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Guide · 4 min read · Updated

Cricut Print Then Cut: Christmas Stickers, Tags and Toppers

Print Then Cut lets your home printer print a full-color design and your Cricut cut neatly around it. It is the easiest way to make Christmas stickers, gift tags and cupcake toppers. Here is how to set it up, how big you can go, and how to fix cuts that miss the line.

How Print Then Cut works

With Cricut Print Then Cut, your home printer prints a full-color design and your Cricut cuts neatly around it. You design on the Design Space canvas, and Design Space sends the image to your printer with a black rectangle printed around it. Those are the registration marks. When you load the printed sheet, the machine’s sensor finds the marks, works out exactly where the image sits and cuts along the outline, so you get printed color and a clean cut edge in one pass.

It works with the Cricut Explore and Maker series, plus Venture and Joy Xtra. The original Cricut Joy doesn’t support Print Then Cut, so check your model before buying sticker paper.

How big can you print?

The registration marks take up room on the sheet, so the printable area is smaller than the paper. According to Cricut’s help center, the maximum image size is about:

Paper Maximum image size
Letter (8.5 × 11 in) about 7.44 × 9.94 in
A4 about 7.2 × 10.62 in
Legal (8.5 × 14 in), not Joy Xtra about 7.44 × 12.94 in

For stickers and tags you’ll rarely get near these limits. You’ll be fitting lots of small designs on one sheet instead, and Design Space arranges them for you when you set a quantity on the Make It screen.

What you need

You need a Cricut that supports Print Then Cut, its standard grip mat (or LightGrip for thin paper), and an inkjet printer. Laser printers work too, though some glossy laser sheets confuse the sensor.

For stickers, use matte printable sticker paper or printable vinyl. Tags and toppers go on white cardstock, and so do cards.

Get the design ready

The fastest route is to style the design on our site and do the cutting in Design Space.

  1. Open a design in our editor, set the Color style and pick your colors.
  2. Turn up Offset border and set it to white to add a sticker edge. Print Then Cut follows the outer edge, so the border gives you the classic die-cut sticker look and makes small details easier to cut around.
  3. If you’d rather put it on a shape, choose a background shape such as a circle or a gift tag (there’s a scalloped circle too). The gift tag shape already has the ribbon hole.
  4. Choose PNG, enter the size you want to print (for example 3 inches) and 300 DPI, then download. You can also download the SVG instead and flatten it in Design Space.

Set it up in Design Space

With a PNG

  1. Click Upload, then Upload Image, and choose the PNG.
  2. Pick the image type (a simple image is fine for our designs), check that the background is already transparent, and continue.
  3. Choose Print Then Cut image when Design Space asks how to save it, then upload and add it to the canvas.

With an SVG

  1. Upload the color SVG and add it to the canvas (full upload steps).
  2. Select all its layers and click Flatten. The layers turn into one printable image with a single cut line around the outside.

Either way, set the size next, duplicate the image as many times as you need, and click Make It.

  1. On the Make It screen, click Send to Printer.
  2. Keep Add Bleed on. Bleed prints the colors slightly past the cut line, so a small cutting offset never leaves a white edge.
  3. Turn on Use System Dialog to reach your printer’s own settings, then choose the best quality and the paper type closest to yours (for example matte photo paper for sticker sheets).
  4. Print, and let the ink dry for a minute before handling the sheet.

Cut it

  1. Place the printed sheet in the top-left corner of the mat, facing the same way it came out of the printer.
  2. Choose the material, for example Printable Sticker Paper or Medium Cardstock, and load the mat.
  3. The machine scans the marks, then cuts. Don’t move the mat or open the lid while it scans.

Christmas projects to try

Sticker sheets are the obvious first project. Fill a page with small baubles and candy canes (snowflakes work well too) at 1.5 to 2.5 inches each, all with a white offset border.

For Print Then Cut gift tags, use the gift tag background shape at about 2.5 to 3.5 inches tall on white cardstock, then thread ribbon through the hole.

Cupcake and cake toppers look best as circles or scalloped circles at 2 to 2.5 inches on cardstock, taped to a toothpick or lollipop stick. Print two of each and glue them back to back so the topper looks finished from both sides.

You can also put a number on each tag or circle for a matching set of advent calendar numbers, or print small discs to slide inside clear fillable ornaments.

When Print Then Cut misses the line

Problem Fix
“Unable to read sensor marks” Reduce glare: turn off direct overhead lights, avoid glossy paper, and check the marks printed solid black.
Cuts are consistently offset in one direction Run the Print Then Cut calibration from the Design Space menu.
White slivers at the edges Keep bleed on, and use an offset border so the cut has room around the artwork.
Image is too big to send Check the maximum size table above, or split the design across two sheets.
Colors print dull Choose higher print quality and the matching paper type in your printer’s dialog.

Questions

Can I use an SVG for Print Then Cut?

You can, as long as you flatten it first. Upload the color SVG, select all of its layers and click Flatten. The layers merge into one printable image and the Cricut cuts around its outer edge. A PNG works too: upload it and save it as a Print Then Cut image.

Why won't my Cricut read the Print Then Cut registration marks?

The sensor struggles with glare and glossy paper. Turn off overhead lights that reflect on the mat, and use matte paper or put a strip of matte tape over the black marks on glossy sheets. Also check that the marks printed fully black. If cuts are close but slightly off, run the Print Then Cut calibration from the Design Space menu.

What paper works best for Christmas stickers?

For stickers, use matte printable sticker paper or matte printable vinyl. For gift tags and toppers, use white cardstock of about 65 to 80 lb. Glossy and holographic sheets look lovely, but the sensor has a harder time reading them.
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Try it with these designs

Free, original and checked for clean cutting. Open one to change the colors, size and file type before you download.

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