How to Find It

• Windows: ≡ Menu -> Managing Custom Materials

When to Use it

If you’ve found a material to cut that the Explore or Maker doesn’t have in its lengthy list, you can add it here. You can also fine-tune some of the materials, if, for example, you find that one material doesn’t seem to cut properly (e.g., tears or skips). I would consider this an advanced option that you likely will not need to use.

Description

Each material that the Cricut can cut has three pieces of information that govern how the Cricut cuts the material. They are cut pressure, multi-cut (how many times to cut), and blade type. You can edit these for all the materials.

At the bottom of this post is a long screenshot of the list of materials (a large sequence is taken out at the horizontal gray line). At the top of the list is the machine name (you can select another machine, if you’re lucky enough to have access to multiple machines).

For the Explore machines, the list is divided into two sections: Dial Settings and Custom Materials. The Dial Settings are those that are assigned to the dial; Custom Materials are those that are available when the dial is set to Custom. Within each list are four columns:

• Material Name – the name of the material.
• Cut Pressure – a number between 0 and 350 for Explore (about 10x more for the Maker).
• Multi-Cut – Off means it will cut once, otherwise it will show the number of times to cut.
• Blade Type — one of the types of blades available for the specific machine. Fine point, deep point, and bonded fabric blades are available for the Explore, with more for the Maker.

Editing a Material

Editing a material is easy! Simply click the Edit button corresponding to the material you wish to change. The entry changes to the following:

1. Move the slider right to increase the cut pressure or left to decrease the cut pressure. Sliders can get you in the ballpark number, so use the + and – button to the right of the slider to find tune the cut pressure instead of trying to get it right with the slider.
2. Change the Multi-cut setting. Increase it if the media isn’t being cut through; decrease it if it’s cutting into the mat.
3. Blade Type settings. Select between fine point , deep point, and bonded fabric. I think it’s unlikely you’ll change this setting.
4. Press Save (or Cancel).

Tip: Instead of editing a material, add a new one. You might preface the name with your initials or the word “My” so you know it’s your custom setting. That way, if Cricut edits the material settings, you’re sure to get their updates. The only way I would edit a material directly is if you need to modify one of the dial settings because it consistently doesn’t cut that particular material properly or if instructed by Cricut Technical Support.

Adding a New Material

Adding a new material is simple. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list, or press the End key on your keyboard to jump to the end of the list. At the bottom is the green Add New Material button. Click it to bring up this screen:

1. Type in the name you’ like to give the material (you’ll type over “New Material Name” shown in the screen shot).
2. Click either Save or Cancel. Both buttons light up when there’s an entry in the material name options.
3. You’ll be sent back to the list of custom materials with your new material shown and expanded:

1. Choose the cut pressure by moving the slider right to increase the cut pressure or left to decrease the cut pressure. Sliders can get you in the ballpark number, so use the + and – button to the right of the slider to find tune the cut pressure.
2. Select the number of Multi-cut passes. “Off” means a single cut pass. See screenshot, below, for the dropdown picture.
3. Select the blade. Your choices are Fine-Point and Deep-Point. The bonded fabric blade is reserved only for materials set up by Cricut.

The last step is to press Save, Cancel,  or Delete. Save saves your changes. Cancel eliminates your changes but leaves the new material in the list. Delete