Cricut Design Space Tutorials - Design Your Own Projects https://www.practicallyfunctional.com Do it yourself! Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:34:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Cricut Design Space Tutorials - Design Your Own Projects https://www.practicallyfunctional.com 32 32 How To Contour In Cricut Design Space https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-contour-in-cricut-design-space/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-contour-in-cricut-design-space/#respond Mon, 24 Feb 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/?p=45410 Wondering how to use Contour in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know about using Contour to turn on or turn off cut lines within a single image, and troubleshooting some of the most common problems with using the Cricut Contour tool.

The post How To Contour In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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Wondering how to use Contour in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know about using Contour to turn on or turn off cut lines within a single image, and troubleshooting some of the most common problems with using the Cricut Contour tool.


The Cricut Contour tool is one of the five basic design tools that allows you to work with layers inside of Cricut Design Space (the others are Slice, Weld, Attach, and Flatten).

The idea behind the Contour tool is really simple: it’s basically an “on/off switch” for cut lines. The Contour tool allows you to hide portions of an image by showing or hiding individual cut lines within that single image.

The Contour tool has SO MANY uses and you can make some really cool things with it. But it also can be a little frustrating because it has very specific rules that you have to follow before it will work properly. This article will teach you how to turn on or turn off cut lines with Contour, as well as troubleshoot the most common problems when using Contour in Cricut Design Space.

How to use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines

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What does Contour do in Cricut Design Space & why would I want to use it?

The Cricut Contour tool allows you hide portions of an image by “turning off” individual cut lines within the image. This allows you more control of your images and layers so you are not limited to just showing or hiding an entire image.

When you open the Contour window you’ll see all of the cut lines that make up a single image. You can click on any cut line or portion of the image and it will “hide” that area by switching that cut line off. This way you can temporarily hide portions of an image or text without actually deleting anything; you can always go back into the Contour tool later and turn the cut lines back on.

Even though the Contour tool is just basically a simple “on/off switch” for cut lines, there are actually a bunch of pretty cool things you can do with Contour in Cricut Design Space, such as:

  • show or hide details within text or an image
  • pick and choose which parts of an SVG file or Cricut library image you want to cut
  • turn single color images into multi-color images
  • “reverse” an image to create a negative of that image

I’ll go into more detail about those uses after the next section, which shows you exactly how to use Contour in Cricut Design Space (with screenshots!)

How to use Contour in Cricut Design Space

The Basics

Using Contour in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.

  • You must be working with just one shape or layer. The Contour button will be greyed out if multiple layers or multi-layer images are selected.
  • Contour only works on images that contain more than one cut line. The Contour tool is designed to show or hide individual cut lines within a “complex” image or shape. Simple shapes (like a square or circle or anything else made with the Shape tool) have just one cut line around the exterior of the shape, so you cannot Contour them. If you need to hide a simple shape, just use the Hide button.
  • Contour does not work on editable text layers. Contour only works on “static images,” so the button will be greyed out if you have an editable text layer selected. You must first Weld the text into a static image before Contour will work.
  • Contouring images is “temporary.” If you hide certain cut lines using Contour, they are just turned “off” so your Cricut will not cut along them, but they are not actually removed or deleted from the project. You can use Contour again later to turn those cut lines back on if you want.
  • Contour does not work on layers that are Grouped, Attached, Flattened, or on multi-layered images. Contour only works on a single layer at a time, so any “groups” of layers, like multi-layered images or layers created when using Group and Attach cannot be Contoured. However, if you select a single layer from within the layer group you will be able to Contour just that one layer. Flattened images also cannot be Contoured because Flattened images are only for use with Print Then Cut. Unflatten any image before Contouring.
  • Contour only works on cuttable images. Contour only works with cut lines. It works with any cuttable image or design found within the Cricut library, or with any SVG file or other image that is uploaded into Design Space and saved as a Cut image. However, it does not work on the printable lines within PNG or JPG files uploaded to Cricut Design Space if the photos are saved as Print Then Cut images.

The Equipment

Technically all you need to use the the Cricut Contour tool is Cricut Design Space, but without a Cricut machine you won’t actually be able to cut out your contoured design! I have shared the file I used for this tutorial below, feel free to use it for practicing.

The Instructions

Start by opening the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

How to use the contour tool in cricut design space to show or hide cut lines in text and images

Imagine you found this cool text image in the Cricut library, but you don’t really like the see-through details in the word “you” and want the word to just be solid instead. That’s what Contour is for!

The image is a multi-layered image: the yellow layer on top and a slightly offset teal shadow layer beneath it. But in order to use Contour we must select just one layer. We only want to hide the extra cuts in the yellow text anyway, so select just the yellow text layer from the Layers panel on the right.

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines select one layer

Click “Contour” at the bottom of the Layers panel to bring up the Hide Contour window.

The Hide Contour window shows you all of the cut lines that make up your image in the main window on the left, and then each cut line broken down into its individual shape or “contour” on the right side of the window.

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines click contour button

In the screenshot above you can see entire layer in the main preview, plus the following pieces on the right:

  • the outside cut line of the “O” in “you”
  • the outside cut line of the “Y”
  • the outside cut line of the “U”
  • the inside cut line of the “O” that cuts out the center of the letter
  • the “detail” cut line from the inside of the “Y”
  • and the top of the outside cut line of the “E”, the rest is hidden by the “Hide All Contours” button

In the main window on the left, the shapes that are actually cut out of the material you choose (in this case, the letters themselves) are a light grey, and the background of the window is white. The darker grey areas like the center of the “O”s are the “negative” areas, meaning the cut lines around those areas will be cut by your Cricut, but that cut material is meant to be discarded: it’s not “part of the image” even though it will be cut out.

You can turn cut lines on or off by selecting them from the main preview window, or by clicking on the individual cut line image on the right.

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines select areas to turn off cut lines 1

When you click on a cut line to turn it off, it highlights the cut line on the right in grey and it greys out the black cut line and shape in the main preview on the left.

Keep clicking on cut lines to hide them until you have selected all of the little cutout details from the word “you”.

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines turn off cut lines by selecting areas

Once you have hidden all the parts you want to hide, click the X in the upper right corner or click anywhere in the grey area outside the window to close it.

Now the cutouts in the word “you” are gone and you have just the solid yellow text with a teal shadow behind it.

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines text with cut lines turned off

It’s a minor difference, but the Contour tool gives you a ton of control so you can take images from the Cricut Design Space library or SVG files that you’ve uploaded and make them your own!

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines in images or text

If you want to put the little cutout details back, just select the yellow text layer again, click Contour, and click on the hidden cut lines to “unhide” them.

What can I do with the Cricut Contour tool?

Show or hide details within text or an image

Contour allows you to take a really intricate design and make it simpler. You can hide lacy details or “turn off” polka dots if you want something to just be solid instead. Contour is a great way to “fill in holes” if you want to nix some of the cut lines and leave a solid outline instead.

The “I Love You” project above is a great example of this use of the Contour tool! Cori from Hey Let’s Make Stuff also has another example of using Contour to hide a few details in a complex flower image.

Pick and choose which parts of an SVG file or Cricut library image you want to cut

If you have a complex SVG file or Cricut image with lots of different shapes in it, you can use Contour to show or hide certain parts of the image. It’s similar to cropping or Slicing the image, but it’s a lot less work, and not permanent!

Erin from Printable Crush took a large Christmas image and hid everything except the poinsettia and snowflakes to make Christmas ornaments.

Megan from The Homes I Have Made took it one step further and used Contour to isolate a small part of a design, then duplicated that isolated part a bunch to make a cool new pattern!

Turn single-color images into multi-color images

One really cool way to use Contour is to turn “flat” single-color images into multi-color images instead! This is how I turned each word in the Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays images into their own colors when making out matching family Christmas pajamas. I basically took the “Merry Christmas” image, duplicated it, and stacked the two copies on top of one another. Then I contoured one copy to hide the “Merry” and contoured the other to hide the “Christmas”. I set them each to different colors and voila: a single-color image turned into a multi-color image!

Sarah from The Simply Crafted Life has a great video on using Contour to turn half of the black stripes in her image into gold stripes to add an extra pop of color to her project.

“Reverse” an image to create a negative of that image

If you have a simple logo or image that you want to make a “negative” of, you can easily “reverse” the image. For example, imagine a stop sign.

Normally it is a red sign with white letters, but if you wanted to reverse the colors, you could easily do it with Contour. Just click Contour, then deselect all of the cut lines, and reselect just the octagon outline and letters that were previously “see-through” to turn on those cut lines.

Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines create a negative image

Catalina from Daydream Into Reality has another simple example of using Contour to “reverse” a simple heart and hexagon image so the negative spaces are highlighted instead.

How to show or hide cut lines with contour in cricut design space

Troubleshooting common problems with Contour in Cricut Design Space

Why is the Contour button greyed out?

Ok, this is a big one… Contour is pretty finicky, so there are a lot of possible reasons why the Contour button is greyed out.

1. Multiple layers or images selected

Contour only works on one layer at a time. Make sure you have one single layer highlighted in the Layers panel on the right. This even includes single objects that are in a Layer group, like with Group and Attach. If you click on a Grouped image it technically selects all of the grouped layers at once. Click on one of the “child” layers instead of the “parent” Group layer and you should be able to Contour.

Same deal with a multi-layered image. Many images from the Cricut library are single images made up of multiple layers that are grouped together in the Layers panel. Select just the layer you wish to contour instead of selecting the image preview in the actual Canvas.

2. Contour doesn’t work on Flattened images

Contour only deals with cut lines, but a Flattened image contains both cut lines and a “flat” printable image. If you want to hide part of a Print Then Cut image or other Flattened image, you need to Unflatten them back into their individual shapes first. Then after you Contour you can Flatten them again.

3. Your image is “too simple”

Since Contour is designed to turn off cut lines within a single image, the image you are Contouring must be made up of at least two cut lines for Contour to work. Simple shapes that are just a single outline (like squares or any other shape made using the Shape tool) can’t be Contoured; if you want to turn off the cut line around the outside of a simple shape, just choose to Hide the entire layer instead.

4. You can’t Contour editable text layers

Contour only works on static images. If you select an editable text layer, the Contour button will be greyed out. To Contour text, first Weld the text into a single static image, then the Contour button should be active and clickable.

5. Contour only works on “cuttable” images

If you upload a PNG or JPEG and save it as a Print Then Cut image instead of a Cut image, you won’t be able to Contour it for the same reason you can’t Contour Flattened images. Luckily, you should be able to save any file you upload as a cuttable image when you initially upload it, so if you’re having trouble with an uploaded file, try uploading again and saving it as Cut instead of Print Then Cut. Also, any image from the Cricut library that isn’t specifically called a “Printable” image should work with Contour.

