How to Make a Stencil With a Cricut (and Get the Design Right First)

To make a stencil with a Cricut, you need a clean SVG with every enclosed shape bridged, then you upload it to Design Space, pick the right material setting and cut it on a StandardGrip mat. The machine is the easy bit. Design Space cuts exactly what you give it, so the result is decided before you ever press Go.

That's the part most guides skip, so I'll start there.

Why the design matters more than the machine

A Cricut doesn't know what a stencil is. It sees lines and cuts them. If your design has an "island" (a shape fully enclosed by a cut, like the middle of an O, the pupil of an eye or the gap between a dog's legs), the Cricut will cut it out perfectly and it will fall straight out of your stencil. You'll be left with a hole where the detail should be.

The fix is a bridge: a thin strip of material that connects the island back to the rest of the stencil so it stays put. Bridges have to be in the file before you upload. Design Space has no tool for adding them.

The other thing the file has to get right is layers. If you're doing more than one colour, each colour is its own stencil sheet, and they all need to line up when you paint. That needs registration marks (small alignment marks in the same spot on every sheet).

What you need

• A Cricut machine (Maker, Explore or Joy) and Design Space
• A StandardGrip mat (the green one) for mylar, card and vinyl
• Stencil material: 7.5 mil mylar (about 0.19mm thick) for reusable stencils, or adhesive or stencil vinyl for one-off jobs
• Fine-Point Blade (the one that comes with the machine)
• Transfer tape, if you're cutting vinyl
• A weeding hook, if you're cutting vinyl

Mylar or vinyl?

If you want a stencil you'll use again, go mylar. If you want the sharpest possible line on one surface, go vinyl. There's more on picking materials in stencil materials for beginners.

Step 1: Make the stencil file

You can draw a stencil in Design Space, but if you're starting from a photo or a drawing you've got, it's much quicker to build the file first and bring it in finished.

1. Open the Cricut stencil maker and upload your photo or drawing. It works in the browser, on your phone too.
2. Pick how many layers you want (one per paint colour). One or two layers is plenty for a first cut.
3. Check the bridges. Islands get bridged automatically, but look over every layer and draw extra bridges by hand anywhere a shape looks fragile. The bridging tutorial shows how.
4. Adjust the detail per layer. Tiny specks that a blade can't cut cleanly are better removed now than picked off the mat later.
5. Export the Cricut file. It puts all your layers in one cut-ready SVG with corner marks, so every layer comes into Design Space at the same size.

Cricut-ready export is a Pro feature (or a one-off unlock for that project). If you're on a free account, you can still download a PDF or PNG, print it and cut by hand. The export formats tutorial explains what each format is for.

Step 2: Upload the SVG to Design Space

This is the exact path on the desktop version. Menu names shift slightly between versions, but the order is the same.

1. Open Design Space and start a New Project.
2. Click Upload in the left-hand panel.
3. Click Upload Image, then Browse, and pick your .svg file.
4. Click Upload. The file now shows in your Recent Uploads.
5. Tick it and click Add to Canvas.

Upload the SVG, not a PNG. A PNG goes through Design Space's image clean-up, which can soften edges and lose fine bridges. An SVG comes in as cut lines, exactly as you made it.

Check the size before anything else

Look at the width and height in the top toolbar and compare them to what you designed. SVGs sometimes import at a different size. Fix it now with the padlock closed so the proportions stay the same.

Keep in mind the cut area. On a 12 by 12 inch mat you get roughly 11.5 inches square. Anything bigger needs the 12 by 24 mat or splitting into sections.

Keep the layers lined up

Each colour in the SVG usually lands on its own mat, which is what you want: one mat per stencil sheet. If any layer is made of separate pieces, select them and click Attach at the bottom of the Layers panel so Design Space doesn't shuffle them around the mat to save space. Leave the corner marks in. They're what keep every sheet the same size.

Step 3: Pick the cut settings

1. Click Make in the top right (older versions say Make It).
2. Choose On Mat and the mat size, then Continue.
3. Leave Mirror off. Mirroring is for iron-on vinyl. A painting stencil should read the right way round.
4. Connect your machine.
5. Click Browse All Materials and search "stencil" or "vinyl". On an Explore Air 2, turn the dial to Custom first so the list appears.

Which material to pick:

• 7.5 mil mylar: start with the stencil film setting and set pressure to More. If it doesn't cut all the way through, try a heavier preset or add a second pass. Mylar varies between brands, so this one needs a test.
• Adhesive or stencil vinyl: use the matching vinyl or stencil vinyl preset at default pressure. These are very reliable.

Do a test cut first

Every machine, blade and roll of mylar is slightly different. Before you cut the full stencil, add a small shape (a 2cm star or circle is ideal) to a corner of the mat and cut that alone. Peel it off. If it lifts cleanly with no tearing at the corners, cut the real thing. If it hangs on, add pressure or a pass and test again.

Step 4: Cut, unload and weed

1. Lay the material on the StandardGrip mat, shiny or liner side down, and press it flat with your hand or a scraper.
2. Load the mat and press Go.
3. Before unloading, peel back one corner and check the cut went all the way through. If not, press Go again without unloading.
4. Unload the mat, then flip it over and peel the mat away from the stencil (not the stencil off the mat). This stops thin bridges from curling or tearing.

For vinyl, you weed the parts you want to paint, leaving the background behind. Then put transfer tape over the top, peel the stencil off its backing and lay it on your surface.

Common mistakes

• Uploading a design with no bridges. The centres fall out and you've wasted a sheet. Fix it in the file, not in Design Space.
• Letting Design Space rearrange the mat. Attach multi-piece layers or your registration goes out.
• Cutting a huge stencil on a small mat. If the design is bigger than the cut area, it won't fit.
• Mirroring a paint stencil. It'll come out backwards.
• Bridges thinner than the blade can handle. Very thin bridges on mylar can snap. Thicken them in the file.
• Skipping the test cut. It's 30 seconds and saves a whole sheet.

FAQ

Can a Cricut cut mylar stencils?

Yes. Cricut machines cut thin mylar (around 7.5 mil) well with the Fine-Point Blade. Thicker sheets get harder. Always do a small test cut, because mylar varies between brands.

What file type does Cricut need for a stencil?

SVG is the best choice because it comes in as clean cut lines. PNG and JPG work too, but Design Space has to trace them, which can blur fine detail and lose bridges.

How do I make a multi-colour stencil on a Cricut?

Make one stencil sheet per colour, with registration marks on each so they line up when you paint. Design Space usually sends each colour to its own mat. There's a full walkthrough in how to make a multi-layer stencil.

Why did my stencil fall apart after cutting?

Usually islands with no bridges, or bridges that were too thin. Peeling the stencil off the mat (instead of the mat off the stencil) can also tear thin sections.

Ready to try it? Upload a photo to Free Stencil Maker, check the bridges, export your Cricut file and you can be cutting in ten minutes.