You might be wondering, when should you calibrate your Cricut machine. You might be surprised to know that there are really only three times you need to even worry about calibration.
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What does calibrate your Cricut mean?
Calibration in a Cricut machine involves ensuring the machine’s cutting blade is correctly aligned with the design on your material. It helps optimize the precision of cuts by making sure the machine accurately follows the specified paths.
Calibration is crucial for achieving accurate and consistent results in your crafting projects. It typically involves a series of test cuts and adjustments to ensure that the Cricut machine is cutting exactly where it’s supposed to on your material.
When do you need to calibrate your Cricut?
There are only three times you need to calibrate your Cricut machine. This is why when you select Calibration, the image below pops up, and it only gives you three choices.
- When using the Rotary Blade
- Cricut actually recommends that to get optimal cut performance, sizing, and alignment, you should perform the Rotary blade calibration every time you change your Rotary blade.
- When using the Knife Blade
- If calibration has not been completed before you attempt your first cut with Knife Blade, Design Space will continually prompt you to complete the calibration process. Once complete, the prompt will disappear.
- When doing Print then Cut projects
- With print then cut projects, once you calibrate your Cricut you do not have to redo the process, unless you notice that there is a shift in the cuts and they are no longer lining up with your printed project.
What about regular cutting with the Cricut?
There is a HUGE myth and misconception I see in many Cricut conversations, and that is when people are advising others to calibrate their machine when they are not doing one of the three functions listed above. For example, if the Cricut owner is just cutting cardstock or vinyl, there is no need to calibrate the machine.
If you needed to calibrate your Cricut in order to simply cut cardstock or vinyl, Cricut would have put that in the beginner information about setting up your Cricut. When you get a new Cricut machine, there is a QR code that takes you to information to help you complete your first project.
Don’t you think if calibration of the Cricut was needed in order to use the machine for any project, they would have included the steps for calibration in those first project instructions?
How to Calibrate your Cricut Video
Because the process for how to calibrate your Cricut is so detailed, I feel that it is easier to explain in a video. In this video I will show how to calibrate your Cricut for Print then Cut projects.