Font Pairing Guide

August 31, 2021 by Paula W

Whether you’re a die cutting beginner or a seasoned pro, we find that one of the most common things our crafty friends struggle with is how to pair fonts. We get it. There are thousands of fonts to choose from and it can be difficult to know where to begin when it comes to working with fonts.

How do you know which fonts will go together? That’s why we’ve put together this font pairing guide for you. With our font pairing tips and tricks, you’ll have some fantastic guidelines to use so you can create amazing die cutting craft projects customized with fonts.

Font Pairing Guide: How to Pair Fonts like a Pro

We’re going to give you 5 tips for font pairing that will have you using fonts like a pro in no time. If you begin with these as you create your design in Cricut Design Space (or whatever software you’re using), we’re confident you will end up with a beautiful look. Let’s get started.

Fonts we’re using in this tutorial:

1 – Choose complimentary fonts with the same mood/feel.

You want the fonts to both have a look that evokes similar feelings. For example, the Bubbly font is playful, perhaps even child-like while Scrypt is more formal and regal.

Pair A Thicker Bolder Font With A Thinner Lighter Font 1 1

2 – Pair a thick font with a thin font.

You want them to balance each other out so you don’t want to pair two bold fonts or two thin fonts together.

Try Pairing A Basic Font With A Script Font 1

3 – Try a traditional font with a script font.

A basic font paired with a script font can result in a great look. In general, avoid putting two script fonts together. It’s just too much visually. Two simple basic fonts – one bold and one thin – can sometimes work well though.

4 – Don’t use too many fonts in one project.

Again, this can start to look “messy” and visually confusing. Usually, we stick to a rule of using only two fonts. Occasionally, we find that adding a third font works, but this is more of an exception to the rule. If you are using 3 fonts, stick to 2 basic fonts and only 1 script font.

5 – Choose legible fonts.

It’s important to make sure that you can read the text you’ve written in the fonts you’ve chosen. This sounds obvious but it’s important to think about.

The “scrypt” font we showed above looks great if it’s large enough. However, if you make it too small, it starts becoming difficult to make out. If you’re unsure of the legibility of your project, take a step away and come back to it later. Sometimes with fresh eyes, it becomes clear.

You could also ask a friend to look at it for you and let you know what they think!

Use these five tips when you’re working with fonts and you’ll be pairing fonts like a pro!

How to Fill in Fonts on Cricut

July 1, 2021 by Paula W

Have you tried drawing text with your Cricut machine and Cricut pens or markers? Unless you use Cricut writing fonts, you will find that Cricut will only draw the outlines of your text. There are several different writing fonts hacks you can use, but we have an amazing new one that makes use of Design Space’s offset tool to fill in fonts on Cricut designs.

Offset is a fairly new addition to Design Space and we have been experimenting with all the different ways we can use it for our designs. Today, we want to show you how to use the offset function in a new and unique way for filled in letters with Cricut markers and pens.

How to Fill in Fonts on Cricut

We just love this amazing Cricut hack for writing fonts. You can use it in so many different ways – even when writing inside a card with your Cricut!

when you click draw on a regular font it wants to draw only the outline

To get started, we’re choosing a fairly large chunky font. This is the Check it Out font from here on Makers Gonna Learn.

If you simply change from a Cut line to a Draw line for this font, your Cricut will simply draw the outline of each letter. To get a filled in font, you need to follow our Cricut hack.

Using the offset tool to create a filled in font appearance

Select your text and click Offset. Normally, we would choose Offset and then create a border around the word. In this case, we’re going to create an inset by moving the slider to the left instead of the right. Press Apply.

continue to create insets until the font is filled in

Bring it in just a bit to create a small inset. Then, with that inset still selected, do it again. Repeat as many times as you need to in order to fill the font.

Make sure to attach your text and insets.

If you were to then click Make It, every single one of the offsets (insets) you have created are going to be sent to your cutting mats to draw separately. So, with the word and all of the offsets selected, choose Attach.

once attached all layers of the font and insets click Make It to draw the text

One important thing to check before you go ahead and Draw. Sometimes Design Space defaults to a different color for these offsets. So, we like to go through each one and make sure they’re all set for the same pen and the same color so it doesn’t then try to prompt us to switch markers partway through.

