Get The Best Quality Prints Using Cricut Print then Cut! The PDF Overlay Method. Low Resolution Fix.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Sorry about the inconsistent sound you guys! I tried (and clearly failed) to fix it. Besides the awful sound mixing…what did you like? Hate? Questions? Talk to me!!

[@KarleyHall]

This is such a good tutorial and definitely should NOT be your last!!! You are such a natural!!! 😍🤩

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

🥹 that means a lot coming from an expert! Thank you so much for watching!!

[@rd-gi6jw]

Karley, you probably have no clue how many times Trill linked your videos in r/cricut. Great work both of you. Btw Trill, Fortress2021 here ;-)

[@vgm_central]

the fact that you have to go this far just to print good quality is mindblowing to me..? i saw so much tutorials about cricut before i bought it and not a single one mentions this problem? I mean how??? how does something like this even exist? i read something about cricut being only able to read 144dpi instead of the standart 300dpi??? since i bought this 3 months ago i couldnt make one single proper sticker or tshirt design cutout. everytime some new problems appear that have to be resolved in the most insnane ways possible.....

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

I agree, there shouldn't need to be so many workarounds. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Design Space was created as a vector reading software because at its core, a cricut is just a small CNC machine, and it bases cuts off of mathematical equations using linear movements. They never optimized it to be more than that, so when they started supporting raster images, they only added the bare minimum of functionality.

[@kami0497]

I've had this problem for more than a year. I was able to make stickers with great quality until suddenly one day they started printing low quality only from Design Space. This has been extremely annoying and after contacting Cricut they still haven't solved the problem. This seems to be a great solution although it adds some more steps to the sticker making process.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

@@kami0497 I have been using this method for about 4 years, it honestly becomes second nature to where it doesn't even seem like more work after a while!

[@kami0497]

@@thewestcoastkraeers I'm happy I can start making good quality stickers again. I stopped making them once I encountered this issue. Thank you!!!

[@JulieEbersole]

I’m dying! Trillianinspace, how fun it is to hear your voice after reading your posts and comments on Reddit for so long! I’m also with you on only using DS for cutting/operating the Cricut, but not for designing. 😊 After reading all the Print Then Cut complaints on Reddit, I’ve shied away from attempting it-always seems more frustration than it’s worth. 🤦🏻‍♀️ But, after I watch your tutorial, maybe now I will actually give it a go. Thanks for posting it!

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

I hope finally hearing my voice doesn’t scare people off 😅 Thank you so much for watching and I hope this really does help you conquer the metaphorical print then cut mountain!!

[@ashleywilson6434]

Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! You have saved my sanity! I could not for the life of me figure out why my VECTOR artwork made in Illustrator was coming out fuzzy in DS, even exporting it at 600dpi! It's a bit of extra work up front, but for my repeatable print files it's 100% worth it. Thank you again!! ♥

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

I am so glad I could help save your sanity! One thing I don't mention in this video (but you can see me do at the tail end of my video about getting around paying for create sticker) is I often will upload my files to DS as SVGs from illustrator by making the shapes a solid color silhouette and then using that for the overlay base. I prefer this method to uploading as a raster file because it gives the cleanest cutlines and since you are another vector artist, you might find this tip useful! Happy crafting!!

[@allisonneal875]

Thanks for this video! I found it very helpful and it included a lot of valuable information even outside of the main topic of the overlay technique. It was also entertaining to watch. Nice work and thanks again. ☺️

[@junello8354]

Great work on the long format video, I know filming and editing can be a slog! You gave me some good food for thought, I would never have thought to add a border to help with laminate application. Or honestly to start the laminate with the tear strip. I am glad you mentioned turning down opacity to register your hi-res prints, that’s a move I always do!

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Adding the tear strip was honestly a game changer! Thank you so much for watching!!

[@mickyblue3065]

Lovely video ❤! I think your passion shows through 😊! May I suggest an asmr edit for KZbin shorts with the squeegee and brayer (sp) bits, they were satisfying to watch.

