Last updated on June 17th, 2019 at 06:34 pm
Having problems with Cricut Print then Cut Calibration? Is your Cricut Explore not reading the Print then Cut sensor marks? Here’s the fix to one possible problem.
You all know that I seriously love my Cricut Explore. But as with all relationships, sometimes we hit a bump in the road. Today that bump was calibrating my Cricut to work with the Print then Cut feature. Print then Cut allows you to print a full-color image on your home printer, and then have the Cricut cut around the edges of that image.
The first time you use this feature, you’ll be asked to calibrate your Cricut Explore (the Cricut Air and Cricut One come pre-calibrated).
Here’s the general calibration process:
- In the Cricut Design Space, select a Print then Cut image, and click “GO.”
- If this is your first time using Print then Cut, it will prompt you to calibrate.
- Print the calibration sheet provided by the software.
- Place the printed sheet on your Cricut cutting mat and hit the GO button on your Cricut.
- The Cricut will read the sensor marks and make a test cut on the paper, and ask you some questions about it.
- Then it will make a few more cuts, and ask a few more questions.
- Calibrated!
For me, the process completely shut down at #5. No matter what I did, the Cricut would NOT read the sensor marks.
This is not a new problem. There are lots of posts and videos of people who had a similar issue, and the Cricut site itself addresses it. If my method doesn’t work, feel free to Google something else. It sounds like there are a few different fixes. Based on other peoples’ answers, I thought it might be that the light in my room was too bright, or my cutting mat was dirty, or I didn’t have the sheet aligned on my mat properly.
Nope.
What actually happened was that even though I didn’t touch the settings for my calibration printout sheet (as advised by the Cricut software), it didn’t print correctly. You can see in this photo that the sensor marks on the top sheet (the one I printed first) were cut off. The correct sheet is the one that’s on my mat — it has the full sensor marks.
I’m not sure why the software and my printer couldn’t get along and print the calibration sheet correctly. Instead, you can download the calibration sheet directly here. I didn’t have to change any settings for it to print properly — just make sure that the entire sensor marks are showing.
Once I got the correct calibration sheet into my Cricut Explore, it calibrated perfectly! Tomorrow I have my first Print then Cut file for you (here it is!) — I am so happy with how it turned out and can’t wait to share!
Megan says
September 29, 2016 at 6:47 pmThank you! Thank you! Thank you! My page would not print correctly and I messed with settings for over an hour trying to get it to print right. You’re the ONLY one with the fix. You are so wonderful for sharing your knowledge!
Brittany says
October 27, 2016 at 7:14 pmI just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s late, I need to get something done and I was about to cry. I’ve had my machine for a year now and always run into this problem and it takes hours to resolve. I will keep this in mind next time because IT WORKED!
Cori George says
October 31, 2016 at 10:25 amI am SO GLAD!!
Melinda H says
December 20, 2016 at 4:37 pmThank you! I was losing my mind — this solved the problem immediately!
Cori George says
December 22, 2016 at 9:33 pmI’m so glad!!
Leslie says
December 25, 2016 at 8:31 pmWhew! Tried several times yesterday to calibrate and wasn’t successful. Mine was stopping at the 2nd mark and would quit each time saying it couldn’t read the scan mark. I found your site and thought I had found the fix. I printed the page you linked and it still didn’t work. My heart sank. Then, I read where you need to make sure there are no special settings for the printer. I had checked “fit to page”, so I unchecked that and tried again. Still no luck. Then I printed your linked page and Woohoo! The combination of unchecking the box and printing from your link did the trick I am happy!
Cori George says
December 26, 2016 at 9:24 pmI am SO glad this worked for you!!
Terry says
February 1, 2018 at 10:59 pmhow did you get the sensor marks printed on your image/
Cori George says
February 2, 2018 at 9:48 amAre you printing it through Design Space? It automatically puts them on there.
Amy says
May 18, 2019 at 5:05 pmI can’t get mine to print either. Where you able to find a fix?
Tami says
January 24, 2017 at 10:45 amThank you, SO MUCH!!!! After spending 2 hours on the phone with Cricut yesterday, and viewing other sites for tips, to no avail, I was ready to GIVE UP!! I found your suggestions today, and ta-dah!! Using this PDF for the calibration was just the thing I needed! THANK YOU for taking the time to share!!
lulu says
February 14, 2017 at 10:10 pmWOW. Pretty sure your article just saved my Cricut from going through the window! LOL I was feeling totally helpless, and then, poof! Your article saved the day. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Cori George says
February 20, 2017 at 9:34 amI’m so glad!! I swear, comments on this post of people finding success are pretty much my favorite comments I receive! :)
Sue says
March 3, 2017 at 5:14 pmI’ve been having issues trying to calibrate my Cricut since I bought it last year. Unfortunately the calibration file on the Cricut website doesn’t exist anymore (404 error). Do you happen to have a copy of it saved that you don’t mind sharing?
Julie says
May 6, 2019 at 7:07 pmI need it also. Mine won’t print with the sensor marks
Amy says
May 18, 2019 at 5:07 pmYou are not alone. I just updated my firmware and wondered if that had something to do with it.