Cricut machine with pen in it drawing text

If you are drawing something larger, you definitely want to use a marker instead of a pen so that as your Cricut goes over each of those inset lines, it will ultimately fill in the font. With smaller text, you can get away with using the pens.

All of the insets drawn by marker create the effect of a filled in font

We suggest doing a couple of test runs before creating your final craft project. In this way, you can find just the right pen or marker for your project. Remember that we’ve had some good luck with off-brand pens and markers – one of our favorites to use is Crayola markers in our Cricut machines!

Writing Fonts Hacks for Cricut

June 15, 2021 by Paula W

What are writing fonts? Why don’t my fonts fill in when I write with them? What tips can I use with fonts with my Cricut to have my writing turn out beautifully every time?

We get questions about using fonts for writing with Cricut all the time. Luckily in this post, we’re going to break down some information you need to know about writing fonts and share some great writing fonts hacks you can use with your Cricut projects.

Writing Fonts Hacks for Cricut

You might want to use a writing font not only when you are going to be using Cricut pens, but for the debossing tool, or foil tool as well. These can add a lovely touch to many projects such as greeting cards, envelopes, wedding, and party invitations.

Check out our other helpful resources for writing with your Cricut machine:

How to write and address envelopes

How to write on the inside of your premade greeting cards

What are writing fonts?

regular font on top and writing font at the bottom

The first thing you need to know about writing fonts is that Cricut is the only one who can provide you with actual writing fonts. Either no one else has the technology for it at this point or Design Space simply doesn’t allow those fonts to be brought in and work for writing.

Changing from a cut to a draw line with Cricut pen selected

As you can see with this writing font from Cricut (font is called Adalaide and is the one at the bottom of the image), it is just one line. But, with the one at the top (Betty B, one of our fonts here at Makers Gonna Learn), you can see that there are two lines forming the letters.

non-writing fonts show up as two lines for each letter while writing fonts show up as a single line

This is called a compound path and that is how other fonts are brought into Cricut Design Space. Cricut even has some non-writing fonts that are like this as well. The compound path where there are 2 lines instead of just 1 is the key difference between a writing font and a regular font.

There are some workarounds for this. We’ve got some hacks for you that can help.

If you reduce the size of a skinny regular font enough the two lines get very close together

1 – If you use a really skinny font like Betty B and can make it quite small for your project, that will decrease the distance between the two lines. By the time your Cricut pen or foil draws both of the lines, they are likely to touch and look like a filled in font.

with thick fonts you might want to flatten them and use them as a print then cut

2 – Or, if you want to use a thicker font, you could flatten it and turn it into a Print then Cut image.

3 – Use a third-party design app like Illustrator or Inkscape to go in and create additional lines in between the two lines of the font to fill it in. You’ll pull your text into this app and add extra points/lines. Then, you’ll save it and import it into Design Space. Your machine will then draw or foil those extra lines to give that filled-in appearance.

4 – Another option is to let your machine create the outline of the text for you and then you can go in and manually fill it in with a pen or marker. This isn’t ideal if you have a lot of text but may work in some situations.

These are some great hacks for getting your Cricut machine to write with pens and markers the way you’d like it to. Give it a try and see which one works the best for you!

Using Cursive in Cricut Design Space

May 4, 2021 by Paula W

One of the biggest issues we see Cricut beginners having is working with fonts incorrectly. Mastering fonts is not difficult, but it does take some understanding of how it all works. This is especially true when Using Cursive in Cricut Design Space.

We see so many crafters who are new to working with script fonts who put together their projects and then say, “hmmm, something doesn’t look right!” If you have only been working in monotype text, you haven’t encountered this issue before. All of the letters work separately from each other. Not true with script. With it, you need to know how to connect cursive letters in Cricut Design Space.

Using Cursive in Cricut Design Space

You might think, “oh that’s easy. I can just attach these together.” Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Your letters in a script font need to be attached in one fluid motion (as if you were writing them on paper). You can’t achieve that simply by using Attach. Attach is like using a paper clip. It will hold your letters together, but only temporarily. They will still be cut out individually, as separate layers.

