Using Group and Ungroup in Cricut Design Space is a Design Space tutorial that every Cricut beginner needs!
Deciphering between Group, Attach and Weld can be some of the most confusing parts of starting in the Design Space app. However, once you understand the basic differences and when to use each, you are on your way to becoming a Cricut expert.
Prefer learning by watching? Scroll down to the video tutorial to watch a sample of how, when and why I used the Group feature in a sample Cricut project.
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What is the Group Tool in Design Space?
The Group tool in Design Space connects text and images on your design canvas so they stay together and move and size in unison. You can Group and Ungroup text, shapes, images and multiple layers.
Grouping items can easily be undone with the ungroup feature at any time. This makes it easy to make changes and adjustments while creating your design.
However, the Group and Ungroup tools will only work during the design stage on the canvas itself. Your grouping will not carry over to the cutting mat when you are ready to cut your project. (Need that feature? Read up on the Attach tool.)
When To Use Group in Cricut Design Space
Use the Group feature to connect individual images and text into a singular group that moves as one new independent design. The most frequently used reasons for Grouping items include:
- Keeping design pieces together once they have been placed exactly where you want them.
- Connecting text and images together so you can size them all to be larger or smaller while staying their same relative aspect ratio to one another.
- Grouping text and images that you want to change all at once into a new color or cut type.
Video Tutorial of The Group Tool in Cricut Design Space
Video Transcript Key Pieces
If you prefer to read instead of watch, I have broken down the transcript from the video into an actionable guide below. Open up Design Space and try our the Group feature at your own pace while you follow along!
If you're a beginner I know that Group, Attach and Weld are some of the most overlapping-sounding functions. Early on it can be tough to decide how and when to use them and how they differ. So, in this tutorial I am going to focus only on Group and Ungroup and talk to you about the right way to use these functions.
Follow Along And Try The Activity With Me!
As you can see I have already started in a blank new canvas. I am going to scroll over to “Images” and I'll just drop in a sunflower design today. Let's go ahead and make it a nice gold color just for looks.
Once your image is highlighted, just scroll on over to the right and click “Duplicate.” You will see that it creates a copy of your image. I went ahead and put five sunflowers on the Canvas for this example.
Now, for speed here, I didn't worry about symmetry. But let's say this is the exact final placement I want for each of my five sunflowers. However, now I am realizing that I want them each to bit a bit larger.
Instead of sizing up one sunflower at a time and trying to make sure each one is the same size, this is the perfect time to use the Group tool. By using the Group tool, we can group all five sunflowers so they move together and size in unison.
How To Select All Objects For Your Group
Option One. If you want to select every image on your canvas as part of your group, here's the quickest way to select them all.
Move your cursor to a corner of the canvas. Click, hold and drag so you are drawing a box around all of your images and text at the same time.
Once they are all selected, scroll to the right menu bar. At the top, you'll see the “Group” tool. Go ahead and click that to Group all objects in your selection.
Now you will notice that when you try to click a single sunflower to resize it, the selection box no longer stays just around one sunflower. It automatically selects your entire Group of objects.
Option Two. If you do not want to select every object on your canvas as part of the group, you can still select them one by one. Hold down the “Shift” key on your keyboard as you click each item individually. Then, click your “Group” tool to group the items.
When would you use this slower method instead? Let's say you had gold sunflowers and also red sunflowers on your image. If you wanted all of the gold sunflowers to be larger, you might put them in their own group to keep them separate from the red. You may also want your image grouping to be separate from any text in your design so they can be sized and moved separately.
What Happens With Grouped Objects
Once objects are grouped together, they will stay in their same position relative to one another. This makes it easy to move the entire group at once on your canvas. Perfect if you want to shift everything left, right, up or down.
The group will also stay in the same relative position and act as one singular image when you size it larger or smaller.
Additionally, grouped text and images will change colors together as well. If you do not want all of the items in a group to be the same color, you need to change each color before grouping the items together. The good news is they will keep their original colors once you Group them.
However, if the items are grouped and you try to change a color, everything in the group will change to the new color. If this wasn't your plan, you will have to ungroup the items first, change color, and then reconnect your grouping.
Ungrouping Objects
One feature that is nice about Grouping is that you can just as easily Ungroup the objects at any time. (This is not true for the Weld feature, which you will learn about in the Weld tutorial.)
Select a Group of images on your canvas. Now, scroll to the right and look back at the menu where the “Group” tool was. You will notice that to the right, you are now able to select the “Ungroup” tool. Easy to keep track of, and to remember which images were originally several separate ones!
If the “Ungroup” feature is not selectable (aka grayed out), one of two things is happening. Either you do not have a Group selected in the first place, or you have a Group plus an extra image selected, so you are still seeing the “Group” feature in case you are trying to join more pieces into your original grouping.
Think About “Grouping” Like Using a Stapler With Pieces of Paper
One way to think about using the Group tool in Design Space is by comparing it to using a stapler with a stack of papers.
If you staple two pieces of paper together, that's now a group.
Let's say you want to add three more pieces of paper to the stack. You have two options. Option one: simply add the three extra papers, and add another staple. You will have a stack of five papers (a new larger group), but with 2 separate staples (two smaller groups.)
That might be a good thing – like if you will want to separate the groups into their smaller sets again later. Or, it may be messy because what you know you want is one single, simple group of your final image.
In that case, use option two. Option two: Ungroup your first small set (“remove the staple” from the first two papers.) Then, create one large group (“one staple”) with all five papers at one time. This creates a cleaner, simpler grouping.
