Cricut Foil Transfer System Tutorial: All YOU Need to Know to Get Started!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cricut’s new product that will make your crafts shine! With this Cricut Foil Transfer System tutorial you’ll learn all you need to know.

I’m so excited for this newest product just released from Cricut! I have been wanting to foil with my Cricut machine for a long time so I was super eager to get my hands on one, and it didn’t disappoint!

I’ve had to keep this a secret for over a month and it was so hard not sharing some projects I was making in my Instagram stories. I have learned quite a bit about the new Cricut foil transfer system and I have some great tips for you to help you get started!

Craft foiling in general is adding cool shiny embellishments to all sorts of different projects. It is an amazing way to take your cards, invitations, gift boxes, etc to another level… and a shiny one at that!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Shareasale, Cricut, Awin, CreativeFabrica, and Amazon.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

So What is the Cricut Foil Transfer System?

First, let’s talk a little bit about this new foiling system. It’s pretty amazing because it does not use heat. Yes, you heard me right!

If you’d use other foiling systems in the past, most of them all use some kind of heat source which includes cords getting in the way. The Cricut foil system is pressure activated, so all you need is the housing that fits perfectly in clamp B.

The new Cricut foil system works with the entire line of Cricut Explore machines and the Cricut Maker. However, because of how much pressure it needs to foil, the Cricut Joy has its own foil transfer kit.

The foil system also comes with 3 different pressure tips. That’s right, 3 in 1! For one low price, you’ll get fine, medium, and bold tips along with 12 4×6 foil transfer sheets (silver and gold).

You can also purchase 12×12 inch gold or silver foil packages along with green, purple, and aqua 4×6 foil sheets. All of the packages include the tape needed to tape down every sheet on 4 sides!

It is also fully integrated into Cricut Design Space. In the linetype or Operation drop down menu, it now says Foil and has an arrow next to it. When you click on the arrow you can set it to Light, Medium or Bold.

You can see that even CDS will show you how thick the foil line will be. Plus you can use other blades, tips, and cuts on the same project since everything is right within Design Space.

I used each tip with the same single line writing font and color to show you how the effects look.

The tips are easy to tell apart. They each have lines on them. 1 line is for thin, 2 is for medium and 3 is for bold. Simply push on the button on the housing to push out the tip to change.

The housing and tips fit perfectly in the storage container of the Cricut or will fit in the Cricut tool organizer.

Along with all the other Cricut blades, CDS will give you prompts on exactly what to do. It will tell you when to insert the foil housing and with which tip to use.

Ok, let’s get started making some stunning foil projects!

Materials Needed for Cricut Foil Tag

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Shareasale, Cricut, Awin, CreativeFabrica, and Amazon.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• Cricut Explore or Cricut Maker
• Cricut foil transfer system or on Amazon here
• Cricut 4×6 transfer sheets
• cardstock

Designing Foil Projects In Cricut Design Space

I made four different projects to try out this cool system. Make sure to watch the video at the top to see the foil invitation being made. I absolutely love how it came out! The gold foil on black cardstock is stunning!

This is what all the projects looked like on my canvas.

The process is the same for all of them, but let’s talk about the Cheers tag since it has two colors.

I clicked on Images and then on Browse all images.

There are many new designs in Cricut Access that are specific for foiling! Simply click on Art type on the left and then select Draw only. Then I typed “wine” in the search bar and found one I wanted to use. Click on it and then click Insert.

But you don’t have to use only single line types. You can use regular images, but similar to draw and cut, the foil blade will outline press down on the edges of fonts or images.

It’s still a super cool look! I unchecked the “draw only” box and searched Cheers.

Then I searched tag that will be cut out.

Now I have all three images on my canvas. I changed the size of the tag and then sized the wine bottle to how big I wanted it. Then with the wine bottle selected, I clicked on Linetype and the Foil-> Medium.

Then to make it the color I want, I click on the colored square next to Foil and select the color I want to use. I picked purple.

Then I did the same thing with the Cheers image. You’ll notice it turns to outlines when Foil Linetype is selected.

It automatically chooses gold, so just click on the color square again and pick the color you want to use.

Once I had everything the color and size I wanted, I aligned everything. And then with everything selected I clicked on Attach.

You’ll notice when everything is attached, the layers panel will show you everything that is involved in this project. I have the two different foil colors set to medium and the tag is set to Cut.

Using the Cricut Foil System on Cricut Explore Air

This is a big difference, so take note! The foil transfer sheets need to be taped onto the material that will be foiled and cut, so the image needs to be moved in some so that there is room for the tape.

When you click on Make It, you’ll see all your mats that will be cut.