Welding, however, will combine each of the letters into one layer and cut them out as one piece. This is what you need to use when working with connecting letters in Cricut Design Space.

cursive font cut out using Attach vs. using Weld

The Difference Between Weld and Attach

Take a look at these two words. They look exactly the same. However, when you click on each one, you can see that the one that is welded shows up in your Layers Panel as one layer. The one that is attached shows up as multiple layers – one for each letter in the word.

Cut Lines Changed To Draw Lines In Welded Word

One of the easiest ways to see the difference is by changing the cut lines to draw lines. When we do that for the welded text, you can see that it’s all one fluid line forming the word, flowing from letter to letter.

Changing Cut Lines To Draw Lines In Word That Is Attached

When we do the same thing to the attached text, you can see all the spots where the words should join together, but don’t. The ends of each letter are still visible going into the following letter.

This is a small step, but making sure you weld the letters together in each of your words is essential in having success with your Cricut craft projects.

10 Cricut Design Space Hacks

August 31, 2020 by Paula W

Whether you’ve been using your Cricut machine for a long time or are a Cricut beginner, sometimes we find that there are people who don’t know all of those little tips and tricks that can make it so much easier. These are 10 Cricut Design Space Hacks that we think every Cricut owner should know!

We’ll show you how to level up your Cricut skills with these amazing Design Space tips and tricks.

10 Cricut Design Space Hacks Every Cricut Owner Should Know

Be sure to check out some of our favorite Cricut Design Space Hacks here. You might just learn something new that will make your crafting so much easier!

We have explained them and provided screenshots. If you’d like to see our full step-by-step tutorial, be sure to watch the Youtube video below.

HOW TO TURN GRID LINES ON AND OFF

Cricut Design Space Screen Showing Scrub Life Design

Showing Cricut Design Space And How To Remove Grid Lines

As you can see, currently in Design Space, our canvas is showing grid lines. If you want to remove those, simply head to the upper left corner of your screen.

Just below the Undo button, you’ll see an empty square as indicated in the image above. You should see a 0 (zero) to the right of this square and on just below this square.

Clicking The Grid On And Off Square Once To Leave Behind The Large Grid Squares

If you click in that square once, you will remove the smaller grid lines. That will leave behind the large grid appearance.

Clicking On The Square Twice For Grid Lines On And Off Will Remove The Grid Lines Entirely

If you click in that square twice, you’ll remove all grid lines completely. Repeating those actions will add your grid lines back in.

HOW TO ROTATE YOUR DESIGN

How To Rotate Designs In Cricut Design Space

Of course, you can click the arrow in the upper right hand corner of your design to rotate the design. Sometimes it can be difficult to line up perfectly this way.

Hold Down Shift Key And Click Rotate Arrow to Rotate Design in Cricut Design Space

If you hold down the shift key on your keyboard and then click the arrow, you’ll see that it will rotate in steps that sort of lock in place. This is great when you are trying to turn your design 90 degrees and have it perfectly lined up vertically.

DUPLICATING DESIGNS

Design In Cricut Design Space After Clicking Make It

How To Increase The Number Of Copies In Cricut Design Space

There are multiple different ways to duplicate designs in Cricut Design Space. One of our favorites is done after clicking “Make It”. If you look in the upper left hand corner of your screen, you’ll see the option to change the number of copies there.

Increase The Number Of Copies In The Make It Screen Of Cricut Design Space

As you can see, you will now have your desired number of copies of each part of your design ready to go.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MATERIAL SIZE

Material Size Settings In Cricut Design Space

Right below your mat over on the right hand side and just above the “Mirror” toggle, you’ll see where you can change your material size.

Designs Are Shifted To Match Material Size In Cricut Design Space

Design Space will automatically move your designs to match the chosen size of your materials!

ADDING A SHAPE IN CRICUT DESIGN SPACE

How To Add A Shape In Cricut Design Space

Adding In A Rectangle Along With Design In Cricut Design Space

Go over to the shapes menu and add a square. Then unlock so you can create a rectangle the same size as a sign you’re making. This allows you to visualize your design. You can see its size and placement – right on the background and arrange it just as you’d like.

