Perfect Double-Sided Cricut Print & Cut: No Guessing!

This article is part of our Print Then Cut section of the Mastering Cricut Design Space learning hub.

Do you want to be able to do double-sided Print then Cut projects in Cricut Design Space? All it takes is a little bit of setup and you will get perfectly aligned front and back every time!

It’s super useful to be able to create bookmarks, gift tags, cards, ornaments, and more that are finished on both sides without having to glue 2 pieces of cardstock together. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll know how to make double-sided projects with one design or a whole page of different designs, even if they’re irregular shapes and have different images on the front and back.

Looking for the free Max Print then Cut Area SVG? Download it from our Resource Library.

Understanding double-sided printing

To do double-sided printing, you’ll run the paper through your printer twice, once for the front, and once for the back. This requires lining up the front and the back in the same position, on opposite sides of the paper.

That means that the position of the images on the paper need to be mirrored. For example, if your first image prints in the top left corner of the page, the matching image on the back needs to print in the top right corner, so when you flip the page, they align perfectly.

gif image showing how double-sided printing needs to be set up, with the front and back images mirrored

You can see how these match up when the page is flipped side to side; that’s what we’re setting up in Design Space.

The challenge is that Cricut automatically repositions images on the mat to save space, so you can’t rely on where Design Space places your images by default.
We need to lock in the positions before we get to the Mat Preview screen, and that’s what I’m going to show you how to do next.

Setting up your print then cut file

For my examples, I’m using artwork from Creative Fabrica that has both front and back images for the same figure. I’ll start simple, with one design, then I’ll show you how to do a full sheet of multiple images.

artwork for double sided print and cut tutorial, a koala seen from front and back

Make sure the front and back images are the same size, with approximately the same cut outline.

How Design Space sets up Print Then Cut

Now if I click Make, both Print Then Cut images end up on the same sheet. I could move one of these to a second mat, but it’s almost impossible to align them perfectly, especially if they’re irregular shapes.

set load and go screen in design space, showing both front and back images of a design automatically placed on the same page, to save space

Instead, I’m going to attach each image to a larger shape, which will solve the problem in 2 ways:

Design Space will be forced to separate them onto different mats
It locks each image’s position so Design Space can’t move or rotate them

Set up your images to outsmart Design Space

Add a square to the canvas and change the color to white. Set the width to 7.44″ (this is the maximum width for Print Then Cut), and set the height to 7.325″. This shape will now fill almost the entire printable area.

Duplicate the square so you have one to attach to the front image and one for the back. Now I’m going to position the front and back images to mirror one another, setting up a perfect front/back print.

Select the front image and one of the squares. Open the Align tool, and choose Align Top and Align Left

screenshot of design space canvas showing front image being aligned on a guide square shape to lock in its position for print and cut

Select the back image and the second square, then click Align Top and Align Right
Attach each image to its square
change the Operation for the white square to Draw so it won’t get cut when you do your print & cut

design space screenshot showing front and back images of a koala design attached to guide squares to lock in their positions for print then cut double sided printing

It’s not important that you always choose Top/Left, Top/Right alignment, you can easily choose top center, bottom left right or center, or even middle middle. As long as each image position mirrors the other one, it will work.

Printing the front and back

Now when I click Make, the images are on separate mats, locked in position so Design Space can’t move or rotate them.

Select the mat with your front image, click Continue and then Send to Printer.

turn Bleed on
open the System Dialog so you can choose settings for your own printer (I’m using the plain paper setting and fine quality for this demo – choose high/best quality for a real project)

screenshot of design space as front image is prepared for a double sided print then cut, showing the printer dialog open

Before I print, I want to talk about how the page needs to be physically flipped when you print the second side. I’m going to label the front and back top of the page with a pen to make it easier to follow.

photo of labeling the front and back of the top of a sheet of cardstock for double sided print and cut

Rear-feed printers

Your inkjet printer is either going to load from the back OR use a front paper tray. The Epson I’m using is a rear feed printer, so I’m going to show you how to use this kind of printer first.

