How to Use Cricut Infusible Ink Pens? [Step-By-Step Guide]
Are you going to use Cricut infusible ink pens? If yes, you should know how to use it so that you can get what you want. These little pens can be used for versatile and fun crafts. You can use these pens either freehand or with your Cricut machine. If you are new to this, read the blog post till the end to learn how to use Cricut infusible ink pens. You will learn everything about infusible ink pens here.
Note that the infusible ink pens are different from the regular Cricut ink pens. You can’t draw directly on your project; you need to draw your design on a sheet of paper and then use a heat press to transfer the image from the paper to the final project.
What is Cricut Infusible Ink Pens?
Cricut has many accessories for your crafts, and infusible ink pens are one of them. They contain infusible ink that works with the Cricut machine. The Cricut machine has an accessory clamp to load the ink pens, or you can draw directly with them. These infusible ink pens have a tip for drawing and crisp lines. These pens come in basic colors like bright red, bright green, neon yellow, neon pink, and neon orange.
How Do Infusible Ink Pens Work?
The infusible ink pens are an accessory from Cricut that contain a special heat that activates on heating, transforms into gas, and gets infused into the material of your choice. This means that the design will stick to the blank material, which won’t fade. The infusible inks give a special touch to your crafts. These are the best Cricut accessories if you want to try something different with your machine and material. To get the desired results, you have to understand the right amount of heat and pressure. If you provide the required heat and pressure, your design will transfer correctly.
Which Cricut Machine and Heat Press Should You Use?
The Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore, and Cricut Joy are compatible with infusible ink pens. There are various sets of infusible ink pens that are designed specifically for these machines. As the Cricut Joy is small in size, it has a separate set of ink pens that are not compatible with the Cricut Maker and Explore machines.
Besides, you will also need a Cricut heat press to transfer the design onto the material if you are working on a blank sheet with a flat surface. If you are transferring the design to a mug or tumbler, use a Cricut Mug Press instead.
How Do I Use Cricut Infusible Ink Pens?
There is a step-by-step process to prepare a design with infusible ink pens.
Upload Your Design
Go to Cricut Design Space and upload your desired design, then add it to the canvas. Ensure that your design is all selected, and then click the Edit option at the bottom.
Then, resize your design as per your needs and fit it according to the size of your blank. To adjust the width and height, unlock the lock icon.
Now, click the "Layers" option at the bottom of the screen. Then, select one group from the right side. We are choosing one that says "Valentine’s."
Tap on the Basic Cut option, which will open the menu. Now, change the operation to Pen from the drop-down menu. After that, select the pen size from the options.
Select one size; for example, we are using fine-point 0.4 pens. Then, scroll until you see the color name in infusible ink.
Then, pick a color for your grouped layer.
Repeat this for each grouped layer until you pick a different color for each one of them.
After that, click "Make It" at the top right corner of your screen.
Adjust the Infusible Ink Pen Settings.
You will have to mirror the design before drawing it on the material.
Then, select the mat size and check if the slider for the mirror is turned on.
After that, tap Next to move to the material settings.
Click All Materials and type "copy" in the search bar.
Select your copy paper and click Close. Note: If your material isn’t available, use the closest our copy paper was 80 gsm, so we picked 75 gsm.
Then, Design Space will assist you with which color pen to start with and what to do after that.
Now, follow the displayed instructions.
Load your mat with the blank paper.
Put the first pen into the left carriage and press C.
Once the design is successfully drawn, remove it from the mat gently.
Apply Heat to the Infusible Ink Design
To apply heat, clean out your blank with a lint roller to remove the debris.
Now, put tape on your blank with the design facing down on the blank (use heat-resistant tape). The design should be secure on the blank.
Then, take 2-3 pieces of copy paper and adjust them around the blank. With this, you can protect your heat press from ink leaking.
Now, take a piece of parchment paper, wrap it around it, and place it in the center of the heat press.
You also have to set an appropriate pressure, heat, and time as per the requirements. You can look at the Heat Press Guide to get an idea. For example, we are using a temperature of 190 degrees for 90 seconds.
Let it cool before removing the paper.
At last, attach rings with pliers, and your craft is done.
Conclusion
Cricut infusible ink pens are a good way to make your favorite crafts. You can create your own designs and put them on any blank item, whether a T-shirt or mug. This is an incredible way to spend some time with yourself. You are free to create anything you want. You will need a Cricut machine (Maker, Explore series, or Cricut Joy), a Cricut heat press, and blank, heat-resistant tape to make a craft with infusible ink pens. Start by uploading your design in the Design Space, and then adjust it according to your requirements. Then, apply heat pressing, and finally, your craft is ready.
Visit: Cricut.com/setup
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