Use Arrange On The Top Menu To Move The Background To The Back

Now The Design Is On Top Of The Rectangle Background

Once you move your design onto the rectangle (your background), you can go to “arrange” at the top of the screen and choose “send to front”.

DUPLICATE AND HIDE BEFORE WELDING

As you know, when working with fonts like this, you will need to kern the letters and then weld them. Before we weld, sometimes we like to duplicate them in case we want to work with this again.

This can be especially important if you’re planning to use this design again, perhaps personalizing it to several different names. For example, hello Rachel, hello Courtney, hello Tanner.

If you have a long quote that’s taking you a lot of time to create, it’s important to duplicate then too. This gives you an insurance policy in case anything goes wrong.

Once we kern and attach the letters together, but before welding, we duplicate. Weld one of the two designs and hide the unwelded one before choosing “Make it”.

SAVING YOUR DESIGNS

Saving Your Design In Cricut Design Space

When you’re ready to save your design (and it’s a good idea to in case you want to use it again), go to the upper right corner of your screen.

After Clicking Save You Need To Name Your Project

Once you click “Save”, you will need to name your project.

When you select Save, you will see two options: Save or Save as. If you were to make some changes and then click Save as, it knows you already saved it as “Hello”.

This time it will save it as Hello-1. This allows you to save more than one version of your design. If you’re making an intricate project, we would recommend saving it every so often so that you have each stage along the way.

FAVORITE YOUR MOST-USED MATERIALS

How To Favorite Material In Cricut Design Space

If you haven’t favorited any materials yet, you’re going to see “popular” materials shown here. By selecting materials you use most and adding to favorites, it makes it faster to choose them when making a project.

Browse all materials or search for what you want and click the star to favorite them.

CHANGING PRESSURE SETTING

Setting The Cutting Pressure In Design Space

You can get more life out of your blades by changing the cutting pressure. If you’re using a brand new blade to cut vinyl or HTV, it could easily cut right through the backing. You want to set it to use less pressure.

After a few days or weeks, depending on how much you use your machine, you’ll find it doesn’t cut as well. This is when you might need to change the setting to “default” to use more pressure.

As the blade begins to dull even more, you’ll want to change the setting to “more pressure”.

USING FAST MODE

What Your Screen Looks Like After Loading The Mat

As soon as you load your mat, you’ll see that design space has moved from Step 2 to Step 3. Once Step 3 pops up, you will see that there is a toggle switch for “fast mode”. Fast mode can come in handy for some projects.

When it comes to our team, some of us love to use Fast Mode and others aren’t as fond of it. You might want to experiment to see whether it’s useful for you or not.

We do not recommend using fast mode for any delicate materials or intricate designs.

HOW TO ERASE PROJECTS

There will be times, especially if you’re saving frequently, that you will want to erase some of your projects. In the upper right corner, you’ll see a button that says “My Projects”.

Screen Showing Saved Projects In Design Space

Click On The 3 Dots By The Design That You Want To Delete

Simply find the design that you want to delete and click on the 3 dots. It will show a dropdown menu: Edit, Delete, Save for Offline Use. This is where you can delete your file.

It will ask you to verify that you want to delete it. Click yes. Note: this action cannot be undone.

Well, that’s it! Aren’t these Design Space hacks amazing? Be sure to pin this post so you can refer back to it again and again.

Be sure to check out this Beginners’ Guide to Cricut Design Space too!

DIY Cricut Signs You Can Make TODAY!

August 24, 2020 by Paula W

What are your favorite projects to make with your Cricut? It’s hard to choose but we have to say that Cricut Signs are right up there near the top of the list for sure.

DIY Cricut Signs You Can Make

There are so many options to choose from when it comes to making DIY signs. The only limit is your imagination and creativity. You can make some for every holiday and occasion or just to show something important or quirky about yourself.

Have a passion project? Make a sign in support of it. A favorite quote? Make a sign. How about some funny family saying? There are just so many ideas out there!

Check out the ones we’ve featured below and be sure to keep coming back for new additions!

FUN VINYL CHALKBOARD ARROW SIGN

FALL SIGN IDEA WITH CRICUT

This is one of our favorites. You could adapt this idea to a fall bucket list too!

