Thursday, July 3, 2014

CRICUT: Design Space - Welding

This post was prompted by a question today at the Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Space Facebook group. (Come join us if you haven't already! You'll find lots of great info and projects there.)

When Design Space was first released we had to ungroup a word that had a shadow if we wanted to weld it. Since then there has been an update that allows you to weld those words that have shadows without ungrouping.  Because it wasn't an obvious change many people have missed it.

Here's how it works...

Type your word/s







Select your font and change the alignment (left/centre/right) if needed.


Use the down arrow in the Letter Spacing section of the Edit box to overlap the letters. (I used Mickey Font in this example because 1) it was the font that was being used in the discussion and 2) it is easy to weld.)



I stretched my word (use any of the corner handles) so I could see more easily where it was overlapping. I can resize it to suit my project later...  You could also zoom in using the zoom buttons in the bottom left of the Design Space screen.)



When you are happy with how the letters are overlapping click the Weld button in the Layers box. (You can also right click your object and select Weld.)



The top layer will be welded.



If you look at the layers box you will see that the Top layer has changed to a "combined shape" but the Shadow hasn't changed. That's because that layer was closed when the weld was performed. It also means that the two layers have now automatically been ungrouped from each other.



Click the closed "eye" button in the Layers box to open that layer.



Select the shadow layer and click Weld. Now both layers will show as Combines shapes.




The shadow layer will be welded and will appear over the top of the other layer.




To place it behind the top layer click on the text to select it then click the Arrange button and send it to the back.





Don't forget that the two layers have been ungrouped from each other. If you want to resize your words make sure you select both layers and resize them at the same time. Or you can select them both and click Group at the bottom of the Layers box.


So, what could go wrong????

If you do things in a slightly different order you might not get the result you're after....

Here's what you get if you open both layers at the same time and click Weld...

Before welding with both layers open:



After welding with both layers open:



The two layers have been welded together. So unless that's what you're after... you know what not to do! (Don't open the shadow layer until you have welded the top layer.)

Thanks for the question Nadia!




Happy crafting!  ♥

4 comments:

Sharon said...

Narelle, Thanks for this information. We are so fortunate to have you to help us with our crafting. Sharon D

Nadia (WithGlitteringEyes.blogspot.com) said...

Thanks, Narelle! This card for a child turning one is forcing me to learn stuff. LOL! I appreciate your time on this!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this detailed instructions on welding. I so appreciate your taking the time to do write this and share.

mom2six said...

I'm trying to do this and when I hide my other layers and select what I want welded, it gets rid of my other layers. Any suggestions? Wendy

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