Add Fonts to Design Space in Two Easy Steps to Create Your Perfect Text-Based Cut Files
The font can make all the difference when you’re working with text for your next Cricut project. Now Cricut already has over 700 fonts available in Design Space, but maybe those aren’t quite right for your project. Or maybe you found the perfect font already somewhere else. Luckily, it’s incredibly easy to add fonts to design space.
Keep reading to learn the process for downloading and installing fonts on any Mac, PC, or iOS device.
How to Add Fonts to Design Space
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Let’s start here and work backward since this is the simplest part of the process and it’s the same across all devices.
You don’t need to do anything to add fonts to Design Space. Once they are on your device, they will show up in your front library in Design Space.
The one exception to this rule is that if you install a font while you already have Design Space open, you may have to close the program and reload it before the new font will become available.
Using Custom Fonts on Multiple Devices
If you’re like me and switch back and forth between a computer and mobile, there are a couple of extra things to be aware of when working with downloaded fonts.
First, even if you save the project to the cloud, you still have to have the font installed on each device for it to load correctly on those devices.
For example, if I install the front “Example123” on my computer and use it in a design, then save it to the cloud and open it on my tablet, if the font is not installed on my tablet, it will change to a default font when loaded.
Second, the fonts have to be named exactly the same on both devices. If I then downloaded the font on my tablet but named it “Example-123” (I added a hyphen) the program would not recognize them as the same font.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s learn how to install fonts on each type of device you might use with Design Space.
How to Install Fonts for Cricut on Your PC or Mac Computer
Installing fonts on your computer is much more simple than you might expect.
First, download the font file from a trusted source. Then right-click on the file in your downloads folder and either “extract” or “unzip” the folder.
(If the downloaded file is not a .zip file, you don’t need to extract it, but that will be fairly uncommon.
At this point, I recommend moving the file to a dedicated folder for downloaded fonts, especially if you plan to download lots of them.
Next, double-click to open the file and you will see something like this.
Just click install and your computer will take care of the rest.
Note: Installing a bunch of fonts and not sure if you already installed one? The install button will be greyed out if you have, so you can’t accidentally install it twice.
Installing Fonts for Design Space on an iOS Device
The first thing you need to do is download iFont from the App Store on your device. It’s a free app that allows you to search for and download and install fonts from multiple trusted sites. It is also used to install fonts that you have downloaded from the places like Etsy or Creative Market.
Downloading Fonts with iFont
To search and download fonts with the iFont app, go to the Font Finder tab and choose any of the font websites.
Search or Browse those sites until you find your font, then download using the button on the site.
An iFont page will pop up and give you the option to import or import and continue browsing.
Once you have all of the fonts you want to install now, go to the Imported Fonts tab. Tap Install on each font. Another pop-up will appear asking you to download a configuration profile. Tap Allow.
Next, go to the Settings app on your device. An extra line will appear that isn’t normally there. It should say Profile Downloaded. Tap that and, on the next page, Install.
Now your font is installed and ready to be used in Design Space.
Downloading Fonts from Other Sites with iFont
Installing a font from other sources using iFont is just as simple. Go to the site from its app or your web browser and download the font. When downloading, choose the option to Save to Files.
Choose where your files should go, then go back to the iFont app and Font Finder tab. This time choose Open Files and select the downloaded file.
From here the directions are exactly the same.
Font Installation Issues on Android Devices
Unfortunately, installing fonts on an android device seems to be more difficult and the process varies by device.
There are a few apps you can try such as Phonto and even iFont, but from what I can gather, changes usually have to be made to your device in order to download additional fonts.
If you have the option to use Design Space on a different device, I encourage you to do that instead.
OTF vs TTF Font Files for Use With Cricut
When downloading new fonts, odds are good you will quickly come across both .ttf and .otf file extensions. These are the two most common formats of fonts.
TTF stands for TrueType Font and it is the original, basic font file type.
OTF stands for OpenType Front and is a slightly more advanced file with additional options like extra special characters and embellishments, called glyphs. (Don’t worry, the font itself is not any harder to use!)
When you have a choice, I recommend installing the OTF version of a font over the TTF.
While you can’t use the glyphs directly in Design Space, there are some easy workarounds to add them into your designs. (You need to be on a PC or Mac computer though. These tricks don’t work on mobile.)
Where to Find Fonts for Cricut Projects
I suppose if you want to add fonts to design space, you’re going to have to know where to find them.
There are thousands of free and paid fonts available across the web.
Dafont and FontSpace are two of my go-to sites for finding a quick free font for personal projects. Both sites allow you to search by font style to narrow down your search and find your perfect font more easily.
When I need something higher-quality or with a commercial license, I turn to one of the following sites. (P.S. They all also sell SVG files!)
Etsy – Etsy has a huge variety of fonts from designers all over the world. And lots of times you can get them in bundles. Try searching “Fonts for Cricut”.
Creative Market – Creative Market was the first place I ever purchased a font, and I have loved everything I’ve ever gotten from them. Plus, they give you four free assets every week. (They could be anything from fonts and templates to Procreate brushes and clip art.) Browse over 69,000 fonts here.
Creative Fabrica – Creative Fabrica is only five years old but it has become a hugely popular resource for fonts and graphics in that time. Not to mention fonts are almost always on sale!
Free Fonts vs Paid Fonts for Cricut Projects
You may be wondering why you would ever pay money for a font when there are so many free options out there. And if you’re just making personal items and are on a budget, by all means, stick with the freebie sites. You can find some decent fonts there if you take a good look.
There is however one situation that makes it necessary to use paid fonts. And that is when you are selling the items you make with it.
Most high-quality fonts will require a commercial license in order to sell the products you make with them. That licensing fee goes to supporting the designer behind the font and helps them keep creating more wonderful files for you to use with your Cricut!
Licenses may allow different uses from file to file, so make sure to read the license description either on the download page or in the text file that typically comes in the same zipped folder as your font.
How to Know if a Downloaded Font Will Cut Well on My Cricut
One last thing before you start to add fonts to Design Space by the dozen. (Let’s be honest, everyone goes a little crazy when they first learn how to install new fonts!)
Unfortunately, some fonts are just not made to be cut out. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing fonts to cut:
- Are the edges fairly smooth? Sometimes a jagged line is just the effect that you’re looking for, but more often than not, you’re going to want smooth edges t help your machine cut faster and with less chance of error.
- Is the font solid? Overly-textured fonts can look really cool, but they’re just not good for cutting.
If you really want to use a font that won’t be good for cutting for one of these reasons, the good news is that it should still work great for a Print-Then-Cut project.
Ok, that’s everything! Now get out there and start using fonts you love!
Stay Crafty,
-KatyAnna