My image is really detailed and I can’t click exactly on a cut line in the Hide Contour window to hide it

There are two possible solutions for this problem. First, there is a small “zoom” control at the bottom left of the Hide Contour button. You can zoom in on the main preview half of the window until you can click exactly on the line you want.

Second, you can also just click on the contour shapes over on the right side of the window to turn on or off that cut line.

I don’t even see a Contour button!

If you’re on a mobile device, the Canvas screen might look a little different. Usually you have to click the Actions button and then select Hide Contour, but you can see the details on that in Cricut’s Contour help article.

I want to “un-Contour” my images so I can use them for something else

No problem, Contouring is totally temporary! If you want to undo your Contours you can just open the Hide Contour window again and click on the cut lines you previously turned off. Contour doesn’t permanently remove or change any cut lines, so you can always show or hide them again later.


Hope that helps you understand more about how to use Contour in Cricut Design Space. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer!

How to show or hide cut lines with the contour tool in cricut design space

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Below is a printable version of these instructions; click the large “Print” button to print them out. (It defaults to just printing the text in the instructions, no photos, to save you paper and printer ink!)

If you like this tutorial, leave a review by clicking the stars or by clicking the Review button! That way I know which types of tutorials are most helpful and which I should do more of!

Use contour in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines
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How To Contour In Cricut Design Space

Wondering how to use Contour in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know about using Contour to turn on or turn off cut lines within a single image, and troubleshooting some of the most common problems with using the Cricut Contour tool.
Cook Time 5 minutes
Author Jessi Wohlwend

Equipment

Instructions

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with a shape that you want to hide a portion of.
    How to use the contour tool in cricut design space to show or hide cut lines in text and images
  • Select one single layer in the Layers panel at the right.
    Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines select one layer
  • Click Contour to open the Hide Contour window.
    Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines click contour button
  • Select the cut line or shape you wish to hide by clicking on it in the main preview area on the left, or by clicking on the individual shape in the list on the right.
    Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines select areas to turn off cut lines 1
  • "Hidden" cut lines will be greyed out in the preview, and the shape on the right will be highlighted in darker grey. Continue selecting shapes until you've hidden the parts you want hidden.
    Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines turn off cut lines by selecting areas
  • Click the X in the upper right corner, or click anywhere outside the window to close the window. You will see your Contoured design on the Canvas.
    Use the contour tool in cricut design space to turn on or off cut lines text with cut lines turned off

Notes

Using Contour in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.
  • You must be working with just one shape or layer. The Contour button will be greyed out if multiple layers or multi-layer images are selected.
  • Contour only works on images that contain more than one cut line. The Contour tool is designed to show or hide individual cut lines within a “complex” image or shape. Simple shapes (like a square or circle or anything else made with the Shape tool) have just one cut line around the exterior of the shape, so you cannot Contour them. If you need to hide a simple shape, just use the Hide button.
  • Contour does not work on editable text layers. Contour only works on “static images,” so the button will be greyed out if you have an editable text layer selected. You must first Weld the text into a static image before Contour will work.
  • Contouring images is “temporary.” If you hide certain cut lines using Contour, they are just turned “off” so your Cricut will not cut along them, but they are not actually removed or deleted from the project. You can use Contour again later to turn those cut lines back on if you want.
  • Contour does not work on layers that are Grouped, Attached, Flattened, or on multi-layered images. Contour only works on a single layer at a time, so any “groups” of layers, like multi-layered images or layers created when using Group and Attach cannot be Contoured. However, if you select a single layer from within the layer group you will be able to Contour just that one layer. Flattened images also cannot be Contoured because Flattened images are only for use with Print Then Cut. Unflatten any image before Contouring.
  • Contour only works on cuttable images. Contour only works with cut lines. It works with any cuttable image or design found within the Cricut library, or with any SVG file or other image that is uploaded into Design Space and saved as a Cut image. However, it does not work on the printable lines within PNG or JPG files uploaded to Cricut Design Space if the photos are saved as Print Then Cut images.
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The post How To Contour In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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How To Flatten In Cricut Design Space https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-flatten-in-cricut-design-space/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-flatten-in-cricut-design-space/#comments Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/?p=45408 Wondering how to flatten in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know about using Flatten to make your Cricut print without cutting, and troubleshooting some of the most common problems with using the Cricut Flatten tool.

The post How To Flatten In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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Wondering how to flatten in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know about using Flatten to make your Cricut print without cutting, and troubleshooting some of the most common problems with using the Cricut Flatten tool.


The Cricut Flatten tool is one of the five basic design tools that allows you to work with layers inside of Cricut Design Space (the others are Slice, Weld, Attach, and Contour).

The idea behind the Flatten tool is really simple: it flattens multiple images into a single Print layer so that it is ready for Cricut’s “Print then Cut” feature. Flatten removes all internal cut lines, “smushes” the shapes down into one layer, and sets them as a single Print image that will be cut out around the outside of the flattened shape.

The Flatten tool has SO MANY uses and you can make some really cool things with it. But it also can be a little frustrating because it has very specific rules that you have to follow before it will work properly. This article will teach you how to flatten in Cricut Design Space so you can get your Cricut to print multi-layered images without cutting, as well as troubleshoot the most common problems when using the Cricut Flatten tool.

How to flatten images in cricut design space to print only without cutting 2

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What does Flatten do in Cricut Design Space & why would I want to use it?

The Cricut Flatten tool has one basic purpose: to flatten multi-layered images (or multiple layers of single-layer images) into a single printable layer so you can use the Print then Cut feature. (Don’t worry, I’ll cover how to use the Print then Cut feature in more detail soon!)

Most images in the Cricut library are designed to be cut out (unless you specifically choose a Printable Image), so when you layer multiple Cut images on top of one another to make a single image with multiple colors, even if you Attach or Group them, your Cricut will still cut along all of the internal cut lines, slicing your design into pieces.

The Flatten tool removes all of those internal cut lines and flattens all of the colors/layers down into one single multi-colored image layer with a cut line around the outside border of the image. Then you can use Cricut’s Print then Cut feature to print your multi-colored image, then cut it out (without cutting anything on the interior of your image!)

Even though the Flatten tool just has one intended purpose, there are actually a bunch of pretty cool things you can do with the Cricut Design Space Flatten tool, such as:

  • make your own printable stickers or labels
  • turn multi-layered images into a single Print then Cut image
  • unflatten a Printable Image from the Cricut library so it can be cut
  • use Cricut Design Space to make mockups or other graphic designs

I’ll go into more detail about those uses after the next section, which shows you exactly how to flatten in Cricut Design Space (with screenshots!)

How to flatten in Cricut Design Space

The Basics

Using Flatten in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.

  • You must be working with at least one shape or layer. You can’t flatten nothing; the Flatten button will be greyed out if no layers are selected.
  • You can Flatten a single layer or multiple layers. Flatten converts an image from a Cut image to a Print image, leaving just an exterior cut line around the outside edge. If you flatten a single layer, it will just turn that layer into a printable image. If you flatten multiple layers, it will combine all of those layers into a single printable image.
  • Flattened layers are no longer editable. Flatten combines everything (all selected layers, shapes, images, text, etc.) into a single Print then Cut layer, so make sure that your text is correct, everything is in the right position, and the colors are the way you want them BEFORE clicking Flatten. After flattening you can work with the single flattened image like any other single image, but you will be unable to edit any of the “components” of the image.
  • Flatten works even if the images are Grouped, Welded, Attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Flatten only deals with the visible images, so when you click Flatten, the final Flattened image will look exactly like it does on the Canvas screen. Anything that was hidden will still not be visible; anything that was layered/grouped/welded/attached will still look exactly the way it did before, just with no cut lines around the interior shapes.
  • The Flatten button becomes an Unflatten button if you select an already flattened image. When you select layers that aren’t flattened, the Flatten button is activated at the bottom of the Layers panel. But if you select something you’ve already flattened or a pre-flattened Printable Image from the Cricut library, the Flatten button becomes a Unflatten button so you can easily undo the action if you wish. (Even after saving your project!)
  • Unflattening an image IS NOT the exact opposite of Flattening. Unflatten separates out the layers so they are individually editable, and it restores the original configuration of the layers in the Layers panel (i.e. hidden, grouped, attached, multi-layered etc.) It also restores the Cut lines for each layer, but the layers are all still printable images (meaning they all still have a “Print” Fill along with the restored “Cut” Linetype.) Basically it takes a single flattened Print then Cut image and Unflattens it into multiple Print then Cut layers. If you want to truly “Undo” the Flatten command, you also have to change the fill of each layer back to “No Fill” so that the images go all the way back to just Cut images instead of Print then Cut images.
  • Flatten works on overlapping OR separate images. Flatten just flattens everything down into a single Print then Cut image. If your shapes are overlapping, they become a multi-colored printable image. If your shapes are separate, they just become separate printable images.
  • Flattening text is the same as Flattening images. The Flatten tool only cares about the visible shapes on the Canvas. It doesn’t matter if the layer contains text, shapes, images, photos, or whatever else; Flatten will flatten it all down into one single Print then Cut image.

The Equipment

Technically all you need to use the the Cricut Flatten tool is Cricut Design Space, but without a Cricut machine and a printer you won’t actually be able to print your flattened design and then cut it out! I have shared the file I used for this tutorial below, feel free to use it for practicing.

The Instructions

How to Flatten

Start by opening the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

How to flatten in cricut design space

This practice file has two different sets of images and text for practicing, but for this initial tutorial we are just going to use the label and “flour” text, so hide the “Have a magical day” and white square layers.

Imagine you are making pantry labels and you want to print them out on printable sticker paper, then have the Cricut cut around the outside of the label shape to make a pantry label sticker.

Select the word “flour” and drag it on top of the label shape.

How to flatten in cricut design space position layers on top of each other

The two layers look correctly positioned, but they are still all Cut layers. If you click the green “Make It” button right now, it will cut out five separate layers (the four separate layers that make up the label, and the text layer) and won’t print anything.

In order to print the entire label + word as one image, you need to use the Flatten tool. And after you Flatten the label, the component layers will no longer be editable, so make sure the colors are the way you want them and everything is positioned correctly.

To Flatten, first select both the label and the word together. You can click and drag a square around the entire label to select both layers, or you can select one image, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other image. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the other layer.

How to flatten in cricut design space click flatten

Click “Flatten” to flatten the selected layers into a single printable image.

How to flatten in cricut design space image will now print without cutting

When you click Flatten, the layers will all combine into one single Print then Cut “Flatten” layer, and all of the interior cut lines will be removed. (See how the black lines around the outside of the word “flour” and the yellow border of the label are no longer there?)

The five layers that made up that label shape are now one single printable image layer. You can move the layer around or work with it however you like, just like any other single shape layer, but the “contents” of the layer are no longer editable.

And now if you click the green “Make It” button, you’ll see that the label appears as a Print then Cut image on the mat and the material size is automatically set to 8.5×11 printer paper.

