Design Space is the program used to create your designs and tells your Cricut what to cut out. If you just recently got your Cricut, I’d definitely recommend you complete the sample project that Cricut includes with your machine to get a feel for Design Space and roughly how the machine works. You might be feeling overwhelmed but don’t worry, we all started at the same place and the more you use the machine, the easier it will be! The examples used in the video and discussed below were using Design Space (DS) on a computer. DS on a mobile device will look a little different but uses the same concepts discussed below.
This post is going to summarize some basic features of Cricut Design Space that the video takes you through.
Functions on the left hand side toolbar:
Inserting Text
To insert text, you will click on the “text” button on the left hand toolbar (see image to the right). The font can be changed using the drop down box in the toolbar at the top left of the screen just as you would in any word processing program. You can adjust the size of text by selecting the number in the drop down box or you can drag the corner of the word to resize.
As discussed in the video, cursive fonts are meant to be connected. BUT if you like the way it looks with the letters detached, there are no rules and you do you! 🙂 Here’s an example project of when the letters were kept detached on purpose instead of welding the cursive together:
To connect the letters, click on your typed word, click ungroup and then manually move the letters together (see video for example). Highlight all letters in the word and then press weld to remove any overlapping cut lines- more info on welding below. This will ensure that each individual letter is not cut out.
Inserting an Image from Cricut Library
To insert an image from the Cricut library, click on the “Images” button. To gain access to all the available images, you can subscribe to Cricut Access which provides a large amount of images for a monthly fee. Some images do have an additional cost to them, such as ones that are licensed like Harry Potter, Marvel, Disney, etc.
There are also a variety of projects that you can complete which can be found right above the images button, using the button “Projects”. These are projects that are all laid out for you, you just may have to resize to your liking.
Other buttons:
General shapes such as squares, circles, etc. are inputted the same way using the “Shapes” button.
The “Upload” button is where you’ll go to upload any designs you’ve purchased or downloaded from other websites. The best file types when doing this are svgs or pngs but I’ll discuss this more in depth on another post!
“New” is what you’ll click on to get a blank canvas to start a new project. Make sure to save if you’re in an existing project before leaving.
“Templates” are meant to give you an idea of how a design will look. It will insert a generic image of the item you’re making to see how your design will roughly look. Any template images do not get cut out.
Functions on the right hand side toolbar:
Grouping: use when you want to be able to move the whole design as one image around the canvas. When your design is grouped, it will not cut the way it is displayed but will be dispersed to use up the least amount of material. Grouping is also helpful when you have a design with multiple colors in it that you want to resize as a whole.
Attach: use when you want your design to cut the exact way it is on your canvas. This only works for images/text of the same color. Also used to attach scoring lines to an image.
Welding: use when you want your Cricut to cut out a continuous segment and eliminate any overlapping lines in your design. The most common use for this is when using cursive fonts. Weld your cursive word together so the machine won’t cut each letter out individually.
Group vs Attach vs Welding
How each shows up on the Cricut Design Space Canvas:
How each shows up on the Mat Preview Screen:
The welded phrase shows up how you laid it out on the Canvas and also has removed any overlapping cut lines. Compare the difference between the “a” and the “k” in Making to the same spot in the Attached image. You’ll see one has cut lines between each letter and the other doesn’t.
Finally the grouped phrase, doesn’t keep any of the letters together and leaves different colors in tact. Each letter is cut out individually. Again, grouping is really only helpful to move your image around the canvas and to resize an image that has different colors in it.
Slice
When to use: when you want to cut out a design within a design. It will remove any shapes that are placed within your original shape (see video for a better understanding!)
Flatten
When to use: When you are going to be using the Print then Cut feature where you print the design out through your Printer then the Cricut cuts it out. Flattening your design will ensure it is printed and no components within the design are cut. Keep an eye out for a future post all about the Print then Cut feature!
I hope this post has been helpful and has given you a better understanding of some of the basics! If you have any questions, please leave a comment below! Happy crafting!