Print-Then-Cut on the A2L: Stickers From an Office Printer and a Phone Camera
Published · Feature explainer · Applies to the A2L with the Cutting Upgrade Kit
Short version
Since firmware 01.01.05.00 (September 3, 2026) the A2L can do Print-Then-Cut: you print a colour design on an ordinary inkjet or laser printer, stick the sheet to the cutting mat, photograph the mat with the Bambu Handy app, and the A2L's blade cuts along the outline. Bambu's own use cases are stickers, labels and greeting cards. It needs the Cutting Upgrade Kit ($69, sold separately), Bambu Suite 1.4.0.00 or later and Handy 3.26.0 or later. It is the same idea Cricut sells as "Print Then Cut", built on the A2L's one hardware gap: unlike the H2 series, it has no camera on the toolhead, so your phone does the looking.
What Print-Then-Cut actually is
The name describes the order of operations, not the machine. Bambu's Suite documentation defines the process type plainly: "This feature requires using a 2D printer to print the pattern on the material (such as A4 paper) first, and then paste it on the cutting platform after printing. The cutting is used to cut down the border or cutting path along the pattern, which is often used to make small stickers." The A2L contributes exactly one thing to the colour part of that sentence: nothing. It cuts. Your office printer prints.
That distinction matters because the A2L's cutting kit already did plain cutting since launch. Load a sheet of vinyl, set the process type to Basic CutBambu Suite's process type for single-colour cutting: the knife follows vector lines, and whatever colour the material is, that is the colour you get., and the blade follows vector lines. What you could not do before September was cut around something that had been printed in full colour, because the printer had no way to know where the artwork sat on the mat. Print-Then-Cut closes that gap.
Bambu names two things the workflow is good at. For bitmaps such as a photo or a logo, "the cutting path will be cut along the edge of the image", and the image tools in Suite let you remove the background first so the outline follows the subject rather than a rectangle. And Suite's sticker tool, which got custom cutting paths in version 1.4.0.00, sets the Print-Then-Cut process type automatically, so a sheet of die-cut stickers is a few clicks rather than a drawing exercise.
Why the A2L needed its own version
On the H2D, H2S and H2C, Print-Then-Cut has existed for a while, and it works because those printers have a camera on the toolhead. When you send a job, Suite prints four small markers around your design; before cutting, the toolhead camera finds all four and computes where the sheet really is. The H2 guide is strict about it: if the camera fails to recognise all four markers, "the processing task will be terminated".
The A2L has no such camera. Bambu's own FAQ says it directly: "The A2L does not have a BirdsEye camera, so it cannot perform the fully automatic Live Spatial Alignment found on the H2 series Laser versions." The same FAQ, written at launch, listed Print-Then-Cut as "currently under development and may be released in a future OTA firmware update". That OTA is 01.01.05.00, and the replacement for the missing camera is the one you already own.
The release note phrases the trick carefully: "use the Bambu Handy app to capture and recognize the contour via your phone's camera, for high-precision edge cutting." In the existing A2L cutting workflow, Handy asks you to "capture the filament and all four corners of the platform in a level, unobstructed shot", and Suite then uses that photo as the background of its canvas, so you position the artwork on a picture of the real mat. Print-Then-Cut extends that photo step from "where is the blank sheet" to "where is the printed outline". Whether the A2L also relies on the four printed markers of the H2 workflow, or on the recognised contour alone, Bambu has not documented yet; we will update this page when the wiki adds the A2L guide.
The workflow, step by step
Bambu has not published a dedicated Print-Then-Cut page for the A2L yet. What follows combines the A2L cutting guide (installation, calibration, the photo step), the Suite documentation for the process type, and the H2 guide for the parts of Print-Then-Cut that live in Suite and on paper. Where the A2L may differ, we say so.
1. Design in Bambu Suite and pick the process type
Import or draw the artwork, vector or bitmap. For a bitmap, remove the background so the cut line follows the subject. Set the process type to Print Then Cut, or use the sticker tool, which does that for you and, since Suite 1.4.0.00, lets you edit the cutting path around each sticker. Choose the material from Suite's material list; for stickers that means adhesive printing paper.
2. Print on your 2D printer, at 100 %
When you click "Make", Suite sends two jobs: the cutting job to the A2L and a print job to the paper printer connected to your computer. The H2 guide carries a warning that applies to any printer on earth: print at 100 % scale (actual size) and switch off "Fit to page" or "Scale to fit", because a scaled print shifts every edge and the cut will land next to the artwork instead of on it. Suite can also add a bleed of about 0.15 mm around the design so tiny printer offsets do not leave white slivers at the edge.
3. Mount the cutting module and calibrate
If you were printing, unload the filament and pull the PTFE tubes first. Then: raise the X-axis, remove the build plate, lay the cutting platform against the edge of the heatbed and peel its transparent protective film, lift the toolhead front cover, remove the rotating wheel, and slide the cutting module down the toolhead's groove until it seats. Lock the quick-release lever, connect the module's cable behind the dust cover, and only then take the protective cap off the blade. The first time, and whenever the printer asks, run Mounting Calibration: the blade probes five points across the platform so the machine knows the module's real height and whether the mat needs levelling.
4. Stick the printed sheet to the mat, flat
The cutting platform is a sticky mat. Put the printed sheet on it and run the printed roller tool over the whole thing; a sheet with an air bubble under it cuts at the wrong depth. The H2 guide pins the sheet to the upper-left corner of the second dashed frame on the mat, because its toolhead camera only searches for the markers there. The A2L guide sets no such corner: it asks for flat, fully adhered material and for a photo that shows the whole platform. On the A2L the photo, not a fixed corner, is the reference.