How to flatten in cricut design space make cricut print only

If you click the green “Continue” button here, it will send the design to your printer to be printed, then ask you to load the printed design onto a cutting mat and load it into your machine to be cut.

How to Unflatten

As I mentioned earlier, Unflatten is not the exact opposite of Flatten. (If you want to completely reverse the Flatten action you just did, you can always click the “Undo” button and it will undo the last Flatten action.)

If you want to Unflatten something, or if it’s too late to use the “Undo” button to undo the action, you can use the Unflatten button to separate the layers out, then follow the steps below to change the images back to Cut images.

Start by selecting the flattened image and click Unflatten.

How to unflatten in cricut design space

The Unflatten tool separates the flattened image back out into distinct, editable layers, and it also changes the Linetype of each layer back to “Cut”, but if you notice in the screenshot above, the black lines around the word “flour” and around the yellow border of the label didn’t reappear, and in the Layers panel each layer says “Cut | Print” instead of just “Cut”…

This is because what Unflatten does is actually separate out a single Print then Cut image into multiple Print then Cut images on distinct layers; it doesn’t actually “reverse” the Flatten action.

If you click the green “Make It” button now, it will Print then Cut out each of the five layers separately instead of Printing then Cutting the flattened single image.

If you want to fully reverse the Flatten action and make the images back into Cut images, select an image and change the Fill dropdown from “Print” to “No Fill”.

How to unflatten in cricut design space change back to cut

You’ll see the layer change to “Cut” in the Layers panel, and the black line around the image will appear again. The image may also revert back to its original color.

If you want to change the color back the way you had it, click the little colored square next to the Linetype dropdown menu, then select the color you want.

How to unflatten in cricut design space change material color

Repeat this for all of the unflattened layers (including each layer individually of multi-layered images like the Label layer) until your design goes back to looking like it did before you flattened.

How to flatten in cricut design space click flatten

You should be able to see all of the black cut lines around each separate image, and all of the layers should be “Cut” layers in the Layers panel.

What can I do with the Cricut Flatten tool?

Make your own printable stickers or labels

If you want to make stickers or labels with your Cricut, use the Flatten tool to transform multiple Cut images into a single Print then Cut image.

The pantry label project above is a great example of this use of the Flatten tool! Here is another example of using Flatten to make your own stickers.

Turn multi-layered images into a single Print then Cut image

The Cricut Flatten tool is perfect for combining multiple images that are stacked on top of one another so that your Cricut will print them all together without cutting along the interior lines.

The “Have a magical day” image in the practice file is a great example of this use. If you select that image and click Flatten, then try to Print then Cut it, your printer will print the image correctly, but when you load it into your Cricut to cut out, it will cut out each piece of the design separately (i.e. each star, each letter, etc.)

This is because the Flatten tool only deals with the visible layers. The “Have a magical day” image is a single multi-layered image, but if you look at it on the Canvas by itself, it is “see-through”; you can see the gridlines behind each part of the image.

How to flatten a multi layered image into a print then cut image

In order to make it print the image and then make one single cut around the exterior of the whole image, you need to add a shape as a background layer. (And remember, your Cricut will cut out around the outline of that background shape when doing Print then Cut.)

Unhide the white square layer and position it behind the “Have a magical day” image. Now if you click Flatten you will see the image flattened onto a white background; all of the cut lines around the words and shapes will disappear, but the gridlines behind the image will no longer be visible.

How to make cricut print without cutting click flatten

If you click the green “Make It” button now, the image will appear as one single Print then Cut image on the mat and it will just cut around the outside border of the square rather than printing and cutting each piece separately.

How to make cricut print without cutting cricut will print only

This is great for designing a printable image in Cricut Design Space, then using your Cricut to cut it out for stuff like birthday party decorations or greeting cards.

Here’s another example of using Flatten to convert a multi-layered image into a single printable image.

Unflatten a Printable Image from the Cricut library so it can be cut

One really cool way to use the Cricut Flatten tool is actually to not use Flatten at all! Instead, this is a cool way to use the Unflatten tool (the one that activates when you select a printable image that is already flattened.)

Most of the images in the Cricut library are already set up as Cut images, but some of them are specifically designed to be Printable Images. You can find them by filtering for “Printables” when you do a search in the image library.

If you insert a Printable Image into your project, it will already be a flattened image ready to be Print then Cut. But if you’d like to use the image as Cut images instead of printable images, you can just use the Unflatten tool following the directions above to separate the image out into distinct Cut layers.

Use Cricut Design Space to make mockups or other graphic designs

Normally you would Flatten an image so that you can use the Print then Cut feature of your Cricut machine. But this use of the Cricut Flatten tool actually doesn’t use your Cricut machine at all! Some people like to use Cricut Design Space more like a graphic design software than a “send stuff to your Cricut for cutting” software.

If you don’t have access to or don’t want to learn to use another graphic design software like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Inkscape, etc. you can use Cricut Design Space to create mockups or other graphics. It’s not quite the same because you cannot Export files out of Design Space like you can in other software. But if you get your design looking the way you want it, you can capture a screenshot of your screen and crop the screenshot down to just the graphic you want.

One great example of this is making a mockup of your Cricut Design Space design on a t-shirt. You can upload an image of a blank t-shirt and layer it underneath your cuttable image. Then select them both and click Flatten to remove the black outlines around your cut images, making it look like the design is actually on the blank shirt below!

Obviously there are some limitations to using Cricut Design Space this way (like you can’t export in different file types or specify the file size or dimensions), but in a pinch this is a great way to make mockups or graphics if you don’t want to learn a separate software in order to do it.

Learn how to flatten images in cricut design space to print without cutting

Troubleshooting common problems with the Cricut Design Space Flatten tool

The Flatten button is greyed out

In order to “activate” the Cricut Flatten tool (make it black and clickable instead of greyed out) you have to select something (any shape, image, text, or layer). If you have nothing selected, the button will be greyed out.

I don’t see a Flatten button, just an Unflatten button

If you’ve selected an image that is already flattened, you will see an Unflatten button where the Flatten button used to be. Try selecting a different image or layer that isn’t already flattened and the Flatten button should appear.

My Cricut is still cutting out the insides of my Print then Cut images

There are two main reasons why this might happen: somehow some parts of your image weren’t flattened and are still Cut layers, or there’s no “background layer” behind your flattened image for it to be flattened down on to.

For the first scenario, double check that ALL of the layers that you want to Print then Cut are in ONE single Flatten layer. If there are two Flatten layers, it will Print then Cut each of them separately, so Unflatten them both and then select all of the layers and Flatten into one single Flatten layer.

Also double check that the layers in the Layer Panel say “Cut | Print” and not just “Cut”. If there are some layers that are just “Cut” layers, those cuts may still happen inside of your Print then Cut image. Unflatten your image, then select ALL of the layers and Flatten into one single Flatten layer again.

In the second scenario, if you can still see the gridlines behind your flattened image (like in the “Have a magical day” example above), then you need to add a background shape for your image to “flatten onto.” Unflatten your image, add a white shape and position it behind your image, then select all the layers and click Flatten again. Now you should see the white background behind your flattened image and no gridlines. Here’s a great example of how to add a background before you Flatten.

I want to “unflatten” my images so I can use them for something else

No problem! If you accidentally flattened something you didn’t mean to, you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action. Or, if you want to Unflatten a pre-flattened Printable Image from the image library, or if it’s too late to use the Undo button, just follow the instructions for How To Unflatten above.


Hope that helps you understand more about how to flatten in Cricut Design Space. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer!

How to flatten images and text in cricut design space to print without cutting 2

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Below is a printable version of these instructions; click the large “Print” button to print them out. (It defaults to just printing the text in the instructions, no photos, to save you paper and printer ink!)

If you like this tutorial, leave a review by clicking the stars or by clicking the Review button! That way I know which types of tutorials are most helpful and which I should do more of!

Learn what does flatten do on cricut design space
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How To Flatten In Cricut Design Space

Wondering how to flatten in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know about using Flatten to make your Cricut print without cutting, and troubleshooting some of the most common problems with using the Cricut Flatten tool.
Cook Time 5 minutes
Author Jessi Wohlwend

Equipment

Instructions

How to Flatten

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with with a multi-layered label that you want to flatten into a printable image.
    How to flatten in cricut design space
  • Select the word "flour" and move it on top of the label.
    How to flatten in cricut design space position layers on top of each other
  • Select all of the layers.
    How to flatten in cricut design space click flatten
  • Click Flatten to combine all of the layers into a single printable image.
    How to flatten in cricut design space image will now print without cutting
  • Click the green Make It button to see the Prepare screen. The label appears as a single Print then Cut image on one mat, and the material size is automatically set to 8.5×11 printer paper.
    How to flatten in cricut design space make cricut print only

How to Unflatten

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space containing a flattened image.
    How to flatten in cricut design space image will now print without cutting
  • Select the image and click Unflatten.
    How to unflatten in cricut design space
  • Select one of the unflattened layers and click the Fill dropdown menu. Change the Fill from "Print" to "No Fill".
    How to unflatten in cricut design space change back to cut
  • Click the small colored square next to the Linetype dropdown menu to change the material color if you wish.
    How to unflatten in cricut design space change material color
  • Repeat until all unflattened layers are "Cut" layers in the correct colors.
    How to flatten in cricut design space click flatten

Notes

Using Flatten in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.
  • You must be working with at least one shape or layer. You can’t flatten nothing; the Flatten button will be greyed out if no layers are selected.
  • You can Flatten a single layer or multiple layers. Flatten converts an image from a Cut image to a Print image, leaving just an exterior cut line around the outside edge. If you flatten a single layer, it will just turn that layer into a printable image. If you flatten multiple layers, it will combine all of those layers into a single printable image.
  • Flattened layers are no longer editable. Flatten combines everything (all selected layers, shapes, images, text, etc.) into a single Print then Cut layer, so make sure that your text is correct, everything is in the right position, and the colors are the way you want them BEFORE clicking Flatten. After flattening you can work with the single flattened image like any other single image, but you will be unable to edit any of the “components” of the image.
  • Flatten works even if the images are Grouped, Welded, Attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Flatten only deals with the visible images, so when you click Flatten, the final Flattened image will look exactly like it does on the Canvas screen. Anything that was hidden will still not be visible; anything that was layered/grouped/welded/attached will still look exactly the way it did before, just with no cut lines around the interior shapes.
  • The Flatten button becomes an Unflatten button if you select an already flattened image. When you select layers that aren’t flattened, the Flatten button is activated at the bottom of the Layers panel. But if you select something you’ve already flattened or a pre-flattened Printable Image from the Cricut library, the Flatten button becomes a Unflatten button so you can easily undo the action if you wish. (Even after saving your project!)
  • Unflattening an image IS NOT the exact opposite of Flattening. Unflatten separates out the layers so they are individually editable, and it restores the original configuration of the layers in the Layers panel (i.e. hidden, grouped, attached, multi-layered etc.) It also restores the Cut lines for each layer, but the layers are all still printable images (meaning they all still have a “Print” Fill along with the restored “Cut” Linetype.) Basically it takes a single flattened Print then Cut image and Unflattens it into multiple Print then Cut layers. If you want to truly “Undo” the Flatten command, you also have to change the fill of each layer back to “No Fill” so that the images go all the way back to just Cut images instead of Print then Cut images.
  • Flatten works on overlapping OR separate images. Flatten just flattens everything down into a single Print then Cut image. If your shapes are overlapping, they become a multi-colored printable image. If your shapes are separate, they just become separate printable images.
  • Flattening text is the same as Flattening images. The Flatten tool only cares about the visible shapes on the Canvas. It doesn’t matter if the layer contains text, shapes, images, photos, or whatever else; Flatten will flatten it all down into one single Print then Cut image.
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The post How To Flatten In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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How To Attach In Cricut Design Space https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-attach-in-cricut-design-space/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-attach-in-cricut-design-space/#comments Mon, 27 Jan 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/?p=45406 Wondering how to use the attach feature in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know: how to keep text and images in place, attach writing and score lines onto a shape, and troubleshoot some of the most common problems with using Attach in Cricut Design Space.