Now click on your image so you can move it. I move it in and down about an inch.

Click Done and it will take you to the cut screen. Use your wheel to select your material or the drop down menu. I turned my wheel to cardstock.

CDS will tell you exactly what to insert. The one drawback if you are used to a Cricut Maker and it reading the blade to make sure you have the correct one inserted, the foil blade does not do that. (This is so it can be used in both the Explore and Maker line.)

So make sure to follow all the on screen prompts! Insert the correct foil tip into the foil housing and insert it into Clamp B.

Then apply your material to a clean mat (read below on some troubleshooting that I figured out!).

Then you’ll need to tape the color of foil that CDS is prompting you to do. Tape on all four sides so that that foil is taught. It might take a few times working with it to figure it out.

I like to put the tape close to the foil sheet and it grabs it up so then I can pull a little bit and place it down.

This is why you needed to move the image down and over in CDS so that the foil tip won’t hit the tape.

DO NOT TAPE THE FOIL SHEET TO YOUR MAT!! All the foil will come off and stick to your mat! So make sure it is only over your material.

Another important note!! Make sure your white rollers are pushed all the way to the side.

Load the mat and push the blinking light. The Cricut will start foiling!

Then the Cricut will pause and CDS will prompt you to remove the foil sheet. DO NOT UNLOAD THE MAT! (Unless you are not cutting the image out.)

Depending on your material, the tape does rip up sometimes. So make sure to try it on the material you want to use or put the tape far enough out that any pulled up sections will be cut off.

The Cricut Design Space screen told me to remove the foiling housing unit and to insert my fine tip housing with blade (without unloading the mat!). Click the blinking light and the Cricut will cut the tag out.

Unload the mat when prompted and remove the new foiled tag from the mat!

In the video I show you how to make the Let’s Party foil invitation. For this one, I used text boxes to insert the text I wanted and filtered to “writing fonts”. Then I found the cute image of the gnomes and added that.

Again make sure everything is turned to Foil under the Operation and attach it all together.

Using Two Different Foil Sheets

For the dog card and the other tag, I used two different foil colors. Again, DO NOT UNLOAD YOUR MAT BETWEEN THE STEPS!

CDS will tell you which foil sheet to use first.

When it was done it will tell you to remove the first foil sheet and then tape on the next sheet. Do all of this WITHOUT UNLOADING YOUR MAT!

I cut my foil sheets smaller to not waste them so they didn’t cover the entire image. I didn’t want the tape to pull up the pressed in foil, so I applied the tape to the edges of that side.

If you are using two different foil blades during the project, CDS will tell you which one to have in for the second color.

Once it’s taped down, click on the blinking light.

When it’s done with all the foiling, the machine will pause again and CDS will prompt you to remove the foil sheet and swap out the foil housing for the fine point blade and housing. (Again, without unloading the mat!!) Click the flashing Go button.

Unload the mat when you are prompted and remove the two foiled color tag!

I did all these same steps for the I Miss You puppy card using two different foil colors. The gold doesn’t stand as much on white cardstock as it does on black, but it’s still fun and shiny!

I also cut a purple piece of cardstock out to mount it on. I applied some double sided tape to the back of the puppy and placed it on top of the folded cardstock.

So fun! I love how shiny and permanent the foil is! Oh the endless possibilities of what I can make with them!

Tips and FAQ for Working with Cricut Foil

So I did figure out a few things while working with the foil transfer sheets.

1. Make sure you are working with a clean mat! The first time I tried it, my mat was dirty and I think that inhibited the consistent pressure that needed to be applied from the machine. This is what I got…

2. Also make sure the foil is pretty taught between the tape strips. As I mentioned above, I found it easiest to tape one side down. Then for the opposite side, I held the tape a little bit above the edge so that it would grab the foil sheet. Then I pulled it just a bit and pressed down the tape. I did the same thing with the other two sides.

3. The materials matter and the results you will get will vary on your materials. Sometimes card stock has a more textured side and you might see unevenness in the pressure.

4. Try the tape on a corner of the material first to see if it’s going to rip it. Sometimes if you take it off in a different direction it won’t pull up the card stock. I made sure the tape was placed outside of the cut zone just to be safe. If you run out of tape (there should be enough in the packs!), you can try heat resistant tape.

5. Will other foil sheets work with the Cricut foil system? No. Since this transfer system uses pressure instead of heat, foil sheets from other companies will not work.

6. To make sure the foil sheets will cover the entire image along with tape allowance, try to keep images around 11×11 for the 12×12 sheets and 3×5 for the 4×6 foil sheets.

I hope this information about the new Cricut foil transfer kit helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.

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Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!