Cricut Weld: All You Need to Know!

Learn all about the Cricut weld tool in Cricut Design Space including what it does, when to use weld vs attach, and how to use it on a computer and on the Cricut app.

We’ve looked very in-depth into the editing tools offered in Cricut Design Space over the past few posts, and today we’re talking all about the Cricut weld tool.

The weld tool is actually a very easy and useful tool once you learn when you need to use it and how to weld images and/or text together. You won’t even think about when you need to use it after you’ve gone through this Cricut welding tutorial!

In case you’ve missed any of the preview design space tutorials, make sure to check out my Cricut Design Space 101 series.

These are the points I will be covering in this Cricut welding tutorial.

What does Cricut Weld mean?

Welding in Cricut Design Space means what you think a welding tool would do. It fuses or combines images or text together to create one image. The new image will be one piece and void of any cut lines.

Think of it like a welder who burns metal to melt the pieces all into one object. That is in essence what will happen when you weld things together in Cricut Design Space.

And since the welding tool is within Cricut Design Space software, you can use it on any Cricut machine including the Cricut Explore Air 2, Cricut Maker, and when making Cricut Joy projects.

How to Weld in Cricut Design Space

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Let’s look at an example in it’s most basic use… combining shapes or objects together to make new shapes. I also have a full video at the bottom of this post if you want to see these steps in action!

I inserted a square and a circle and overlapped the two. (I changed the color of the circle so you could see it better!) On the layers panel on the right side, you’ll notice two different layers.

Notice the layers panel on the right. The square is a single layer and at the top of the panel since it is the front image, and the circle is at the bottom of the layers panel corresponding to its back position on the canvas.

Now if I select both (by dragging my cursor over both or clicking on one and then holding down my shift and clicking on the other) and then click on Weld on the bottom right, check out what happens.

The two shapes fuse together and become one single shape! The overlapping cut lines disappear and you’ll notice in the layers panel that now we only have one layer with the new shape. You’ll notice the new image turns all one color too.

Welding designs and shapes together can be the basis of making all sorts of new images out of shapes. If you don’t have Cricut Access, then creating new designs out of the basic shapes provided can save you money!

In my Cricut Disney project tutorial, I showed you how to make the Mickey Mouse ears with circles and the welding tool. All you need to do is insert three circles, overlap them, and weld them all together.

Easy Peasy, right?

A note about welding a multi layer image: Again Cricut welding causes all the layers to melt or fuse into one. So if you were to weld an image with a bunch of layers like this one below…

You will be left with just one fused piece without any cut lines in the middle. You probably won’t use weld for this purpose very often. If you are trying to fuse all the layers to print them how they are, you need to flatten them.

What if you make a mistake, how do you undo the weld? Glad you asked! Simply click on the Undo or back arrow in the top left corner (next to the New button) or use your keyboard shortcuts. Undo is Ctrl+Z or Command if you are on a Mac.

Sometimes you might wonder why Cricut weld is not working or is greyed out when you want to use it. This doesn’t happen often, but if it does, most likely you have a hidden layer that you are trying to weld.

Let me show you. Say you insert an image with multiple layers and want to make it one. Even though two layers are selected in the layers panel, the Weld tool is greyed out.

Unhide the layer by clicking on the eyeball now all the editing tools will show up including weld.

How to Weld on Cricut on iPad

Using the Cricut Design Space app for an iPad or tablet uses the same principles but the buttons are in different places.

Once you have the shapes or images you want to weld, swipe your finger over both of them to select them both (a rectangle will appear around both).

On the Cricut app, the Weld button is found under the Actions tab. So click on Actions on the bottom of the screen. A new tool bar will pop up where you will be able to click on weld.

And again, two shapes fuse to one!

How to Weld Letters on Cricut

The other most common use of Cricut weld is to weld letters together when you are using a script or cursive font. You must weld any overlapping letters to make them one continuous cut.

I talk about different ways to combine script font in my font and text tutorial, but just to refresh…

Update: Cricut has now released the kerned fonts feature so no need to decrease letter space anymore!

