EveryCutFileMaximum Print Then Cut size
Part of the page is kept for the sensor markings Design Space prints around the design, so the area left isn’t a full rectangle. The first number is the tallest a design can be, the second the widest; a design that uses the full height may not get the full width.
Venture also takes 12 × 12 in sheets (10.94 × 10.94 in) and sheets up to 24 × 28 in (26.94 × 22.94 in). The original Cricut Joy can’t Print Then Cut. Your printer has to take the paper too: choose the page size in Design Space’s Settings, under Print Then Cut Settings (on a computer, the Load Type tab).
| Paper | Explore, Maker and Venture | Joy Xtra | Joy 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter, 8.5 × 11 in | 9.94 × 7.44 in (25.25 × 18.9 cm) | 9.94 × 7.44 in | 9.94 × 3.19 in (25.25 × 8.10 cm) |
| A4, 8.3 × 11.7 in | 10.62 × 7.2 in (26.98 × 18.3 cm) | 10.62 × 7.2 in | 10.62 × 3.07 in (26.98 × 7.80 cm) |
| Legal, 8.5 × 14 in | 12.94 × 7.44 in (32.87 × 18.9 cm) | Not listed | Not listed |
| Tabloid, 11 × 17 in | 15.94 × 9.94 in (40.49 × 25.25 cm) | Not listed | Not listed |
| A3, 11.7 × 16.5 in | 15.44 × 10.64 in (39.2 × 27 cm) | Not listed | Not listed |
Flatten the layers into one printed image
- Upload the SVG. It keeps the size written in the file and arrives grouped, with a layer for each color.
- Select every layer that belongs in the print and choose Flatten at the bottom of the Layers panel; on a phone or tablet, Actions > Flatten. The Operation changes to Print Then Cut by itself.
- Check the Layers panel: it now shows one printable layer, and the machine will cut around its outer shape only.
- For a design that is already one layer, choose Operation > Print Then Cut in the Edit bar instead (on a phone or tablet, Edit > Operation > Print Then Cut).
If Design Space says the image is too large
A design bigger than the area for the chosen paper gets a warning icon in the Layers panel. Select it for two choices: Auto-Resize shrinks the design to fit and keeps its proportions; Change Page Size keeps your size and asks for a bigger sheet that your machine can take. On a phone or tablet, change the page size in the Design Space menu > Settings > Print Then Cut Settings > Default Size.
If the machine cuts around every small piece instead of the outline, the layers were attached, not flattened: select them all and choose Flatten.
Bleed, printer settings and one session
Design Space gives each image a bleed, a narrow border of extra color, so the cut piece has color right to its edge. Cricut recommends leaving it on; the border can look fuzzy on the print and is cut away. To turn it off on a computer, select Make It > Continue > Send to Printer and switch Bleed; on iPhone or iPad, tap the mat options button at the top left.
Print and cut in one Design Space session, on one device. Cricut warns that saving a Print Then Cut project as a PDF and printing it outside Design Space sizes the sensor marks wrongly.
In the print settings, print in portrait and leave the scale alone: no fit to page or shrink to fit, no narrow margins, no edge printing. On iPhone or iPad the printer must support AirPrint.
Explore Air 2 and older machines read their sensor marks only on matte white or transparent material; Venture, Joy Xtra, Explore 3 and newer, and every Maker also read lightly colored and simply patterned sheets.
A worked example
Our friendly ghost has four color layers: a lilac shadow, a cream ghost, pink cheeks and a black face. Its drawing measures 90.0 × 85.9 mm, which is 90.0 ÷ 25.4 = 3.54 in by 85.9 ÷ 25.4 = 3.38 in.
Upload it, select all four layers and choose Flatten. The result is one printable layer cut along the outline of the ghost and its shadow together, so the cheeks and face are printed, not cut. At 3.54 × 3.38 in it is well inside Letter’s 7.44 in width and 9.94 in height; to print several, raise Project Copies on the Prepare screen and see how many Design Space fits on the page.
Scaled up to 8 in wide, it passes the 7.44 in width of Letter, Legal and A4, and Design Space shows the warning. On an Explore or Maker, Tabloid (9.94 in wide) takes it at that size, if your printer takes Tabloid.
A PNG is a picture, not a Print Then Cut file
Our SVG to PNG tool makes an image only: pixels at the width you choose, with no cut line and no sensor markings. Design Space adds the sensor markings itself when it prints. If you do start from a PNG, upload it, remove the background and save it as a Flat Graphic, the upload type Cricut gives for Print Then Cut. Starting from the SVG keeps the size written in the file.
From the maker’s documentation: Cricut: Print Then Cut, Cricut: Print Then Cut area, Cricut: image upload instructions, Cricut: Canvas screen guide, Cricut: Prepare screen, Cricut: Design Space settings.