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Cricut engraving tool: machines, materials and set-up

Which Cricut machines take the Engraving Tip, the materials Cricut lists for it, how to set up a design in Design Space, and why shapes engrave as outlines.

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The Cricut Engraving Tip is a sharp metal point that a Cricut Maker drags across a flat blank to cut a fine groove into it. Cricut says it works with Cricut Maker machines only, so not with a Cricut Explore. Cricut lists settings for thin metals, thin acrylic, leather and some card, and says the tool is not meant for glass. It engraves lines only, so a solid shape comes out as its outline unless you fill it with lines first.

Everything below comes from Cricut’s own help pages, which are listed at the end. They were read in October 2026; Cricut edits them often, so check the linked page if a detail matters to you.

Which machines can engrave

MachineCan it engrave?Tool
Cricut Maker 4 and earlier Maker machinesYesEngraving Tip in a QuickSwap Housing
Cricut Maker 5YesThe one-piece Engraving Tool, or the Engraving Tip in a QuickSwap Housing
Cricut Explore family, including Explore Air 2NoNone

Cricut’s reason for the Explore: the tip “requires the power and the drive mechanism that is built into the Cricut Maker Adaptive Tool System”. None of the Cricut help pages read for this guide describes a setting or adapter that changes this.

The Engraving Tip is one of several tips that share the QuickSwap Housing, with the scoring wheels, the debossing tip, the perforation blade and the wavy blade. Each tip has a number etched on it, and the Engraving Tip is 41. Cricut says the housing from a Rotary Blade is not interchangeable with it. For the Maker 5, Cricut says the performance of the one-piece Engraving Tool “matches that of the Engraving Tip+QuickSwap Housing”.

Materials Cricut lists

When a project contains an Engrave operation, Design Space only lets you pick materials that Cricut has tested for engraving. They sit under the Compatible tab of the materials screen, and the rest are greyed out. You cannot make a custom material setting for engraving. The table shortens Cricut’s lists a little; the full ones are on its help page.

GroupListed for every MakerAdded for the Maker 5
MetalAluminum Sheets, Anodized Aluminum, Brass, Bronze, 40 gauge thin copper, Stainless Steel
PlasticAcetate, Foil Acetate, Transparency, Acrylic 1 mm and 2 mmAcrylic 3 mm, ABS engravable blanks 3 mm, Craft Plastic 0.5 mm
LeatherGenuine Leather, Metallic Leather, Garment Leather, Tooling Leather up to 2.4 mm, paper-thin Faux LeatherFaux Suede
Paper and boardKraft Board, Foil Poster Board, Metallic Poster Board, Glitter Cardstock, Shimmer and Sparkle Paper, Vellum, watercolour paperMedium Cardstock
OtherVinyl Record

Three limits apply to any blank:

  • Thickness. No more than 2.4 mm (3/32 in) in a Maker 4 or earlier, and 3 mm (1/8 in) in a Maker 5.
  • Width. No wider than 28 cm (11 in), so that the blank does not pass under the star wheels or the rollers at the sides.
  • Flatness. Flat, not warped.

Metal. Yes, a Maker engraves the metals in the table, within the thickness limit above. Cricut sells aluminium sheets made for the tool, in sizes from 4 × 4 in to 8 × 8 in.

Wood. Wood is not on either list. Cricut’s advice for a material that is not listed is to “test an available setting on a practice piece or on the back of your material” before the real blank. Treat wood as an experiment, and keep within the thickness limit.

Acrylic. Listed at 1 and 2 mm for every Maker and at 3 mm for the Maker 5.

Glass. Cricut’s note is plain: “Engraving tools are not intended for use with glass at this time.”

Why a heart engraves as an outline

The tip follows paths. It has no way to shade an area. Cricut explains that with artwork made for cutting “the machine will engrave along the cut paths, making the result look like an outline or ‘bubble’ version of the design”. A word in an ordinary font comes out as hollow letters.

There are three ways round it, all from Cricut’s guide:

  1. Use single-line artwork. In Design Space, filter fonts by Writing Style and images by Draw or Draw + Cut. These are made of single strokes and engrave as they look.
  2. Fill the shape with lines. Select the shape, choose Offset, enter a small negative value (Cricut suggests -0.020, -0.010 or -0.005), choose Apply, and repeat until the shape is full of nested outlines. Then select all of them and Attach.
  3. Lay a pattern over it. Search Images for “line patterns”, place one over the shape, select both, and choose Combine, then Subtract.

