How To Weld In Cricut Design Space

Wondering how to use the Cricut weld tool in Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from what weld means and how to use it to create shapes and connect cursive letters, to troubleshooting some of the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.


The Cricut Weld tool is one of the five basic design tools that allows you to work with layers inside of Cricut Design Space (the others are Slice, Attach, Flatten, and Contour).

The Weld tool takes multiple shapes and “merges” them together into a single shape/layer, leaving just the “exterior” outline of the original shapes. But even though the concept is simple, there are tons of cool things you can do with it!

This article will teach you what weld means in Cricut Design Space and how to connect letters and images, as well as troubleshoot the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.

How to weld images and letters in cricut design space

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What does weld mean in Cricut Design Space & why would I want to use it?

The Weld tool allows you to “join” multiple images or shapes together to create a single shape. It combines multiple shapes into a single shape by finding all overlapping or intersecting cut lines and removing them. This leaves just the exterior cut path (i.e. the “outline”) of the new “merged” shape.

There are some pretty cool things you can do with the Weld tool in Cricut Design Space, such as:

  • make custom shapes
  • connect letters from a script font to make them cut as one piece
  • simplify a design into fewer “pieces”
  • Weld so you can Slice multiple images at once

I’ll go into more detail about those uses after the next section, which shows you exactly how to weld in Cricut Design Space (with screenshots!)

How to weld in Cricut Design Space

The Basics

Using Weld in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.

  • You must be working with at least two shapes/layers. You can’t weld a single layer; the Weld button will be greyed out if only one layer is selected.
  • Welding always merges shapes “down” to the bottom layer. If your layers are different colors, the final Weld Result will be the color of the bottom layer.
  • Weld works even if the images are grouped, attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Design Space will automatically ungroup or un-attach any grouped or attached layers when you weld them.
  • Hidden layers will disappear after welding. If you want to keep any hidden layers of a multi-layer image, be sure to unhide them before welding.
  • Weld only works on overlapping images. Your shapes must have overlapping or intersecting cut lines for Weld to combine them into a single shape.
  • …unless you purposely are trying to weld images that aren’t touching. If your shapes aren’t stacked on top of each other, welding them will basically just “merge down” the top shape into the bottom layer without actually modifying the shapes themselves.
  • Welding text is the same as welding images. The Weld tool doesn’t treat text any different from any other image or shape, regardless of whether you are welding an entire word or you’ve already ungrouped the text to letters.
  • Welding is permanent and can’t be undone. Once you save your project after welding, it can’t be reversed. But obviously if you just welded something by accident you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action; just click Undo before saving!

The Equipment

Technically all you need to use the the Weld tool is Cricut Design Space, but without a Cricut machine you won’t actually be able to cut out your welded design! I have shared the file I used for this tutorial below, feel free to use it for practicing.

The Instructions

Start by opening the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

How to weld in cricut design space combine two shapes to make a new shape

Select the rectangle shape and drag it over the triangle so that it creates an arrow. Make sure the rectangle is overlapping the triangle at least a little bit.

Then select both shapes. You can click and drag a square around the entire arrow shape to select both layers, or you can select one image, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other image to select them both at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking the second layer.

Once you have two layers selected, the Weld tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Weld” to weld the selected layers into a single layer.

How to weld in cricut design space overlap two shapes

When you click Weld the top layer will “merge” down into the layer below and both shapes will become part of the bottom layer.

In this example the overlapping cut lines were removed and the teal rectangle “merged down” into the yellow triangle, resulting in a yellow arrow.

How to weld in cricut design space click weld to attach them

The new welded layer will be renamed “Weld Result” and you can move it around or work with it however you would like, just like any other single shape layer.

What can I do with the Cricut weld tool?

Making custom shapes

The Cricut weld tool is perfect for making your own custom shapes by combining two standard shapes, or even images from the Cricut library. The arrow project above is the perfect example of turning two standard shapes into a custom shape using Weld.

Here’s another cool example of turning three triangles and a square into a Christmas tree!

How to connect letters in Cricut Design Space

You can also use Weld to cut out fancy script sayings with your Cricut.

Normally when you type text into Cricut Design Space (even if you choose a script font) it separates out each letter and puts space between the letters. Even if you detach the letters and move them together so that they overlap like a single word in cursive, the Cricut will still cut all of the letters out individually. This is where Weld comes in handy!

The practice file I used above for the arrow example also has some text for you to practice connecting letters.

Open the practice file in Cricut Design Space.

