Letters Cut Out of Sign to Reveal Back

In this article, learn how to connect cursive letters when using script fonts in Cricut Design Space to create the look of cursive handwriting. I'll show you the three easy steps you need to take to make beautiful script lettering with the weld tool.

Have you ever tried to use a script font in Cricut Design space and found that the letters weren't connected?

Knowing how to connect cursive letters is a fundamental skill when using script fonts in Cricut Design Space. In this article, I'll teach you how to adjust the spacing between letters and weld them together correctly.

Whether you are designing wedding invitations or a wooden sign for your home, I think these simple tricks will empower you to design your own projects using script style fonts!

So, let's open up Design Space to a new canvas, and I'll walk you through the tutorial step-by-step.

Note: If you don't already have Cricut Design Space, you can download it for free. You can use the program on Mac, Windows, iOS (iPhone or iPad), and Android devices.

May 2021 Update

Cricut has just released an update for Design Space to make it easier to work with fonts. The new release includes font kerning, which is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a font. There are a lot of kerned fonts available in Design Space – including Cricut fonts and system fonts.

Kerning makes it easier and faster to work with script fonts in Cricut Design space. Kerned fonts should look correct automatically – meaning you won't have to manually adjust the letter spacing or go through the "Ungroup to Letters" process.

---

Okay, let's learn how to make your script lettering designs look polished and professional.

To get started, use the Text tool to type a word on your Canvas. Select a script font from the Font drop-down menu. In this example, I'm using a super cute font called Elderflower.

The best place to find new fonts is Creative Market. (Don't forget to check out their 6 free goods every week!)

Right away, you'll see that the script letters are not connected. That's okay – we are going to fix it!

Adjust Letter Spacing

The first technique you can use to connect cursive letters is to adjust the letter spacing.

You will find the Letter Spacing tool on the top panel of Cricut Design Space, right next to Font Size. (Make sure to select your text first, so that the Text Editing options will appear.)

Click the down arrow to reduce the letter spacing, which will move your letters closer together. For this particular font, I changed the letter spacing to -0.7. You can experiment with Letter Spacing to see what looks best with your particular font choice.

Use "Ungroup to Letters"

At this point, depending on your particular font, you may be done.

However, if your letters still look "wrong" or disconnected after adjusting the Letter Spacing, you can use Ungroup to Letters adjust the position of each letter individually.

To do this, first select your text. Then click the Advanced drop-down menu, and select Ungroup to Letters. (You will find the Advanced menu on the top panel of Cricut Design Space, on the right-hand side.)

After you click Ungroup to Letters, you will see that each letter is now on its own layer. You can use the mouse cursor to click and drag each letter to adjust its position individually.

Use Weld to Connect the Letters

After you have positioned the letters exactly how you want them, use the Weld tool to connect them. Don't forget to weld your letters together or Cricut will cut each letter out individually.

Select all of the letters that you would like to connect, and click the Weld button in the bottom-right corner of Design Space.

The thin black lines between each of the letters will disappear. This tells you that all of the letters are merged, creating one single shape.

You can double-check that your letters are welded together by looking at the Layers panel on the right-hand side of the screen. You should see just one single layer with the whole word in the thumbnail.

Then, when you send your design to the mat, you should see the word as one shape, with one single black outline around the outside of the word.

Troubleshooting Script Fonts in Design Space

Here are some commonly asked questions I see about connected cursive letters in Design Space.

Should I use Letterspacing or Ungroup?

You may be wondering which of the two techniques you should try first: Letterspacing or Ungrouping. Neither technique is better than the other – think of them as two tools in your toolbox. In fact, I often use both techniques in the same project!

I like to start by reducing the Letterspacing. Sometimes that's all you need. For other projects, reducing the letterspacing doesn't quite cut it, and you need to use the Ungroup to Letters tool to adjust a few letters manually.

Letterspacing can you about 90% of the way, and Ungroup to Letters can fix that last 10%.

How much space should I leave between letters?

When I adjust a script font, I like to overlap the letters as much as is needed to make the handwriting look natural. Be careful not to leave too long of "tails" between letters, or you may have a hard time getting your word off of the mat without ripping or tearing.

Can I use Attach instead of Weld?

Attach and Weld can seem similar at first glance, but they will give you very different results when it's time to send your design to the mat.

When you use Attach, the letters' position relative to each other is fixed. But, they are stillseparate overlapping shapes. And Cricut will cut them out individually, rather than and one word.

For more information about the difference between the Attach and Weld tools, check out this article: When to Use Weld vs. Attach in Cricut Design Space

The insides of letters disappeared when I welded!

Sometimes the Weld tool fills in the open letters. If you weld letters that are too close together, you might find that the inside spaces of letters like "a" and "o" disappear.

This happens when the letters are too close together, or when the letters are overlapping just a little too much.

To fix this, click Undo to un-weld the letters, and readjust the spacing.

If you are having trouble seeing where the overlapping parts are, you can increase the font-size of the whole word, correct the spacing, and then decrease the font-size to what you want for the project. Then, Weld again, and send the design to the mat.

Have questions? Join the Facebook Group!

I hope this article was useful for you! If you have any additional questions, feel free to join my Facebook Group. I created this group for you to share pictures, ask questions, and help each other out.

What's Next?

Pin this post: Save this tutorial to your Pinterest boards so that you can come back to it later.

Leave a comment: I love to hear your feedback. Tell me in the comments below!

Share on Instagram or Facebook: When you make this project, share it on social media and tag me @sarahmaker. I love to see what you make!

Sarah Stearns has helped thousands of makers find their next craft project with free patterns and step-by-step tutorials on her blog, sarahmaker.com.  Read more.

Her work has been featured in Scientific American, Good Housekeeping, Vox, Apartment Therapy, and more.

Letters Cut Out of Sign to Reveal Back

Source: https://sarahmaker.com/connect-cursive-letters/

Share this post