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Cricut Design Space Hacks You Need to Know

Quick answer: This guide shares 9 Cricut Design Space hacks. Highlights include using Score to turn a duplicated design into a scoreline that helps you align cut-outs on paper projects; Control-clicking a flattened design and choosing Image Info to find details like the font; syncing colors by dragging layers in the Layers Panel; outlining text with a small offset or a Pen duplicate and Flatten; fixing skinny fonts with a small matching-color offset; using the Guide operation to see patterns behind an image; choosing Use System Dialog and Best quality for better Print then Cut results; and opening multiple projects at once with File, New Window.

If you use Cricut Design Space, these hacks will make your crafting process much easier. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, these tips will save you time and effort. Keep reading to find out Cricut Design Space Hacks You Need to Know. You might just learn something new!

Cricut Design Space Hacks You Need To Know

Cricut Design Space Hacks You Need to Know

Disclosure: Some of the links below are paid links provided for your convenience. This means, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase

We’ve got 9 great Cricut Design Space tips and tricks for you today. These are ones you might not have learned before, but they can definitely be incredibly helpful. Check them out!

Using Score to Align Pieces in Paper Projects

Cricut Design Space canvas with a yellow greeting card with a bee and the word mine on it
Cricut Design Space canvas with a yellow greeting card with a bee and the word mine on it. The bee and word mine have been duplicated.

If you are cutting out a design to place on a paper project, it can sometimes be difficult to get it lined up just where you want it. What we would like to do is duplicate the design. Line up one of the designs on your card or other paper project.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a yellow greeting card with a bee and the word mine on it. The bee and word mine have been duplicated. A hand is pointing to the word Score.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a yellow greeting card with a bee and the word mine on it. The bee and word mine have been duplicated. The bee and the word mine have been scored on the yellow card.

Once you have it lined up, change it from a cut line to a scoreline. Now, your Cricut will score the design onto the card, leaving you with an outline that will help you line up the cut-out design perfectly. Remember to attach the scorelines to your project.

Finding Details of Your Designs

After you have created a design, there might be times when you need to look back at the details of it. For example, perhaps you have flattened a design into a Print then Cut, but now you need to see what the font is. When you click on it, it won’t just show up, but there is a workaround for this.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Hi Tanner on it. The font is a black and white cow print.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Hi Tanner on it. The font is a black and white cow print.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Hi Tanner on it. The font is a black and white cow print.

Press Control and click on the flattened design in the Layers Panel. From there, you can click on Image Info.

Using Color Sync

To change and sync up the colors in your design, you can go to the Layers Panel and drag and drop elements from one color to another.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design made of mushrooms, stars, and heart shaped sun glasses. They are all in muted shades of browns, pinks, and burgundy along with a chartreuse and a bright red.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design made of mushrooms, stars, and heart shaped sun glasses. They are all in muted shades of browns, pinks, and burgundy along with a chartreuse and a bright red.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design made of mushrooms, stars, and heart shaped sun glasses. They are all in muted shades of browns, pinks, and burgundy along with a chartreuse and a bright red.

Changing the Canvas in Design Space

To easily change the canvas in Cricut Design Space, click the square in the top right corner of your canvas. It will cycle through some options: large grid, smaller grid, no grid.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design made of mushrooms, stars, and heart shaped sun glasses. They are all in muted shades of browns, pinks, and burgundy along with a chartreuse and a bright red.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design made of mushrooms, stars, and heart shaped sun glasses. They are all in muted shades of browns, pinks, and burgundy along with a chartreuse and a bright red.

How to Put an Outline Around Your Text

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says 2025 twice. The zero looks like an egg with a retro flower on it. The design is a brownish orange

One way to do this is by adding an offset around the text and making it very small so that it just outlines the text.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says 2025 three times. The zero looks like an egg with a retro flower on it. The design is a brownish orange
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says 2025. The zero looks like an egg with a retro flower on it. The design is a brownish orange. One of the designs is a black outline of the 2025 image.