The post How To Attach In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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Wondering how to use the attach feature in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know: how to keep text and images in place, attach writing and score lines onto a shape, and troubleshoot some of the most common problems with using Attach in Cricut Design Space.


The Cricut Attach tool is one of the five basic design tools that allows you to work with layers inside of Cricut Design Space (the others are Slice, Weld, Flatten, and Contour).

The Attach tool has two main functions. First, it “locks” shapes and text in place on the cutting mat so you can keep the exact spacing you want. Second, it allows you to “fasten” a writing or scoring layer onto a cutting layer so that the writing or scoring happens “on top of” the cut out shape.

This article will teach you how to attach in Cricut Design Space and how to keep text and images in place when cutting, as well as troubleshoot the most common problems when using Attach in Cricut Design Space.

How to use attach in cricut design space 1

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What is the Cricut Design Space Attach tool & why would I want to use it?

The Attach tool allows you to lock images and text in place so that the placement of the shapes on the cutting mat preserves the same spacing that you see in the Canvas screen of Cricut Design Space. Otherwise Design Space defaults to “paper save mode” and automatically adjusts the spacing. It also allows you to fasten a writing layer or scoring layer onto a cutting layer, meaning you can have your machine score or draw on a material AND cut out a shape all in one pass.

Unlike Weld and Slice, which modify actual shapes, Attach works by “grouping” layers together. It basically creates a “folder” of layers in the Layers panel on the right. The individual shapes, layers, text, images, etc. are all still the same as they were before. The only difference is that your machine sees the Attached layers as one item and does everything (cuts, draws, scores, etc.) on the same mat.

There are some pretty cool things you can do with the Cricut Design Space Attach tool, such as:

  • override “paper save mode” to lock image position on the cutting mat
  • get your machine to Draw on top of a shape and then Cut it out
  • add score lines to a project
  • cut one shape out of another shape
  • make a pattern that’s easy to transfer
  • Attach instead of Slicing multiple images
  • Attach instead of Weld if the images aren’t overlapping

I’ll go into more detail about those uses after the next section, which shows you exactly how to attach in Cricut Design Space (with screenshots!)

How to attach in Cricut Design Space

The Basics

Using Attach in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.

  • You must be working with at least two shapes/layers. You can’t attach a single layer; the Attach button will be greyed out if only one layer is selected.
  • Attaching always fastens shapes “down” to the bottom layer. Even though Attach doesn’t change the shapes within your individual layers, it will change the color. If your layers are different colors, the final Attach group will be the color of the bottom layer.
  • Attach works even if the images are grouped, welded, already attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Because Attach creates a “folder” of layers, it doesn’t matter if some of the layers are already Grouped or Attached, or if a layer is hidden or multi-layered.
  • Attach works on overlapping OR separate images. Attach just holds the position of the layer. If your shapes are overlapping, you are “forcing” the cut lines to intersect when your machine cuts. If your shapes are separate, you are “forcing” the machine to preserve the spacing of your images.
  • Attaching text is the same as Attaching images. The Attach tool only cares about the layers in the Layers panel, so it doesn’t even notice if the layer contains text, shapes, images, photos, or whatever else.
  • The Attach button becomes a Detach button if you select an already Attached object. When you select layers that aren’t attached, the Attach button is activated at the bottom of the Layers panel. But if you select something you’ve already attached, the Attach button becomes a Detach button so you can easily undo the action if you wish. (Even after saving your project!)

The Equipment

Technically all you need to use the the Attach tool is Cricut Design Space, but without a Cricut machine you won’t actually be able to cut out your attached design! I have shared the file I used for this tutorial below, feel free to use it for practicing.

The Instructions

Start by opening the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

How to use the attach function in cricut design space

This practice file has images and text to practice three different uses for the Attach function, but for this initial tutorial we are just going to use the “home is where the heart is” images, so you can hide the two star layers.

Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space

I’ve already positioned the text and heart shape where I want them in my final project, but if you click the green “Make It” button right now, it shows up on the Prepare mats screen like the screenshot below, all bunched up in the top left corner.

Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space so they arent bunched together

By default, Cricut Design Space uses “paper save mode” and positions your images and text on the cutting mat in the way that makes the most efficient use of your materials; basically it bunches them all up into the top left corner so it’s not wasting material.

You can override “paper save mode” by using the Attach function to “lock” your images and text in the exact arrangement you set on the Canvas screen.

To use the Attach function, first select all of the teal images: the word “home” and the heart. The letters “ome” are already welded together into a single image, but the “H” is still its own layer. You can click and drag a square around the entire word to select both layers, or you can select one image, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other two images to select them all at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the other layers.

Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space select all layers

Once you have all three teal layers selected, the Attach tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Attach” to attach the selected layers.

Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space select layers and click attach

When you click Attach, the layers will all “fasten” down to the bottom layer and all of the layers will be “grouped” together in an “Attach folder” in the Layers panel on the right.

In this example, the images themselves weren’t modified at all, but all three layers have been moved into an “Attach folder” in the Layers panel. If the original layers had been different colors, they would all become the color of the bottom layer when attached.

Now select the two yellow text layers and click Attach again.

How to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space

Now you have a second “Attach folder” in the Layers panel, and you can move each folder around or work with them however you like, just like any other single shape layer.

And now if you click the green “Make It” button, you’ll see that the spacing you have set up on the Canvas screen is preserved on the Prepare screen.

Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space so the spacing stays correct

The arrangement of the yellow text is the same as it was on the Canvas screen, and if you look at the teal thumbnail on the left, you’ll see that “Home” and the heart are also locked into position on the cutting mat.

What can I do with the Cricut Attach tool?

Override “paper save mode” to lock image position on the cutting mat

The Cricut Attach tool is perfect for holding your images and text in the same arrangement when cutting. By default, Cricut Design Space uses “paper save mode” when cutting, which means it rearranges all of your shapes to make the most efficient use of your material (basically by clustering them all up into the top left corner of your cutting mat). But if you want to “lock” images in place on the cutting mat, you can use the Attach tool to override “paper save mode”.

The “Home is where the heart is” project above is a great example of this use of the Attach tool. If you need to arrange your text and shapes in a certain way in Design Space, use the Attach tool to hold the images in place when cutting!

Get your machine to write on top of a shape and then cut it out

You can also use Attach to “fasten” a writing layer onto the cutting layer beneath it. This is great for having your Cricut write on top of a shape AND THEN cut it out.

This star and writing layer is also in the practice file I shared earlier.

Attach writing to images in cricut design space

The text layer is already in a writing font, meaning your Cricut will automatically Draw the letters with a pen rather than cut them out. But if you send this file to your machine as is, the Prepare screen will look like this:

Attach writing to images in cricut design space so it is not on separate mats

The text will be drawn on one mat, and the star will be cut out on a separate mat.

To prevent this, select both the text and star layers. You can click and drag a square around the entire star to select both layers, or you can select one image, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other image to select them both at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the other layer.

Attach writing to images in cricut design space select both layers

Once you have both layers selected, the Attach tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Attach” to attach the selected layers.

Attach writing to images in cricut design space select layers and click attach

When you click Attach, the top text layer will “fasten” down to the bottom star layer, and both layers will be moved into an “Attach folder” in the Layers panel on the right.

The text and star images themselves weren’t modified at all, but the text is now “attached” to the star below it in the Layers panel.

And now if you click the green “Make It” button, you’ll see that the text has been “attached” to the star so that both the “Draw” action and “Cut” action happen on the same mat on the Prepare screen instead of being on two separate mats.

Attach writing to images in cricut design space writing and images on one mat

Now if you click “Continue” the machine will ask you to load a pen as well as a blade and will write out the text on your material, and then cut out the shape, all in one pass.

Here’s another example of using Attach to fasten drawing lines onto a cute gift tag.

Add score lines to a project

Similar to attaching writing to a shape, you can also use Attach to “fasten” score lines onto the cutting layer beneath it. This is great for making cards with a score line down the middle, or making any sort of 3D shape or box.

These score lines and star are also in the practice file I shared earlier.

Attach score lines to shapes in cricut design space

I used this image to create these 3D paper stars, and the score lines are already positioned correctly on top of the star. But if you send this file to your machine as is, the Prepare screen will look like this:

Attach score lines to shapes in cricut design space so they arent on two separate mats

The score lines will be made on one mat, and the star will be cut out on a separate mat.

To prevent this, select all of the score lines and the star. You can click and drag a square around the entire star to select all of the layers, or you can select one score line, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other lines and the star to select them all at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the other layers.

Attach score lines to shapes in cricut design space select all layers

Once you have all of the layers selected, the Attach tool at the bottom of the Layers panel will activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Attach” to attach the selected layers.

When you click Attach, the score lines will “fasten” down to the bottom star layer, and all layers will be moved into an “Attach folder” in the Layers panel on the right.

The score lines and star themselves weren’t modified at all, but the score lines are now “attached” to the star below them in the Layers panel.

And now if you click the green “Make It” button, you’ll see that the score lines have been “attached” to the star so that both the “Score” actions and “Cut” action happen on the same mat on the Prepare screen instead of being on two separate mats.

How to attach score lines to a shape in cricut design space

Now if you click “Continue” the machine will ask you to load a scoring stylus or scoring wheel to do the scoring part, then pause and have you switch to a blade to finish cutting out the shape, all in one pass.

Cut one shape out of another shape

Another cool way to use the Attach tool is to cut a shape out of another shape, or make specific “holes” inside of a larger shape. If you layer smaller shapes on top of a larger shape and then attach them all together, the Cricut will cut the smaller shapes and the larger shape out of the same material, making “smaller shaped holes” in the large shape.

