How to use JPEGs to Make a T-Shirt in Cricut Design Space ♥ Fleece Fun

Learn how to use a JPEG to make a T-Shirt in Cricut Design Space! It’s really simple and opens up a whole world of design possibilities. I was browsing around ETSY and I came across some adorable artwork. I new that it would be perfect for family T-shirts for our upcoming Disney trip, but unfortunately the seller only offered the work in JPEG format! But thanks to a little work in Cricut Design Space I was able to use the image for out shirts.

The Truth is that any simple, clean, high quality image can work. You could easily write in a sharpie on a plain piece of paper and use that!

For this project you will need:

a High quality simple black and white image

Access to Cricut Design Space

Cricut Maker or Explore Air 2

EasyPress

EasyPress Mat

Heat Transfer Vinyl

Weeding Tools

How to use JPEGs to Make a T-Shirt in Cricut Design Space

Step 1 – Start with a Good image

The image I chose was black writing on a white background. This is ideal, especially when you’re starting out. It also is a high resolution image which helps. A low resolution image can lead to a pixelated or blocky look.

I found mine on Etsy, but you can easily make your own with a black sharpie and a white piece of paper.

Step 2 – Load the Jpeg into Cricut Design Space

Open up Design Space and start a new project.

To begin uploading your artwork click the upload button.

You can either drag and drop the files there or hit the “Browse” button to pull the file.

Make sure that the file is one of supported file types. I’m using a .jpg .

Since this is such a clean 2 color image I’m choosing “Simple”. Then hi the green continue button.

Step 3 – Clean up the file in Cricut Design Space

Next it will show you the whole image – select the parts that you don’t want with the cross-hairs. Since I want the white to be transparent I will start by clicking the white background.

The Checkerboard means that it’s now transparent.

I need to make sure that ALL of the centers and parts of the file are transparent. So I take the cross-hairs and select the interiors of the letters and artwork.

Be thorough and make sure that all of the white space is changed to transparent.

Take a good look at all of your art – to zoom in and out use the magnifying glass in the upper right corner. Once you’re happy with how it looks hit the green continue button.

Step 4 – Prep the file for Cutting

Since I want this file for a t-shirt I’m going to save this file as a cut image. Also to make it easier to find I’ll name the file and give it some tags

The file is now ready to load into your project! Select it and hit “Insert Images”.

Your image is now ready to go in Cricut Design Space. The best part is you can also now resize the image – so I can make it the perfect size for my t-shirt!