This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosures here.
Print then cut is a fantastic feature of the Cricut Explore and Cricut Maker machines. Stickers are fun and easy to make using print then cut. I’ll show you how to make some simple holiday stickers in this tutorial.
Supplies I used:
- Cricut Printable Clear Sticker Paper
- Canon Pixma PRO-100 Printer (any inkjet printer will work)
- Cricut Maker
Creating a Design
Choose a background shape. Stickers can be any shape, and these will be circles. Go to the Shapes panel and select a circle.
Change the color to white. Remember, home printers don’t print white, and so the shape itself will cut but not print.
Size the sticker. Twelve two-inch stickers will fit on a 8.5″ x 11″ sticker sheet. Setting the width to two inches will automatically change the height to two inches. Enter a “2” in the width box and hit “enter.”
Select images. For this holiday sticker, search image sets for “Christmas wreath.”
Click the image to select it and then click “Insert Images.” (You can search for all the images and add them at once if you prefer.)
Size the wreath to fit the image. Don’t worry about getting it perfectly centered right now.
Create the sentiment. Search images for “Happy Holidays.” Select the image, and click “Insert Images.”
This image has a shadow layer, but it is hidden by default. Click the eye to unhide it. Then resize the image to fit the sticker.
Insert personalized text. Click on the Text button to create a text box. Select a font, and type in the text. For more on connecting cursive text, check out this post. (I used a Cricut font, Sweet Pea, in this project.)
Select the images and text. Don’t select the circle. An easy way to do this is to hold down the shift key and select the layers in the layers panel. After the images and text are selected, click Group.
Select all the layers and click Align then Center.
With all the layers still selected, click Flatten. Flattening combines the layers of a multi-layer image in a single-layer, printable image.
Now the flattened image is ready to print then cut. Click Make It.
Print then Cut
Increase project copies. Click the up arrow until it reaches 12. Click Apply. Next, hit Continue.
On the next screen, click Send to Printer. Print the project and place it on the mat. Select the cut setting. I used Cricut Clear Printable Sticker Paper, and so I chose that custom setting.
A note about the Clear Printable Sticker Paper. The images are printed on the shiny side of the paper. This will seem wrong, but amazingly, it works.
Load the mat into the machine and press the “Go” button.
Bend the backing back to release the sticker.
These stickers will be great for sealing envelopes or putting on gifts.
You can also use regular, full-sheet sticker paper. The “Adhesive Foil” setting worked pretty well for me at leaving the backing mostly intact.
Here’s the link to my Design Space file: https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/5f6671a1dea01c0d34bf889d.
Here is my video where I demonstrate this technique:
The above post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosures here.
I am trying to print then cut. But need to turn OFF the cut around my text. It keeps cutting the letters out even after I flatten them to my solid white shape. It’s like I need those options back on the layers to just turn off the cut on my flatten texts. Any ideas?
It’s hard to say what’s going on without seeing the design screen and the layers panel. From what you are describing, you haven’t flattened properly. If you see the gridlines, those areas will be cut. ALL of the layers have to be selected when flattening. Either drag a bounding box around your design and flatten or select the layers in the layers panel while holding down the shift key. I have more information in this post: https://lydiawatts.com/2019/12/01/why-is-my-cricut-cutting-the-inside-of-my-print-then-cut-image/.
My cricut maker scans the image, then says release. No other errors, but doesn’t cut. The dark lines around the labels are dark and not spotty. Any ideas?
If you have gone through all the troubleshooting steps, you’ll need to call Cricut so they can run diagnostics on the machine. https://help.cricut.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009426434-I-m-getting-an-error-that-the-machine-cannot-read-the-cut-sensor-marks
Do you put the sticker paper through your printer?
Yes, this is a print then cut project. Here is my tutorial and video for print then cut: https://lydiawatts.com/2019/08/03/cricut-design-space-creating-a-print-then-cut-design/.
I am a bit confused, sorry I’m a newbie to cricut. If you place a circle behind the image won’t it print the white circle on the clear sticker sheet? Also, why would you need to connect the wording if you are putting it on the circle so there is a background. Usually you connect the wording if it is being cut out so the individual letters aren’t cut. I seem to have an issue with the images being cut in the lines (I see grid lines and can’t figure out how to get rid of them)
Home printers can’t print white. As you can see in my example, I put a white circle behind my images and flattened. The printer doesn’t print the white and so the sticker remains clear where the white would be. I connect cursive writing so that it looks better. You don’t have to connect cursive text if you don’t want to. If you don’t want the inside of your print then cut image to cut, you will have to flatten to a white shape. Here is my post about that issue: https://lydiawatts.com/2019/12/01/why-is-my-cricut-cutting-the-inside-of-my-print-then-cut-image/.
It didn’t even dawn on me that white doesn’t print lol Thank you for your answer : )
Woohoo did my first set of stickers tonight thanks to your instructions. Thanks
I think the shiny side of the sticker should be peeled off, then print. Peel off the other side to adhere to your object.
That’s not how the Cricut sticker paper works. It prints on the shiny side.