Cricut Design Space is an amazing program that can open so many possibilities of projects by a click of a button. It is familiar to those who have worked with design software, but yet simplified for the beginner, that the learning curve is minimal. In this tutorial series we will cover what the different functions are and how to navigate through design space to have the confidence to tackle any project.
The content we will cover today is:
- Project
- Images
- Text
- Shapes
- Upload
- Slice
- Weld
- Flatten
- Contour
We will cover the basic tools and functions for the computer version, I will have a later tutorial that will cover the design space app. Log into Cricut design space and click new project on the left hand side, this will send you to what is called canvas. This the space where you will design your project. On the left hand side there are a series of buttons, the first is templates this gives you an image that doesn’t cut that is similar to what you want to put your image on, it can be sized, and color changed to roughly match your finished project. These are great for determining sizes, and colors.
Project takes you to all of the ready made projects, they each have a full color picture of the finished project. These projects are pre made, presized, that all you have to is click on the image, and click make it. The project page has all the materials needed for the project and step by step instructions. These can also be customized (with the exception of the sewing projects, they have pre determined sizes that cannot be changed), you have the ability to change the size, color, and material, according to fit your specific project. Once this is complete, click make it and this will bring up all the mats in color order that you need to make your project.
Images will take you to the full library of images available in design space, these are all the free images, paid images, and your own images that you have uploaded into design space. At the top right you can narrow your search by clicking on categories. Which will show what is free this week, most popular and recently added at the top. These are followed by categories of all sorts of popular searches, and at the bottom all the different brands that are available on design space ( these are the paid, licensed items).
The next way to search is by Cartridges. These will show you all the images that come on a cartridge if you would like to buy it or if you own the cartridge you can search through all the images available in that content. The search all images allows you to search for a specific item, like flowers, or boxes. It can be filtered by clicking the word filter to choose by ownership (your images, uploaded or owned), types such as 3d, frames or phrases, or lastly by layers.
With the Text box you can type something for your project. The select the font button at the top and you can change the font, style, letter space, line space, alignment, curve (you can curve your typed text). Advanced option in text allows ungrouping to letters, lines, or layers.
Shapes gives you all the basic shapes available to use without having to search such as: square, circle, triangle, diamond, star, and even a score line. These are convenient when you need a shape to insert for your project of a quick template, I use these all the time.
Upload gives you the ability to upload your own images and patterns to use within design space. This allows you to use things like hand lettering, children’s drawings, photos, or even a color swatch to use as a layer or to create your own template layer.
On the right side of the canvas are your layers that show a different color for each layer, that will be needed to complete the project. When sending an image to design space that has multiple layers, the image is already grouped, which means that you can move all layers around and properly resize with all layers selected together. This insures that all layers will be the correct size when cutting. Ungrouping is necessary if you want to delete a layer or use the slice function.
Slice is best used for layering iron on or vinyl, because it reduces bulk and gives it a more seamless look. The slice function will be greyed out unless you have only two layers on the canvas. It will only allow two layers to be sliced at a time. When there are two layers on the canvas select all and click the slice icon at the bottom right and will cut one layer out of the other. You will now have three pieces, click color sync and change the color of the third piece to match piece on the top, and delete the duplicate piece of the top layer (make sure to select all and click group to insure, now you have two different color pieces that fit together like a puzzle to create a multicolor single piece layer.
With Weld, select the two layers and click the weld button. Once it completes the weld you will have one seamless piece, this is a great function, but beware once saved weld CANNOT be undone. To ensure that you won’t waste anytime to recreate your project, (right before you weld save a copy of your project), and hide it. Make this a habit to always save a copy of your design before doing any function that cannot be undone or if you would like to change it and not have to create a whole new project, this is a huge time saver, especially if you are doing customized pieces with names.
When using attach select both layers and click attach this will change both layers to the same color. Which means it will be together in the same spot on the mat. This is great for using text or images that you want to stay in the same place as on the canvas when you send to the mat, and don’t want to weld the project.
Flatten allows you to take multiple layers and create one printed image. Just select the whole image and click flatten and the image will change from cut to print in the layers. I love using this feature for iron on or vinyl when I don’t have all the colors for the layers, or when I just want to create quick custom stickers or printable tags.
Contour allows you to hide part of the image before cutting.To enable contour, click the piece that you would like to hide and it will turn to light grey. Once you click back to the canvas it will not be seen and will not cut. I like this feature it makes it simple to customize an image and make it ready to cut in just a few clicks.
Now that you have the basics of what the basic functions of design space are, and what they do, you can feel confident to tackle your next project. Have fun and happy crafting!