There should already be a text layer with the word “hello” written in it, but if not, just click the Text tool and type a word in a new layer. I used the Elizabeth font from the Cricut library for this (free with Cricut Access) but you can use any script font you’d like.

How to weld in cricut design space how to weld letters

Select the text layer by clicking on the text itself, or by clicking on the layer in the Layers panel. Once the text is selected the Font Edit toolbar should appear at the top of the screen underneath the normal Edit toolbar.

Click the dropdown icon under the “Advanced” menu in the Font Edit toolbar, then select Ungroup To Letters.

How to weld in cricut design space separate into letters

This will split your text into five separate layers: one for each letter.

Get rid of the space between the letters by selecting each letter individually and moving it so that it slightly overlaps the previous letter.

NOTE: You can also get rid of the space between the letters by selecting the text and then reducing the “Letter Space” number in the Font Edit toolbar. This will automatically move the letters closer together, and it usually works pretty well. But it doesn’t allow you to move one letter closer together than another letter, so I always just end up Ungrouping the letters and moving them manually anyway to “perfect” the look of the final word.

How to weld in cricut design space move letters to overlap

Once all the letters are overlapping and positioned where you want them, select the entire word. You can click and drag a square around the word to select all of the letter layers, or you can select one letter, then hold Shift on your keyboard while selecting the other letters to select them all at the same time. You can also select one layer in the Layers panel, then hold Shift on your keyboard while clicking on all the other layers until all of the letters are selected.

Once you have at least two layers selected, the Weld tool at the bottom of the Layers panel should activate (it should be black and clickable instead of greyed out).

Click “Weld” to weld the selected letters into a single shape.

How to weld in cricut design space how to connect letters on cricut

The cut lines in between the overlapping letters will disappear and you’ll be left with a single “shape”: just the outline of the word “hello”.

Learn how to connect letters in cricut design space

Just like with welding images, the new single layer will be renamed as “Weld Result” and you can now move it around or work with it just like you would any other single shape.

Simplifying designs into fewer “pieces”

If your design has multiple shapes, but you want them all to be cut out of a single material, or even merged together to be one single cut piece, the Cricut weld tool is perfect for that!

Here is a great example of combining text and a shape into a single cut image using Weld.

The arrow and hello examples above are two more great examples of welding with overlapping shapes. But you could also weld multiple images or words together even if they aren’t overlapping…

For example, let’s say you draw a heart shape using the Shapes tool, add text using the Text tool, and find a butterfly image you want to cut out from the Cricut image library. All three of those shapes are separate layers, and potentially three different colors, which means three different mats when you cut. But if they are all supposed to be cut out from a single material, you can Weld the three layers together, even if the shapes don’t overlap.

Just position the shapes where you want them, select all the layers, and click Weld. All three shapes will automatically merge down to become a single layer, simplifying your design from three layers and colors to one single layer!

Weld so you can Slice multiple images at once

Another reason to weld shapes that aren’t overlapping is so that you can use the Slice tool to slice multiple images at once.

If you remember from the Slice tutorial, you can only slice exactly two layers at a time. But what if you have something like the American flag where you’d like to “punch out” 50 stars from a single background shape. No one wants to have to Slice out 50 individual stars!

Here is a good example of welding multiple stars together to create a single “image” so the stars can be punched out of a background shape all together in a single Slice.

Troubleshooting common Cricut Design Space welding problems

Parts of my letters disappeared after welding

The most common welding problem in Cricut Design Space is that sometimes Weld fills in the center of a letter when welding a word. It doesn’t happen consistently, but when it does it’s super annoying! This can happen even if there wasn’t an overlapping shape covering the letter.

The best way to fix this issue is to resize your word and make it really big before welding. Sometimes you’ll notice a weird overlap or spacing issue that you didn’t see before when the font was smaller and you can move the letters around to fix it. And sometimes I think the software just loses a little bit of the details in the lines when welding, so making the font bigger before welding always helps make sure the detail is preserved. After you’ve successfully welded your GIANT word together, you can size it back down to whatever size you need.

The Weld button is greyed out

In order to “activate” the Cricut weld tool (make it black and clickable instead of greyed out) you have to select at least two visible shapes or layers. If you only have one image selected, or one of your layers is hidden, the button may be greyed out.

My hidden layers disappeared

If one of the images you selected was grouped with a hidden layer, that hidden layer will disappear after you Weld. Welding only deals with the visible shapes, so hidden layers don’t affect the shape of the welded image, and they (along with all other selected layers) are “merged down” into a single Weld Result layer after welding.