When I print, I load my sheet upside down, and the image gets printed headfirst, coming out in the bottom tray.

photo of loading cardstock sheet facing front and upside down to print front image for a double sided print then cut

photo showing printed front image of a double-sided print then cut design. The image comes out of the rear-loading printer facing upwards

To print the back image, I will flip this side-to-side and feed it in upside down again.

gif showing how the cardstock with a printed front image needs to be flipped over to print the back image for a double-sided print then cut project printed on a rear feed epson printer

Go back to the Set Load and Go screen, and instead of choosing a cut setting for the front printed image, click on the Mat with the back image. After clicking Send to Printer, I add a bleed, use the system dialog and print.

design space screenshot showing setup to print the back image of a double-sided print then cut before cutting

Now my design is ready to cut!

Front-loading printers

If you have a printer with a front loading tray, it will load like this:

the top of the sheet will be loaded in the bottom tray, facing toward the printer, the front will be facing up

photo of how to load cardstock to print front image for a double-sided print then cut, showing how to load it for a front tray feed printer

the printed sheet will come out at the top, usually face down, with the top pointing toward you

To print the back of the image, you don’t have to flip the page, you just have to point the top of the blank side toward the printer again.

photo showing how to load a front-loading inkjet printer to print the back image for a double sided cricut print then cut design

I recommend writing front, back, and top on your page until you get the hang of this. Don’t be too upset if you mess it up. We’re printing on cardstock here, not printable vinyl or sticker sheets, so mistakes are pretty cheap!

Cut the image

Now that both sides are printed, let’s cut! I’m going to load the sheet on the cutting mat with the BACK SIDE facing up (since it was the last image printed).

photo showing cutting of a double-sided print then cut design. The cardstock is loaded with the back image facing up, since the back image was the last one to be printed

I’m using the Medium Cardstock setting. Just ignore it when Design Space prompts you to load a pen, we don’t want to draw the attached guide squares.

Setting up multiple images on one sheet

Now let’s take it up a notch with multiple designs per page. There are 2 ways you can do this:

use the same square guide shape and use the align tool as before, OR
use the whole print then cut area and set up your sheet by duplicating and mirroring

Option 1: using the square guide and Align

Add a square to the canvas, change it to white, and size it to 7.44″ wide and 7.325″ high. Duplicate the guide square.

Place your front images on the first square and use Align to arrange them at top left/top right/bottom left/bottom right and so on.

screenshot showing how to use the align tool in design space to create a full page of front images for double-sided print and cut

On the second guide square, use Align to mirror each of the front image placements with the back images. For example, if a front image was placed at bottom left, align the back image at bottom right.

Attach each set of images to their guide square. Set the square’s Operation to Draw. Now you’re ready to hit the Make button!

screenshot of design space canvas showing multiple front and back images aligned on 2 guide squares for double sided print then cut

Option 2: using the max print & cut area guide

If you want to use the full Print then Cut area, you’ll have to use a guide shape for that, too. There are a few of these print then cut area guides in the Design Space community, or you can download my Maximum Print then Cut Area Guide SVG from our Resource Library.

Update: I have included a Max Print then Cut Area Guide for A4 paper, also in the Resource Library.

Add the guide shape to the Canvas and place your front images anywhere you want.

screenshot of arranging front images on max print then cut area guide shape for double sided print then cut

Select all of your corresponding back images, then:

Flip Horizontally (this will allow the back images to line up perfectly with their front counterparts)
select Bring to Front to make sure the back images will be at the top of the Layers Panel

screenshot of flipping back images horizontally and bringing to front in order to center them on top of front images for a double sided print then cut that uses the whole max print then cut area

place each back image over its matching front image, select both images, and use Align > Center to match them perfectly

screenshot of aligning each pair of front and back images on the max print then cut guide shape to prepare for double sided print then cut

Once every image pair has been aligned, select everything (all images and the guide shape). Click Group, then Duplicate, then Hide that group in the Layers Panel (click the eye icon next to the group).

screenshot of design space canvas showing prep for double sided print then cut that will use all of the available area. front and back images are aligned in pairs on a max print then cut area shape, with the back images on top of the front images. The guide shape and all images are grouped, then duplicated, and the duplicated group gets hidden in the layers panel

Now I’m going to remove all the back images from the front image sheet, and all the front images from the back image sheet.

