Problems Cutting With Cricut

While the Cricut personal die-cutting machine is a versatile and useful item for crafters, it is not without its problems. Ragged cuts, torn paper or incorrectly proportioned letters can cause disappointment and frustration when you're working on a craft project. Fortunately, many of the most common Cricut cutting problems are easily overcome.

Pressure

To cut successfully with the Cricut, you need to set the correct pressure for the cutting blade. Setting the pressure too low could prevent the blade from making complete cuts, while a pressure that's too high causes unnecessary wear and tear on your cutting blades as well as tear delicate materials. If you're cutting heavy cardstock or thick scrapbook papers, set the pressure dial to level 4 or 5 to ensure a clean cut; use the lightest pressure for vellum, mulberry or other delicate papers. If you're unsure, test your cut on a piece of scrap paper of the same thickness, and adjust accordingly. Change your cutting blade regularly also. Blades generally last from anywhere between 500 and 1500 cuts, and a dull blade will prevent you from getting clean cuts.

Intricate Designs

The cutting speed of the Cricut blade can also cause problems when you're die-cutting. In general, if you're cutting intricate designs, use a slower speed. Setting the speed too high can cause the paper to tear as the blade makes the cuts. You'll also have better results when cutting intricate designs if you set the machine to cut images at least 3 inches high or larger. If the image size is set too small, the blade will not be able to make all of the required cuts, and you may have trouble removing the completed design from the cutting mat without damaging it. Some images may need to be cut larger; the instruction booklet will indicate when a larger size is needed.

Size Issues

When you use a Cricut font cartridge to cut letters for a title, you might be surprised when the actual die-cut letters differ from the size you set on the dial. That's because the fonts on the cartridges are measured from the lowest point on the letter to the highest point, and the tallest character in the font is set as the "Key Height Character." All of the other characters in the font are then cut in proportion to the "Key Height Character," meaning that they may be larger or smaller than you expect them to be. You can overcome this by setting your machine to "Real Dial Size" on the keypad overlay. Changing to this setting will ensure that all of your characters are cut to the same size, regardless of their proportions to each other.

Setting Paper Size

Although the Cricut cutting mat is 6 inches by 12 inches (12 inches by 12 inches for the Cricut Expression), you do not have to use paper that size to cut with the Cricut. You can use smaller pieces as long as the image you're cutting fits on the paper. To ensure that the machine cuts on the smaller paper and doesn't start the cutting in the standard location, once you navigate the blade to the paper location, use the "Set Paper Size" key on the keypad overlay to set the size and location of the paper. This will keep the cuts where you want them.

References

• Cricut: User Manual - Personal Electonic Cutter