This is really similar to Slicing an image to make new shapes, except that instead of generating new shape layers like Slice does, Attach just forces the two shapes to be cut out on top of one another.

If you layered a smaller circle on top of a larger circle and then Sliced them, you would end up with two smaller circles and one “donut” ring, all on separate layers. If you Attach them instead, you end up with one smaller circle inside of the “donut” ring, and they are stuck together in the same “Attach folder.” (Your machine will cut the circle and donut exactly as shown on the Canvas screen.)

Make a pattern that’s easy to transfer

The Attach function is perfect for making patterns or designs that are easy to transfer, especially if you’re using vinyl. After creating a pattern by duplicating and rearranging shapes and images, this blogger used Attach to lock them in place on the cutting mat. This way she didn’t have to transfer, rotate, and line up each shape individually into the final pattern on her dresser.

Attach instead of Slicing multiple images

You can also use Attach instead of Slice if you have multiple images that you want “sliced” out of another larger image.

A great example of this is using Attach to make scrapbook pages. Layer your shapes and text on top of a large square, select all of them, and click Attach. The Cricut will “slice” those images out of your square when it cuts, and then you can layer pretty paper or photos behind the square to make a fun scrapbook page.

Attach instead of Weld if the images aren’t overlapping

In the Weld tutorial I mentioned that you can Weld images that aren’t overlapped if you want them to all be attached into a single layer and held in position. But technically you should use Attach to do this instead of Weld.

If you remember from the Slice tutorial, you can only slice exactly two layers at a time. But what if you have something like the American flag where you’d like to “punch out” 50 stars from a single background shape? No one wants to have to Slice out 50 individual stars! This is the perfect time to Attach the 50 stars and background shape all together so that the stars are automatically cut out of the background shape.

How to keep text in place in cricut design space

Troubleshooting common problems with the Cricut Design Space Attach tool

The Attach button is greyed out

In order to “activate” the Cricut Attach tool (make it black and clickable instead of greyed out) you have to select at least two shapes or layers. If you only have one image selected the button will be greyed out.

Cricut Design Space keeps rearranging my text and images when it cuts them out

Ah, yep, that’s what Attach is for! Cricut Design Space sees each layer as its own individual shape, regardless of whether the layer is text, a shape, a photo, an image, or something else. Even if you arrange them in a certain way on the Canvas (like making a pattern of heart, then star, then heart, etc.), Design Space doesn’t automatically assume you want those shapes cut out in that exact order or with that exact spacing.

If you select all the layers you want held in place (text, images, shapes, whatever…) and click Attach, it will “tell” Design Space that you have arranged those objects in a certain way and want them to be cut out of a single material exactly how you have arranged them. That way when you go to cut, you will see a mat with all of your shapes laid out exactly the same way you laid them out on the Canvas screen.

I can’t get my Cricut to draw on top of the shape it cuts out

Ah, yep, that’s ALSO what Attach is for! Just like with trying to keep your image spacing the same when you cut, Cricut Design Space sees each layer and image as its own individual shape. Even though you might arrange them in a certain way on the Canvas (like putting a text layer on top of a shape), Design Space doesn’t automatically assume you want to draw on top of that shape.

If you select the draw layer and the cut layer and click Attach, it will “tell” Design Space that you want those two actions to happen on the same layer or material. That way when you go to cut, you will see a mat with both “Draw” and “Cut” on it and your text will be on top of your shape instead of separating them out into two different mats.

I can’t get my Cricut to make score lines on the shape it cuts out

Ah, yep, that’s ANOTHER THING that Attach is for! Just like with trying to get your machine to draw on top of a cut out shape, Cricut Design Space sees each score line and image as its own individual shape. Even though you might arrange them in a certain way on the Canvas (like putting a score line on top of a shape), Design Space doesn’t automatically assume you want to score that shape.

If you select the score lines and the cut layer and click Attach, it will “tell” Design Space that you want those two actions to happen on the same layer or material. That way when you go to cut, you will see a mat with both “Score” and “Cut” on it and your score lines will still be positioned on top of your shape instead of separating them out into two different mats.

I want to draw on a shape AND hold all my shapes in the same arrangement

No problem; Attach works on as many layers as you want, and it even works on things that are already grouped or attached!

If you have a bunch of individual shapes and layers, just position them where you want them, select ALL the layers, and click Attach. If there is a drawing layer on top of a shape layer, it will attach those two AS WELL AS attach any other separate shapes all together into a single “Attach folder”. Here is a great example of attaching text and separate images all in one go.

If you already have some attached or grouped layers and want to attach them even further, that’s no problem either. Every time you click Attach, it takes all of the selected layers and attaches them into an Attach folder. If you select something that’s already attached, it just nests that first Attach folder inside of the new Attach folder, and so on.

(I haven’t actually tested to see how many nested Attach folders you can get in one Design Space file, but I’ve had at least five with no problem!)

I want to “un-attach” my images so I can use them for something else

No problem! If you accidentally attached something you didn’t mean to, you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action. Or, if you select an Attached image, the Attach button at the bottom of the Layers panel becomes a Detach button.

If you click Detach it will separate the layers back out into their own distinct layers.


Hope that helps you understand more about the Cricut Attach tool in Design Space. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer!

How to use cricut design space attach feature

Want to share this article with your friends? Share to Facebook, Pinterest, or send the article by email—just click on any of the share buttons floating on the left, or find them at the top and bottom of this post.

Below is a printable version of these instructions; click the large “Print” button to print them out. (It defaults to just printing the text in the instructions, no photos, to save you paper and printer ink!)

If you like this tutorial, leave a review by clicking the stars or by clicking the Review button! That way I know which types of tutorials are most helpful and which I should do more of!

How to use cricut attach to keep the same arrangement when cutting
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How To Attach In Cricut Design Space

Wondering how to use the attach feature in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know: how to keep text and images in place, attach writing and score lines onto a shape, and troubleshoot some of the most common problems with using Attach in Cricut Design Space.
Cook Time 5 minutes
Author Jessi Wohlwend

Equipment

Instructions

Using Attach to lock images in place on the cutting mat

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with multiple shapes or text that you want arranged in a certain way when the machine cuts them out.
    Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space
  • Select all of the images, shapes, or text that you want cut out of a single color.
    Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space select all layers
  • Click Attach to attach the layers into an "Attach folder" in the Layers panel on the right side.
    Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space select layers and click attach
  • If there is a second color or material in your project, select all of the images, shapes, or text that you want cut out of that color, then click Attach; you will end up with another "Attach folder" in the Layers panel.
    How to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space
  • When you go to cut out your project, all of your Attached layers will be locked into place on your cutting mat in the same position as you see them on the Canvas screen.
    Learn how to lock the image position on the mat in cricut design space so the spacing stays correct

How to attach writing to a shape in Cricut Design Space

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with a drawing layer and a cut layer/shape.
    Attach writing to images in cricut design space
  • Position the drawing layer on top of the shape layer, then select both layers.
    Attach writing to images in cricut design space select both layers
  • Click Attach to "fasten" the writing in the drawing layer onto the shape in the cut layer below.
    Attach writing to images in cricut design space select layers and click attach
  • When you go to cut out your project, you’ll see that the text has been “attached” to the shape below it so that both the “Draw” action and “Cut” action happen on the same mat instead of being on two separate mats.
    Attach writing to images in cricut design space writing and images on one mat

How to attach score lines to a shape in Cricut Design Space

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with score lines and a cut layer/shape. Position the score lines on top of the shape layer.
    Attach score lines to shapes in cricut design space
  • Select all of layers and click Attach to "fasten" the score lines onto the shape in the cut layer on the bottom.
    Attach score lines to shapes in cricut design space select all layers
  • When you go to cut out your project, you’ll see that the score lines have been “attached” to the shape below it so that both the “Score” actions and the “Cut” action happen on the same mat instead of being on two separate mats.
    How to attach score lines to a shape in cricut design space

Notes

Using Attach in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.
  • You must be working with at least two shapes/layers. You can’t attach a single layer; the Attach button will be greyed out if only one layer is selected.
  • Attaching always fastens shapes “down” to the bottom layer. Even though Attach doesn’t change the shapes within your individual layers, it will change the color. If your layers are different colors, the final Attach group will be the color of the bottom layer.
  • Attach works even if the images are grouped, welded, already attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Because Attach creates a “folder” of layers, it doesn’t matter if some of the layers are already Grouped or Attached, or if a layer is hidden or multi-layered.
  • Attach works on overlapping OR separate images. Attach just holds the position of the layer. If your shapes are overlapping, you are “forcing” the cut lines to intersect when your machine cuts. If your shapes are separate, you are “forcing” the machine to preserve the spacing of your images.
  • Attaching text is the same as Attaching images. The Attach tool only cares about the layers in the Layers panel, so it doesn’t even notice if the layer contains text, shapes, images, photos, or whatever else.
  • The Attach button becomes a Detach button if you select an already Attached object. When you select layers that aren’t attached, the Attach button is activated at the bottom of the Layers panel. But if you select something you’ve already attached, the Attach button becomes a Detach button so you can easily undo the action if you wish. (Even after saving your project!)
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The post How To Attach In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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How To Weld In Cricut Design Space https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-weld-in-cricut-design-space/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-weld-in-cricut-design-space/#comments Mon, 20 Jan 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/?p=45404 Wondering how to use the Cricut weld tool in Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from what weld means and how to use it to create shapes and connect cursive letters, to troubleshooting some of the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.

The post How To Weld In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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Wondering how to use the Cricut weld tool in Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from what weld means and how to use it to create shapes and connect cursive letters, to troubleshooting some of the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.


The Cricut Weld tool is one of the five basic design tools that allows you to work with layers inside of Cricut Design Space (the others are Slice, Attach, Flatten, and Contour).

The Weld tool takes multiple shapes and “merges” them together into a single shape/layer, leaving just the “exterior” outline of the original shapes. But even though the concept is simple, there are tons of cool things you can do with it!

This article will teach you what weld means in Cricut Design Space and how to connect letters and images, as well as troubleshoot the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.

How to weld images and letters in cricut design space

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What does weld mean in Cricut Design Space & why would I want to use it?

The Weld tool allows you to “join” multiple images or shapes together to create a single shape. It combines multiple shapes into a single shape by finding all overlapping or intersecting cut lines and removing them. This leaves just the exterior cut path (i.e. the “outline”) of the new “merged” shape.

There are some pretty cool things you can do with the Weld tool in Cricut Design Space, such as:

  • make custom shapes
  • connect letters from a script font to make them cut as one piece
  • simplify a design into fewer “pieces”
  • Weld so you can Slice multiple images at once

I’ll go into more detail about those uses after the next section, which shows you exactly how to weld in Cricut Design Space (with screenshots!)

How to weld in Cricut Design Space

The Basics

Using Weld in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.