For a bolder line, duplicate the design two or three times, centre the copies on each other with Align, and Attach them. The machine then engraves the same path several times.

A photo cannot be engraved as a photo, but a line drawing of it can. Plotcaster’s Edges style turns a photo into single-stroke outlines, and the Engrave style draws it in lines that follow the form and swell in the shadows, both saved as an SVG of strokes with no fills. Uploading an SVG to Design Space covers the import, and photo to line drawing for Cricut covers which line styles suit which tool. Once the lines are on the Canvas, change their Operation to Engrave. Keep the number of lines modest: Cricut says a project takes longer when the design is intricate.

Setting up the design

These are Cricut’s steps, shortened. The menu names are as Cricut’s help page gives them; the page was last edited in September 2026.

  1. Add a shape to the Canvas that is the size and shape of your blank. Set its Operation to Pen, then choose Marker (1 mm) and Blue (Washable Fabric). It is only a guide for position and will not be drawn.
  2. Add the image or text to engrave and change its Operation to Engrave.
  3. Place the design inside the guide shape, more than 5 mm from every edge.
  4. Select both, choose Attach, then Make.
  5. On the Prepare screen, drag the attached design to where the blank will sit on the mat. Turn off Mark Fabric to hide the blue outline, then Continue.

The 5 mm rule has a cause. Cricut says there is “a gap of up to 3mm between the mat and mat guides on either side”, so the design will not land exactly where the screen shows it. For the same reason Cricut does not recommend engraving anything smaller than 1 in (2.5 cm) in either direction. In Design Space for iOS, Cricut says the SnapMat feature helps to line the design up with the blank.

Loading and engraving

  1. Peel any protective film off the blank.
  2. Put the blank on the mat where the Prepare screen showed it, and press it down with a brayer.
  3. Tape all four sides with painter’s tape. Keep the tape off the area to be engraved and clear of the rubber rollers near the mat guides.
  4. For thicker blanks, slide the white star wheels all the way to the right, so they do not leave tracks.
  5. Choose the material under the Compatible tab, fit the tip when Design Space asks, load the mat and press Go.

Leave room in front of and behind the machine, and do not touch the mat while it runs. The tip lifts and spins for a few seconds now and then; Cricut says this is normal and reduces wear. Fast Mode is not available, there are no multiple passes in the material settings, and the tip needs no calibration.

Finishing

Engraving leaves burrs and fine fragments, and on metal and acrylic they are sharp. Cricut’s advice:

  • Do not run your fingers over the engraved surface.
  • Lift the debris with a lint roller or a piece of tape. Wiping drags fragments across the blank and can scratch it.
  • Smooth rough edges with a polishing cloth or 360 to 600 grit paper, after trying it on the back.
  • Clean the machine with a soft cloth or compressed air, blowing the dust out of the machine and not into it.

If the mark is hard to see, Cricut suggests adding paint, ink or stain to the engraved lines. On its bare aluminium sheets it suggests colouring over the lines with a dry-erase marker and wiping off the excess. Before engraving tooling leather, soften it with a damp sponge.

When it goes wrong

ProblemCricut’s checks
The engraving is off centreTape on all sides; the design placed where the blank sits; artwork more than 5 mm from the edges; blank at least 2.5 cm each way
The lines are too faintUse a larger design, clearer linework or a line fill; check that no tape covers the area; add colour afterwards
Text is hollowUse a Writing Style font, a larger size, or one of the fills above
The blank movesIt must be flat, a listed material and taped on all sides, and the mat must be supported
The machine scrapes or jamsPause. The blank may be too thick, too wide or lifting from the mat. Do not carry on

Questions

Is the Engraving Tip the same as the Debossing Tip? No. The debossing tip has a small rolling ball that presses a dent into the material. The engraving tip has a sharp point that cuts a groove.

Can I engrave from the phone app? Yes. Cricut says engraving works in the Design Space mobile apps.

How long does it take? Cricut says engraving “may take several minutes depending on the size and complexity of your design”. More lines take longer.

Would a laser do this better? A laser engraves filled areas and photos, which a dragged point cannot. It also needs ventilation and eye protection, and it suits different materials. See laser engraving tips for what is involved.

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