Creating Your Own Designs using the Cricut

By Gregg O. Byers

My Shop: http://www.greggsgoodies.etsy.com/
My Own Blog: http://greggsgoodies.blogspot.com/
Etsy Paper Street TeamPage: http://etsypaper.ning.com/profile/GreggOByers

Why I wanted to use the Cricut Machine

When I kept seeing those infomercials about the Cricut Expressions machine,my constant question was, “Can I create my own designs and transfer them tothe Cricut Expressions Machine?” After doing some “googling” online, I found that the answer is YES! This article is all about how you can do the same. I love Scherenschnitte and using the Exacto knife to create multiples of a design in a timely manner, just isn’t feasible. So finding a software that helped me to produce multiples of the same design was a wonderful find!

Making sure you have the correct version for Cricut

First, you need to have the Cricut Expressions machine, of course AND it

needs to be updated to the 1.3 version. The only way to find out is to

have the Cricut Expressions Design Studio and through that you can find

out and update through the internet. There are easy steps for doing this.

                                                    

Getting the Tracing Program: Inkscape

Next, you need to have a free program called Inkscape,

which can be downloaded from inkscape.org. It is a

program that takes your design and traces it and makes it

such that it can be used in another program that directly

works with the Cricut Machine. The next page shows how

the Inkscape program looks when opened. The only use I have had for the Inkscape program is for the tracing of the designs I create. So the only choice I have had

to use is Path and File, which will be discussed later.

Getting the SureCutsALot Software

The other program you need is called SureCutsAlot. This

program must be purchased, which I did through the internet

and you are given a program key to change it from a trial

version to your personal version to use. It now has the trace

feature like what is done with Inkscape above, but I’ve tried it

and I still like Inkscape’s tracing much better. The particulars for

this program are found at craftedge.com.

Creating Your Design

Now that you have the programs, you’re ready to CREATE!

First, you can do a line drawing and then scan it to make it a .jpeg. After

scanning, I use a program called Paintshop Pro to use the FILL feature

to make areas in my design black. Note: Think of it this way: Anything

that is black will be traced as an object and that part will stay in you

design. All of the white will be cut away in the end. This concept is

important to internalize, because if, for instance, you have a design with

a “floating” dark object inside a white area, but it isn’t hooked to the edge

of another black area, it will be cut away and not show in your final

design. Think about it as an eye that you might draw on a face. It would

be isolated with white around it and therefore if traced in the Inkscape

program and then cut out in the SureCutsAlot program, the eye would be

removed because it was not connected.

This is the logo for the program I use to work with the designs I

create. Especially with designs for cards, I like to put a border

around the design, which helps secure the design if it will

become a part of a card. (That may be another article.) But, I

seem to learn more and more from this program every time I

use it. It has been a very good buy for my needs.

Tracing Your Design using Inkscape

Once you have a design that you have created and scanned to make it a

.jpeg, you are ready to have it “traced” by the Inkscape program. Below

is a screen shot of the program after opening it.

Double click to open the Inkscape program and you will see a blank box.

Click on FILE and choose OPEN to find your .jpeg and CLICK on it.

You will see your .jpeg design in the box. If the box doesn’t have little arrow marks around it, CLICK on the box to activate it for tracing.

Next, find PATH, CLICK on it, and then CLICK on TRACE BITMAP within the list of PATH choices..

Clicking on Trace Bitmap will open a small box. To see your .jpeg in that little box, CLICK UPDATE. And the design should show in the box.

This screen below shows the design after clicking update.

CLICK OK in that same box and the program shows the design in a traced fashion, which means you have been successful. Now CLOSE the box (just click the X in the upper right corner of the small box.

Last, to save the design to be used in the program, SureCutsALot, CLICK FILE and choose SAVE AS. A box will appear with the name of your design with the .jpeg at the end. Use your mouse to highlight the .jpeg

and REPLACE that part with .svg, which is the extension SureCutsAlot looks for to cut the shape. CLICK SAVE to save the file with the .svg.You will still have the file in .jpg, as well. Now you can close out of

the program HINT: If you plan to do a bunch of designs at once, it’s great to just minimize the program to be used again. Also having the .jpeg file allows you to go back and use the file later for other projects you might think to create using the same design.

Using SureCutsALot to Cutout Your Design

Open SureCutsAlot. (it looks much like the Cricut Expressions Design Studio Program) You’ll see lots of symbols at the top. To bring the design into the program to work with, CLICK on FILE and then choose and CLICK on IMPORT SVG. Find your design now with the .svg at the end, CLICK on it and the design will show on the grid of SureCutsAlot

Now you can expand the shape to the size you need it to be. If you notice that when you click your mouse when over the shape, a box appears to the right where you can change the dimensions. I had to use my calculator to change fractions (and made a chart for this) to decimals, which you will need to do so for example, if you have a shape you want to be 4 ½ inches wide, then you will type, next to the W: 4.50. And if the shape needs to be 5 ¾ inches long, then you will type next to the H: 5:75 . You will see the changes as you change the shape size right after typing in the numbers.

Below shows the changes made. You will also have the ability to change how the shape can be placed on the mat, as well as being able to turn it and also copy and paste it to create duplicates on the same mat if you have the space. (See the program directions built into the Help section for copy, paste, cut, etc.) You will then, once you have manipulated the shape how you want it and whether you have made duplicates, cut it out by clicking on the SCISSORS icon.

Some Helpful Notes:

•I now have over 40 designs for blank cards, and so as I began to

realize the amount of designs I was accumulating, I decided to

create folders within my folder, CricutCuts (as I called it) to make it

much easier to find each type of card design. Examples of folder

categories: Objects, Animals & Birds, Trees & Plants, People,

Christmas, Boxes, Envelopes & Cards, Halloween, Valentines Day,

Early American Designs, etc. It has really helped when searching for a design.

•This is just an idea that happened with the mats used in the Cricut

Machine. To prolong the life of each one, I use a lint roller to gather

up all the paper lint that adheres to the mat. It does keep the mat

tacky and I can use them longer.

•Dover Books has many public domain graphics that I have adapted

to cards I have created. At the least, the books give great ideas for

my own creations.