Finally a super easy and quick way to connect letters in Cricut Design Space – the new kerned feature is out and is so powerful and useful!
The new Cricut kerned feature is finally out and has been very needed for a long time! I have written quite a few posts on how to connect letters on Cricut using the decrease letter space and ungrouping methods which took a bit of time.
Cricut has finally released the update to save us crafters a ton of time when it comes to using cursive on script font in Cricut Design Space!
Meet the Cricut kerned feature… now when choosing a font, the kerned fonts will automatically put the letters next to each other with ideal spacing in between them.
Let’s take a look at how now to connect letters in Cricut Design Space. If you are new to Cricut, make sure to check out my Cricut Design Space 101 tutorials for more detailed help.
Using Kerned Fonts in Cricut Design Space
From what I can tell, the kerned fonts feature is only available on desktop right now. I tried to find it on my iPad but couldn’t, but I will let you know when it becomes available on the app!
Now when you are on a canvas in Cricut Design Space, click on the text button on the left side. Type in whatever text you want to use. Usually Cricut Sans will pop up as your default unless you’ve already selected a font since you’ve been working on the project.
Now click on the Font drop down menu on the top left.
You’ll see a new checked box on the top right side. It says Only Kerned Fonts and if you hover over the i icon, it will read “displays only fonts with optimal spacing between each letter”. Cricut Design Space default is that it is always checked. This works for both Cricut Access and uploaded fonts.
All of the fonts that offer to be Kerned (optimal space, so script fonts will overlap) will be in the drop down. Click on one and Woo Hoo!
Everything is automatically optimally spaced out! No more decreasing letter space.
But there is still one more step before you hit Make It! You’ll notice just like when you connected letters before in Cricut Design Space, that there is still that overlap or tails on each letter. You don’t want those!
Simply click on WELD and it is now one continuous word!
Now it is all set to cut out of vinyl, cardstock, iron on vinyl to make shirts, infusible ink, you name it!
Another fun example. Now it’s super quick and easy to use the offset tool too!
Again make sure to Weld the entire word together.
Then with the offset, you have a cool design in just seconds.
Changing Kerned Letters
You are not limited to just what the connected or kerned text looks like.
Once you select the font you want, you can click on the Ungroup button in the top right.
Now you can change the individual letter if you want. For this example, I made the H bigger by just dragging on the double arrow and then moved it so it overlapped again.
Then I selected all of the letters by dragging my cursor over them and clicked on Weld.
So you can still customize the letters within the words to suit your fancy! The kerned feature works with both cut fonts and writing fonts.
If you want to hear me walking you through these steps make sure to check out my YouTube video here.
If you’d like to save this tutorial on using kerned fonts in Cricut Design Space for later, hover over the image below and PIN It now!
Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
I love the idea of making the first letter larger. Thanks for sharing!