How to Use the Drawing Feature in Design Space

I recently shared a project in our Cricut Community Facebook group that used a pen and the drawing feature in Design Space to make a project. You can check out the project here if you're interested! From that project, someone simply asked us, "How do you use the drawing feature?" And it got to me to thinking -- maybe not a lot of people know how to use the drawing feature. I know when I first got started with my Cricut, it was something I overlooked because I was so excited to cut different materials. Now that I have been using my Cricut for a few years, I absolutely love using the drawing feature. I use it for cards, stickers and little embellishments in projects. Today I’m going to walk you through how if you have never used it before and I'll show you a project I made with it too! Overall, I’d say it’s pretty simple but there are a few things that are helpful to know, so let’s get started.

First things first, if you want to draw with your Cricut then you need some pens or markers to draw with. Luckily for you, Cricut has tons of them - of all different colors, kinds, and thicknesses. The pens are all labeled by their thickness, which is helpful to know when you're making a project. Sometimes you'll want a fine tip and other times you may want a thicker marker, it just depends on your needs. I often use 0.4 Fine Point pens, which seem to be a popular one. When you first get your Cricut, there will be a black pen included and it's a 0.4 pen. I have also used 1.0 pens, which are thicker than the 0.4 ones. Basically, the higher the number, the thicker the pen.

Another thing I love about using Cricut pens is that I know for sure they will work with my machine. You can experiment and try other pens/markers if you want but using a Cricut pen is the safer bet. There's nothing worse than purchasing something and then it doesn't work! I actually use Cricut pens at work too when I am writing down notes. All that to say, I'm a big fan. We sell a lot of Cricut pens and markers, you can check out our collection by clicking here.

What Cricut machines have the ability to draw?

The only machines that have the drawing feature are the Cricut Explore machines and the Cricut Maker. The Cricut Explore machines cover: Cricut Explore, Explore One, Cricut Explore Air, and Cricut Explore Air 2. However, if you have the Cricut Explore One, you'll need to purchase an adapter in order to draw. I'll include a photo below. All of the other machines have a double tool holder, which allows you to draw and cut (or cut and score) in one-step. I'll include a picture of the double tool holder below. The Explore One has a single tool holder, so it cuts and writes in two steps. Not a huge deal if you have the Explore One, you'll just need an adapter to draw! We don't sell it on our website, but you can buy it directly from Cricut here. Here's what it looks like:

 How can I draw with my Cricut?

Now that you've got the basics down, I'll show you how to use the drawing feature. For starters, you can have your Cricut draw pretty much everything. In order to draw, you simply have to change the linetype in Design Space from "Cut" to "Draw". You can draw either images you found from Cricut or those you have uploaded yourself. Let's take a look at this Dog Mama design - I found it in Cricut Access. When you insert an image or text onto the canvas in Design Space, it will automatically choose to cut it. Like I mentioned above, all we have to do is change the linetype and it will allow us to draw instead of cut:

In the photo below, you can see that I have clicked on the design (notice the blue box around it) and then I clicked on "Linetype". You can find that in the top left-hand corner. Currently, the linetype is set to cut. In order to draw, all we have to do is select draw. This is also where you would chance your linetype if you wanted to score, engrave (Maker only), deboss (Maker only) etc. Take note of how the design looks now...notice how it's all filled in.

Now I selected "draw" from the linetype drop down. As you can see, the image has changed so that only the outline of the design is present. This is exactly what your Cricut will draw. Unfortunately, at this time, your Cricut will not color in the design for you. It will just draw the outline and then you'll have to manually fill it in, if that's the look you're going for.

This also applies to text too - it will only draw the outline. I personally don't find it to be a huge deal to fill the letters in myself, but I would love if Cricut would release this one day as a feature. As you can see in the picture below, I changed the linetype again from "cut" to "draw" and this is the outcome:

Drawing-specific images

Cricut has specific images that they've design that were created specifically for drawing! If you search through Cricut Access, you'll find those there. I found a cartridge full of hand drawn flowers that I love. And since they were designed for the drawing feature, you won't need to fill in any lines/letters! It will draw as is. Check out this project I made below using one of the flowers in the cartridge -- the ID is #M9C1867E and the cartridge is called "Drawn Plants". 

Drawing-specific fonts

There are also fonts from Cricut that are specific to drawing, which means that they will drawing in one line and you won't have to fill them in. To find those fonts, click on "Fonts" and then filter your search, like below:

Here's an example of what one of the writing fonts looks like - note that there are no outlines that you would need to fill in. Don't forget to still choose "Draw" for your linetype, otherwise it will cut it.

And that's pretty much it, you guys! That is the basics of drawing with your Cricut. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or any questions you may have. Happy making!

-Courteney

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