Problems with Print Then Cut with the Crafter

Samantha_Bryant · October 31, 2025, 5:56pm

Hello, fellow Crafters!

Today, I want to talk about the Print Then Cut feature for the Crafter. I’ve had my machine for 2 years, now, and have never been able to make a perfect cut. For the longest, I couldn’t get the machine to read the registration marks. I even tried making them darker with a Sharpie marker, as the “How to Fix” guide suggested. I adjusted my lighting, did all the things the guide suggested, nothing worked. I tried for the first time, yesterday, with my phone app, and it read the registration marks on the first try, however, the alignment was off. I had used my laptop and my desktop, prior to using the mobile app, and neither worked. My firmware is up to date and so are all of the apps across mobile and PCs.

Another issue I had been having was with the calibration. Whenever I did the calibration, it also had trouble reading the registration marks, but eventually, it read them, one time. That one time I got it to run the calibration, it didn’t actually make the slits on the page. It went over each line but never made a single cut. Yesterday, after doing some troubleshooting with @redhada and @BellethehowtoGuru, I got it to do the calibration, and I was able to get the machine to actually make the cuts in the calibration sheet, but the alignment was still off. I was able to get it to cut with my computer, however, I have to hit the start button multiple times in order for it to read the registration marks. I expanded the offset after uploading the sticker sheet to IS, made sure I have the material size set to the size of my paper, which is US Letter 8.5x11. I’m printing at 100%, high quality. I don’t move the sheet once I click make. I still don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

I’ve used a few different sticker sheets that I made in Canva. I made them either by using the Canva fonts and elements, or I made them in a digital art app (Clip Studio Paint, ibisPaintX), then, uploaded them to a sheet in Canva, then downloaded as a PNG file. All 3 sheets are PNG files that I upload to the IS. In the layers panel, it shows 2 layers: 1. the artwork (full sheet with my designs) and 2. the white offsets where the cuts would go.

As far as I can tell, I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do, but I’m still not getting that perfect cut. Has anyone else had this issue? If so, do you still have this problem? Or did you manage to find a fix? If you did, may I ask you to share with me what you did to achieve the perfect PTC? I appreciate any and all suggestions that you may have.

redhada · October 31, 2025, 7:15pm

Let’s add a link here to the beginning of the conversation

https://community.loklik.com/t/diy-project-sharing-fear-those-witches-booooooo-halloween-feminist-spell/43820/29?u=redhada

Samantha_Bryant · October 31, 2025, 7:28pm

I made this calibration sheet in Canva and saved it as a transparent SVG file. These are my results.

Samantha_Bryant · October 31, 2025, 7:30pm

Perfect! Thanks so much!

redhada · October 31, 2025, 8:13pm

Let’s see where we can order this a bit.

There’s something very strange there with the lines conversion. Even so, you should have converted them to simple shapes. That is not a calibration sheet, that would be a calibration test sheet On it, we need to see where it is cutting in the whole sheet context.

It is better not introducing more confusing elements. No more canva (not a vector reliable tool, it is an user end app), no more png conversions. Reduce it all. Just make a square in IS, duplicate it in array and make the test.

But before all this, you didn´t end calibrating, you only made one pass and don´t even know itf it is right.

Post the full pictures with the full sheets, and if possible, screenshots of the material in IS showing layers, parámeters and anything useful.

This is a " Give me a point to stand on, and I will move the world" situation, you need to start working methodically, dear or we`ll never may get a conclussion

Samantha_Bryant · October 31, 2025, 8:21pm

Yes, of course, I meant a test sheet, but I also wanted to see if the issue was the file type. I wanted to see if an SVG would cut better. That’s why I used Canva to do the squares, because I can save as an SVG.

So, I should do another calibration with the sheet that IS provides? But no more than 3, correct? And then try to cut squares that I make in IS?

redhada · October 31, 2025, 8:28pm

Yes, you want to try, but you cannot try everything at a time or you won’t reach a conclussion, dear. Leave that for the moment you’ll have the first things first solved. Goal by goal, match by match, champinship by championship haha

Yes, up to 3 calibrations is the best. You only made one, it was from your mobile and it is not enough. Now that we’re here in your cozzy corner, let’s do it right.