Create the sheet of front images

First, I’ll create a sheet of front images by deleting all the back images:

in the Layers Panel, open the first image Group (click on the > next to the Group) so you see a full list of all the images
- all the back images will be listed together ABOVE the front images
delete all the back images

design space screenshot showing max print then cut area guide shape with front and back images for 6 designs that will be created using double sided print then cut. Front images and back images are labeled in the layers panel

when only the front images remain on the canvas, select all of the images and the guide shape and Attach
change the Operation for the guide shape to Draw

screenshot of completed sheet of front images using the max print then cut area, ready for double-sided print then cut

Create the sheet of back images

Now I’ll create a sheet of back images by deleting all the front images:

in the Layers Panel, click on the eye icon next to the second group of images to Unhide the group
open the Group and find the front images
- all the front images will be listed together BELOW the back images, just like with the other sheet

delete all the front images
when only the back images remain, select all of the images and guide, and Attach
with everything still selected, Flip Horizontally to return all the images to the correct orientation
change the Operation for the guide shape to Draw

screenshot of completed sheet of back images using the max print then cut area, ready for double-sided print then cut

When I go to Make the project, there are now two perfectly mirrored mats. I’ll print the front images, reload to print the backs, then I’m ready to cut!

double sided print then cut mat preview: front images

double sided print then cut mat preview: back images

Cut results: be careful of front/back mismatches!

Remember: when you cut after printing, you are using only ONE cut line for both front and back. This means that if there are any mismatches between the front and back designs, you may end up with a few mistakes.

For the most part, the designs I used for this tutorial cut very nicely – even the cat’s whiskers were a perfect front/back match!

double-sided print then cut results: 6 cardstock animals printed front and back

But there were a few areas where the front and back designs weren’t a perfect fit. The feet of both the chick and the owl show 3 toes at the front, but cutting from the back I cut off the front details. I could have included more details if I had printed the backs first, then printed and cut from the front.

closeup of cardstock owl and chick showing mismatch of front and back foot print and cut. Images were cut using the back cut line, which removed some toe details from the front of the images

The chick’s head feathers were also was a bit of a mismatch, with the center spike facing different directions front and back. But in this case, the mismatch can’t be seen because I turned on the bleed when printing.

finished double-sided print then cut cardstock chick showing small mismatch in front and back images. top feathers point in different directions in the front and back images and the back cut line was used, but the print bleed covers up the small mistake

So here are a few considerations:

if there is a mismatch, decide which cut line you want to use – front or back – and then print and cut that side last
you should always turn on bleed when printing to cover any small mismatches
you can always use an offset or flatten to a shape to get rid of mismatched cut lines between images

So now you’ve mastered double-sided print & cut in Design Space! Go ahead and make those gift tags, bookmarks, and cards like a pro!

Before you go…

You might enjoy some of our other more advanced Design Space tutorials:

feature image for the double sided print then cut christmas card with the contoured die cut side edge and personalized script — **Double-sided Print & Cut Side Edge Chrstmas Card**

Cricut Stitch line hack feature image, showing a closeup of a homemade card decorated with faux stitching cut and drawn with a Cricut machine — **Design Space Stitch Line Hack**

HAPPILY Ever After wedding congratulations card featuring intertwined text technique created in Cricut Design Space — **From Basic to Beautiful: Intertwined Text**