  • You must be working with at least two shapes/layers. You can’t weld a single layer; the Weld button will be greyed out if only one layer is selected.
  • Welding always merges shapes “down” to the bottom layer. If your layers are different colors, the final Weld Result will be the color of the bottom layer.
  • Weld works even if the images are grouped, attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Design Space will automatically ungroup or un-attach any grouped or attached layers when you weld them.
  • Hidden layers will disappear after welding. If you want to keep any hidden layers of a multi-layer image, be sure to unhide them before welding.
  • Weld only works on overlapping images. Your shapes must have overlapping or intersecting cut lines for Weld to combine them into a single shape.
  • …unless you purposely are trying to weld images that aren’t touching. If your shapes aren’t stacked on top of each other, welding them will basically just “merge down” the top shape into the bottom layer without actually modifying the shapes themselves.
  • Welding text is the same as welding images. The Weld tool doesn’t treat text any different from any other image or shape, regardless of whether you are welding an entire word or you’ve already ungrouped the text to letters.
  • Welding is permanent and can’t be undone. Once you save your project after welding, it can’t be reversed. But obviously if you just welded something by accident you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action; just click Undo before saving!

The Equipment

Technically all you need to use the the Weld tool is Cricut Design Space, but without a Cricut machine you won’t actually be able to cut out your welded design! I have shared the file I used for this tutorial below, feel free to use it for practicing.

The Instructions

Start by opening the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

How to weld in cricut design space combine two shapes to make a new shape

Select the rectangle shape and drag it over the triangle so that it creates an arrow. Make sure the rectangle is overlapping the triangle at least a little bit.

Then select both shapes. You can click and drag a square around the entire arrow shape to select both layers, or you can select one image, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other image to select them both at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the second layer.

Once you have two layers selected, the Weld tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Weld” to weld the selected layers into a single layer.

How to weld in cricut design space overlap two shapes

When you click Weld the top layer will “merge” down into the layer below and both shapes will become part of the bottom layer.

In this example the overlapping cut lines were removed and the teal rectangle “merged down” into the yellow triangle, resulting in a yellow arrow.

How to weld in cricut design space click weld to attach them

The new welded layer will be renamed “Weld Result” and you can move it around or work with it however you would like, just like any other single shape layer.

What can I do with the Cricut weld tool?

Making custom shapes

The Cricut weld tool is perfect for making your own custom shapes by combining two standard shapes, or even images from the Cricut library. The arrow project above is the perfect example of turning two standard shapes into a custom shape using Weld.

Here’s another cool example of turning three triangles and a square into a Christmas tree!

How to connect letters in Cricut Design Space

You can also use Weld to cut out fancy script sayings with your Cricut.

Normally when you type text into Cricut Design Space (even if you choose a script font) it separates out each letter and puts space between the letters. Even if you detach the letters and move them together so that they overlap like a single word in cursive, the Cricut will still cut all of the letters out individually. This is where Weld comes in handy!

The practice file I used above for the arrow example also has some text for you to practice connecting letters.

Open the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

There should already be a text layer with the word “hello” written in it, but if not, just click the Text tool and type a word in a new layer. I used the Elizabeth font from the Cricut library for this (free with Cricut Access) but you can use any script font you’d like.

How to weld in cricut design space how to weld letters

Select the text layer by clicking on the text itself, or by clicking on the layer in the Layers panel. Once the text is selected the Font Edit toolbar should appear at the top of the screen underneath the normal Edit toolbar.

Click the dropdown icon under the “Advanced” menu in the Font Edit toolbar, then select Ungroup To Letters.

How to weld in cricut design space separate into letters

This will split your text into five separate layers: one for each letter.

Get rid of the space between the letters by selecting each letter individually and moving it so that it slightly overlaps the previous letter.

NOTE: You can also get rid of the space between the letters by selecting the text and then reducing the “Letter Space” number in the Font Edit toolbar. This will automatically move the letters closer together, and it usually works pretty well. But it doesn’t allow you to move one letter closer together than another letter, so I always just end up Ungrouping the letters and moving them manually anyway to “perfect” the look of the final word.

How to weld in cricut design space move letters to overlap

Once all the letters are overlapping and positioned where you want them, select the entire word. You can click and drag a square around the word to select all of the letter layers, or you can select one letter, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other letters to select them all at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking on all the other layers until all of the letters are selected.

Once you have at least two layers selected, the Weld tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Weld” to weld the selected letters into a single shape.

How to weld in cricut design space how to connect letters on cricut

The cut lines in between the overlapping letters will disappear and you’ll be left with a single “shape”: just the outline of the word “hello”.

Learn how to connect letters in cricut design space

Just like with welding images, the new single layer will be renamed as “Weld Result” and you can now move it around or work with it just like you would any other single shape.

Simplifying designs into fewer “pieces”

If your design has multiple shapes, but you want them all to be cut out of a single material, or even merged together to be one single cut piece, the Cricut weld tool is perfect for that!

Here is a great example of combining text and a shape into a single cut image using Weld.

The arrow and hello examples above are two more great examples of welding with overlapping shapes. But you could also weld multiple images or words together even if they aren’t overlapping…

For example, let’s say you draw a heart shape using the Shapes tool, add text using the Text tool, and find a butterfly image you want to cut out from the Cricut image library. All three of those shapes are separate layers, and potentially three different colors, which means three different mats when you cut. But if they are all supposed to be cut out from a single material, you can Weld the three layers together, even if the shapes don’t overlap.

Just position the shapes where you want them, select all the layers, and click Weld. All three shapes will automatically merge down to become a single layer, simplifying your design from three layers and colors to one single layer!

Weld so you can Slice multiple images at once

Another reason to weld shapes that aren’t overlapping is so that you can use the Slice tool to slice multiple images at once.

If you remember from the Slice tutorial, you can only slice exactly two layers at a time. But what if you have something like the American flag where you’d like to “punch out” 50 stars from a single background shape. No one wants to have to Slice out 50 individual stars!

Here is a good example of welding multiple stars together to create a single “image” so the stars can be punched out of a background shape all together in a single Slice.

Troubleshooting common Cricut Design Space welding problems

Parts of my letters disappeared after welding

The most common welding problem in Cricut Design Space is that sometimes Weld fills in the center of a letter when welding a word. It doesn’t happen consistently, but when it does it’s super annoying! This can happen even if there wasn’t an overlapping shape covering the letter.

The best way to fix this issue is to resize your word and make it really big before welding. Sometimes you’ll notice a weird overlap or spacing issue that you didn’t see before when the font was smaller and you can move the letters around to fix it. And sometimes I think the software just loses a little bit of the details in the lines when welding, so making the font bigger before welding always helps make sure the detail is preserved. After you’ve successfully welded your GIANT word together, you can size it back down to whatever size you need.

The Weld button is greyed out

In order to “activate” the Cricut weld tool (make it black and clickable instead of greyed out) you have to select at least two visible shapes or layers. If you only have one image selected, or one of your layers is hidden, the button may be greyed out.

My hidden layers disappeared

If one of the images you selected was grouped with a hidden layer, that hidden layer will disappear after you Weld. Welding only deals with the visible shapes, so hidden layers don’t affect the shape of the welded image, and they (along with all other selected layers) are “merged down” into a single Weld Result layer after welding.

If you still want those hidden layers, ungroup them or unhide them before welding, and make sure they aren’t selected. Then they will still be there after welding.

My text is no longer editable

The Cricut weld feature only deals with visible “shapes.” Even though, to the human eye, text is made up of letters and words, to Design Space it is just the shapes of the letters. After it finishes welding, everything is converted into a single “Weld Result” image, which is just the outline of all the welded letters. This means even that even though it still looks like a word made up of letters to us, Design Space now sees it as one single object.

If you want to still have an editable text layer after welding, just make a copy of your text layer and set it aside. Then, after the text layer is welded and converted into a shape, the copy will still be editable.

I made my project and now I want to “un-weld” the images so I can use them for something else

Yikes…welding is permanent! If you accidentally welded something you didn’t mean to, you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action. But once you save your project, the weld can’t be reversed this way (or any other way!)

If you think you might need those shapes separately as well as welded, make a copy of the shapes and set them aside BEFORE you Weld them. Then you can weld one copy together for your project and still have an un-welded version to work with later.


Hope that helps you understand more about the Cricut Weld tool in Design Space. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer!

Learn how to weld images and connect letters in cricut design space

Want to share this article with your friends? Share to Facebook, Pinterest, or send the article by email—just click on any of the share buttons floating on the left, or find them at the top and bottom of this post.

Below is a printable version of these instructions; click the large “Print” button to print them out. (It defaults to just printing the text in the instructions, no photos, to save you paper and printer ink!)

If you like this tutorial, leave a review by clicking the stars or by clicking the Review button! That way I know which types of tutorials are most helpful and which I should do more of!

What does weld mean in cricut design space
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How To Weld In Cricut Design Space

Wondering how to use the Cricut weld tool in Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from what weld means and how to use it to create shapes and connect cursive letters, to troubleshooting some of the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.
Cook Time 5 minutes
Author Jessi Wohlwend

Equipment

Instructions

Using Weld to create custom shapes

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with multiple shapes or letters.
    How to weld in cricut design space combine two shapes to make a new shape
  • Select one of the shapes and position it so that it is overlapping the other image.
    How to weld in cricut design space overlap two shapes
  • Select both images and click "Weld". You will end up with a single layer containing the welded image.
    How to weld in cricut design space click weld to attach them

How to connect letters in Cricut Design Space using Weld

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space and add text in a script font.
    How to weld in cricut design space how to weld letters
  • Select the text and choose "Ungroup To Letters" from the "Advanced" dropdown menu in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
    How to weld in cricut design space separate into letters
  • Select each letter individually and position it so that it is overlapping the previous letter.
    How to weld in cricut design space move letters to overlap
  • Select all of the letters at once and click "Weld". You will end up with a single layer containing the welded word.
    Learn how to connect letters in cricut design space

Notes

Using Weld in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.
  • You must be working with at least two shapes/layers. You can’t weld a single layer; the Weld button will be greyed out if only one layer is selected.
  • Welding always merges shapes “down” to the bottom layer. If your layers are different colors, the final Weld Result will be the color of the bottom layer.
  • Weld works even if the images are grouped, attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Design Space will automatically ungroup or un-attach any grouped or attached layers when you weld them.
  • Hidden layers will disappear after welding. If you want to keep any hidden layers of a multi-layer image, be sure to unhide them before welding.
  • Weld only works on overlapping images. Your shapes must have overlapping or intersecting cut lines for Weld to combine them into a single shape.
  • …unless you purposely are trying to weld images that aren’t touching. If your shapes aren’t stacked on top of each other, welding them will basically just “merge down” the top shape into the bottom layer without actually modifying the shapes themselves.
  • Welding text is the same as welding images. The Weld tool doesn’t treat text any different from any other image or shape, regardless of whether you are welding an entire word or you’ve already ungrouped the text to letters.
  • Welding is permanent and can’t be undone. Once you save your project after welding, it can’t be reversed. But obviously if you just welded something by accident you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action; just click Undo before saving!
Remember, you can also get rid of the space between the letters by selecting the text and then reducing the “Letter Space” number in the Font Edit toolbar. This will automatically move the letters closer together, and it usually works pretty well. But you still have to select the word and click Weld or the letters will still be cut out individually even though they appear to be overlapping.
Jessi signature

The post How To Weld In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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How To Slice In Cricut Design Space https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-slice-in-cricut-design-space/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-slice-in-cricut-design-space/#comments Mon, 13 Jan 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/?p=45402 Wondering how to slice in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from how to slice images & text, to why the slice button is greyed out and not working. Plus, learn a few cool tricks for using Slice to make awesome stuff!

