Learn How to Download Digital Files from the Resource Library and use them in Cricut Design Space
You will be vibin’ with this layout when you see how fun and easy it is to upload zip files to Cricut Design Space and customize them for your next scrapbook layout. This tutorial walks you through how to upload zip files to Cricut Design Space beginning with downloading digital files from the FREE Resource Library. This tutorial concludes with customizing the files to fit your layout. Want to see these steps in action? Skip to the end of the tutorial and watch the video.
Don’t have a Cricut? No worries, the digital files are bundled in a variety of formats including SVG, DXF, EPS, PNG and PDF. They will work with a variety of electronic cutting machines including Cricut, Silhouette, Scan N Cut and Sure Cuts a Lot. While you can use these files on a variety of cutting machines, this tutorial specifically walks through how to use them with the Cricut Design Space software.
Accessing the Free Resource Library
To get started, let’s access the file from the FREE Resource Library at MollyQCreates.com. The library is password protected. To get the password, simply sign up for the weekly newsletter and you’ll receive the password along with updates about the new designs and tutorials added to the library. Don’t worry, you can always unsubscribe and keep the password if you do not want to receive weekly updates. I also value and protect your privacy and do not sell my subscriber list.
You can subscribe using the form below. There is also an email sign up at the bottom of this post.
Once you have the password, you can access the Resource Library by selecting it in the top menu bar. Find the pattern you are looking for. For the Summer Vibes layout, you are looking for pattern 2A under the Patterns and Titles Section. Click once on “2A – Summer Vibes Layout Files” or whichever file you are looking for.
Downloading the File
Depending on the browser you are using will determine where the downloaded files show up on your screen. In Edge, the download folder appears in the top right corner. In Chrome, the download folder appears in the bottom left corner of your screen, as in the snapshot below. Regardless of the browser you are using, you can always go to the Downloads folder to retrieve the files.
Click on the download and you will see a screen asking you to Extract all. Select Extract All and then browse to where you want the files saved on your computer.
Saving the File on Your Computer
Where you want them saved is a personal choice. For me, I like to have all of my digital downloads in one file, so I created a file titled Digital Designs. Within the folder, I have a separate folder for each digital download. Because I like to know where I downloaded the files from, I name my folders with the name of the design, where it was downloaded from and the type of license it has. For this file, I would name it: Summer Vibes – MollyQCreates.com – Personal Use. All downloads from the MollyQCreates.com Resource Library are for personal use only. If you would like a commercial license so you could sell finished products made with these designs, please visit my Etsy shop.
Once you have the file selected, hit OK and the files will be extracted and saved in that file. Please note that this digital design, like all digital designs in the Resource Library, is saved in a variety of formats for your convenience. However, to keep your computer clean from files you will not use, you may delete them at this time. For instance, if you have a Cricut and only intend to use the file with the Cricut, you can keep the SVG file and delete the DXF, PNG, EPS and PDF files. This is strictly optional and your choice. It does not harm your computer to keep these files, but they do use memory and may slow your computer over time.
Uploading to Design Space
Now that the file is downloaded to your computer, you can now bring it into Design Space. To do this, start with a clean canvas. In the left side menu bar, select Upload. It is the bottom tool with an icon of a cloud and arrow pointing up.
On the next screen, select Upload Image.
Then, select Browse on the following screen.
Once you select Browse, you will navigate to the Summer Vibes folder and select the Summer Vibes.SVG file and then Open.
On the next screen, select Upload in the bottom right corner.
Next, select the file. The newest upload shows up furthest to the left. Then select Insert Image in the bottom right corner.
Working with the File in Design Space
At this point, the Summer Vibes design is like any other design or image you have used in Design Space. You can hide layers, delete or duplicate parts of the design, make elements smaller or larger. You can also group and ungroup objects.
If you are happy with the design as is and want to cut everything on the screen, you can select Make It, select your material and start cutting.
Making Changes to the Designs
However, I would like to point out a few changes that I would make to this design and also some options that you have. First, I would ungroup the design so you can work with each individual piece. To Ungroup, make sure the design is highlighted and then select Ungroup in the top right menu, over the layers panel.
The grass in this design is set at 12”. However, a standard 12” cutting mat will only cut designs up to 11 ½”. To cut the grass, you have a couple options. If you have a 12” x 24” cutting mat, you can use that. However, you would have to line it up perfectly with where it would start cutting. For the layout I created, I chose this option. The paper did not align perfectly with the cut, so it was short. I have a gap on both sides of the green and I am fine with that.
However, if you want to avoid the gap, I would suggest selecting each section of grass and making them longer. That way they will fit across the bottom of the layout and cutting them on a 12″x24″ cutting mat. I unlocked the grass first by selecting the Lock icon in the bottom left corner. This will prevent it from staying within proportion and getting taller as I made it wider. After unlocking it, I clicked and dragged the Arrows icon in the bottom right corner.
How to Slice a Design
But if you only have the 12” standard mat, then you can make them smaller by dragging the side in. You will want to unlock it first or it will get thinner as it gets narrower. Or, you can Slice them and then match them up on your layout. There will be a seam, but the grass isn’t very tall and it won’t be too noticeable. To slice the grass, select a square from the Shapes menu in the left menu bar. Place the square over one section of grass so one edge of the square is over the grass where you want to cut it. You may need to resize the square. It is fine if the square is larger, but you do not want the square to have two sides on the grass.
Make sure only the one section of grass and the square are selected (hold shift and select the grass and the square). Select Slice from the bottom right panel, under the layers. Once it has made the cut, delete the square and the grey piece it cut. You will be left with the green grass section. Repeat for the other section of grass.
If you scroll through the layers panel, you will notice there are a few extra pieces which are hidden. You can unhide these and use them in your layout if you wish. For starters, there is a matte layer for the word Vibes. There are the lenses for the sunglasses. The lenses are hidden because it is easier to line up the frames with the silhouette shape of the glasses. There is also a flower stem with no leaves. All of these can be activated by selecting the eye icon to the left of each layer.
What not to Cut and Why
When cutting this design, I hid all of the white squares and cut these on my trimmer. Each white square is ?” larger than the photo. For a 4” x 6” photo, I cut the white mat to 4 ?” x 6 ?”. For the 4” x 4” photo, the white mat is cut to 4 ?” x 4 ?”. The 3” x 4” white photo mat is cut to 3 ?” x 4 ?”.
This layout is designed for 3 – 4”x6” photos, 1 – 3”x4” photo and 1 – 4”x4” photo. If this is not what you have for photos, you can delete the photo mats you don’t want and duplicate the ones you do. That’s the beauty of the digital files. You can change the file to fit your photos and style.
Changing the Design
Another change you could make for this layout is to make the flower smaller, duplicate it several times and put them in a row along the grass or delete or move the sunglasses and put two or three smaller flowers in that area. Before duplicating the flower, make sure to select all of the pieces and group them together. That way, all flower pieces will resize proportionately.
You can also create a 12×12 layout by arranging the pieces on a 12×12 grid in Design Space and deleting or hiding the other pieces. You can also change the colors of the pieces. To change the color of a piece, select the item and then select the color in the Operation menu in the top tool bar.
The great thing about digital files is that the possibilities are endless. Plus, you can use the same digital file for multiple layouts. You can make minor adjustments to the file or simply change the colors and patterns of the paper and no one will know because each layout is uniquely yours!
I’d love to see the layouts you create with this file. Feel free to post them to social media with credit to MollyQCreates.com. You can also post them to my Facebook page – ScrapnTime.
Happy Scrapping!
Molly
View the full video tutorial here