Let’s start solving calibration problem and be sure the machine is calibrated or we won’t have a way to know what is failing in the PTC

Samantha_Bryant · October 31, 2025, 8:36pm

Yes, of course. We’ll start over. Also, I did the calibration from my desktop.

MCVDFC · November 2, 2025, 1:32am

Sorry to hear you’re having such a nightmare with this. I haven’t tried Print & Cut on my Crafter yet but I’m interested to see if you can get yours working better.
Good luck

Samantha_Bryant · November 2, 2025, 2:01pm

Thank you. I gave up, yesterday. I may try again, today, but idk that it’ll ever make a perfect cut. My initial problem was it was either not reading the registration marks, or it did read them, but wouldn’t make cuts in the calibration sheet. I was able to get it to make cuts, even though I had to press start 3-4 times before it would read the marks. I calibrated it, several times, and used Loklik’s flash tool that was meant to fix some bugs in the Crafter, but my alignment is still off. I tried to calibrate again, yesterday, but my machine went back to its old ways. It even pushed the mat beyond the rollers and was cutting on the base of the machine, rather than the mat. I had to turn the machine off mid-task to get my mat back from it’s jaws. It’s getting so close to Christmas, and I have been planning on getting a new machine for Christmas, so I’ll just use this one for vinyl cutting and card making, and hope that the new one will PTC for me.

Samantha_Bryant · October 29, 2025, 11:39pm

Yep, those are the pens I had seen on Amazon over a year ago, but they were “unavailable”. As far as my other brush pens, they won’t stay in. I clamp them, but they easily come straight up out of the housing. Hopefully one day, they’ll make the pens available in the US. I requested them when I first got my machine, so when I saw them pop up on Amazon I was so excited, but then was let down with “unavailable” . I’ll try purchasing the adapters, and yes, if they don’t work, I’ll send them back.

I had a look through the topics you shared. They seem to have the same problem I have. It’s ok. I can always just hand draw stuff. I saw that you can PTC with your Crafter, though? Mine has never worked for that. I can print, but it doesn’t cut, at all. It won’t even make cuts when I do the calibration sheet. I tried creating an offset around my artwork, but the cut was off. I’m going to try some of the tips you shared in that thread, and see if it works for me. If not, oh well, I’m planning on buying the iCraft this Christmas so I can PTC my artwork for stickers. That was the main reason I bought the Crafter lol. Thanks so much for your help.

redhada · October 30, 2025, 5:08pm

Reading this back… Of course I use my Crafter to make Print then Cut, not only me, many of us here, and we get perfect cuts.

When you say it doesn´t cut at all with PTC function you mean literally that? If so there must be a problem. I would open a topic in Machine so that we can help you properly with that problem, we cannot accept it If you do it, please try to explain it in detail and add some pics and/or screenshots

Samantha_Bryant · October 30, 2025, 5:22pm

Yeah, when I try to calibrate, it goes over the lines, but doesn’t make any cuts, at all. When I print something, it either cuts but it’s way off, and cuts into my design, or it doesn’t read the registration marks, therefore it won’t cut anything. I’ve only tested on cardstock and matte sticker paper, as I don’t want to test cut and waste glossy sticker sheets. But for 2 years, I’ve never been able to cut a sticker. I tried placing my art design on the canvas and creating an offset around it, hiding the design, and only cutting the offset portion, but it still cuts into my design. From the videos I watched on YouTube, many of them couldn’t get theirs to cut properly, either, so I just assumed the Crafter PTC was just a failure, all around. I’ll try to PTC today, and see what happens.

redhada · October 30, 2025, 5:40pm

That’s not normal at all, I can only think of an out of date firmware (did you update it?) or a defective machine.

So it cuts. It doesn’t cut at all while calibrating but it cuts wrong if you print and cut? You’re describing two different problems there:

bad registration marks reading
reading registration marks failure
Both have more or less the same solutions, although each one has its own causes.

I would use other than regular paper to make as many tests as neccesary until I could find the problem.

That’s not acceptable.

Again with screenshots we can see what is happening there, you should have any problem.

