Journaling Problems Using Your Pen Tool

Let me first tell you how to fix this issue and then we’ll talk about what you did. First, in your Cut Control Panel make sure that you have your media type put on “Draw” or “Pen Tool” depending on your software version. Then click on the “Option” button in the cut control panel. This will bring up a new window with a few options under it. The one you need to check is the “Knife Offset”. Make sure that the value next to “Knife Offset” is set to zero and then select “Ok” to shut the window. Once the Knife Offset is changes to zero you should be rid of your case of the loop-do-loos! This change should be permanent and will only affect the settings for when you select “Draw” or “Pen Tool”; you won’t need to change the knife offset every time. I accidentally had changed my Knife Offset at some point which is why I suddenly had loops, so changing it back fixed the problem!

Maybe the fix is all you need, but if you are like me and want to know “why” here it is. When your machine makes a tight corner, instead of stopping and changing direction it actually makes a very small loop. This allows the tiny blade in your machine to more easily switch its point to the right direction and the end result is a much crisper corner. The thicker your material is, the larger that loops needs to be for the same results. That is why each material has it’s own Knife Offset preset. With the pen tool however you don’t need to worry about getting the blade angled the right direction and that small loop turns in to a problem. Your software should come with the offset for the Pen Tool setting already set to zero but if you are like me you may have inadvertently changed it without realizing it! A word of caution: be very careful if you change the knife offset for any of your other medias. The offset should be preset to the right setting for you and changing it can cause more harm than good! At very least make sure you know what it was originally at so that you can revert back to it if the change doesn’t help!