[@eligiodeluna8309]

This is a great video. I always wanted to print at a high resolution but I could NOT make it work in Design space. Now I know why. By any chance do you have a tutorial on adding bleed outside of Design space? I usually add bleed in design space, print and then cut so that the image cuts right to the edge with no white space along the edges. Unfortunatley I do NOT have "Illustrator" due to budget contraints but I do use Inkscape and Gimp quite a bit.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

I am so glad you found the video helpful! I add my bleed by going Object>Path>Offset Path in illustrator and adding an offset then set it to the bleed color (I demonstrate this at the 8:44 mark with a photo) when i do this in Photoshop I use Select>Modify>Expand and then fill in the appropriate color. I am sure Inkscape and Gimp have similar options. Here is a video I found about using the offset feature in Inkscape. I hope it helps! kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaHSd4R7qNiioMk

[@barbra429]

So, I've made a lot of progress. My only problem is still aligning the pdf image with the original image. Can you explain something please. Since I place the original over the pdf, what is the printer printing out. Basically, why does it have to be an exact alignment? The printer isn't printing both images, is it? I know im kinda rambling, but i dont know how else to explain it.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

The alignment needs to be exact because the machine is going to cut it out based on the placement of the original image. The printer will only print the layer that is visible on the top.

[@barbra429]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Thank you.

[@barbra429]

Can someone explain the purpose of the overlay, is it something that's necessary only if you need the bleed? Do I have to use it to get the best quality print? I am still following the tutorial and am stuck until I can find an answer.

[@dreameeblue3300]

Thank you for the tutorial! I had a question. I've saved my image as a PDF from the Design Space (i'm using Windows). Whenever I open it in Photoshop to do the overlay, the black lines for scanning change. It seems like Photoshop enlarges the image, and I can't figure out how to get it to remain the same size so that the Cricut can actually cut it. I feel like i've been going in circles for hours trying to figure out why it isn't exactly like the version in Design Space. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

I have never had this issue when I have used photoshop, but I will do a test and get back to you! The PDF should be formatted the exact way it would look being printed directly to your printer from Design Space (because a PDF is literally a digital print) The only thing I can think it does is that if your image is smaller than the maximum area allowed by Design Space, Photoshop might be moving the registration marks to the center of your page instead of leaving everything in the top right corner of the paper?

[@dreameeblue3300]

@@thewestcoastkraeers That might be it, because Photoshop did center it! But does that mean my image has to be the maximum size allowed by Design Space?

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

@@dreameeblue3300 nope! When the Photoshop Print Settings box opens when you hit print, scroll down to the “Position and Size” section. Under “Position” uncheck the “Center”box and change the numbers in the “Top” and “Left” box to both read 0.5 (if your units of measurement is in inches) that should put it in the correct place for the machine to read it!

[@dreameeblue3300]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Tysm!

[@barbra429]

Yes, same here.

[@SamanthaRoberts42]

I am so glad to have found this tutorial! Thank you! I am aghast at the horrible quality every time I try to upload my sticker sheet to Design Space. However, now I have a new problem: how do I tell Design Space what parts of my sticker sheet to cut?? I am brand new to using Cricut and I can't find any tutorials that don't involve creating the design within Design Space! Cricut keeps wanting to cut out the branding and non-sticker flourishes on my sticker sheet. I am losing my mind!

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Glad you were able to figure out the answer to this by watching my other video!

[@SamanthaRoberts42]

@@thewestcoastkraeers yes, your other video was so helpful! Thank you!

[@elishadelves1122]

Your tutorial helped me so much so thank you! I am however having a little trouble. I am quite new to Illustrator so the problem might stem from my document setup. But when I export to design space (at 300 dpi) it changes the size of the stickers (as you said in your video) and when I go to change the document to the recommended 6.75 x 9.25 inches it says the document is already this size. (eg. my stickers in Illustrator start as 3cm diameter circles and when I export them to design space they go to 5cm diameter but the document size in design space is 6.75 x 9.25 inches). Hope that makes sense! any insight or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

It's hard for me to say why that is happening without inspecting the file, but in illustrator open a new artboard and paste your project into it. Using the pathfinder unite all the shapes each shape is a single layer and a single color. Save it as a SVG file, convert that to a print then cut in design space and make sure to attach everything before you hit make it. Then follow the overlay steps as described in the video. Because SVGs are read differently by Design Space, it should open in the exact size you imported it as. Since you are overlaying it, it doesn't matter what it looks like, just as long as the cutlines are the same.

