Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek T-Shirt) tutorial

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground Crafter Back in December, I made some custom, iron-on t-shirts to give as holiday gifts.

This post contains affiliate links. This post is sponsored by Cricut but all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Naturally, I used my Cricut Explore Air and Cricut Iron-On. I used the images included with Cricut Access to customize the t-shirt for my sister…

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground Crafter…but I was having trouble finding images that said “brother-in-law” to me. Since her husband is from Kentucky, I did some searching for Kentucky quotes and came up with this.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterI didn’t use a Cricut font because I had a specific font in mind, so I had to make this quote image in another program and then learn how to upload an image into Design Space. Now that I know how easy it is to upload images into Design Space, I’m going to show you! In this tutorial, you’ll see how to do three things:

  • Create a custom quote image in Canva,
  • Import an image into Cricut Design Space, and
  • Make your own custom iron-on t-shirt using quotes or images with Cricut.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

Part 1: How To Create a Custom Quote Image in Canva

Canva is a free, online graphic design software. I use it a lot to create images for the blog and I have a few templates saved. You do need to set up a free account and login to get started.

To set up your quote image, after logging in, choose “Use custom dimensions.” I chose 7 x 7 inches for my image because I wanted the quote centered and square(ish), but you could make a rectangle if you prefer. Once you have your dimensions selected, choose “Design.” If you’re making a quote, choose “Text” from the left side menu to get started.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterChoose “Add heading” from the Text menu to start with largish font. Since this t-shirt will ultimately be gifted to a friend who is a playwright, I chose a quote I had seen in her Instagram feed by Tennessee Williams. Select “Add Heading” and paste in your quote. Choose your fonts, colors, etc. from the top menu. Canva also has graphics you can use.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterIf you want to make another, just select “Copy this page” (just to the right of your image) so you don’t need to set it up again. You can paste in your new quote at that point. Once that’s done, choose “Save” from the “File” drop down in the top menu. When your image is saved, choose “Download.” I downloaded my images as PNG since those are a bit higher quality. (You can upload JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, SVG, or DXF files into Design Space, by the way.)

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground Crafter


Part 2: How To Import an Image Into Cricut Design Space

Now that your image is designed, open up Cricut Design Space. Choose “Upload Images” from the left side menu. You’ll be prompted to upload images and you can choose any JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, SVG, or DXF file. Once your file is uploaded, choose the image type. For quotes that are going to be cut, “Simple Image” is best, but make the selection that makes the most sense for your image and final project.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterUse “Select & Erase” to remove the background (if appropriate for your image). I just clicked on the white background, and it was removed so the only image remaining was my quote. Choose “Continue” to move on to the next step.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterNow, you can decide if you want to save this image as a Print Then Cut or as a Cut image. Since my image was going to be used as an iron-on, I saved it as Cut image and then chose “Save.” Now you can select the appropriate image from your saved images and choose “Insert Images” to add it to your project.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterSee how easy it is to upload an image into Cricut Design Space? Now you can see how I made my literary geek quote t-shirt.

Part 3: How To Make Your Own Literary Geek Quote T-Shirt

Materials

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground Crafter

Instructions

Start by choosing “Set Canvas” in Cricut Design Space. You can choose from many different canvas options, but I used “Classic t-shirts” for this project.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterOnce you’ve uploaded your image, adjust your canvas. Select “Canvas” from the menu at the right and choose the t-shirt size. Then choose “Edit” from the same menu to adjust the size of your image. Since this image is going to be cut only, you don’t have to worry about how it’s positioned on the canvas, but it does help to give you a sense of scale so you can see how proportionally large your image will be once it’s cut.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterChoose “Go” once you’re satisfied with your image sizing. Choose the right size (or a close approximation!) for your piece of Cricut Iron-On. Don’t forget to choose the check box for “Mirror Image (for iron-on)” before cutting.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterChoose Iron-on on your machine. Place the iron-on material on your cutting mat with the shiny side down and the clear backing side up and cut.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterUse your Cricut Tools Weeder to remove the space around your words or image. If your image has a lot of curlicues (like the script fonts in my quote did), then go slowly to avoid tearing your letters.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground Crafter

Use your iron to press your t-shirt so it is relatively wrinkle-free before you start. Place the Cricut Iron-On right side up so that the iron will be touching the clear backing side and the iron-on is touching the shirt. Press the iron down firmly following the iron-on instructions until your quote image is firmly attached. Allow to cool completely before removing the clear backing sheet

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterI had so much fun that I ended up making two quote t-shirts for my friend.

Cricut Basics: How To Upload Images in Design Space (and Make Your Own Literary Geek/Quote T-Shirt) tutorial by Underground CrafterWhat kind of quotes do you geek out on?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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