Another way to do this is by duplicating the text. Then, change the operation on the duplicate text to Pen. Select the main text and the duplicate text and Align, Center. Then, with them both selected, choose Flatten.

Add an Offset to Layered Text

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Emerson Jane at the top and Mallory Claire at the bottom.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Emerson Jane at the top and Mallory Claire at the bottom.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Emerson Jane at the top and Mallory Claire at the bottom.

In our example, we are working with a first and middle names. So, we selected the middle name and chose Offset. We added a very small offset – about 0.05 and hit Apply. Next, select both the first name and the offset. Choose Slice. Delete any of the layers you don’t need, and you’ll find that now, the middle name nestles into the first name really nicely. 

Working with Skinny Fonts

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says love you, mean it on it.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says love you, mean it on it.
Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says love you

When working with skinny fonts, you may find that they are so thin that they are difficult to cut. So, what we do is add a very small offset to the text. Change the offset to the same color as your font. Then, for a Print then Cut, you can select both layers and choose Flatten, or you can choose Combine and Unite. 

Using the Guide Operation

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Crafty Crafter, 123 Makers Dr. New York, NY on it. Next to it are three mushrooms in shades of brown and pink.

Many people aren’t aware of this function, but it can be incredibly helpful. It’s especially useful if you’re designing something on clear sticker paper or if you need to see patterns or designs behind the image.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Crafty Crafter, 123 Makers Dr. New York, NY on it. Next to it are three mushrooms in shades of brown and pink. The background pattern is pale blue with white snowflakes.

By adding a guide, you can move the pattern around until you get it just where you want it, and it’s easy to see what the finished project will look like. Normally, if you just added the rounded rectangle as a shape, it would come in as a solid color, but with the guide, it’s transparent, and you can just see its outline. To use it, simply add the shape you want and change it from a Basic Cut to a Guide. Then, you can select the rectangle and the pattern and choose Slice.

Cricut Design Space canvas with a design that says Crafty Crafter, 123 Makers Dr. New York, NY on it. Next to it are three mushrooms in shades of brown and pink. The background pattern is pale blue with white snowflakes.

Delete the guide and any of the slice results you don’t need. Select the design and the pattern, and choose Flatten.

Getting the Best Print Results Possible

Cricut Design Space showing the send to printer button.
Cricut Design Space showing the Print Setup page with a hand pointing at Use System Dialog.

When doing a Print then Cut project, you want to be sure you get the best print results you can. Once you click on Send to Printer, you will want to choose Use System Dialog.

Printer System Dialog shown.
Printer System Dialog shown with the quality settings of Draft, Normal, and Best circled in hot pink.

The System Dialog box will open up. If you’re on a Mac, sometimes it will open behind Cricut Design Space so you will need to pull Design Space down out of the way. If you have the option to feed from the rear tray, we recommend doing so. Then, change the quality to Best.

Open Multiple Cricut Design Space Windows at Once

Cricut Design Space shown with the File button in the top left corner circled in hot pink
Cricut Design Space shown with the File button in the top left corner and New Window dropping down from that.

If you want to work on multiple different projects at a time, you can open up multiple design windows in Cricut Design Space. If you already have one window open and want to open a second one, simply go to File and New Window.

With these Cricut Design Space hacks, you’ll be able to work more efficiently and create high-quality designs with ease!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find the font used in a flattened design?

Press Control and click on the flattened design in the Layers Panel, then click on Image Info. From there you can see the details of the design, such as the font.

How do I put an outline around text in Design Space?

Add a small offset around the text, or duplicate the text, change the duplicate’s operation to Pen, select both and Align, Center, then choose Flatten.

How do I get the best Print then Cut results?

After clicking Send to Printer, choose Use System Dialog. If you have the option to feed from the rear tray, do so, and change the print quality to Best.

First (63)

Tanner, Courtney, and the rest of the Makers Gonna Learn Team are all here because we love die-cutting and especially love sharing fun projects and tutorials with fellow makers. We are all great friends and are always having a blast when we are together- you will see this on camera, especially during live streams! We are here to inspire and support you in your crafting journey!