FREE Single Line Fonts That Will Write without bubbling In Cricut Design Space-

A very long list of  where to find  FREE fonts that will work as writing fonts in Design Space, with examples sorted by which pens they work with, at what sizes, and all with the links for downloading them.  

Cliff Notes:
  • The Problem - Hollow Text - The Cricut machine, when writing, will follow the same path it would if it was cutting.  So most text will appear "hollow".  You can avoid this by using a writing font in Cricut Design Space (Most cost around $5) OR, by choosing a free font thin enough that the lines "collapse on themselves"  (Those are the fonts listed here)
  • Results will vary based on which pen you use, and how large your text is.  I make most of my samples at 1 inch tall, and they are sorted by which pens I used - Starting with the super thin precise v5 and working down to the larger markers.
  • Alternative (not cricut brand) markers that work well in the Explore Machines - https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2017/12/alternative-markers-for-cricut.html
  • Drawing Fonts - Cricut can DRAW, not just write!  Checkout these fun fonts that cricut does a great job drawing (think subway art, or posters)
  • WELD.  If you are using a cursive font, be sure to weld it before writing.  That will tell the machine to write it as one smooth word, and not to write each letter individually. (do the same for cutting.  Weld is not necessary for print, where the letters do not touch - but it's really important for cursive writing)  If the centers of letters fill in when you weld, try sizing the text to something ridiculous like 200 wide, weld, then resize back to the smaller size.
  • To see when I add more samplesfollow Crafting With Fields Of Heather on facebook.  Look specifically under photos, there is an album of writing samples kept there.
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The Quick List
My Favorite Free Writing Fonts
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Matilde   Baby Lexi    Belta Light   Advertising Script   Gatsby    Encina Script    Montepetrum    Kaleidescope    Flamenco   Freckled Lemonade    Slim Extreme     September Mornings     Grace     Always Here     Jennifer Lynne    Stymie Hairline    Indesign Signature     Organic Fridays    Midnight Legend

This is a quick look at my favorites.  I have many pages of samples, hundreds of fonts, sorted by which markers they work with,  but if you are looking for a "quick font", these are my favorites.  The fonts in black will write in super fine point pens, the ones in wine will write with fine point pens, and the ones in blue will write with medium point pens.  Click on any of the names above and you will be taken to the site to download the font.

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MANY MORE 
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Free Fonts With Samples

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Learning to Write With Cricut
I wrote this post when I first started learning about writing with cricut.  Since then, I have added hundreds of samples of fonts that work as writing fonts, but this is where I started.

This is one of those project that  I thought I could finish in a few minutes, and get off my list.  Three days later, I'm still working on it.  I just wanted to write and cut soap labels.  Not print and cut - that would waste too much paper, as the design space is limited in size for print and cut.  Write, with cricut markers, and cut.  

But most fonts, when used in Design Space, will automatically write as an outline.  Like this:


Someone explained it, on a facebook post, as " TTF and OTF fonts can not be "open path" like Cricut writing fonts."   To write "normally", you need specific writing fonts.  Most of which are $5 or more through cricut, in design space.  You can see them by choosing "filter"


There are more options if you keep scrolling, I only screenshotted a portion here, but there are none that I love.  None I want to pay $5, or more, for. Now for all other projects, I just download free fonts off the internet, install them, an cricut cuts them just fine.  But when it comes to writing, it's not that simple.  


You can't just convert "normal" fonts to writing fonts.  


Well, you can, sort of.  Kind of.  There's a good video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7k5xXAMun4
This involved using a vector editing program like Inkscape.
The process is basically a digital version of filling in the font.  Rather than printing in the "bubble" outline, and filling in with a pen, you fill in the outline digitally before sending it to print. This does not truly make a writing font, rather it's more like using Phonto to curve text, you do this for each bit of text you want to write, and import it.

Obviously this all WAY exceeded my attention span, but I wanted to share it for those who may want to tackle this process.

