Cricut: Canvas screen guide, Inkscape: keyboard and mouse reference.