Dedicated sticker printer vs inkjet + Cricut Print Then Cut
A dedicated sticker printer prints, laminates and cuts 4 × 7 in sheets in one machine (Cricut shop (US); Liene blog). Print Then Cut uses your own colour printer and a Cricut cutting machine on Letter, A4 or larger sheets, with a cut area of up to 9.94 × 7.44 in on Letter (Cricut Help Center). Which suits you depends on sheet size, steps and what you already own.
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Both routes end with printed stickers cut around your design. A dedicated sticker printer does it in one box on small 4 × 7 in sheets. Print Then Cut splits the job between your own colour printer and a Cricut cutting machine, on Letter, A4 or larger sheets. Every fact below is linked to Cricut, Liene or Kerri Crafts It; our arithmetic is labelled. We have not used these machines.
Key differences
| Spec | Dedicated sticker printer (StickerPix Print + Cut, PixCut S1) | Inkjet printer + Cricut Print Then Cut |
|---|---|---|
| What you need | The sticker printer and its own sticker sheets + cartridges. StickerPix Print + Cut prints, laminates and cuts in one step1; no cutting mat10 | Design Space, a compatible Cricut cutting machine, a cutting mat and blade, a colour home printer and printable materials3 |
| Machine price (US) | StickerPix Print + Cut $299.001; Liene PixCut S1 from $279.996 | Cricut Joy Xtra $179.00 (on sale for $149.00 when we checked)7. Printer: Not in our sources. Cutting mat: not in the Joy Xtra box list7; price Not in our sources |
| Printer type | Built in: dye-sublimation, 300 DPI14 | Any colour home printer; inkjet recommended. Laser printers are “not for use with heat-sensitive materials such as printable vinyl”3. On iOS the printer must support AirPrint3 |
| Sheet size | 4 × 7 in sticker sheets14; Liene’s printable area is 3.9 × 6.7 in4; Cricut hasn’t published one for StickerPix | Letter (8.5 × 11 in) and A4 on Joy Xtra, Explore, Maker and Venture; Legal, Tabloid and A3 on Explore and Maker5 |
| Maximum print-and-cut area | The sheet: 4 × 7 in14 | Letter: 9.94 × 7.44 in; A4: 10.62 × 7.2 in (Joy Xtra, Explore, Maker, Venture). Cricut Joy 2 on Letter: 9.94 × 3.19 in. Not a full rectangle: corners are reserved for sensor marks5 |
| Materials | Only the maker’s own sheets: Cricut says third-party consumables “may cause clogging, print defects, or machine damage”8; Liene supports only official Liene paper11 | Printable vinyl, sticker paper and other printable materials3; non-reflective or matte. Glossy, metallic and glitter finishes can stop the sensor reading the marks12 |
| Sticker supplies price | StickerPix: $47.99 for 72 sticker sheets + 2 cartridges13; PixCut S1: $42.99 for 72 sheets + 2 ribbons14 | Cricut Printable Waterproof Sticker Set: $15.99 for 20 Letter sheets of printable vinyl + 20 laminate sheets9. Printer ink: Not published per sheet |
| Per sheet (our calculation) | ≈ $0.67 StickerPix ($47.99 ÷ 72); ≈ $0.60 PixCut S1 ($42.99 ÷ 72), ink included | ≈ $0.80 per sticker-set sheet ($15.99 ÷ 20), plus printer ink |
| 2 in stickers per sheet (our arithmetic) | 3 on a 4 × 7 in sheet with 0.15 in margins and 0.125 in gaps (our sheet maker’s layout) → 22.2¢ StickerPix, 19.9¢ PixCut S1 per sticker | At most 12 (3 × 4) if the full 7.44 × 9.94 in Letter area were usable; the corners are not, so fewer may fit. That would be at least 6.7¢ per sticker plus ink |
| Finish and durability | Dye-sublimation; the cartridge applies CMY colours plus a clear laminate film8. Cricut: “fade-, water- and scratch-resistant”15 | Inkjet print on printable vinyl with a laminate sheet; Cricut says the set is “Waterproof and UV resistant up to 2 years”9 |
| Cutting | Kiss-cut. Cricut says StickerPix machines “can only make kiss-cut custom stickers”16; the PixCut S1 kiss-cuts after laminating2 | The machine scans the printed sensor marks, then cuts around the design; flattened designs are cut around their outer shape3 |
| Setup and calibration | Not published | Print and cut in one Design Space session; printing a saved PDF outside Design Space gives wrongly sized sensor marks. Calibration may help with cut accuracy3 |
| Same or similar on both | ||
| Software | StickerPix: Cricut Design Space1; PixCut S1: Liene app for iOS and Android4 | Cricut Design Space on Windows, Mac, iOS or Android3 |
Sources (16)
- Cricut shop (US), “Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut Essential Bundle”, accessed 26 Sep 2026 ↩
- Liene blog, “The practical guide to custom label design with Liene PixCut S1”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut Help Center, “How to Print Then Cut in Design Space”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Liene tech specs, “Technical Specifications for PixCut S1”, accessed 3 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut Help Center, “How large can I Print Then Cut?”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Liene product page, “PixCut S1 Photo Sticker Printer and Cutter (product page)”, accessed 26 Sep 2026 ↩
- Cricut shop (US), “Cricut Joy Xtra – Cutting Machine”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut Help Center, “Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut paper, ink, and supplies”, accessed 3 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut shop (US), “Cricut Printable Waterproof Sticker Set - 8.5 in x 11 in (20 ct)”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Kerri Crafts It, “Cricut StickerPix Review: Print + Cut vs Print”, accessed 26 Sep 2026 ↩
- Liene materials guide, “How to Pick the Right PixCut S1 Material for Your Project”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut Help Center, “Print Then Cut - Compatible Materials”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut shop (US) refill, “Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut Sticker Sheets & Ink Cartridges Set (72 Prints)”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Liene shop, “PixCut S1 4x7" Sticker Paper 72 Sheets & 2 Ink Cartridges Refill”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
- Cricut shop, “StickerPix Print + Cut Sticker Sheets & Ink Cartridge Set (72 Prints)”, accessed 26 Sep 2026 ↩
- Cricut blog, “Meet Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut and Cricut StickerPix Print”, accessed 5 Oct 2026 ↩
Workflow, step by step
Dedicated sticker printer
- Design in the maker’s app: Design Space for StickerPix (Cricut shop (US)), the Liene app for PixCut S1 (Liene tech specs).