The post How To Slice In Cricut Design Space was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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Wondering how to slice in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from how to slice images & text, to why the slice button is greyed out and not working. Plus, learn a few cool tricks for using Slice to make awesome stuff!


The Cricut Slice tool is one of the five basic design tools that allows you to work with layers inside of Cricut Design Space (the others are Weld, Attach, Flatten, and Contour). The idea behind the Slice tool is really simple: it takes two overlapping images and cuts them each out of the other. But don’t be fooled by its simplicity; it has SO MANY uses and you can make some really cool things with it! It also can be a little frustrating because the slice tool has very specific rules that you have to follow before it will work properly.

This article will teach you what the Cricut slice tool is and how to use it properly, as well as show you some of the cool things you can do with it, and troubleshoot the most common problems with the slice feature.

Learn how to slice on cricut design space

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What is the Cricut slice tool & why would I want to use it?

The Cricut slice tool splits two overlapping images into multiple pieces by “cutting out” one image from the other. It basically applies all of the cut lines from two selected images to both images at the same time, leaving the “shape” of one image “cut out” from the other.

It’s a really simple concept (although hard to explain without pictures!), but there is a lot of cool stuff you can do with the Cricut slice tool. I’ll go into more detail below after I show you how to actually use slice inside of Cricut Design Space (with screenshots), but here are some of my favorite uses for the slice tool:

  • punch out shapes from a larger shape
  • crop images, or trim off unwanted parts of an image
  • cut images into multiple pieces, or separate multiple shapes into different layers
  • create your own fancy shapes by combining and slicing standard shapes

Using slice in Cricut Design Space

The Basics

Using slice in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.

  1. You can only work with two layers at once. If you select more or less than two layers, the slice button will be greyed out.
  2. Slice won’t work on a grouped image; you have to ungroup before you can slice.
  3. The slice tool doesn’t work on multi-layered images. If the image you want to slice has multiple layers, you must hide or ungroup the other layers before the slice tool will work.
  4. Hidden layers will disappear after slicing. Be sure to unhide any layers you want to keep before slicing.
  5. Slice only works on overlapping images. If your images aren’t stacked on top of each other, nothing will happen when you slice them.
  6. Slicing text is slightly different and doesn’t necessarily follow the previous rules. You CAN slice multi-layered text (i.e. text with a hidden shadow layer) and the hidden shadow layer won’t automatically disappear.

The Equipment

Technically all you need to use the the slice tool is Cricut Design Space, but without a Cricut machine you won’t actually be able to cut out your sliced design! I have shared the file I used for this tutorial below, feel free to use it for practicing.

The Instructions

Start by opening the practice file in Design Space.

How to slice on cricut design space

In this case we are going to use the slice tool to cut out the heart shape and letters from the Texas shape.

Position the heart shape on the Texas shape where you want it cut out. Then select both layers. You can click and drag a square around the shape to select both layers, or you can select one image, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other image to select them both at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the second layer.

Once you have two layers selected, the Slice tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Slice” to slice the selected layers.

How to slice an image on cricut design space

You won’t necessarily see anything happen when you click “Slice”, but if you move the yellow heart away, you’ll see a teal heart underneath it. When you move the teal heart there will be a heart-shaped “hole” in the Texas shape.

In this example, the Cricut slice feature creates three layers/shapes: the original yellow heart is still its own layer and the teal Texas shape becomes two separate layers, one that is heart-shaped, and one that is Texas-shaped with a heart-shaped hole in it. The two teal layers fit exactly together; they were just “sliced” into the shape of the yellow layer that was stacked on top of it.

The layers will all become single image layers and will be renamed “Slice Result” so you can tell which layers were sliced. You can move all the layers independently or delete any unwanted layers.

How to use the cricut slice tool in cricut design space

When slicing text, the text has to be a single layer. When you type text into Cricut Design Space using the Text tool it is automatically a single layer (or a multi-layered image with a hidden shadow layer, which also works), so it will work fine for slicing.

If you have separate letters that you want to slice out of an image, you have to weld the letters together before you can slice.

Then, same as before, position the single layer of text where you want it on top of the Texas silhouette. Select both the text layer and Texas image, then click “Slice”.

How to slice in cricut design space

The same thing will happen again:

  1. Your original yellow “home” layer will still be there, though the layer will be renamed to “Slice Result”
  2. Below the yellow “home”, the teal Texas will be sliced into a teal “home” and a teal Texas with a “home”-shaped hole in it.
  3. Both will be renamed to “Slice Result”.
  4. If you move the teal “home” away you’ll see that the two teal layers fit perfectly together, leaving a “home”-shaped hole in the layer below.
How to slice letters on cricut design space

Now that all your images are sliced, you can work with them however you want. If you don’t need the extra layers that the slice tool created, just delete or hide them.

What can I do with the Cricut slice tool?

Punch out shapes from a larger shape

You can “punch out” or stamp out shapes from a larger shape using the slice tool. The Texas project above is a perfect example of this!

You could also use the Cricut slice feature to stamp out a photo into a certain shape like they did here with this heart-shaped wedding photo.

Cricut has another good example of punching out heart-shaped holes in a gift tag in their Cricut slice help article.

Crop images or trim off unwanted parts of an image

The Cricut slice tool is perfect for “cropping” images. Just position a square over the shape you want to crop, select both shapes, and slice! Here’s a good example of cropping down an image to remove unwanted text.

You can also use this process to trim away parts of an image you don’t want.

Cut images into multiple pieces

A lot of times the images that you find in the Cricut library have multiple shapes in one single layer, like a shape and some text all grouped into one image. The slice tool is perfect if you want to separate those into multiple layers so you can move them around independently. Just position a square over one section of the library image, and slice. Then you can move that section around independently.

You can also slice a single image into multiple pieces if you want. This can give you the fun “explosion” look, or it’s great for slicing a large image into smaller pieces that will fit on a 12×12 mat.

Combine and slice standard shapes to create your own shapes

If you want to make your own shape that you can’t find in the standard shapes menu, you can! Here’s a great example of creating a crescent moon shape by overlapping two circles and slicing.

Learn how to slice in cricut design space

How to slice letters in Cricut Design Space

Slicing images in Design Space is pretty standard, just follow the instructions above and it will work.

Slicing letters in Design Space is a little different…the basic idea is the same, but there are a few differences.

First, when you add text in Design Space using the text tool, it automatically creates it as a single image layer, so you don’t have to worry about slicing each letter individually. Just type in your text, select your text layer and your second image layer, and it will slice just fine.

Some Cricut fonts are multi-layered, which means they automatically show up as one text layer with a duplicate “shadow layer” underneath it that is hidden by default. Normally you can’t slice multi-layer images or hidden layers, but that is not the case with multi-layer text. Multi-layered text images slice just like normal: the Slice button won’t be greyed out even though one of the images you’ve selected is multi-layered.

If you’ve ungrouped the text to letters, each letter will be on its own layer. In order to slice an entire word that has been ungrouped to letters, you have to weld the letters back together before slicing so that you have a single image again. (Or slice each letter individually.)

Troubleshooting common problems with the Cricut slice feature

The Slice button is greyed out

This is the most common issue when using slice in Cricut Design Space. There are specific rules you have to follow in order to “activate” the slice feature (make it black and clickable instead of greyed out). You can see the details of the rules in The Basics section above, but below are the most common reasons the Slice button appears greyed out:

  • You only have one layer selected
  • You have more than two layers selected
  • You’ve selected a grouped layer (always Ungroup before slicing)
  • You’ve selected a hidden layer (always Unhide before slicing)

My hidden layers disappeared

If one of the images you selected was grouped with a hidden layer, that hidden layer will disappear after you slice. Slicing only deals with the visible shapes, so after you slice the shapes you can see, Design Space assumes you don’t need the parts you can’t see and removes them.

If you still want those hidden layers, ungroup them or unhide them before slicing and they will still be there after slicing.

My text isn’t editable anymore

Cricut Design Space automatically treats text added with the Text tool as a single layer image, so it can be sliced without having to do anything special to it before slicing.

But the slice feature deals with “shapes”, so after it finishes slicing everything is converted into a “Slice Result” which is just the outline of the sliced shapes. This means even though the shape of the text didn’t change, it’s now a “Slice Result” rather than an editable text layer.

If you want to still have an editable text layer after slicing, just make a copy of your text layer and set it aside. Then, after the text layer is sliced and converted into a shape, the copy will still be editable.

Why do I have 3/4/5/more shapes now?

The Cricut slice feature cuts all overlapping portions of two shapes into their own distinct shapes along the cut lines of each image. If you put a small image on top of a larger image, Slice will cut the smaller shape out of the larger image, splitting that layer into two separate layers so that you end up with three layers: your original small shape and the original larger image split into two layers.

If you overlap two shapes so that they don’t entirely cover each other before slicing, you will end up with four or more layers: each layer will be cut into duplicates of the overlapped portions, plus all un-overlapped portions will be “sliced off” and turned into their own separate layers.


Hope that helps you understand more about using slice in Cricut Design Space. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer!

How to slice images and letters in cricut design space

Want to share this article with your friends? Share to Facebook, Pinterest, or send the article by email—just click on any of the share buttons floating on the left, or find them at the top and bottom of this post.

Below is a printable version of these instructions; click the large “Print” button to print them out. (It defaults to just printing the text in the instructions, no photos, to save you paper and printer ink!)

If you like this tutorial, leave a review by clicking the stars or by clicking the Review button! That way I know which types of tutorials are most helpful and which I should do more of!

