How to Avoid Cricut Design Space’s Bubble Text Problem: 3 Tips
Cricut Design Space is the software used for Cricut crafting and cutting machines. These machines are handy for many creative projects, but there are some drawbacks when it comes to using alternative tools that aren’t cutting blades. When using Cricut for writing text, it often turns into bubble text. Follow these tips to find ways to improve your work or find alternative ways to draw, foil, or engrave text without bubbling.
What Is Cricut’s Bubble Text Problem?
If you knowabout Cricut machines and how they work, you’ll know Cricut machines and Cricut Design Space allow for infinite creative projects.
The bubble text problem happens when switching from using your Cricut machine as a cutting tool—to cutSVG graphics with your Cricutonto vinyl or cardstock, for instance—to using it as a drawing tool with various attachments.
Although cutting and plotting are the main uses for Cricut, it’s possible to get Cricut pens, foil transfer tools, and engraving tools too. This is where bubble text becomes an issue.
Most fonts in Cricut Design Space—or otherfonts you can download from third-party websites—are drawn with paths. This means when your Cricut draws the letters with a pen, foil transfer tool, or engraving tool, it traces the paths—which results in bubble text rather than single-line lettering.
This may be the style you want, but if it’s not, there are some ways to overcome the bubble text results.
Tip 1: Add an Offset to Your Text
You can create a solid effect text for drawing, foiling, or engraving by adding an offset—or multiple offsets—to your chosen text in Design Space. An offset is a path that is drawn around or inside the text path. You cancreate editable offset text in Adobe Illustrator.
Step 1: Write Your Text
Select theTexttool and choose your font from the dropdown menu. Type out your text and set the size. Set theOperationtype toDraw>Pento outline your text.
Step 2: Add a Negative Offset
SelectOffseton the upper menu. The default is for a positive offset of +0.25 inches which draws an offset around the outer edges of your letters. Setting a negative offset will add lines to the inner edges of your letters—filling them in.
Set your offset to -0.025 inches. Change the slider to suit your font best. This offset path should sit snugly inside the original text path.
Step 3: Add a Second or Third Offset
For chunkier text or a thinner pen, set a second offset after the first. Each time you set the offset, it offsets to the previous offset—not the original text. You can add as many as you like until the negative offset paths have filled most of the gaps in your text shape. Each path—both the text paths and the offset paths—will be drawn by your Cricut drawing tool. Once all offsets are set, select all layers and go toAttach.
SelectMake Itto prepare your mat, and selectContinueto send your project to your Cricut.
If using a thicker pen, these paths will totally fill out in the result, meaning you have a solid text. Your results should wield text that closely resembles filled-in or solid text. Results may differ depending on tool or font.
Tip 2: Use Lines to Add Hatched Shading
Adding hatched lines to emulate shading can help result in filled-in text. This is more time-consuming, but it gives unique results that add a fun texture to your final projects.
Step 1: Write Text with a Chunky Font
Using the Text tool, choose a font and write your words. A large, thick font will work much better for this example than something thin or intricate. We’re using Cricut Sans—one of the free fonts available with Cricut Design Space.
To sell any projects with text, make sure you have commercial licenses for them—here are somefree fonts with commercial licenses to download.
Step 2: Add an Equal Sign from Shapes
We’re going to make a hatched shading pattern using one of the free shapes under theShapesmenu: the Equal Sign. Select it to put it on the canvas.
With the shape on your canvas, go toSizein the upper menu and select thepadlockto unlock proportions. Then resize the shape by dragging the bottom edge towards the top, so the lines are thin and the gap between them is a similar size.
Then drag the right edge so the lines are longer. They should be around the height of all your text.
Step 3: Make a Hatched Pattern
With the shape selected, hover your cursor to one of the anchor points until the cursor changes to rotating arrows. Rotate until your preferred angle for hatched shading.
Duplicate your shape until you have dozens. To duplicate, select the shape and chooseEdit>Duplicate. You can also use the shortcutCmd+D(Mac) orCtrl+D(Windows). We recommend the shortcut since you’ll need so many copies.
As you duplicate more, you can select all the prior duplicated lines together and duplicate a large group at once. This will save a lot of time.
Rearrange the lines. If you want a more random pattern, then arrange them by eye. For a sharper result, use theAligntool to space the lines evenly. Select all lines, go toAlign>Align Topand thenAlign>Distribute>Distribute Horizontally.
After duplicating and aligning to cover your text, select all the lines and chooseCombine>Weld. This is a permanent setting and cannot be undone.
Read ourreview of the Cricut Maker 3 machine, the most expansive Cricut machine which can cut over 300 materials and fits Cricut pens, engraving tools, foil transfer tools, and more.
Step 4: Overlay and Slice
Layer your hatched line pattern underneath the entire text. There shouldn’t be any text that doesn’t have the pattern behind it. Then select both parts by clicking and dragging your cursor over them.
With both elements on only two layers, you can use theSlicetool to cut out one shape from the other. In this instance, separating the outer lines from the inner text. This results in four slice layers.
After slicing, select and move the layers that aren’t filled text with lines. This might be the top two layers, or the bottom two layers, depending on the order of your layers when sliced. Experiment by dragging each layer away to see what’s left. Once only the letters with lines are left, delete the other layers.
Then select the remaining layers and chooseAttachto make sure they stay in place.
Step 5: Change Operation to Draw
To set your project to draw in Cricut, select your attached slice results and go toOperation>Draw>PenorFoilorEngraveorDeboss. Whichever project type you’re working on.
This changes all the lines to become draw lines. The lines you see are the paths your Cricut will draw. The closer together you made your hatched shading, the more filled your text will be.
SelectMake Itto set up your mat, thenContinueto draw your final project with your Cricut.
Tip 3: Use Single Line Fonts
it’s possible to avoid the above workarounds altogether by choosing a single-line font. On Cricut Design Space, there aren’t many single-line writing fonts available for free, but there is a handful for Cricut Access members. Here are our top 5 single-line fonts to avoid the bubble text problem:
We’ve made a list ofsingle-line fonts for Cricut writing projectsthat includes non-Cricut fonts too.
Avoid Bubble Text in Cricut Writing Projects
Cricut projects allow you to put all your creativity into your work, but it can be annoying when the software dampens your creative flow. This can happen when using text to write when all you want is a single-line font, but all Cricut gives you is outlines. The above three tips are great workarounds to fix the problem, adding some creativity and straight solutions to bubble text in Cricut projects.
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