5. Photograph the mat with Bambu Handy
In Suite's Prepare page you click the camera icon, and Handy opens its Photograph screen. The instructions on that screen are the whole trick: hold the phone level, do not block the platform with the X-axis, and get all four corners of the platform into the frame. Suite then pulls the photo in as the canvas background, and you drag the artwork onto its printed twin. For Print-Then-Cut the firmware note says the app recognises the contour, which is the part the A2L had to teach the phone to do.
6. Make, then weed
Confirm in Suite, tap "Make" on the printer screen, and the A2L runs the job. Afterwards the printed weeding tool and scraper lift the cut piece off the mat without tearing it. Put the protective film back on the mat when you are done; Bambu warns that an uncovered mat collects dust and loses its tack.
What you need, in one list
| You need | Why |
|---|---|
| A2L on firmware 01.01.05.00 or later | The build that adds Print-Then-Cut; earlier builds only know Basic Cut and pen drawing |
| Cutting Upgrade Kit, $69 | Cutting module, pen module, the dedicated sticky cutting mat and accessories. Sold separately, not in the box |
| Bambu Suite 1.4.0.00 or later on the computer | 2D jobs live in Suite, not in Bambu Studio; the Print-Then-Cut process type for the A2L arrived with this version |
| Bambu Handy 3.26.0 or later on the phone | The phone photo is the alignment; the app must be bound to the printer |
| Any inkjet or laser printer connected to that computer | Suite sends the 2D print job to it; print at 100 % scale |
| Sticker paper, adhesive vinyl or cardstock | Bambu sells "materials for 2D processing" in its store; ordinary A4 sticker sheets work for the paper printer side |
| The three printed helper tools | Weeding tool, scraper and roller from Bambu's guide, downloaded from MakerWorld and printed on the A2L itself |
Limits worth knowing before the first sheet
Your phone is now a precision instrument
On the H2 series the camera is bolted to the toolhead, at a fixed height, with fixed optics. On the A2L the alignment depends on a handheld photo. Bambu's screen asks for a level, unobstructed shot with all four platform corners visible; expect lighting, lens distortion at the edges of the frame and a tilted phone to show up as cut lines that drift by a millimetre. Bambu has not published accuracy numbers for the phone method. Treat the first sticker sheet as a calibration print, not a product.
- Sheet size is roughly A4. The cutting platform is the limit, not the 330 mm bed. Our kit explainer covers materials and working area.
- No published accuracy for the photo method. The H2 guide quantifies its toolhead camera: the markers must sit within about ±10 mm sideways and ±5 mm vertically of the expected spot. For the A2L's phone photo Bambu has published neither a placement tolerance nor a cutting-accuracy figure. Until it does, treat the first job as a test cut on cheap paper.
- The blade wears. Bambu's maintenance notes: clean filament debris out of the end cap, replace the blade tip when cut quality drops, replace the mat when it stops holding paper.
- It is a head swap, not a second machine. Filament out, PTFE tubes off, module in, calibration, and the reverse afterwards. Batch your cutting jobs.
- No laser, ever. The FAQ rules out laser modules on the A2L "for safety reasons related to its open-frame design". Print-Then-Cut here is knife only.
- Suite version matters. The A2L process type only exists in Suite 1.4.0.00 and later; an older Suite simply will not offer it, and Bambu Studio does not do 2D jobs at all.
Versus a Cricut
Cricut has sold the same workflow under the same name for years. Its help centre describes it as: "The machine scans the printed cut sensor markings, then cuts your design with precision." That is the H2 approach with a dedicated sensor instead of a camera. The honest comparison is not about the cut, it is about what you buy.
A2L + cutting kit
- Alignment phone photo
- Sheet size about A4
- Software Bambu Suite + Handy
- Bonus a 3D printer the rest of the week
Dedicated craft cutter
- Alignment built-in sensor
- Sheet size Letter to A3, model-dependent
- Software vendor app
- Does one job, no head swaps
If stickers are your business, a dedicated cutter with a sensor and a mat-feeding routine will beat a head swap and a phone photo every day. If stickers are the occasional label on a printed enclosure, a cardstock box for a gift, or classroom material, the A2L version costs $69 and no desk space, and that is the pitch.
Worth the $69 kit if
- You already own an A2L and make occasional stickers, labels, cards or faceplate overlays
- You want colour cuts, not just single-colour vinyl, without buying a second machine
- You are fine with a head swap and a calibration before a cutting session
Skip it if
- Stickers are a business: a dedicated cutter with a sensor and mat feeding wins on speed and repeatability
- You need cuts larger than A4
- You expect documented accuracy: Bambu has published none for the phone-photo method yet
A clever workaround for a missing camera, and the first firmware that makes the kit worth its price
The cutting kit was a curiosity in June: single-colour vinyl cuts and pen plots on a 3D printer. Print-Then-Cut is what people actually mean when they say "I want to make stickers", and Bambu shipped it on the cheapest machine in the lineup without adding hardware. The cost is that the alignment now depends on your phone and your hands. We would buy the kit for the feature; we would not promise a customer sticker sheets from it until we had cut ten and measured them.
Bambu Lab A2L specs and review
Cutting Upgrade Kit for the H2 series and A2L: $69 in the US store, 69.99 EUR in the EU store (checked September 11, 2026). Sold separately, not in the printer box.
Sources: Bambu Lab Wiki, A2L firmware release history (01.01.05.00, 2026-09-03) · A2L Cutting/Pen Module User Guide · Bambu Suite: 2D Processing Type Introduction · H2 Series Print Then Cut introduction · Bambu Suite V1.4.0.00 release notes · Bambu Lab A2L FAQ · Cricut Help: How to Print Then Cut. Photos and the labelled module drawing are from the Bambu Lab Wiki; diagrams are ours.