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14. Using your own images

C. Preparing artwork from Adobe® Illustrator®

Cricut Design Space™ lets you upload most .jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .svg, and .dxf images and convert them

into cuttable shapes. The tool doesn’t allow you to make modifications to the design itself, which is why

working with Adobe Illustrator to prepare your files is effective. With Adobe Illustrator, you can use the

full range of tools to create and modify your designs, and then upload them to Cricut Design Space.

The two different types of images are Basic and Vector. Adobe Illustrator is primarily a vector program,

which means it saves vector files like .svg and .dxf, but it can also be used to save .jpg, .png, and .bmp

files.

Artwork created in Adobe Illustrator can be used to:

Step 1 Print the image on your home printer and cut it out using your Cricut® machine with the Print

then Cut feature.

Step 2 Cut or draw the outline of the image.

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Step 3 Create cuttable shapes and images. Multilayered images will be separated into layers on the

Canvas.

Tip: Multilayer images can be flattened into a single layer in Cricut Design Space. Use the Flatten

tool to turn any multilayer image into a single layer for Print then Cut.

Preparing artwork The following steps use Adobe Ilustrator CC 2015.3. Although the screenshots will be different in older

versions, the process is the same.

Vector .DXF files

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Step 1 Create or modify an image using any of the Adobe Illustrator tools. The file can be made of single

or multiple layers.

Step 2 Under the File Menu, click Export, then Export As.

Step 3 After naming your file, select AutoCAD Interchange File (.dxf). Accept the default settings if

prompted with additional options.

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Vector .SVG files

Step 1 Create or modify an image using any of the Adobe Illustrator tools. The file can be made of single

or multiple layers.

Tip: Shapes should be filled before saving for use in Cricut Design Space. Use the Outline Stroke

tool found in the Object, then Path menus to convert strokes into shapes. Use the Create Outlines

tool found in the Type Menu to outline text.

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Step 2 Under the File Menu, click Save As.

Step 3 After naming your file select, AutoCAD Interchange File (.dxf). Accept the default settings if

prompted with additional options.

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Basic files .jpg, .png, .bmp

Step 1 Create or modify an image using any of the Adobe Illustrator tools. The file can be made of a

single or multiple layers.

Step 2 Under the File Menu, click Export, then Export As.

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Step 3 After naming your file select any one of the following file types: JPEG (.jpg), PNG (.png), BMP

(.bmp).

Tip Check the Use Artboards box at the bottom of this Export screen to save out individual

artboards or a range of artboards. Checking this will also export the full size of the artboard(s)

rather than just the image size. If you export more than one artboard, multiple files will be saved

out, one file per artboard.

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Step 4 For best results with JPEG (.jpg) files change the Quality setting to 10 (Maximum) and under the

Resolution menu, select High (300 ppi)

For best results with PNG (.png) files change the Resolution to High (300 ppi), and set the Background

Color to Transparent.

For best results with BMP (.bmp) files change the Resolution to High (300 ppi).

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