When you insert a text box and select a cursive font, the letters will appear separate from each other (individual letters). The first thing I do is decrease the letter space to get the letters as close as possible so some of the letters overlap.

Once the letter spacing is as close as possible, I ungroup the letters (in the upper right hand corner) and move the letters individually so they overlap.

Then I drag my cursor over all the letters to select them all and click on Weld. This will fuse all the letters together so the tails at the ends of the letters won’t be cut out.

On the prepare screen you will see that all of the overlapping lines are gone and the letters all flow together as they should.

How to Weld Letters on Cricut App

To weld letters on the Cricut App, click on Text on the bottom left and choose a font. Type your text in the text box.

Then to connect the cursive letters together, click on Edit, then on Line Space. A box will pop up. Click on – until some of the letters start to overlap.

To get the rest of the letters to overlap, click on Actions on the bottom tool bar then on Ungroup. Now you can click on each individual letter and move them closer with your finger.

Once the letters are all overlapping how you like drag your finger over them to select all of them. Then Click on Actions, then on Weld.

If you use the Cricut app on an iPad or tablet a lot, make sure to check out my tutorials on how to downloads fonts on an iPad and how to curve text if you need more help.

Cricut Attach vs Weld vs Group Overview

A common question I get asked is what is the difference between Cricut weld and attach and when do you use which one.

You will probably use the attach tool more often than weld because you use it to hold font and separate images in place when they are cut out. Like when using the draw and cut function, foil transfer system, or cutting out a stencil to make a wooden sign.

Just to illustrate the attach function when combining shapes. If I attach the square and circle from above you’ll notice the overlapping line remains.

If I go to the Prepare screen you’ll see that the shapes stay together just how I put them but you still see the line. This line will cut.

As opposed to the welded shapes, where the overlap will not cut.

The same thing happens if you only attach the script font. It might look ok on the canvas because the letters are all the same color.

But you’ll notice the overlap lines on the Prepare screen.

This is a no no especially if you plan on selling your crafts! I had a friend buy something that had the tails on their names because they did not weld the letters.

So make sure to always weld your cursive font together!! Again this is what it should look like after you’ve welded the letters together (no lines within the letters).

If you are not using cursive font then you do not need to weld the letters together because the letters do not overlap. But you do need to attach the letters together so that they cut out in order if using vinyl or iron-on vinyl (if using cardstock it probably doesn’t matter because you’ll have to glue things together).

And What About Cricut Group??

Another thing that gets people confused is the Group tool. Grouping items together is important when working with multiple layers or text lines. If you change the size of grouped images the size of each layer will change proportionately to each other.

So you just have to click on one of the grouped images and all of the layers in that group will be selected so you can resize.

So I select the square and circle and click on Group. I can now drag the double arrow button on the bottom right and make both shapes bigger or smaller together.

But Group does not keep them together. When I click on Make It, you’ll notice the shapes come apart and will be cut out on their own.

Grouping gets a little confusing when it comes to letters and words.

If you just insert a type box and type words they are automatically grouped. So if you were to decrease the letter space and then go to Make It (without ungrouping first) you’ll notice the letters stay how they were but the lines will still be cut.

But if you were to Ungroup the letters and move them individually so they overlap (as I did above) then select them all and click on Group instead of Weld…

The letters will jumble on the mat. I’m just showing this to you in case it happens and you don’t understand why. I know it’s a bit confusing!

Note: Cricut Design Space will automatically try to save space on the mat and will move all the letters and images around to save material. If you do not attach your words or phrases together, you will probably notice they are all jumbled when you go to cut them out.

Jumbled letters are perfectly fine if you are cutting out cardstock since you will probably be gluing things together.

I don’t want to confuse by adding too much to this post! I just wanted to get you to understand the basics of how to weld in Cricut Design Space.

Make sure to check out the newest feature – Cricut offset in my latest post!

If you want to learn more about the important tools in Design Space, make sure to check out my posts on the slice tool, text button, and uploading images.

Cricut Welding Video Tutorial

You can watch a detailed tutorial of how to use weld in Cricut Design Space on my YouTube channel here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!