10 Things you didn’t know about Cricut Design Space

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

One of the most common things I hear from people when they get a new Cricut Machine (besides “I haven’t taken it out of the box” haha :) is that they are scared of the Cricut Design Space software and that they won’t know how to use it. Well I hear ya, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! And I’m going to dive in and show you 10 things you didn’t know about Cricut Design Space….

1.Cricut Design Space is extremely user friendly! I am here to tell you guys… if you just turn it on and open Design Space you will be shocked at how easy it is! I used a Silhouette machine for years and the software has quite the learning curve, I was still learning the features years into owning that machine. I honestly felt very comfortable with Cricut Design Space within an hour or so. When you open Design Space, you will see tons of ready made projects, ideas and tutorials but don’t get overwhelmed (we will come back to that) but for now just press that plus sign on the left where it says “New Project”. This will be your blank canvas for all of your creating!

2. Cricut Design Space is a web based software! That means instead of having to download software that lives on your computer it looks just like any website you visit. The great news about this is that you can access it anywhere at anytime when you are online and you can switch between computers and devices. This also means they have an app for your phone or tablet and let me tell you I LOVE the app! I can create something while I’m waiting in car rider line then pickup right where I left off when I get back home. If you have the Cricut Maker you can connect from any device (like your phone or tablet) because the machine is bluetooth.

3. The Template Feature! This feature is so cool and I use it all the time! It is at the top left corner of Design Space. What does this feature do you ask? Well… Design Space has tons of “blank” items that they have measured for you so you can insert a template for lets say, a t-shirt or a hat onto your canvas and it takes most of the guess work out of measuring. These templates won’t be cut or printed but just are an invisible layer for you to place your project on to play with the spacing etc. Here is an example of their Tote Bag Template, super helpful!

4. Ready Made Projects!! This is something I had no idea even existed before I opened the software…. there are THOUSANDS of projects that are available in Cricut Design Space! Some are included with the Cricut subscription or you can pay as you go, but hundreds are free! The projects are so fail proof because they already have the files, patterns and tutorial loaded in the software so when you choose a project the whole thing pops up on your canvas with exact instructions, pictures and materials! You can also customize any of the projects. This project is for a mermaid tea towel but I think it would be so cute as a little girl’s tee so I could just adjust the dimensions and even the colors.

I used the Project Feature to make these DIY Scarf Tees a few weeks ago!

I also used the customize feature in projects for a balloon garland for my son’s Wild Animal Party. I found a project in Design Space that had the cut files for tropical leaves but one of the shapes didn’t work and I also didn’t need the stands to be cut for them so I just left those out.

5. The Image Feature! this is a feature in Design Space that is separate from the project feature. Where the project feature has multiple directions and steps and shows you from start to finish how to make a project… the Image feature is just that… tons and tons of images that you can add to any project! You can browse or use the search box which I love! The first photo below is what comes up when you click on the Image Tab and it is updated daily. The second photo shows what came up when I searched for “Unicorns”. You can find the search tab (along with sorted categories) in the top right hand corner.

When I was working on my son’s Wild Animal Party I used the search feature for finding a cut file for the shirt I made him.

6. Tons and tons of Fonts and Text! I like to consider myself a font snob but I was happily surprised when I found that Cricut Design Space has some great fonts! My friends at Pretty Providence actually just did a post about their favorite Cricut Fonts and how to group them for projects and it’s a great read! Below are a few of my go to fonts but like I said they have hundreds. Not only do they have cut fonts but also print fonts too which would be super fun for using the print and cut feature or using colorful pens and drawing straight on your scrapbook pages!

I also recently started playing around with the Text Curve feature! The feature is located in the top toolbar and this is also where to can play with the letter and line spacing.

Fonts are not only used for vinyl or paper, I love to use my rotary blade to cut fabric letters and sew them on to a project! I made this Custom Pillowcase Project using the font feature!

7. Make things super custom with the Upload Feature! This is also something I have been using a ton… this is where you can upload photos or SVG files you have created, bought or found outside of Cricut and import them into your design. The Design Space software is actually really great if you find an image you love, you import it and it helps turn it into a nice clean cut file. I like to use this feature for mixing Cricut fonts with hand lettering too!

8. Group your mats by color! This feature is SO cool… you can create a design or use one from Design Space and instead of having to split your design apart manually, it does it for you by color! Take this rainbow that I found under “images” for example… it knows the size of each color band and groups each color together and will guide you during the cutting process and tell you which color to insert into the machine next! Something else that just about blew my mind is called “color sync” and is located on the top right hand corner of Design Space. Let’s say you have a complex design with lots of colors but you only have 5 vinyl colors. You can group the different color segments together creating only 5 colors for your vinyl. Super smart!

9. Contour feature! This is also something I use a lot especially with the “images” tab and the “upload tab”. This feature allows you to hide or take away any portion of a design. All you have to do is make sure your design is ungrouped and then at the bottom right hand corner of Design Space choose “contour”. For example if I love this mermaid image but didn’t want the trident and starfish I can use this feature by choosing which motifs to make disappear.

10. Saving Projects Publicly! I love that you can save projects publicly so you can share them with your friends or on your blog. This feature is amazing because not only can you share them with others, but you can also browse the Cricut community for projects that others have shared! This is some wall art that I made for a bathroom stall at my son’s school and I shared it to Design Space!

Please let me know if you have any questions at all about Cricut Design Space! I think it’s super user friendly and the key is just diving right in… you can’t go wrong!