Cricut Custom Pressure Settings Explained

You've hit "Make It" three times on the same piece of vinyl and it's still not cutting all the way through — and you're starting to wonder if you're doing something fundamentally wrong.

You're probably not. The fix is usually a simple pressure adjustment. Cricut pressure settings let you override the machine's defaults and dial in exactly how hard the blade presses into your material, and once you know how to use them, you stop wasting cuts.

Here's everything you need to know to get it right.

How Cricut Pressure Settings Work

Design Space has a built-in library of materials. When you select one, like "Everyday Iron-On" or "Cardstock," it automatically applies preset values for pressure, blade depth, and cut speed. Most of the time, those presets work fine.

Pressure is measured on a scale of roughly 1 to 400+ in Design Space (the exact range varies slightly by machine). Higher numbers mean the blade pushes harder into the material. Blade depth runs from 1 to 10 and controls how far the blade tip extends from the housing. Speed affects how fast the carriage moves across your material.

All three settings work together. A high pressure setting with a shallow blade depth won't cut thick materials. A fast speed with high pressure can tear delicate paper. Getting a clean cut means balancing all three, not just cranking one number up.

When to Use Default vs Custom Settings

Default settings work well for common materials: standard vinyl, everyday cardstock, iron-on, and most printable papers. If your material is in the Design Space library and your blade is in good condition, start there.

Go custom when:

• The cut isn't going all the way through. The blade is likely not pressing hard enough or not extending deep enough for your material's thickness.
• The cut is going too deep. If you're carving grooves into your mat or shredding thin paper, the pressure is too high for what you're cutting.
• Your material isn't in the Design Space library. Specialty items like mylar, acetate, foam sheets, or unusual craft papers won't have a preset at all.
• You're using a generic or off-brand material that doesn't behave exactly like the brand-name version the preset was built for.

If your machine keeps giving you incomplete cuts across different materials, it's worth reading through Why Is My Cricut Not Cutting Correctly? (Full Fix Guide) before changing settings, since blade wear or mat grip issues can mimic a pressure problem.

Setting Custom Pressure in Design Space

Accessing the custom settings screen

When you're on the "Select Material" screen before a cut, scroll to the bottom and tap "Browse All Materials." From there, select "Add New Material" to create a custom profile, or search for your material and then tap "Edit" to adjust its defaults.

The three values to set

• Pressure: Start by bumping the default up or down by 10–20 points. That's usually enough to see a difference without overshooting.
• Blade depth: For most materials, 3–5 is a good starting range. Thick materials like chipboard may need 8–10. Thin materials like tissue paper might only need 1–2.
• Speed: Slower speeds give the blade more time to score through the material cleanly. If you're cutting intricate designs, drop speed to 100–200 even if you raise pressure.

Alternatively, you can set pressure to "More" or "Less" during the cut prompt on some Cricut models — that's a one-time adjustment that bumps the current preset up or down without creating a full custom profile.

Adjusting for Material Too Thick or Thin

If the blade isn't cutting deep enough, the most common culprits are low pressure, a shallow blade depth setting, or a dull blade. Check the blade first — a worn blade needs more pressure to do the same job, and you'll keep chasing a setting that shouldn't need adjusting. The guide on Cricut Blade Not Cutting Deep Enough: Fix It Fast walks through that diagnosis clearly.

For thick materials, raise pressure in 20-point increments and increase blade depth by 1–2 steps at a time. Cut slowly. Chipboard, for example, often needs pressure in the 300–350 range with a blade depth of 8–10.

For thin or delicate materials like tissue paper or vellum, lower pressure to the 100–150 range and keep speed slow — around 150–200. High pressure on thin material causes tearing, not a clean cut.

A few specific adjustments that work well in practice:

• Glitter vinyl: Bump pressure up by 20–30 points above the standard vinyl preset. The texture creates more resistance than smooth vinyl.
• Standard printer paper: Drop pressure to around 150–175. The default cardstock setting is usually too aggressive.
• Mylar: No preset exists for this one. Start at pressure 200, blade depth 4, speed 200, and adjust from there based on your test cut.

If you want a full picture of what the machine can handle, What Materials Can a Cricut Cut? The Full List is a solid reference point before you start experimenting.

Saving Your Custom Settings

When you create a new material in Design Space, it saves automatically to your account under "My Materials." You can name it anything — "Glitter HTV heavy," "Mylar 5mil," "Cheap cardstock thin" — whatever will make sense to you six months from now.

Honestly, naming your custom materials specifically is one of those small habits that pays off fast. Vague names like "custom vinyl" become useless after you've created five variations.

Your saved materials sync across devices if you're logged into the same Design Space account. So a setting you dialed in on your laptop will show up on your tablet or phone the next time you cut.

Test Cut Process for New Materials

Never run a full cut on a material you haven't tested. Use a small scrap piece — about 2 inches square is plenty — and cut a simple shape like a circle or a small letter.

Step-by-step test process

• Step 1: Set your starting values based on a similar material's preset or your best estimate.
• Step 2: Cut the test shape on a scrap piece of your material.
• Step 3: Try to weed or lift the cut piece. If it lifts cleanly without pulling up the mat layer or tearing, your settings are good.
• Step 4: If it doesn't cut through, raise pressure by 15–20 points and test again. If it's cutting into the mat, lower pressure by the same amount.
• Step 5: Repeat until the cut is clean, then save the settings before you forget what worked.

Small increments matter here. Jumping 50–100 points at a time makes it hard to find the sweet spot — you'll overshoot in the other direction and have to backtrack.