How to Print Then Cut with a Silhouette for Junk Journaling

A beginner-friendly step-by-step guide

If you love creating junk journals, printable ephemera, fussy cuts, stickers, tags, or little paper embellishments, learning how to Print Then Cut with a Silhouette machine can completely change your crafting game.

Instead of cutting everything out by hand (hello sore fingers and uneven edges), your Silhouette machine can print your designs and cut them perfectly every time.

And the good news? Once you understand the basic steps, the process is actually very simple.

Today I’m walking you through exactly how I use Print Then Cut with my Silhouette when I’m creating junk journal pieces. This is the same method I use for cutting printable elements like tags, labels, and journal decorations.

Let’s walk through it together.

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Step 1: Set Up Your Page in Silhouette Studio

The first thing you want to do is set up your workspace.

Open your Page Setup Panel and choose your cutting mat size.

For this example, we are using:

• 12 x 12 cutting mat

• 8.5 x 11 paper

This simply tells the software what size mat and paper you will be working with so everything lines up correctly.

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Step 2: Import Your Design

Next, you’ll bring your printable design into Silhouette Studio.

1. Go to the File Menu

2. Click Open

3. Locate your design file (mine is in my Downloads folder)

4. Select the file and open it

Your design will appear on the Silhouette workspace.

From there, you can click and drag the corner of the design to resize it so it fits neatly inside your 8.5 x 11 printable area.

Make sure everything fits comfortably within the page boundaries.

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Step 3: Turn On Registration Marks

Now we need to turn on something called registration marks.

These are the little black shapes your Silhouette machine uses to know exactly where to cut.

In the Page Setup Panel:

1. Click the Registration Marks icon

2. Turn registration marks ON

 

 

You’ll now see three black marks appear on the page:

• A square

• An L shape

• An upside-down L

These marks help your machine read the page so it can line up the cuts perfectly.

Important:
Make sure none of your design elements overlap these marks or the hash marks, If they do, the machine will not cut those items.

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Step 4: Place Your Printed Page on the Cutting Mat

Next, take your printed page and place it onto your cutting mat.

Use the grid on the mat to line up your paper carefully so it sits straight.

You can use:

• A Silhouette brand mat

• Or an off-brand mat

Both will work just fine.

Once your paper is lined up, load the mat into your Silhouette machine following the machine instructions.

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Step 5: Choose Your Material Settings

Now we head back to the computer.

Open the Send Panel in Silhouette Studio.

In this panel:

1. Select your material type

2. For this example we’re choosing Plain Cardstock

If you are using a Silhouette Cameo 3, the software will automatically suggest:

• Blade depth

• Force (pressure)

• Number of passes

However, many people find they need to adjust these settings slightly.

For example, I usually increase my force by about 3 or 4 to make sure the cut goes all the way through.

Every machine is a little different, so you may need to experiment a bit.

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Step 6: Send Your Design to Cut

Before sending the design to cut, check one important thing.

Your elements should have a red cut line around them. You want to select "CUT EDGE" from Send panel. 

This tells the machine exactly where to cut.

Once everything looks good:

Click the blue SEND button at the bottom of the screen.

Your machine will:

1. Scan the registration marks

2. Read the page layout

3. Cut around each design

 

Step 7: Print Your Design

Now it’s time to print your sheet.

Go to:

File → Print

Select your printer (in my case, an Epson printer) and send the page to print.

When it comes out, your printed page should include the three registration marks in the corners.

 

Those marks are essential for the machine to read your design.

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Step 8: Remove Your Cut Pieces

When the machine finishes cutting, unload your mat.

Now you can remove your pieces.

A couple tricks that help:

• Peel the cardstock off the mat slowly

• Use a craft spatula tool if needed

• Or gently bend the mat to release the pieces

Your cut pieces should pop right off the mat.

And that’s it — perfectly cut junk journal pieces, epehmera and fussy cuts. 

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Why Print Then Cut Is Amazing for Junk Journaling

Once you learn this technique, you can create and cut:

• Junk journal tags

• Printable ephemera

• Stickers

• Labels

• Vintage-style tickets

• Planner stickers

• Scrapbook embellishments

• Collage elements

It saves time and gives you beautiful, professional-looking cuts.

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Watch the Full Video Tutorial

If you’d like to see the full process in action, you can watch my YouTube tutorial here where I walk through everything step by step.

And if you enjoy creative tutorials like this, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, Teresa’s Spot for Art, where I share simple ways to bring creativity into your everyday life.

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Final Thoughts

Learning new creative tools can feel overwhelming at first. But once you break the process down step-by-step, it becomes second nature.

Print Then Cut is one of those techniques that opens up so many possibilities for paper crafting and junk journaling.

So if you’ve been curious about trying it, this is your sign to give it a go.

Your future junk journal pages will thank you.

-teresa XO