Melissa says
March 7, 2017 at 12:17 pmHaving the same issue, and getting the 404 error for the direct link to print the page. This has been most frustrating. :(
Melissa says
March 7, 2017 at 1:55 pmFINALLY got it to work, by using Firefox as my web browser. When I used chrome, it would not recognize the sensor marks. I even tried writing over the marks with a sharpie, as suggested on other sites. It was so discouraging. I don’t know why it will work on Firefox and not Chrome, but it does. I’m working from a Mini Mac, with an Epson printer and Cricut Explore.
Sabrina Thompson says
May 25, 2017 at 12:17 pmThank you so so so much, i have been trying to figure this out all day. Thank you so much.
Sarah says
June 8, 2017 at 11:34 amDoes thins applies to Cricut one that what I have I print out the print from the link how do I get it to scan if I don’t have the image in my design space?
Tammie says
June 17, 2017 at 7:00 pmI have a question I hope you can answer. I have a cricut air. I’m trying to print and cut tinker bell. When tinker bell prints she will only print in a funny pink color. O checked my printer settings and they are ok. When I print from word tinker bell prints in color it seems to be just from my cricut. Can you help?
Terra Frank says
November 17, 2017 at 12:54 pmThank you so much for writing this post! I’ve been troubleshooting for two days, I’ve bought new ink cartridges, cleaned the printer heads, moved to every possible lighting situation in my home, adjusted settings ad nauseam, and etc all to no avail! I’m up against one of those crafting deadlines (you know the situation where the time the project took in your head ended up being way less than the project in actuality! Lol no? No idea what I mean? Just me then? Lol), and I was about in tears. Your fox did the trick! Thanks again for sharing.
Cori George says
November 17, 2017 at 2:05 pmI’m so glad you found it helpful!
Nicey says
April 15, 2018 at 4:24 amMorning, when trying to calibrate it gives me error as in the wrong blade .what should I do
Cori George says
April 16, 2018 at 10:03 amHi Nicey — what blade do you have in your machine and what blade is saying you have?
jacqui munoz says
July 24, 2018 at 10:47 pmHello,
When I tried to calibrate my explore air 2 the sheet that prints looks different from the one in this post. Mine has a full square around the whole thing instead of just the 3 corner marks.
Cori George says
August 4, 2018 at 3:58 pmI believe that Cricut tried to fix their Print Then Cut calibration with this new printed sheet. Are you still having trouble with it?
mk says
July 29, 2018 at 11:53 amMy issue is when I use the Print and cut, I designed a text within a circle. When I “group” and then flatten, Cricut continues to change the “cut” circle to “print” and then on the layout to cut and print, there is a square not a circle. I have tried repeatedly but each time in the flatten mode it changes EVERYTHING to print. It worked previously, but through the years I notice ANY TIME Cricut updates it firmware there are all kinds of bugs. I am also having issues with Cricut adding images to my canvas I did not choose. I am frustrated as no one at Cricut has any answers – except the scripted answer to use a different browser ( that REALLY messes things up!)
Cori George says
August 4, 2018 at 3:50 pmCan you hide your circle (using the “eye” in the Layers Panel), flatten your image, and then place your circle again? OR, if your Print Then Cut has a flattened circle around it, it should cut around the edge of it. Does that make sense?
Tracey says
October 24, 2018 at 3:48 pmThis is kind of off subject but not totally….my computer doesn’t recognize my Explore Air during the calibration. When I attempt to use the pull down menu to locate it it’s not there. Do you know what’s wrong?
Liz, HLMS Reader Support says
October 24, 2018 at 6:31 pmYou will want to make sure you have connected your machine via Bluetooth or have the USB cord connected and the machine turned ‘on’ in order for Design Space to detect your machine.
Here are the steps to set up your Bluetooth connection on Cricut’s support page:
http://help.cricut.com/help/setup-cricut-machine
Happy Crafting!
Liz, HLMS Reader Support
Darell Dickey says
March 28, 2019 at 6:34 pmThanks for the assist! I’ve recalibrated my machine perfectly (so better than how it came “pre-calibrated”). And yet… my specific problem remains: My Explore Air 2 still won’t read those cut lines when I use a glossy vinyl. Other folks seem to be able to do it… I can’t. It gives up and leaves an error. Tells me to make sure the lines are all printed completely… which they are.
Liz, HLMS Reader Support says
March 29, 2019 at 7:39 pmPrint Then Cut is not recommended for reflective materials such as epoxy papers, glitter paper/cardstock, or some embossed papers. These may reflect the light from the cut sensor, causing it to fail when scanning for the cut sensor marks. Again, you may have some success with Print Then Cut on these materials, but the results may vary from one attempt to the next. Always complete a Print Then Cut test first to be sure it will work with your material.
Liz, HLMS Reader Support
Jami says
March 30, 2019 at 12:33 pmHello! Found your page on troubleshooting the calibration for print and cut. I have tried to do this and I get a message that there are no printer options. I have a wireless printer that works with my HP computer. I am able to print to it from other things but it won’t show any printers under the calibration or even if I try to print and cut. No printer options come up to even move forward. Would you be willing to help me figure out why the printer isn’t showing up? Thank you for help
Liz, HLMS Reader Support says
April 8, 2019 at 6:21 pmThat is so strange!!
You will want to check your printer settings and make sure that you have your Network Printer wireless settings set up if you’re trying to print wireless.
If you have the printer plugged in to your computer, make sure the cord is attached firmly and the printer is turned on.
Let me know if this works for you.
Happy Crafting!!
Liz, HLMS Reader Support