How to Cut Holographic HTV

Sparkly, shiny, and oh so many colors in just 1 sheet! Holographic HTV dazzles, but don’t let it blind you from these tips and tricks! Available in crystal, regular, and pearl finishes, there are so many gorgeous options to choose from. (You can view them all here on the website or on the Siser® App!)

No one wants to waste this stellar HTV, so keep scrolling for 6 need-to-know tips and tricks for working with Holographic!

Holographic Silver Crystal on the left and Holographic Gold on the right.

1. Mat Maintenance

A clean mat is a happy mat! Even the smallest scraps of HTV or a loose hair can upset the blade’s path. Ensure your mat is free of debris before cutting to get the best results.

Use a squeegee or a credit card to remove tiny bits of debris from the cutting mat.

If your mat is older and starting to lose its stick, you may need to do a little more maintenance. Check out this post to see how you can "restick" most cutting mats.

Place the super shiny side of Holographic face down on the cutting mat.

Also keep in mind, that the more you cut in one area the more worn that part of the mat will be, so don’t be afraid to switch it up! Load the mat in backwards, put the HTV towards the bottom, left, or wherever you haven’t cut in a while.

TIP: If you're using a Siser cutter, like Romeo® or Juliet®, a cutting mat is optional! Free free to load Holographic directly into the cutter mat-free.

2. A Piercing Cut

While Holographic HTV may appear to be as thin as EasyWeed® heat transfer vinyl,  we actually consider it to be a thick material because of how rigid it is. So just like Glitter and StripFlock® Pro, Holographic needs a longer blade depth and heavier pressure when cutting. The blade needs to be able to pierce the material to form clean cut lines. Without good cut lines the material can split into two layers while weeding.

Holographic is made of two layers: the foil material and adhesive backing. With bad cut lines, the two layers will split.

Our recommended cut settings for Romeo, Juliet, Brother Scan N Cut, Silhouette Cameo, and Cricut cutters can be found on the website or by downloading our PDF cut settings chart here. Keep in mind everyone’s blade is different, so depending on if yours is older or newer you may need to adjust the settings.

3. Visible Cut Lines

If you can’t see cut lines after unloading the mat, you’re likely to run into the problem we discussed above. They can be difficult to see on Holographic, but if you shift and bend the material in good lighting they become noticeable.

If you can see cut lines on the face of the material then you know your blade was deep enough and you got a good cut.

4. Holographic HTV ≠ EasyWeed HTV

Weeding Holographic is a completely different animal than EasyWeed HTV. With EasyWeed, I usually snag a corner with my EasyWeeder® and pull that piece until it either stretches and breaks or I follow it throughout the design in 1 big piece. However, since Holographic is so rigid my method is a little different.

Poke the EasyWeeder in the corner and roll the tool back to begin peeling up material. Once the corner is lifted, slide the weeder underneath the edge. This allows you to get a hold of a large chunk of the material and peel it away in a larger portion. You’ll most likely ended up with several extra pieces weeded off, but this method usually allows me to remove larger sections, and therefore less pieces.

5. Apply Hot, Peel Cold

When it comes to heat applying Holographic HTV, the rules are pretty simple. Apply with 320°F of heat for 15-20 seconds. Wait until the carrier is cold to the touch before peeling it away. To speed up the cooling process, rub the garment on a table or glass window and it will help dissipate the heat.

If you want to make a multi-color design, Holographic should always be the top layer. But what if you wanted to make a design with 2 materials that should only be top layers, like Glitter and Holographic? It’s possible! You’ll just need to create your artwork a bit different with a little trick we like to call the Knockout Method.

6. Overcut for Faux Stones

Holographic HTV looks amazing on it’s own, but turning it into faux rhinestones takes it to the next level! If you thought a good cut was important before, well now it’s even more critical.

When each “stone” is cut the blade starts and stops at the same point on the circle. If the blade isn’t piercing deeply enough you can end up with a teeny tiny piece of HTV that’s still connected to the sheet of material and the faux stone. During weeding, the stone will lift up with the weeded portion instead of sticking to the carrier.

You can guarantee the full circle is cut (and then some!) by adjusting your cut settings. In Leonardo® Design Studio, you can do so by going to File > Preferences > All Preferences.

From here, select the "Cutting Settings" tab at the top of the window. 

In the "Cutting Settings" tab, you can then adjust the Inline Overcut Amount. The default is set to 0.020in, but if you find that you need more of an overcut, you can increase the amount here. We recommend slowly increasing the overcut by small increments until you find the setting that works best for your cut file.

Note: It may also be possible to increase your overcut in other design software. Check with the maker of your design software to see if this feature exists.

Now that you're armed with these tips, go out and make some eye-catching designs!