But the videos doesn´t reflect the reallity because most of them are early test when the machine’s firmware was very old. The updates fixed all those problems, and although soon the iCraft was launched and the review videos started to be about it, so almost* no more new videos about the real state of the Crafter, our machine is perfectly able to make all the task. The iCraft may be more comfortable, a bit more stronger, more ready to versatile tasks, more coddled by the software development and so on… but our little machine still does it all.

Look at this channel which reviewed the Crafter’s PTC function before and after the software updates:

Samantha_Bryant · October 30, 2025, 6:18pm

My machine is fully up to date. I had recorded a video when I tried to create the offset around my artwork, but apparently I deleted it. I can’t find it in my files. Like I said, if I find some time, I’ll try again, today. It’s been a few months since I tried. I don’t like wasting ink and computer paper, either, lol. But I print the calibration sheet, stick it to the mat, the machine goes over each line, but never makes a single cut. One video I saw shows it making cuts, and you’re supposed to choose which cut was perfect, but I’ve never been able to do that.

I think it read the registration marks and made cuts, one time, but the cut was way off. That’s when I tried to calibrate, again, but it still didn’t make any cuts on the calibration sheet. Every other time, it doesn’t read the calibration marks. The closest I came to having a perfect cut, was when I did the offset, but I only got one perfect cut out of 7. With each design it cut, it went further into the artwork, rather than cutting around it. I think it’s because I couldn’t actually print the design from the app, so I had to place my printed sheet on the mat to see exactly where each design was set on the mat, then place the design on the canvas in IS. It’s super difficult to get it in the exact spot, hence why I only had one perfect cut. Let me finish up what I’m working on now, and I will try to cut and calibrate and do all the things to see if it’s working properly now.

redhada · October 30, 2025, 6:25pm

Oh please, whenever you feel like if you feel like… no hurry at all. It is for your best interest xdd

Samantha_Bryant · October 30, 2025, 6:35pm

I’m just about done with my project, and am curious to see if it works, now. I try every so often to see if the latest update fixed it, but I don’t think I tried after the last update. And I definitely appreciate your attention to this matter.

Samantha_Bryant · October 30, 2025, 8:43pm

I tried… Still doesn’t read the registration marks. I sent an error report, after clicking “error check.” I went through the “how to fix” instructions. They tell me to make sure the printed material is aligned along the top left edge, as you can see it is. It says not for glossy paper to use with matte paper, which I’m using regular, matte printer paper. It says to darken with marker if necessary. I did that once before, it did nothing to fix it. Still wouldn’t read the marks. It says to make sure the mat isn’t bent or creased. It’s not. Then make sure software is up-to-date. It is. So, idk. Hopefully, they can fix it with the report I sent.

redhada · October 30, 2025, 8:52pm

It seems well visible and it is mate so… let’s check other things

Are you sure you updated your firmware version to the last one?

Is that an A4?
it doesn’t seem so (210x297mm - 8,27 x 11,69 inches) the right margin seems very wide and the bottom one very short. That seems 21,59 x 27,94 cm - 8,5x11 inches
That shouldn’t be a problem if you’re printing 100% scale and your printer knows it is not an A4, I mean if you set the right size in printer settings.

Are you printing 100% scale?
The reader may not founding the registration marks where they are supposed to be.

Side by side

I think this is going to be easier and get more help if you open a new topic with all that details.

Oh and you can save ink making a calibration test sheet like this

To make those test and once it reads the marks, check where is cutting right or wrong

Samantha_Bryant · October 30, 2025, 9:11pm

Yes, I’m 100% positive. It always tells me if I need to update the machine. The “How to Fix” instructions say to make sure it’s version 0.1.0 or above. I’m on version 2.6.7. It’s US letter size 8.5in x 11in. In the US, our standard printer paper and sticker sheets are 8.5x11. I’m printing at full scale. It follows along where the marks are, it just doesn’t read them. On my software, it looks just like how my mat does with this paper on it. It’s set up for US letter paper, not A4. I just hit print from the Loklik IS and it prints it the way it’s shown on the screen/mat. The stickers are smaller than if I print them outside of the app. I’m trying to get my laptop to start up so I can check if it needs an update, but it looks to be fully updated.