Thursday, November 13, 2014

CRICUT: Importing a JPG image into Design Space

Here's a quick tutorial on importing a JPG file into Design Space.

1. Log into your Design space account and at a new canvas click the Upload Image button



2. Click anywhere on the Basic Upload box



3. Click the Continue to Step 3 button



4. Click on the Browse button



5. Locate the file on your computer, select it and click Open



6. The image will appear in the preview screen. Click on one of the upload options then click the Continue to Step 2 button.

(This image is a very clean one with just one colour so the Simple Image upload works perfectly.)



7. Next you need to remove the white background from the image. Click on the Magic Wand tool then click on all of the white areas around the image. Make sure you also click inside each of the letters such as a, e, g to remove the background from there too.



Once you've done that your image will look like this.



This image is a screen shot from another program (possibly Silhouette Studio) and it has the dimension info around it. We need to remove that at well.

8. Click on the Eraser tool, left click on the screen and drag your mouse over the lines to erase them. You can change the size of the eraser if necessary.



When that's done the image looks like this.


9. Click the Continue to Step 3 button.

If you see any stray lines or marks on your image you can click the Back button to return to the previous screen.

10. Click in the check box marked 'Preserve original image within shape. Recommended for printing' to uncheck it.

You should only leave that box checked if you are going to be using Print then Cut with this image. If you're only going to be cutting this image unchecking that box automatically sets all the layers to Cut layers. 



11. When that box is unchecked the preview will look like this.

(You can still use the Back button to return to the previous screen if your image doesn't look just right...)



When you're happy with the design click the Save Image button

 The image appears in the list of Uploaded images. 


12. Click on your image to select it then click the Insert Images button.



The image appears on your mat ready for you to resize and cut!



Note... if there is a PNG version of your image available, you should use that instead. PNG's already have a transparent background which means you don't have to go to the trouble of removing it. ☺




Happy crafting!  ♥





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23 comments:

Nick said...

I am designing my own very simple silhouette images in photoshop and saving them as 72 dpi jpg b/w files.
They upload to the cricut and I can erase the white just fine, but when it's time to cut the machine all of a sudden can't locate the mat calibrations - and this doesn't happen with ANY cricut images or ANY lettering - what's the deal?

Anonymous said...

Can I use this method with my Cricut imagine machine?

Narelle said...

Nick... sorry, I don't know the answer to your question.

Nicole... no. The Imagine can't use Design Space and can only cut from Cricut cartridges.

Unknown said...

am I able to use design space with cricut expression 2

Narelle said...

Marlene, no you can't use the E2 with Design Space. You'll need Cricut Craft Room for that machine.

Unknown said...

Can you import documents?

Narelle said...

Amber, no you can't import documents into Design Space. You could take a screen shot of the document and import that as an image then clean it up (remove the background). That might work for you depending on the document and whether you want to cut or Print then Cut. Print then cut might not be big enough for your purposes.

haifire said...

Can I create and save a new project in Design Space and then link it to my account so that it will show up in the Craft Room? I have created some great designs in Design Space but want to use them in the Craft Room. Is that possible using my Cricut account?

Narelle said...

Unfortunately DS and CCR projects aren't interchangeable.

sherrybonnice said...

This is a great tutorial. I have two questions. Do you use this same technique for layered images like, animals, houses,etc with silhouette images or does it only work on simple images like words? I had to print the word and then take a picture of it because my silhouette software is on a pc but my cricut software is on my mac, instead of a single straight cut it cut all little cuts around the whole script word, I guess the printer added tiny jagged lines that are impossible to even see when you are using the erase tool. Once I cut it you can't see them with the naked eye but it takes forever for it to cut like that. I'm wondering if it works with other images on silhouette if I should move my silhouette software to my mac and use the screenshot like you do? Did you have this problem at all? Thanks again so much!

Jeanne said...

Good Morning, Hoping someone out there can answer my question. Just opened my cricut explorer one and I'm very excited. I used my girlfriends machine before so I'm a little I mean little experienced.

So, my question. I would like to cut the image below using vinyl to put on a wine glass for a birthday party. I got as far as uploading the image and it would not cut. I was hoping I could use black vinyl and end up with the image.

http://slodive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/betty-boop-pictures/portrait.jpg

Unknown said...

Hi, I have a question. I design my own labels in photoshop then save them and try the print and then cut in cricut design space the letters print blurry, any ideas how I can accomplish a good print? Thanks in advance.

Narelle said...

There's not a whole lot that will totally fix that problem Maria as jpg/png files are raster based and can't be resized without looking blocky.

If the letters are pixelated what works for me is to make the overall size of the image in Photoshop much larger. You can resize it back down when you get it into Design Space.

Also, while you're in Photoshop click on the Layer menu then select Type. Be sure the Anti-Alias Sharp is selected.

You won't have the problem if you create your text in Design Space, but then you'll have to deal with the formatting of the letter spacing instead.

Unknown said...

How do I import images to my cricut expression 2?

Narelle said...

Michelle, you can't import images to a Cricut Expression 2. It's strictly a Cricut cartridge based machine only. :(


SCARCO said...

When I download my image it shows up in the upload and in crop screen, but then I can only see my image on save as a print then cut image. Save as a cut image is all black it happens with all images I try to cut. Any ideas what's going on?

Narelle said...

Make sure you're clicking on the background with the wand tool to make it transparent. If your image has more than one colour you have to upload it once for each colour and use the wand tool to remove all but one colour. Eg. if your image is red and green you would upload it once and delete the background and the green and save that one. Then upload it again and remove the background and the red and save that one. Them import both images onto your canvas.

Unknown said...

I have a question? when I upload a Png image and want cricut to write it the image changes.. I don't want it to change.. Is there any way to stop it from changing?..

macie said...

I saw one of the comments talking about creating an image in photoshop then importing to design space. Every time I try to upload an image, it comes back saying the image is too large, even though I have shrunk it down and decreased the quality. Do you know the size limitations on the uploads?

Narelle said...

@Hughes Holsters - that's a difficult question to answer without knowing what the image looks like and what you mean by "change". You can send me an email with more info if you like to:
thenoncraftycrafter at hotmail dot com

Narelle said...

@Macie: There is a node limit for images that can be imported into DS. It was originally 3000 nodes. Then I believe that was reduced to 1500.

New to Cricut Explore Air said...

I have tried to load a jpg file (planner stickers that I purchased from Etsy) into design space as a print then cut. After I clean up the image then load it, I resize it to 8.5 x 11 that the image is intended for. When I click "GO", it says "the printable image is too large. Please reduce the image size" My intention is to print it on the sticker paper that is 8.5x11. What am I doing wrong? This is the first project I have tried on my cricut explore air.

Narelle said...

The maximum size for Print then Cut is limited depending on which browser you use. The current size limitations in Design Space version 2 are:

Google Chrome: 5.5" x 8"
Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari: 6" x 8.5"
Design Space iOS app: 6.5" x 9"


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