- Load a sticker sheet and print. The StickerPix Print + Cut prints, laminates and cuts in one step (Cricut shop (US)); the PixCut S1 kiss-cuts around the design after laminating (Liene blog).
- Peel the stickers off the backing sheet.
Print Then Cut
- Make the design printable in Design Space (Operation → Print Then Cut, or Flatten for multi-layer designs) (Cricut Help Center).
- Print from Design Space on your home printer at the highest quality setting, with no scaling or fit-to-page; Design Space adds sensor marks and, by default, a bleed (Cricut Help Center).
- Put the printed sheet on the cutting mat and load it into the Cricut machine, which scans the marks and cuts (Cricut Help Center).
- Do it all in one Design Space session, and calibrate if the cuts drift (Cricut Help Center).
Who each suits
- Bigger stickers or more per sheet: Print Then Cut. On Letter paper it can cut designs up to 9.94 × 7.44 in (Cricut Help Center), against a 4 × 7 in sheet on the dedicated printers (Cricut shop (US); Liene tech specs).
- You already own a colour inkjet: Print Then Cut needs only the cutting machine. A Cricut Joy Xtra is $179.00 ($149.00 on sale when we checked) (Cricut shop (US)), against $299.00 for the StickerPix Print + Cut (Cricut shop (US)) or from $279.99 for the PixCut S1 (Liene product page).
- Fewer steps and no mat: a dedicated printer prints, laminates and cuts in one machine (Cricut shop (US)), with no cutting mat (Kerri Crafts It).
- A known cost per sheet: the dedicated printers sell ink with the paper, about $0.67 and about $0.60 per sheet (our calculation: $47.99 ÷ 72 and $42.99 ÷ 72) (Cricut shop (US) refill; Liene shop). With Print Then Cut, the ink cost per sheet depends on your printer and is not published.
- Glossy, glitter or metallic materials: check first. Cricut says reflective finishes can stop the Print Then Cut sensor reading the marks (Cricut Help Center), though its own gold, silver and holographic printable vinyl and sticker sets work on newer machines (Cricut Help Center).
- Cutting things other than stickers: a Cricut cutting machine can also cut without printing (Basic Cut) (Cricut Help Center); the dedicated printers only cut their own sticker sheets (Cricut blog; Liene materials guide).
Not covered by our sources: inkjet printer prices, ink cost per page, cutting-mat prices, and how Print Then Cut stickers hold up against laminated dye-sublimation stickers. We haven’t compared them ourselves.
Related
Sources
All 16 sources, each with its access date
- Cricut shop (US), “Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut Essential Bundle”
- Liene blog, “The practical guide to custom label design with Liene PixCut S1”
- Cricut Help Center, “How to Print Then Cut in Design Space”
- Liene tech specs, “Technical Specifications for PixCut S1”
- Cricut Help Center, “How large can I Print Then Cut?”
- Liene product page, “PixCut S1 Photo Sticker Printer and Cutter (product page)”
- Cricut shop (US), “Cricut Joy Xtra – Cutting Machine”
- Cricut Help Center, “Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut paper, ink, and supplies”
- Cricut shop (US), “Cricut Printable Waterproof Sticker Set - 8.5 in x 11 in (20 ct)”
- Kerri Crafts It, “Cricut StickerPix Review: Print + Cut vs Print”
- Liene materials guide, “How to Pick the Right PixCut S1 Material for Your Project”
- Cricut Help Center, “Print Then Cut - Compatible Materials”
- Cricut shop (US) refill, “Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut Sticker Sheets & Ink Cartridges Set (72 Prints)”
- Liene shop, “PixCut S1 4x7" Sticker Paper 72 Sheets & 2 Ink Cartridges Refill”
- Cricut shop, “StickerPix Print + Cut Sticker Sheets & Ink Cartridge Set (72 Prints)”
- Cricut blog, “Meet Cricut StickerPix Print + Cut and Cricut StickerPix Print”