How to slice letters on cricut design space
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How To Slice In Cricut Design Space

Wondering how to slice in Cricut Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from how to slice images & text, to why the slice button is greyed out and not working. Plus, learn a few cool tricks for using Slice to make awesome stuff!
Cook Time 5 minutes
Author Jessi Wohlwend

Equipment

Instructions

  • Create a file in Cricut Design Space with multiple shapes or layers.
    How to slice on cricut design space
  • Position one shape over the other, then select both shapes.
    How to slice an image on cricut design space
  • Click "Slice" to slice the layers. You will end up with separate layers for each sliced image.
    How to use the cricut slice tool in cricut design space

Notes

Using slice in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.
  1. You can only work with two layers at once. If you select more or less than two layers, the slice button will be greyed out.
  2. Slice won’t work on a grouped image; you have to ungroup before you can slice.
  3. The slice tool doesn’t work on multi-layered images. If the image you want to slice has multiple layers, you must hide or ungroup the other layers before the slice tool will work.
  4. Hidden layers will disappear after slicing. Be sure to unhide any layers you want to keep before slicing.
  5. Slice only works on overlapping images. If your images aren’t stacked on top of each other, nothing will happen when you slice them.
  6. Slicing text is slightly different and doesn’t necessarily follow the previous rules. You CAN slice multi-layered text (i.e. text with a hidden shadow layer) and the hidden shadow layer won’t automatically disappear.
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How To Set Up A Brand New Cricut Maker & Do Your First Project! https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-set-up-a-brand-new-cricut-maker-do-your-first-project/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-set-up-a-brand-new-cricut-maker-do-your-first-project/#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2018 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/?p=31901 Have a brand new Cricut Maker still sitting in the box? This step by step tutorial and video shows you…

The post How To Set Up A Brand New Cricut Maker & Do Your First Project! was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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Have a brand new Cricut Maker still sitting in the box? This step by step tutorial and video shows you how to get it set up and walks you all the way through completing your first project!

Having a brand new Cricut machine can be a little daunting; they are so powerful and there are so many possibilities for using them. But don’t worry, they aren’t actually complicated or hard to use! I’m going to walk you through the setup process for a brand new Cricut Maker machine, step by step: from pulling it out of the box and plugging it into your computer all the way through completing your very first project! (And if you don’t have a Maker, I’m working on setup tutorials for the other machines and will publish those ASAP, but in the meantime, the steps are pretty similar so you should be able to follow along with this tutorial!)

For those of you who are just getting started, I also have a complete guide to the accessories & supplies that every Cricut beginner needs (and which ones are just “nice-to-haves” that you can splurge on later if you want). And if you’re still on the fence or still have questions about the Maker, check out my post answering all the common questions about the Maker!

How to set up a brand new cricut maker do your first project

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How To Set Up A Brand New Cricut Maker In Under An Hour

  • Time spent doing stuff: 40 minutes
  • Time spent waiting around: 15 minutes
  • Total project time: 55 minutes

Tools

  • Cricut Maker
  • USB cable (included in the box with the Maker)
  • Power cord (included in the box with the Maker)
  • Rotary Blade + Drive Housing (included in the box with the Maker)
  • Fine Point Blade + Housing (included in the box with the Maker)
  • Fine Point Pen (included in the box with the Maker)
  • FabricGrip Mat 12″x12″ (included in the box with the Maker)
  • LightGrip Mat 12″x12″ (included in the box with the Maker)
  • computer, tablet, or mobile device that is connected to the internet

Materials

  • the packet of first project materials that came with your Maker (or two pieces of cardstock and a small scrap of fabric)
  • gluestick

Instructions

Check out the video below to see the entire Cricut Maker setup and first project from start to finish! The video will walk you through plugging in your Cricut Maker and connecting it to your computer, and then show you how to use the Design Space online software to make your first project.

Grab your Cricut Maker and your computer, and follow along with the video below to get started! (The link you need to go to in order to start setting up your machine is http://cricut.com/setup.)

***UPDATE:*** Cricut has recently changed their new machine setup tutorial and it no longer includes a full initial project. I’m working to get a new video filmed to walk you through the new setup tutorial, but in the meantime the first steps to get the machine actually connected to your computer and registered are still the same, it’s just everything after that part that has changed…sorry!

And don’t forget to check out my other Cricut tutorials and project ideas!

I hope this helps you to get started with your Cricut! If you’re brand new to Cricut, check out some of my beginner tutorials:

Want to share this tutorial with your friends? Just click any of the share buttons on the left to share with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.!

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How Do I Upload My Own Images With A Cricut Machine? https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-do-i-upload-my-own-images-with-a-cricut-machine/ https://www.practicallyfunctional.com/how-do-i-upload-my-own-images-with-a-cricut-machine/#comments Fri, 12 Jan 2018 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.practicallyfunctional.com?p=27914&preview=true&preview_id=27914 One of the most common questions from people who have a brand new Cricut machine (or are thinking of getting…

The post How Do I Upload My Own Images With A Cricut Machine? was written by Jessi Wohlwend and appeared first on Practically Functional.

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One of the most common questions from people who have a brand new Cricut machine (or are thinking of getting one) is: Can I upload my own images with a Cricut machine? Well, the answer is YES! You can upload your own images, designs, and graphics to Cricut Design Space, then cut them out with your machine. You can even upload photos and use the Print & Cut feature to make projects using your very own photos! Today I’m going to show you how to upload a basic image like a jpeg or png, and how to upload a vector file if you have an image that has multiple layers.

Learn how to upload a jpeg or svg file to Cricut Design Space

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If you have a brand new Cricut, check out these other great posts that will help introduce you to your new machine! And check out my Cricut project gallery for tons of Cricut project ideas!

How Do I Upload My Own Images With A Cricut Machine?

Being able to upload your own images gives you tons of freedom to create anything you want with your Cricut. You can upload anything from simple, flat jpeg images to complex multi-layer vector files and Cricut Design Space will automatically process them so you can print, cut, emboss, or use them however you want in your Cricut project!

To upload any image to Cricut Design Space, first open Cricut Design Space in your web browser. Click the green “New Project” button in the upper right hand corner to create a blank project.

At the bottom of the toolbar on the left side of the project is an “Upload” icon. Click that to open the Upload tab.

how to upload my own image with a cricut machine

From here you can upload either a basic image (a single-layer image such as .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .png) or a vector image (a multi-layer image such as .svg or .dxf).

how to upload my own image with a cricut machine

I created a simple graphic in Adobe Illustrator and saved it as both a jpg and a svg file so I can show you how to upload a basic image and a vector image to Cricut Design Space.

JPEG and SVG file ready to upload to Cricut Design Space

How to upload a basic image to Cricut Design Space

Most images you see on the web are basic images, meaning that they are flat, single-layer images. They can have multiple colors and even appear to be 3D, but the actual image itself is made with pixels of different colors to give the appearance of shading or depth. These single-layer images can be created in programs like Adobe Photoshop, PicMonkey, Canva, and other simple photo editing software. Photos from your phone or camera are also basic, flat images.

You can upload .jpg, .gif, .bmp, and .png files to Cricut Design Space and they will all be uploaded as a single layer.

Here’s how to upload a basic image. From the Upload tab in Cricut Design Space, click the green and white “Upload Image” button.

Then either drag and drop an image file into the window, or click the green and white “Browse” button to open an image file.

how to upload my own image with a cricut machine

Once you choose a basic image to upload, it will show a preview on the left side and ask you to select the image type. You can choose from:

  • Simple: a super basic image with high-contrast colors and either a transparent or single-color background
  • Moderately Complex: an image with some details and multiple colors, but there is still good contrast between the subject of the image and the background
  • Complex: a detailed image with blended colors or shading/gradient (these images are a little harder to work with because of the level of detail)

For this example I chose “Simple” because it’s a very simple design. Then click the green “Continue” button.

How to upload a basic jpeg image to Cricut Design Space

The next step is to “process” the image to make sure only the parts you actually want cut out make it into your project. You have three basic tools you can use to process the image:

  • Select & Erase: This is like the magic wand tool in PhotoShop; it allows you to select an area or specific color in your uploaded image and erase it. If you click the “Advanced Options” button you can change the tolerance.
  • Erase: This is just a standard eraser tool. You can change the size of your eraser using the slider on the left.
  • Crop: You can crop away entire areas of your image using the crop tool.

I use “Select & Erase” for about 90% of the images I upload to Cricut Design Space; it’s really powerful, and really smart! For this example I clicked on the background of the image and it erased the entire background!

Crop and erase unwanted parts of a basic jpeg image after uploading to Cricut Design Space

I continued clicking in the middle of each star to erase the background from the stars, and then I was done. Once you have erased all parts of the image that you don’t want cut out, click the green “Continue” button.

The next step is to decide what type of image you have, and give it a name. You can save your uploaded image as a Print & Cut image, or just as Cut image. If your original image has details in it (like a photo of your kids that you want to print first, then cut, or something where the colors are important), save it as Print & Cut. If it is just a shape that you want to cut out, you can save it as a Cut image.

Upload basic jpeg image to Cricut then save as Print And Cut or just Cut

Give your image a name and add tags if you want, then click the green “Save” button.

Your uploaded image will appear in the Recently Uploaded Images section at the bottom of the Upload tab. Just select your uploaded image and click the green “Insert Images” button to add it to your project!

how to upload my own image with a cricut machine

How to upload a vector image to Cricut Design Space

Vector images are image files with multiple layers, usually created in a program like Adobe Illustrator. In this example, the left lobe of the heart with the stars is one layer so that I can cut it out of blue material, and the stripes are split into two layers. Every other stripe is in one layer so it can be cut out of red material, and the other stripes are a separate layer so they can be cut out of white material.

You can upload .svg and .dxf files to Cricut Design Space and they will all be uploaded as multiple layers with each image layer or color being separated into separate layers in Design Space.

Here’s how to upload a vector image. From the Upload tab in Cricut Design Space, click the green and white “Upload Image” button.

Then either drag and drop an image file into the window, or click the green and white “Browse” button to open an image file.

Because vector image files contain all of the image details within the file itself, Cricut Design Space can actually process these images for you automatically without you needing to do anything!

How to upload an SVG file to Cricut Design Space

You will see a preview of your image on the left, and after it’s uploaded each layer or color will be it’s own layer.

Just give your image a name and add tags if you wish, then click the green “Save” button.

Select your uploaded image from the Recently Uploaded Images section, then click the green “Insert Images” button to add it to your project!

Upload images to Cricut and then insert them into your project

You’ll notice that when you insert a basic image it will appear in black like the heart on the left, but the vector image will appear in whatever colors were used in the original vector file. The basic image will be one single layer in the Layers toolbar on the right, but the vector image will be split into layers or colors.

You can see that the colored heart is one layer, but each “shape” is automatically shaded in one of three colors (red, white, and blue). In Cricut Design Space, different colors act as “layers”, so when you go to cut this design, it will automatically split red, white, blue, and black into four different “cuts” so that you can cut them out of different colors or materials if you wish. If the SVG file you upload is all one color, Cricut Design Space will instead automatically split each layer into a separate layer/group in your project.

Upload a jpeg or svg file to Cricut Design Space

Vector images are a lot more powerful if you are planning to cut multiple colors or materials because the layers automatically translate into layers in Cricut Design Space. But for simple cut or Print & Cut projects, uploading a basic image will work just fine!

Want to share this tutorial with your friends? Just click any of the share buttons on the left to share with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.!

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