[@kayleephillips2930]

Hi!! Am I silly or?? How come I don't have registration marks showing up?? I grouped all my stickers together, made that bounding box 6.75x9.25 against my 8.5x11 artboard. Opened the pdf in illustrator and no marks. Thanks for all your help so far!! So lovely

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

The PDF you saved from design space doesn't have registration marks? Can you send me a screenshot?

[@ineedlulz]

Hey! Hopefully you can clear something up for me. If you can export images at a higher resolution, then shrink them down in Cricut to increase pixel density, why not do that (as you mention 5:20) instead of the PDF way?

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Because the quality of the PDF version is still better. Like I mention in the Printing the Overlay chapter (11:46) 3rd party software also has better color management. Also for some reason as of the most recent design space update (v8.21 released March 4th) the software is downgrading everything, even when imported at a higher resolution. This method safeguards you against the constant glitches that show up in design space.

[@ineedlulz]

@thewestcoastkraeers Awesome! Thanks so much! I print on vellum on occasion and chalked the poor quality up to being on vellum. So glad I found your tutorial. Thank you!

[@Makinracquet]

Hi, newbie here and still have sticker issues, but why would the lines on the back be a problem for selling the stickers? Thank you for your great videos.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

The lines on the back are not a problem at all! It’s a personal preference thing, I think it makes them look more professional if they are blank or branded but I don’t think anyone would take issues with the grids and if the paper I used that has grids came in larger quantities per pack, I would use it more!!

[@MerliniusAmbrosius]

I use photoshop and when doing this it completely changes the size of everything. when I print in my images that have bleed (not yet toggled on) everything is significantly larger than the pdf version. and when resizing I hav eto do each layer individually and can't resize each image and its clipping all together as it doesn't want to resize the image itself

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Sorry I missed this comment! Did you ever figure out what was going on? You need to line up your image *before* you add the bleed.

[@YONUSA-zn4wq]

このチュートリアルを見て、ステッカーを作り直してみました。もう以前のものには戻れません😮 144dpi is lol 😂 With many thanks ❤

[@barbra429]

Well, I've given up because I am getting confused as to how to make this work with photoshop, the bounding box etc. I have not idea what that is, or what an overlay is, and the settings in illustrator vs photoshop. I am thoroughly confused. Thanks for the help.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

@@barbra429 I am so sorry! I might do a quick response video on how to do it in Photoshop if I have time, but the only time this method is needed is if your print or color quality is not good when printing directly from design space. Some people don’t see quality issues when they print directly from DS and if that is you, you don’t need to do this!

[@barbra429]

@thewestcoastkraeers that would be great if you ever have time to. I did follow the example and got better quality using some of the things you said. I'm just having a hard time making sense of it all.

[@barbra429]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Yes, please do a Photoshop tutorial, I think this is the reason I am not understanding the video. Also, I don't think I need to learn how to do the bleed right now, so if you make a video, can you not include adding the bleed, I think it's too much to absorb and will throw me off. Thanks so much. I am just making a small 4x4 greeting card that I create in Canva, then upload the single card to my desktop. After that, I am lost on this process.

[@barbra429]

Can someone please help. I am following the video and when I go to print, I don't have a pdf printer option. I am printing from my hp tango printer. I don't understand.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

@@barbra429 what operating system are you using? (Windows, macOS, iOS, or android?)

[@barbra429]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Windows 11. I went into the search and ticked the Microsoft PDF printer, restarted my computer, but it doesn't show up as an option in Cricut when I try to print.

[@barbra429]

@@thewestcoastkraeers I got it installed.