VINYL HOME DECOR SIGN

VINYL FUNNY SIGN HOME DECOR

Show your sense of humor with a funny sign!

THE CUTEST FALL HOME DECOR PROJECT WITH CRICUT

If you’re a pumpkin spice fan, you have GOT to make this sign for your home.

SUBWAY FONT ART WITH CRICUT

Anyone else a huge fan of subway art? It’s a great visual way to express what is really important to you.

PERSONALIZED IRON-ON WOOD WELCOME SIGN

HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREAT SIGN

Put this out on your front porch with a bowl of candy and you’re all set for Halloween!

CHRISTMAS HOME DECOR SIGN WITH CRICUT

We think this is one of the cutest Christmas signs ever! Stand it on your mantel or hang it on the wall.

VALENTINE’S DAY VINYL CHALKBOARD SIGN

CUTE FARMHOUSE IRON-ON SIGN

3 DIY CRICUT SIGNS YOU CAN MAKE TODAY!

DIY Farmhouse Sign – Cricut Home Decor!

10 CRICUT SIGN PROJECTS YOU’LL WANT TO MAKE TODAY!

We hope these ideas got you inspired to create your own amazing Cricut signs!

10 Things Every Cricut Owner Needs To Know

August 10, 2020 by Paula W

If you’re a new Cricut owner, you NEED this information! We’ve got 10 Things Every Cricut Owner Needs To Know for you.

You will love learning these fun Cricut tips, tricks, and techniques that you can use in all of your future projects. Even seasoned Cricuters may not know all of these fun tips.

10 Things Every Cricut Owner Needs To Know

We hope you enjoy this informative post and video designed to help you learn your Cricut even better! Go from Cricut beginner to Cricut pro in no time!

1 – You don’t need to throw away your Cricut cutting mat just loses its stickiness.

Clean your mats and you’ll get far more use from them. We’ve got a great tutorial on how to clean Cricut cutting mats properly.

Need a quick fix to hold some material on your mat? Try some masking tape around the edges. It will add that extra security in holding your material down while cutting.

Don’t worry too much about where you place the tape either. The Cricut can cut right through it.

woman with Cricut machine and supplies to show Cricut tips and tricks

2 – Your machine is only limited when you are.

Be sure to seek out resources so you can learn more about your die cutting machine and all of its capabilities. It is so versatile and can be used to create so many projects.

You’re only limited by your own lack of knowledge so take the opportunity to educate yourself as much as you can about your Cricut machine.

3 – You don’t have to change your blade as often as you think.

To get more life out of your Cricut blades, you can change the blade pressure in Cricut Design Space. You might need to add more pressure for an older blade and decrease the pressure with a fresh blade.

We have a challenge for you. When you think your blade needs to be changed, try to add more pressure and see if you can get a little more use from it.

Showing Pressure Setting Options Of Default More And Less

We have a really helpful tutorial on how to determine the best cutting pressure for your project.

Woman Showing Paper Transfer Tape For Use With Die Cutting Machines

4 – Use paper transfer tape.

This masking paper transfer tape is so much more economical to use than regular die cutting transfer tape. You can use it with pretty much any vinyl project you make!

Just peel off a piece and tear it. Then you can use it on your project just as you would any other kind of transfer tape. This product is ideal for Print Then Cut projects.

You have probably seen us removing some of the stickiness from transfer tape before by pressing it against our clothing. There’s no need with this. It’s a lower tack tape that makes it perfect for using with paper and other more delicate materials.

5 – Try different brands of products.

We just love Cricut brand products, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try out others. Sometimes, our favorites of certain products aren’t even the Cricut ones at all.

Why would you want to try other brands? Often they can save you money! You may also find that you just prefer working with one better than the others in terms of quality and performance too.

For example, we absolutely love 651 Vinyl and for our HTV, we really like to use Siser. You have GOT to try 651 Vinyl’s Glitter vinyl. They have an amazing selection and the quality is the best we’ve found.

Of course, we have to also recommend our favorite weeding tool. It’s the pin pen tool from 651 Vinyl. This tool makes weeding so easy, especially in those tiny little areas of intricate designs.

We also recommend using Crayola markers in place of the Cricut pens. The Cricut ones are more expensive and we’ve had great results from the Crayola ones.

