Creating a "Word Book" with Cricut Design Studio

Let me start by saying - I am not an expert!  But my word books are coming out pretty well, so I thought I would share how I make them!  Feel free to comment if you have any questions or tips!

GETTING STARTED

Open DSS and determine which cartridges you will want for your book.  You will need at least one cartridge with a solid rectangle or square.

For this book, I used George for both, just to keep it simple!

CREATING THE FIRST PAGE

1. Before you add any shapes or letters to the first page, click the Shadow feature button.

2. On the first page, click the rectangle or square shape that you want to use.  Adjust it to the height that you want your book to be.  You can also use the arrows on the bounding box to change the width of the shape.  (You may want it to be “thinner” or “wider” depending on the word you are going to do.)

3. Once you have adjusted the shape, click elsewhere on the mat, so that the shape will no longer be selected.

4. Click the first letter of the word you want to make.  Once you get the hang of this, you may want to alternate between upper and lower case letters, but initially, I found it easier to go with all caps.

5. Use the bounding box “slider” to adjust the letter so that it overlaps the shape.  (This is for welding, which we will do later.)  Adjust the height and width of the letter to your taste.

CREATING THE SECOND PAGE 

1. Click View, then New Page.

2. Return to the first page, click on the rectangle to select it (you should see the bounding box), then click Copy.

3. Go to the new page and click Paste.  This will place the rectangle in exactly the same place as it is on the L page.

4. Click the Preview button.  You will see the images from the first page layered over the rectangle on page 2.

5. Grab the bounding arrow (points to the right) and stretch the rectangle on page 2 so that it is wider than the original.  Click off on the mat to deselect the rectangle, then click the letter O.  When the O appears, move it to the right.

6. In the image here, I don’t like how the O looks – too far away from the L, and a little too big, so now I use the arrows on the bounding box to adjust the rectangle and O to my taste.  Then I click the preview button again to see how it looks.

 

To create the rest of the pages for your book, simply repeat steps 1-6.

PREVIEW

Throughout this process, you can return to the previous pages and make adjustments.  After each adjustment, click the Preview (eye) again to refresh the preview.  If you no longer wish to see the preview, click View, then Clear Preview.

RENAMING THE PAGES

You may find it easier to rename your pages as you go!  All you have to do is right-click on the mat, type over the current name (white box), then click “Change Page Name” (or hit Enter).

CREATING THE LETTERS (for shadowing)

1. Click View, then New Page.

2. Click View, then Clear Preview. 

3. De-select the Shadow feature button.

4. Return to the first page, and make sure that nothing is selected.  Click the letter again for that page.

5. Use the bounding box arrows to move the new letter over the original shadow letter.  Adjust the new letter to sit “within” the shadowed letter.  (If you adjusted the shape of the shadowed letter, you will have to do this on the new letter as well.)

6. Once you have the new letter adjusted, click Copy.  Go to the last page (blank) and click Paste.  Return to the first page and click Delete to remove the new letter.

Repeat these steps on each page until you have all of the letters on the last page.  You can then rearrange the layout of those letters to save paper!

WELDING THE PAGES TOGETHER

Once you have the pages laid out, you need to go back and weld the letters to the square/rectangles to make your pages.

1. Return to the first page.  Click the square/rectangle (bounding box should appear), then click the Welding box (a check should appear).  Click the letter, then click the Welding box again.

2. Repeat on each page, on each shape and letter.  (You do not need to do this on the “letters” page.)

3. Click Preview, and you will see your bold, welded lines.  Make sure everything looks the way you want it, then cut!

Be sure to save all of your hard work!

Here is the cut file I created while making the examples!     Download love_george.cut

Comments

[ScrappingALL]

Ok....this should help me make a word book. Are the separate letters for on top of the cardstock?

Right? Yea...I think so.
Sheila

[Schelinski]

Thank you so much for this great lesson!!! I just downloaded the trial version, and was at a huge loss as to where to begin!!! I worked really hard and long, but finally have a word book ready to decorate!!! I will be posting it on our blog soon, if you want to watch for it.... http://inconsistentart.blogspot.com/

Thanks again!!!!!

[Wendy Kidd]

Thank you, thank you! This is so much easier than the last tutorial I tried to follow! I think I can actually make a word book now!

[LB]

Thanks so much for this. I never thoguht I would be able to make a word book but I got great help with this.