How to Upload Your Own Images and Drawings Into the Cricut Design Space

Upload your own Cricut images and drawings into the Design Space for endless project ideas and options! Here’s a full tutorial to show you how easy it is :)

Image with wreath and framed picture created by uploading your own cricut images and drawings

Good morning! People often ask me what my favorite DIY tool is. I think they expect me to say a tool (in which case I would say scroll saw!), but I usually tell them that it’s my Cricut! Not only is there a huge database of Cricut images to use for DIY Crafts and home décor projects, you can also upload your own Cricut images for your DIY projects too.

Hello template created as a PDF exported to a JPEG

If you own a Cricut and you haven’t used this feature yet, you’re going to thank you very soon! You can draw your own images and scan them to your computer, or download pictures that you want to use for your own DIY signs, pillows, artwork – you name it!

If you have a PDF image, you must save it as an image before you upload it.

Image describing how to upload your own image or drawing into cricut design space

Once you open the Cricut Design Space, chose upload image.

Image depicting how to upload your own image or drawing to cricut design space

Then you can choose an image from your computer to upload.

Image with arrow pointing to the single image option on the upload screen

My image was pretty simple, so I selected the simple option.

Erasing the negative space on the uploaded drawing on the cricut design space

Then you just click on the white areas around your image so that they are eliminated from the image.

Image to show to choose to save the image as a cut image not a print then cut image

I saved mine as a cut image, but you can also print the image and then cut around it.

Choosing the uploaded image or drawing on cricut design space

Now that image will be saved in your images, so you can use it in your projects!

Uploaded image or drawing in cricut design space

SO simple! See why I LOVE my Cricut Air Explore 2?! I’ve used this feature to make perfect vinyl stencils for wood signs, like the one below.

Completed project from uploading your own image or drawing into cricut design space
Hello image cut out of wood using cricut maker

If you want to know how to go from a vinyl stencil to a beautiful Wood Sign – I shared that step by step tutorial HERE.

Image with text overlay

Image with text overlay

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15 thoughts on “How to Upload Your Own Images and Drawings Into the Cricut Design Space

  1. That is super cute. I’ve been itching to dabble with making decor.
    I do have a question, I have the
    Explore 2, I’m having trouble figuring out how to write on projects.

    1. Hey Cassandra! I’ve used the writing function many times – love it! Here’s one tutorial that shows how to use it. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!

  2. I love this “Hello” template! Thank you for sharing! I just purchased my first ever Cricut and have so much to learn. I am looking forward to receiving your emails to help me along the way to creating many beautiful things!

    1. Oh! I’m so glad! Please ask if you have any questions! I’m so happy to help whenever I can! Also, I’d LOVE to see what you make with the “Hello” :)

  3. Thank you for this! I’ve been struggling to find a simple tutorial for this, given its the main reason I got my Cricut. I have a question, if you can help! How do you set your Cricut to then draw this custom design instead of cutting it? I make cards and would like to be able to upload my drawn designs and have the Cricut draw them for me when needed (huge time saver!)

    I have the Cricut Explore Air 2.

    Any help is appreciated!

    1. Oh amazing! I’m so glad the tutorial was helpful! Once you have your image uploaded, you go to the layers bar on the right hand side. Beside your image there will be a tiny scissors icon – click on that. It will open another side bar, and at the top you can see “write” with a pen image – click that and the Cricut will switch to drawing your image.

      Hope that helps!

  4. I don’t understand “click on the white areas around the image so they are eliminated”. I am definitely stuck in this step. I have successfully uploaded my image but I keep getting an error that my image is too big. I think it is reading the blank space as part of the image? In any event what do you mean here and specifically how do I do it?

    1. Hi Corinne,

      If your image is too big, that might be what is preventing you from uploading and manipulating it correctly. There are free services, such as PicMonkey.com, that you can use to Crop your images into a small size if you need to. If it’s the right size, you should be able to just click on any part of the image that isn’t part of the design you want, and it will make it transparent (and put a checkerboard pattern in to represent the fact that you’ve removed that part of the image). If you have more questions, let me know!

      1. Thanks I’ll try that. Another issue we discovered is that our bow template wasn’t completely closed. we had one end against the edge of paper so when it came over that end was ‘open’. So when we clicked outside the bow the entire page erased. The software couldn’t tell the difference between the inside and outside because of the open end. Once we closed the end, it worked.

        our problem now is that we traced the bow template and when we scan and upload the edges aren’t clean so the cuts aren’t clean. Any suggestion for making a clean line when we trace manually? or is there a program that will clean up the lines? We also tried puitting the bow template (which is cardboard) into the scanner and scanning directly but that also does not give a clean enough line.

        1. I’ve done this before and used a thicker line – like a black marker. And the Cricut Design space was able to pick up my design outlines from that! Worth a try :)

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