New Cricut crafters often stick with the common text and image functions and miss out on a huge opportunity to customize their projects even further. That's why I want to make sure you know how to use slice in Cricut Design Space like a pro!
I promise it's simple once you get the hang of it. And it will make you realize just how much more you can do with your Cricut – even if you never pay for a single SVG file!
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What is Slice in Cricut Design Space?
Using Slice allows you to cut a specific section out of a shape or image to customize it in your own way. You can use the Slice tool for simple functions or complex ones to fully redesign a project in a few simple steps.
Slice uses one layer of a shape to overlap another and then cut out the part that overlaps. You ultimately create an entirely new shape with the remaining image. Actually, you end up with two or three new shapes because of how each layer looks when you are done!
You can use the Slice tool with shapes, images and even text.
As long as you follow some of the key points about using Slice with your Cricut, the Slice tool should be “clickable” (aka not grayed out.)
Keys to Using Slice in Cricut Design Space
If you have problems using Slice in Design Space, start by making sure you only have two layers selected.
The easiest way to do this is to look over to the Layers Menu on the right side of the canvas. Only two items should be highlighted (well, really they are just a darker gray instead of “highlighted.”)
If one of your images is multilayered, you will need to either Ungroup the image to select the single layer you are trying to use with slice, or you can click that “eyeball” icon in the Layers menu. This icon toggles the visibility of layers and makes it so much easier to work in Design Space!
Also note that the layer you put on top is the layer you will cut out of the second layer below.
Below, I will show you a demo about how to use Slice in Cricut Design Space and hopefully it will inspire you to see what you can create next!
Slice Shapes for Cricut
One of the first and easiest ways to learn how to use Slice in Cricut Design Space is to practice slicing a small version of a shape out of the middle of a larger version of the same shape.
In the tutorial below, I chose to insert two stars from the Design Menu on the left.
I made the large star blue and the small red for ease of demonstration, but you don't have to change the colors unless you want to.
Step 1: Add your shapes to the canvas.
The key with Slice in Cricut Design Space is that only two layers can be sliced at a time.
Here, we are putting a small red star on top of the larger blue star, which will cut out – or “Slice” – all of the area that is overlapped between the two shapes.
Think of it as a cookie cutter and dough. The top layer will always act like a cookie cutter and will slice out that shape from the dough below it. When you pull the top layer cookie cutter away, you will be left with two new shapes of dough. One is the small star, and the other is the large dough with a new chunk missing (in this case, missing a chunk of smaller star in the middle!)
Step 2: Position the top layer exactly over the area you want to slice.
Remember, the top layer – here, our small star – is going to remove everything below it from your original image.
When I use Slice to make open frame shapes like we are doing here, I always like to use the “Align” tool on the top menu bar to make sure they are perfectly centered.
Step 3: Highlight both layers at the same time and hit “Slice” on the bottom right corner of your screen.
You can do this by holding down “Shift” on your keyboard and clicking both images on either the canvas or the righthand layers bar. You can also left-click your mouse on the canvas and hold it down while you drag it across the images (like I have done in the picture above.)
When two layers are appropriately selected, the Slice tool will become an active menu option. If it is grayed out, double check that you have selected only two layers.
Step 4: Drag apart the sliced layers and delete what you don't need.
Drag the top layer away from the image. You'll see the top layer – our red star – is still fully in tact. You can keep it to use again or delete it depending on your project.
Now you will see a thin outline where the slice was made. See the image below on the left. If you are following along, that is how your screen will look.
To help you see the cut image, I changed the sliced out piece to a purple color in the image on the right below. (Get it? Red and blue overlapped there so now it's purple! It just won't do that on your screen.)
Drag the cut portion away, and use or delete as needed, just like above.
Slice Results
Tah-dah! You are done.
If you followed the tutorial steps, you will have the three layers below. You can move them however you want. They are now their own individual object layers.
And remember, you truly cut away the entire inside of the shape, so now it's transparent! I added a light gray circle below just to help you visualize.
You can use this new object as a frame, new shape or keep slicing for an entirely new design. The possibilities are endless!
Slice Words Out Of Shapes
The great thing about learning how to use Slice in Cricut Design Space is that once you learn, you can apply it to text and images, too.
Let's try an example with the word “Love” and slice it our of a basic heart shape.
Note that a text box is a single layer in Design Space. This means that you do not have to slice one letter at a time.
The word “love” is considered one unified layer and becomes our “cookie cutter.” It slices out a new “love” layer all at once from the heart below.
Drag away the original and the sliced pieces, and delete what you don't need.
Finished! You can now make some of the most trendy designs people love (pun definitely intended.)
Why Slicer is Greyed Out
One of the most common – and most frustrating- problems new Cricut users have is when the Slice option is deactivated or “greyed out.”
Always remember this. The most important rule to using Slice in Design Space is only two layers can be selected at a time.
If the slice tool is greyed out and can't be clicked, you either have more or less than two layers selected.
Let's add on to the love design and see this in action.
Example of Slice Not Working
In the canvas below, I added an extra flower graphic to my sliced love heart.
I highlighted the flower and the heart just like before, but suddenly this time my slice option at the bottom of the screen is greyed out.
Didn't I just learn how to do this perfectly?
What is happening?!
Let's fix this.
Look at the image above, and glance over to the right-hand Layers menu panel. Do you see the layer for “Flower” with three layers below it? Black, white and light pink. All three of those layers are currently highlighted.
Then, look three lines lower and note that the “Slice Result” with the heart image is also highlighted.
So, even though you THINK you selected a one-layer flower to slice from your heart, this panel is telling you that you have FOUR layers selected.
Don't worry. Now we can resolve this quickly and easily.
When we added the flower to the canvas, it looked like a simple, single-color image. But if we turn on and off the layers, we can see there is actually a faint, light pink base layer, then a white layer above it and finally the black layer with all of the details added in.
If we had zoomed in to the image, we would have seen the image as a thin pink outline around a black and white flower.
All we have to do to fix this – now that we know what is happening – is to toggle off the two layers we do not want to slice.
For this image, I liked the black flower graphic with all of the details. So, all I have to do is turn off the white and pink layers by clicking the eye-ball icon next to each one.
In the canvas screenshot below, you can see that the eye icons have a diagonal line through them, meaning they are “off.”
This effectively let me treat the flower image like there was only one single layer. When I combine that with my heart, I have the two layers needed for slice.
Problem solved!
You can turn the layers back on at any time if you want or need them. You can also delete them individually.
For the project below, I don't need them so I just ignored them and can go ahead and get ready to cut out this project as-is.
Cricut Coach Summary
Do you feel better about how to use Slice in Cricut Design Space now? Can you start to see some of the potential ahead of you?
Let me know if this was helpful in the comments below. If anything is unclear or left out, I want to make sure to fill in the gaps and help you master your Cricut cutting machine!!
