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Cricut Maker Foundation Series

Before You Start

You need three things:

  • A Cricut machine that runs Design Space. That covers Maker 4, Maker 3, Explore 5, Explore 4, Explore 3, Explore Air 2, Joy 2, Joy Xtra, and Venture. Older machines like the Cricut Expression and Cricut Mini run different software and cannot use SVG files.
  • Design Space is installed on a computer, tablet, or phone. It is free from Cricut.
  • A downloaded project file from our site.

A note on which machine you have. Design Space shows you different options depending on the model you select, so set your machine at the top of the screen before you start. This is why two crafters can follow the same steps and see different menus.

Step 1: Download the SVG File
(video)

Scroll to the bottom of any project post to find the download panel. Click the SVG file.

What lands on your computer is a compressed folder, also called a zip file. Inside it are the actual cut files. This is normal. Most cut file sites work this way, because a zip lets us hand you several files in one click.

Note: on most computers, it saves to the Downloads folder.

Step 2: Unzip the Folder

This is the step that trips up the most crafters, so take your time here.

Design Space cannot read a file that is still inside a zip folder. If you try, you get an error saying the file is not supported. Nine times out of ten, that error means the folder was never unzipped.

On a Mac

Double-click the zip folder. It expands into a regular folder in the same place. Open that folder and look for the file ending in .svg.

On Windows

Right-click the zip folder and choose Extract All. It will offer to unzip to the same location, or you can click Browse to pick a different location. Check the box for Show extracted files when complete, then click Extract.

On iPad or iPhone

Open the Files app and find your download. Tap the zip folder once. iOS expands it into a folder beside the original. Open it to find the .svg file.

On Android

Open the Files app, find the zip, and tap Extract.

Before you move on, confirm you are looking at a file that ends in .svg. Not .zip. Not .png. The extension matters.

Step 3: Upload the File into Design Space

Open Design Space and click New Project. You will land on a blank canvas with a grid.

  1. Click Upload in the left panel.
  2. Click Upload Image.
  3. Click Browse to find your unzipped .svg file, or drag it in from another window.
  4. Design Space shows you a preview. Because SVG files already contain cut paths, there is nothing to trace and no background to remove. If Design Space asks you to clean up the image, you selected a PNG or JPEG by mistake. Go back and pick the .svg.
  5. Name the file and add tags if you want to find it later. Tags are worth the ten seconds when your uploads library grows.
  6. Click Upload.

Design Space accepts one SVG at a time. If a project has several files, repeat the upload for each one.

Step 4: Add It to Your Canvas

Your file now sits in your uploaded images library. Select it and click Add to Canvas.

The design appears on your canvas with its layers listed in the panel on the right.

Do not resize it. Our files are already scaled to match the project photos. A peony petal cut at 80 percent will not assemble into the flower you saw. Resize only when you want a deliberately larger or smaller version.

To work with the layers one at a time, select the whole group and click Ungroup.

Step 5: Hide the Designer Notes Layer

Every file from our site includes a layer of designer notes. It holds the copyright line, and often the details that make a project work: which direction the crepe paper grain should run, which blade to load, which material setting we used.

Read it. Then hide it.

Click the eye icon next to that layer in the layers panel to turn it off.

This one matters more than it sounds. Those notes sit outside the cut area, so Design Space measures them as part of the design. If you have ever seen the message that a file is too large for your mat, the notes layer is almost always why. Hide it, and the size problem disappears.

Step 6: Set Your Score Lines

Score lines are the solid lines in a file that tell your machine to crease rather than cut. They give you clean folds on boxes, cards, and folded petals.

Design Space cannot tell on its own that a line in an uploaded file is meant to be scored. You set that yourself.

  1. Click the layer you want to score. It turns dark in the layers panel.
  2. Go to the Operation dropdown in the edit bar along the top of the screen. It will currently read Basic Cut.
  3. Choose Score.

The line turns dashed on your canvas, and the layers panel updates to read Score. Repeat for each score layer in the file.

If Score is not in your Operation list, check the machine you have selected at the top of the screen. Design Space only shows the operations your model supports.

This step used to live behind a scissor icon and a Layer Attributes panel. Cricut moved it to the Operation dropdown, so older tutorials will point you to a page that no longer exists.

Step 7: Attach the Score Lines

Setting a line to Score is only half of it. Now you have to hold it in place.

Without this step, your machine scores the lines somewhere off on their own piece of paper, nowhere near the shape they belong to. This is the single most common scoring frustration we hear about.

  1. Select the score layer.
  2. Hold Shift and select the cut layer it belongs to. You can also click and drag a box around both on the canvas.
  3. Click Attach at the bottom of the layers panel.

The two layers now sit together in the panel as one attached set. They will stay in position relative to each other when the file goes to your mat.

If you need to undo it later, select the set and click Detach.

Step 8: Make It

Click Save first. Save now, and you will never have to redo the score lines and attachments on this file again.

