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If you have a Cricut, Silhouette or any brand of cutting machine, you may use it to cut cardstocks and create all kinds of papercraft. A cutting machine can help you cut intricate designs faster than hand cut. But if you don’t set it up properly, you may lose many sheets of paper.
I had struggles when I bought my Silhouette Portrait 3 last year. That’s why I want to give you some tips that may help me cut cardstocks cleanly with the Portrait 3. But I believe that you can apply it for any cutting machine to minimize tearing, ripping and wasting your papers.
🔔 Just a small note that these tips are for cutting cardstocks, also called cover stocks and pasteboards, from 120gsm to 300gsm (44lb - 110lb). They are papers that are thicker and more durable than normal writing and printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard. It usually has a smooth surface and can be metallic, textured, or glossy.
9 Tips to Cut Cardstock with Cutting Machine
- Use a sharp blade and clean it before use
- Use a “low-sticky” cutting mat
- Use high quality cardstocks
- Lay cardstock on cutting mat properly
- Keep mat flat during cutting
- Use SVG files for cutting cardstocks
- Test cut and adjust settings
- Try mirror cut
- Peel mat off paper
1. Use sharp blade and clean it before use
Normally, the standard blade coming with your machine can cut cardstock very well. As long as your blade is not too old, you can usually clean it to get a better cut.
It’s hard to tell when the blade is dull. If you have used it for many projects in a long time and tried all the tips in this post but it still tears your papers, then it’s time to buy a new one.
💡 TIP: If you do many projects with your cutting machine, it’s better to have separate blades for vinyl, normal cardstock and glitter cardstocks.
2. Use a “low-sticky” cutting mat
For cardstock, you need a mat that is not too sticky to release the paper after cutting. However, it must be sticky enough to keep your cardstock in place during the cutting process.
Each brand has a specific mat with these characteristics. You will find LightGrip Cutting Mat for Cricut, Light Hold Cutting Mat for Silhouette and Low Tack Adhesive Mat for Brother ScanNCut.
💡 TIP: If you mostly make papercraft, buy cutting mats in packs will save you a lot.
In case you only have a standard mat that comes with the machine and don't want to buy a low tacky mat, you can use a clean towel or T-shirt to remove some of the stickiness.
3. Use high-quality cardstocks
Papers are created differently and their quality has a significant effect on the cutting result. For example, it’s really hard to cut construction paper cleanly with any cutting machine because it tends to stick to the mat.
You must use high quality cardstocks to get a clean cut with your cutting machine. These are some brands that provide excellent solid core cardstocks.
- In America: American Crafts Cardstock, Bazzill, Cricut, Recollections.
- In Asia: Hansol, Zentino, Arto by Campap.
4. Lay cardstock on cutting properly
Before putting your paper on the mat, make sure that you have removed all the debris from previous use with a scraper.
When laying paper on, use a rubber brayer or old credit card to make it stick to the mat evenly.
💡 TIP: Many crafters turn glitter and textured cardstocks upside down and do mirror cut to get more accurate results.
If your mat has lost most of its stickiness, you can apply washi or painter’s tape around the edges to prevent your paper from shifting. I recommend using washi tape as it’s gentle and easy to remove later.
5. Keep mat flat during cutting
You must keep the mat flat during cutting because when it bends downward, it’ll pop-out and rip your cardstock.
If your machine is on the table like me, you can simply put something that has the same height as the load tray in front and behind it.
In case your machine is stacked or put near an edge of a small table, you must find a compatible extension tray for it.
6. Use SVG file for cutting cardstocks
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic) is the best file format to cut with common cutting machines.
While Cricut and Brother can read this format in their default programs, Silhouette requires an upgrade to Designer Edition. The free Basic Edition of Silhouette machine only allows you to import GSD, DXF, JPEG, PNG and BMP.
GSD is rarely used. JPG, PNG and BMP are raster files and need to be traced to vector format for cutting, especially if they have a background. DXF turns out to be the best choice to cut with Silhouette Studio Basic Edition.
However, DXF isn’t really designed as a “cut” file. DXF is a file type that was created in 1982 for the AutoCad program and the way it is formatted may result in massive amounts of edit points. Edit points are the data points that the Silhouette reads to complete a cut. If there are tons of edit points, the Silhouette has to hit every single one and it takes forever to cut.
Therefore, if you use a Silhouette machine, I suggest upgrading to use the SVG file. I bought the code for Designer Edition on Swing Design for $24.99 and it’s worth it.
💡 NOTE: You may scale SVG file to fit your purpose but don’t scale it too small, especially when you cut on thick cardstocks. Most cutting machines for hobbyists can’t cut tiny details well.
7. Test cut and adjust settings
Your machine may have different settings for cutting different types and thickness of cardstocks. However, each cardstock brand has its own characteristics, so you may need to change the setting to cut your cardstock well.
I recommend that you make a test cut with the setting closest to your cardstock to see whether the blade can cut through or not. If not, you may choose the setting for a thicker material, increase blade depth or pressure.
For intricate design, you can choose “Cardstock (for intricate cut)” on Cricut or slow down the speed on Silhouette machines. Sometimes, you need two passes to cut it cleanly.
✍️ Try and note down the best settings for each brand of cardstock that you use.
8. Try mirror cut
Of course if you use glitter or textured cardstock and placed it upside down on the mat, you must mirror your design for cutting.
Mirror cut also helps hide the white edges when you cut on white core cardstocks.
Sometimes, you may notice that your machine cuts everything well but always tears paper at some certain spots, then it may be the mat problem. It has tiny dirt at those spots that you can’t see. Put cardstock on different place or do a mirror cut to prevent grubby areas.
9. Peel mat off paper
When your machine has finished the cut, don’t unload the mat until you check that it cuts all the way through. If not, send it to be cut one more time.
When everything is fine, unload the mat and flip it on a clean surface. Peel the mat away from your layer. Do it slowly, use one hand to keep the cardstock flat on the table. Never try to peel up your cardstock from the mat, it may curl or even tear your paper.
The bottom line
These are 9 tips that I use to cut cardstocks cleanly with my Silhouette Portrait 3.
Do you have any tips to deal with cardstocks for Cricut and Brother? Share them in the comment below 👇. It's a great help for everyone!
1 comment
Do you have a setting suggestion for 110# Recollections paper on a Cricut?