In this Cricut tutorial, we will discuss how to make a stencil with Cricut in the Design Space. You may have tried it on your own and failed. But never mind, we have a simple solution for you that will help you to make a stencil with your Cricut machine easily. This tutorial will cover vinyl stencils. To make a stencil, you can create your own design or upload a pre-made design to Cricut. Let's see how you can turn your designs into a stencil.
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How To Make A Stencil In Cricut Design Space?
Let's go through the steps involved in making stencils from scratch. In your Design Space, hit the text button on the left. You can choose the font from the top bar. The font dropdown will show you all the available fonts you have uploaded and Cricut's default fonts. In the fonts box, you will see a tab saying system. You will only see your own fonts when you click on them.
It's easy to have one text box per line and lets you space things according to you. In our example, we wrote, 'it's so good to be' in corbel font, which was the system's font and was already on your computer. When you write your first line, click the text box again. Then, a new box will appear to type the second line. You can add lines by repeating this step. The second line in our example is 'Home' in Magnolia Sky, which is a purchased font.
Ungroup And Weld Script Text
In your design space, all the fonts will have separated letters. It doesn't look good. Hence, we weld them. So, in order to get them together, when your text is selected, click the ungroup button on the top right. Once you hit the ungroup button, you will see that all letters are separated in your layer panel.
Also, you can click and drag letters where you want to. Ensure to overlap letters on each other so that it looks natural.
Now, all the letters will touch each other. Observe the layer panel on the right; each letter is still displayed individually. Hence, the Cricut will cut them separately, which we don't want.
In this case, select your text. After that, you will see a box around it. Now click the weld key at the bottom right corner. Therefore, the Cricut will cut text as one word.
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Attach Text To Create A Stencil
Finally, you can arrange your text. In our example, we made the Home letter bigger than the rest of the text. When you are satisfied with your text and everything seems good, attach it together. Also, the Cricut machine will arrange a good cut for you.
Select all of your text and ensure that every letter is selected. Now, click the attach button on the bottom right of the screen. Once you attach it, the whole box will move and remain together while clicking and dragging. Hence, your stencil design is all set. Though, there are some more methods to prepare a stencil.
Further, we will discuss how you can upload a file in Design Space to make a stencil if you don't want to create one.
How Can You Upload A File To Make A Stencil?
If creating a design is not what you want, you can upload an SVG file to make a stencil. There are plenty of files available that you can use in your project. You can get them on sale from Etsy and many places.
Upload The Design
Once you find the design you need, download it on your computer. Usually, they are in a ZIP file. Hence, you will have to extract it. Then, open the design space and select New Project. After that, select Upload on the left panel at the bottom. Select Upload Image on the new screen. You can either drag and drop your file into the upload box or select it manually on your computer.
You may see the message that the file contains text elements that are not supported; ignore it and select the Continue button. The file you upload will appear; you can name it and add tags to locate it anytime. After that, click Save. Now, you will return to the screen that has all your uploads. Select which you want and click Insert Images.
Then, you get back into the Design Space. Check the images you uploaded. If you don't want to, try to hit the zoom button at the bottom left. If the zoom button doesn't work, you will see position keys on the right of the top bar. And, if you notice a negative number, shift it from zero or a positive number.
Prepare Your File For Cutting
Your file should be cut in one before making a stencil. Many files that you Upload may have to be welded or attached together before creating a stencil. You can check the layers bar on the right side. When you notice letters or shapes listed separately, you will have to weld and attach them.
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How To Prepare A Stencil?
You can cut the design if you need to place the vinyl on wood. This is called the PVPP (paint, vinyl, paint, peel) method. But stenciling is easier than PVPP. To prepare a stencil:
- Move to the left toolbar and click shapes.
- Select the square.
- Once you see the square on the bottom left, click the little lock. This will unlock the shape, and then you can expand it into a rectangle.
Take your box to the top left of your design and expand your box to cover the full design. If, at a certain point, you feel that the box is too big, right-click the box and select move to back. Doing this will display your design again in the front, and you can see the box behind it. You can switch your box color if the text color is the same as the box color. To do this, select the little color circle in the layers box with the object you want to change.
Resize Your Stencil
This is quite a necessary step to prepare your stencil. Make the rectangle of exactly the same size as your project. For example, if your object is 10" X 8", your rectangle should also be 10" X 8." Once the rectangle is set to the project size, set the design at the center of the rectangle. When you are done, attach them together.
Start with one corner and hold down your mouse key when moving your design. When everything is in the selected box, click the attach button at the bottom right toolbar.
Once everything is attached, the white part goes away, and the lines to be cut remain on the screen. Then, you can hit the 'Make It' button.
Then, load the Cricut mat into the Cricut machine and hit the start button. The Design Space will turn into a cutting mat view and tell you if your design is too large. You may want to keep your design ½" smaller than the cutting mat. Otherwise, the Cricut machine will not cut your design correctly.
When the Cricut has cut your design, remove all the excess vinyl around your rectangle. Ensure to keep centers of letters such as 'o' and 'e.' Then, use your weeding tool to remove the letters' vinyl.
I hope you understand how to make a stencil with Cricut. You are all set to transfer your design onto your project. Enjoy your crafting journey.
SOURCE: How To Make A Stencil With Cricut [A Complete Guide]