Check out this video for a comparison of the Cricut Pens vs. Crayola Markers in the Maker. Spoiler alert – We prefer the Crayola Markers!

Be sure to also check out our video about some amazing products you can use for your die cutting products from Harbor Freight.

Check this out: Budget Friendly Cricut Tool Alternatives

6 – Measure everything.

We cannot stress this enough. If you want to avoid craft fails, you need to measure and then, measure again.

You don’t want to waste time, energy, or material because you don’t have the correct measurements!

Cricut Vinyl for Beginners - Makers Gonna Learn

7 – Make more projects that you’re bad at.

That might sound crazy, but let us explain. You will never level up in your Cricut crafting if you don’t master the things you think you are bad at.

To learn something new, you have to try it. Then you might have to try it again. When your parents told you “practice makes perfect”, they were right!

If it’s something that just isn’t something you’re interested in, that’s one thing. But don’t shy away from projects and techniques simply because you’re afraid to take a risk.

Woman Holding An Organizer For Cricut Tools And Supplies

8 – Keep your Cricut tools and supplies organized.

Keep your Cricut tools and supplies organized and readily at hand. Some of the supplies (like the blades) are really small and easy to lose.

Not only that, but who wants to waste money on buying something all over again because you simply can’t find the one you already own?

Check out these helpful videos: Cricut Blade Storage Solutions and Craft Room Organization Ideas.

9 – Don’t spend a lot on expensive blanks right at the beginning.

You are going to have some craft fails. It’s inevitable. Use some lower priced blanks when you’re testing out and practicing.

This way you won’t feel quite so bad when those imperfect projects happen and you can try again to master it!

Here are some great resources for you to check out:

Blanks to use with your Cricut

Where to buy blanks for your craft projects

Dollar store blanks for your Cricut projects

Do I really need Cricut brand Infusible Ink blanks?

10 – Use fonts.

Maybe you’ve been making all kinds of amazing die cutting craft projects with cut files from Cricut Access or Makers Gonna Learn. We want to channel you to level up by using fonts too!

With fonts, you have so much creative freedom. The possibilities are endless! You can write whatever it is you want for your craft projects.

Be sure to learn how to download fonts and use them in Cricut Design Space here.

How To Pair Fonts in Cricut Design Space

September 2, 2019 by Paula W

You’ve been making some really amazing Cricut craft projects using some ready-made cut files but now you’re ready to branch out and create your own designs working with text. The problem is that many of us are unsure of how to pair fonts in Cricut Design Space.

We want fonts that look good together – ones that really complement each other but it’s not always easy to pick them out and make them work! Well, if you’ve been struggling with that issue, you’re in luck. We have some great tips and tricks for you. You’ll be pairing fonts like a pro in no time!

Need to know how to download a 3rd party font? We’ve got you covered!

How to Pair Fonts in Cricut Design Space

When you are looking to pair up a couple of fonts, it’s important to keep some basic design “rules” in mind.

Pairing Fonts In Cricut Design Space Tips

One: Skinny and Chunky

You don’t want to use two fonts that are really similar in appearance. So, one simple suggestion is to choose one font that is really skinny and another that is chunky.

Try Pairing A Skinny Font With A Chunky One

For example, looking at fonts here on Makers Gonna Learn, you could try pairing up Luna Type (a skinny font) with Lollipop (a chunky font). You can see how cute those could be together!

Two: Script and All Caps

Another great pairing is to use a script font with an all caps font. A great option for this here on our website would be Merci and Michael.

Three: Plain and Fancy

Use a very plain and simple font with a fancy one. Here, we’re looking at Plain Jane (plain font) and Polka Dots (fancy font).

Examples Of Font Pairings In Cricut Design Space

Remember that these guidelines aren’t perfect. You may pull a couple of fonts over into Design Space and decide that you just don’t love them together. That’s perfectly okay! But by applying these basic principles, you will narrow down your options significantly and it will make it so much easier to create your design.

Pro tip: Once you find some pairings that you really love, you might want to save them in a file or a Google doc so you can remember them for the future!

There you go! You are all set to pair fonts in Cricut Design Space and create your own designs for your die cutting craft projects.