Then click the green Make It button.

Design Space sorts your shapes onto mats by color. What you see on the mat preview is exactly what your machine will cut, so this is where you make adjustments.

Rearrange shapes. Click a shape to select it. Drag it to a better spot. Rotate it with the circle arrow at the top right of the selection, or use the three dots at the top left to move it to a different mat or hide it. Nesting petals closer together saves a surprising amount of paper.

Change your material size. Use the dropdown on the left. We often switch to 8.5 x 11-inch text weight paper.

Cut multiples. Enter the number in the top-left corner and click Apply—every mat updates.

Mirror. Turn this on only for iron-on vinyl. Leave it off for paper, cardstock, felt, and crepe.

When your mats look right, click Continue.

Step 9: Choose Your Material Setting

Select the material from the dropdown in Design Space.

If you are on an Explore 3, 4, or 5, there is no dial on your machine anymore. Cricut moved material selection fully into the software. Older Explore models still have the physical dial, and setting it to Custom lets Design Space take over.

Do a test cut on a scrap before you commit a full sheet. If the blade does not get all the way through, use the More Pressure option rather than jumping to a heavier material setting. More Pressure adjusts the cut without changing how the machine handles the material.

Then follow the prompts to load your tools and mats.

Cutting Crepe Paper on a Cricut Maker

Crepe paper deserves its own section, because it does not behave like anything else you will cut.

  • Crepe paper cuts on the Cricut Maker family only. The rotary blade is what makes it possible, and it is a Maker tool.
  • Use the rotary blade. The fine point blade will drag and tear the fibers.
  • Use the pink fabric mat. It grips crepe without pulling it out of shape.
  • Watch your grain direction. The lines in crepe run one way, and our designer notes layer tells you which way to lay the sheet so petals cup and stretch correctly. Cut a petal against the grain, and it will not shape.

When you choose the crepe paper setting, Design Space should automatically prompt you for the rotary blade; if it does not, select Edit Tools and choose it yourself.

Which Cricut Machines Work with Our Files

Any Cricut that runs Design Space can open our SVG files. What differs is what each machine can do with them.

Cricut Maker 4 and Maker 3 cut everything we design, including crepe paper, felt, and fabric. If paper flowers are your reason for owning a machine, this is the family to be in.

Cricut Explore 5, Explore 4, Explore 3, and Explore Air 2 handle cardstock, text weight paper, vinyl, and iron-on beautifully. They do not take the rotary blade, so crepe paper is out.

Cricut Joy 2 and Joy Xtra work with our files but have a narrower cutting width. Joy Xtra tops out at 8.5 inches. Check the size of a project before you start. Scoring support differs between these two models, so look at your machine's tool list before planning a folded project.

Cricut Venture cuts wide format and is built for batch work.

Cricut Expression, Cricut Mini, and other pre-Design Space machines cannot use SVG files. They run older software that never supported the format.

Silhouette and Brother ScanNCut users can generally import our SVG files as well. We design and test on Cricut, so we cannot walk you through those interfaces, but the files themselves are a standard format.

Common Questions

Design Space says my file is not supported. What happened? Your file is almost certainly still zipped. Go back and unzip the folder first, then upload the file ending in .svg.

Why does it say my file is too large for the mat? The designer notes layer is being counted in the measurement. Hide that layer with the eye icon, and the size will correct itself.

My machine cut the score lines instead of scoring them. The Operation was still set to Basic Cut. Select the layer, open the Operation dropdown, and choose Score.

My machine scored in the wrong place. The score layer was not attached. Select both the score layer and its cut layer, then click Attach before you hit Make It.

Can I upload several SVG files at once? No. Design Space takes one at a time.

Do I need Cricut Access to use your files? No. Cricut Access is a Cricut subscription that includes access to their image library. Uploading your own SVG files is free.

I bought one of Lia's books. Where are my files? Each book has its own download page and a code printed inside. Cutting Machine Crafts lists it on page 12. Crepe Paper Flowers lists it on page 31. You do not need a membership to download book files.

My layers will not ungroup. Make sure the top-level group is selected before clicking Ungroup. Some files have nested groups, so you may need to ungroup twice.

Prefer to Watch?

Reading through steps is one thing. Watching someone do it is another.

We have recently released our new Cricut Maker Foundation Series in Craft Academy, which shows you all the steps from downloading our files to setting the cut settings for all the different materials. This is available for everyone to view and learn.

More to Explore

Plenty of places will teach you how to operate your Cricut. We are more interested in what you make with it.

Most of our projects include SVG cut files for Cricut and Silhouette machines. Browse the full SVG cut file library to see what you could be making this weekend. Or explore paper flowers, felt crafts, and cutting machine crafts by category.

Membership opens access to the full library of project tutorials, including pattern downloads, written instructions, and video workshops. Join our community of crafters and start making.