If you still want those hidden layers, ungroup them or unhide them before welding, and make sure they aren’t selected. Then they will still be there after welding.

My text is no longer editable

The Cricut weld feature only deals with visible “shapes.” Even though, to the human eye, text is made up of letters and words, to Design Space it is just the shapes of the letters. After it finishes welding, everything is converted into a single “Weld Result” image, which is just the outline of all the welded letters. This means even that even though it still looks like a word made up of letters to us, Design Space now sees it as one single object.

If you want to still have an editable text layer after welding, just make a copy of your text layer and set it aside. Then, after the text layer is welded and converted into a shape, the copy will still be editable.

I made my project and now I want to “un-weld” the images so I can use them for something else

Yikes…welding is permanent! If you accidentally welded something you didn’t mean to, you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action. But once you save your project, the weld can’t be reversed this way (or any other way!)

If you think you might need those shapes separately as well as welded, make a copy of the shapes and set them aside BEFORE you Weld them. Then you can weld one copy together for your project and still have an un-welded version to work with later.


Hope that helps you understand more about the Cricut Weld tool in Design Space. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer!

Learn how to weld images and connect letters in cricut design space

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What does weld mean in cricut design space

How To Weld In Cricut Design Space

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Wondering how to use the Cricut weld tool in Design Space? Here is everything you need to know, from what weld means and how to use it to create shapes and connect cursive letters, to troubleshooting some of the most common Cricut Design Space welding problems.
Active Time 5 minutes

Equipment

Instructions
 

Using Weld to create custom shapes

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space with multiple shapes or letters.
    How to weld in cricut design space combine two shapes to make a new shape
  • Select one of the shapes and position it so that it is overlapping the other image.
    How to weld in cricut design space overlap two shapes
  • Select both images and click "Weld". You will end up with a single layer containing the welded image.
    How to weld in cricut design space click weld to attach them

How to connect letters in Cricut Design Space using Weld

  • Create or open a project in Cricut Design Space and add text in a script font.
    How to weld in cricut design space how to weld letters
  • Select the text and choose "Ungroup To Letters" from the "Advanced" dropdown menu in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
    How to weld in cricut design space separate into letters
  • Select each letter individually and position it so that it is overlapping the previous letter.
    How to weld in cricut design space move letters to overlap
  • Select all of the letters at once and click "Weld". You will end up with a single layer containing the welded word.
    Learn how to connect letters in cricut design space

Notes

Using Weld in Cricut Design Space is pretty simple, but there are a few rules you have to follow.
  • You must be working with at least two shapes/layers. You can’t weld a single layer; the Weld button will be greyed out if only one layer is selected.
  • Welding always merges shapes “down” to the bottom layer. If your layers are different colors, the final Weld Result will be the color of the bottom layer.
  • Weld works even if the images are grouped, attached, or multi-layered/hidden. Design Space will automatically ungroup or un-attach any grouped or attached layers when you weld them.
  • Hidden layers will disappear after welding. If you want to keep any hidden layers of a multi-layer image, be sure to unhide them before welding.
  • Weld only works on overlapping images. Your shapes must have overlapping or intersecting cut lines for Weld to combine them into a single shape.
  • …unless you purposely are trying to weld images that aren’t touching. If your shapes aren’t stacked on top of each other, welding them will basically just “merge down” the top shape into the bottom layer without actually modifying the shapes themselves.
  • Welding text is the same as welding images. The Weld tool doesn’t treat text any different from any other image or shape, regardless of whether you are welding an entire word or you’ve already ungrouped the text to letters.
  • Welding is permanent and can’t be undone. Once you save your project after welding, it can’t be reversed. But obviously if you just welded something by accident you can alway click Undo or press Command/Ctrl + Z on your keyboard to undo the action; just click Undo before saving!
Remember, you can also get rid of the space between the letters by selecting the text and then reducing the “Letter Space” number in the Font Edit toolbar. This will automatically move the letters closer together, and it usually works pretty well. But you still have to select the word and click Weld or the letters will still be cut out individually even though they appear to be overlapping.

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Jessi Wohlwend

I believe that anyone can do crafts and DIY projects, regardless of skill or experience. I love sharing simple craft ideas, step by step DIY project tutorials, cleaning hacks, and other tips and tricks all with one goal in mind: giving you the tools you need to “do it yourself”, complete fun projects, and make awesome things!

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