[@victoriatheriault9806]

What size is your actual artboard? Sorry! I'm not fully understanding the document set up in illustrator

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

In the video my artboard is 8.5x11 so it’s easier to see my alignment rectangle, but when I set up my sheets normally, my artboard is set to 6.75x9.25.

[@barbra429]

I feel so silly, but most of this is new to me. I don't understand how you got the registration lines for Cricut. I am using Photoshop by the way. Oh, I think I missed a step.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

@@barbra429 please don’t feel silly at all! The registration marks should be there, it’s hard to see in photoshop because it clips the image down but they are up against the edge of the artboard.

[@barbra429]

I think I'm getting the steps mixed up. This is what I have done so far. I uploaded my greeting card that I created from Canva to my desktop. Then I opened the card in Photoshop, and made sure the dpi was 300. I then saved it on my desktop. I opened uploaded it to Cricut and resized it back to a 4x4 card (I'm making mini cards). I clicked make it and proceeded to print it. I have to install MS print to pdf, because I didn't have it added. Next I went to print it, and changed the printer to MS Print to PDF, so far so good. But, when I went to save the file as instructed, I don't know where to find that box that popped up in your video that gives the save option.

[@CocoLabels-j2i]

Hi! Thank you so much for posting such a detailed tutorial. I'm having a bit of trouble with the exporting to PDF step (on mac). When I export the file to PDF, the bold black lines for scanning actually change in position and no longer match the original design. What could be the problem there? It's so frustrating that cricut's software itself doesn't allow for decent resolution printing.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

what program are you using to do the overlay? and when you say the registration marks no longer match the original design do you mean on the mat preview screen? or that the pdf looks different to when it does when you print directly from design space?

[@CocoLabels-j2i]

​@@thewestcoastkraeers I'm using procreate to do the overlay as I don't have photoshop. The registration not matching seems to be fixed when I change the scaling from 'do not scale' to 'print entire image' which scales up the image to 129% (very odd....) I seem to have different problems each time I change something in the settings and I'm trying to find the perfect combination of everything...

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Do you have a computer to use? Printing directly from a mobile device like an iPad comes with its own troubles but I don't use procreate so I cant be sure what the issue could be. I can try messing around with my iPad though and see if I can find a method that can work for you!

[@starwalker6025]

What is the bleed about?

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

A print bleed extends the color of the image beyond the cut lines so that it can compensate for any miscalculation by the machine. If the calibration is even a hair off, this will prevent any white of the paper from showing through if your image is full color to the edge of the cut.

[@starwalker6025]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Thank you so much, i have seen that and had no idea.

[@barbra429]

Can't you just change the printer to Microsoft PDF and print it using Adobe, then put the printout on the mat and have Cricut cut it?

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

@@barbra429 yes, that would allow you to utilize the ICC profiles you can’t access printing directly from cricut (so you’ll get better color representation) but you will still see better results if you overlay because you’ll make up for the slight quality drop you get from how design space processes the upload.

[@barbra429]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Thank you for the info. I really wish I didn't have to do a workaround for quality. BTW, what is ICC?

[@kleemorgan222]

omg thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!

[@barbra429]

I don't have illustrator and would have to pay a monthly plan. I already pay monthly for Microsoft office 365 and for Canva pro and for Photoshop...it never ends :( BTW, illustrator is 34 per month or 263 per year.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

You don't need Illustrator to perform this method, you can absolutely use Photoshop instead! Also not that you asked, but Illustrator is a better investment than Canva, especially if you are using it exclusively to create cricut files.

[@barbra429]

@@thewestcoastkraeers Thanks for the tips. I actually make greeting cards and use Canva to create them. Canva has lots of designs, fonts, etc. Do you still think illustrator would be better? I do print the cards, so I don't know what to do at this point.

[@thewestcoastkraeers]

Illustrator is better if you are creating a lot of the designs yourself, but it sounds like you are using stock designs in Canva. In terms of fonts Adobe's subscriptions come with access to something like 30,000 fonts (check out fonts.adobe.com) For stock designs you can also check out Creative Fabrica, which is like 1/3 the cost of Canva Pro.