But for me, I needed something simpler, and decided to go with thin line fonts that  do not need "filled in".  In one of the gajillion articles I read trying to understand all of this, someone explained that these fonts are thin enough that the outlines collapse in on each other..  so it doesn't look like cricut is writing the outline of the fonts.  
That's our llama, Tia, strolling by as I was working. I love having a craft space that looks out over this part of the pasture.  



I had a much longer list.  Some I could tell wouldn't work right away, some I saw change to an outline when I switched them to writing style in design space.  This shows some of the "failed" fonts mixed in with some of the above:


So you can tell, just by looking at design space, what will work and what will not.  Mostly.  Sometimes a small "bubble" does not mean it won't write well - but the thicker outline, like smiley monster, is unlikely to write well with any marker.

See the odd spacing in Fancy Pens & Frutilla?  This was before Cricut "sort of" fixed their font kerning issues.  Most of the time, this won't happen anymore.  

So far, the only way I have found to find these fonts is by trial and error, and suggestions from others.    I've sorted the fonts into pages by the markers they work with:


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Where To Find Free Fonts By Style, By Type, And By Holiday
The Crafting With Fields Of Heather Font Index
And Tips & Tricks For Properly Spacing, Adding Glyphs, Organizing, Making Shadow Text, and more!

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45 comments:

  1. Hi there! I read your article and ended up downloading the single-line list you have come up with and the Milton One will only outline and not write in a single stroke when I add it with the write function. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Thanks for the awesome blog!!

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    1. Results will vary based on the pen size, and the height of the font. A thicker pen might work for you, or the font may need to be a smaller size..

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  2. Thank you for this! I’m sharing with my Cricut groups on Facebook. Dawn

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  3. Hi! thanks so much for this info. I bought the LA markers but it seems like the black marker is dried out. Have you run into this at all or do you think I just got a bad batch of markers? Thanks for the help!!

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    1. Try storing it upside down for a week & see if it works again? I've never had that happen with the Leusure Arts, but it's common for my cricut markers. Storing them upside down often helps.

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  4. Thank you so much for finding and collecting these!

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  5. I totally LOVE you for this! This took a lot of time and just answered the questions I had about looking for writing fonts. Love your Llama!!

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  6. Thank you so much for sharing all your hard work. I am just beginning this journey and have spent over a day trying to find a way to be able to write without buying fonts thru Cricut. I am excited to try a few you have shared. PS Love Tia....he/she should meet my shepherd, MIA!!!!

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  7. Thanks for sharing, this is great information!

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  8. you are amazing! thank you for all of your help with this!!! usually I will sit for hours searching stuff like this, but I stumbled upon your article and it was all like right there. THANK YOU!

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  9. is there a way to download this document?

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    1. Not really, sorry. I update it every few weeks, it would be too much work to make it a pdf file and keep up with the edits both here, and to the file.

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  10. Hello Heather. From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank you for creating this blog post. Because of it I am able to write with my Cricut now. I was always scared to and now because of you I have been experimenting. You even took the time to link to the font sites for us for the particular font you were using. You're the best! Thanks again from Ontario, Canada!

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  11. Hello!! Thank you for the great collection of fonts, do you have simple tutorial on adding these fonts so that they can be used in the design space. I'm not sure if it's more of a computer error, but when I download, unzip, and install fonts I can't find any of them in my design space. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask or if I missed something!! Thank you (:

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    1. I do! http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2017/12/all-about-fonts-text-in-cricut-design.html

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  12. Thank you for all your hard work in compiling this list! I'm not sure if I missed a step or not, but i'm having an issue. I have them downloaded and can find them on my system in Design Space, however, they only show up as a "cut". How do you get them to become "writable"?

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    1. On the top left in Design Space, where it says "line type" change it from cut to draw. :-)

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  13. Thank you for sharing all the hard work you've done. I was able to download fonts and find them in Design Space. I can't figure out how to make them "writable". Did I miss a step?

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  14. Hi Heather

    Thanks so much for compiling these. I just wanted to add that, as far as I'm aware, Cricut Access is ***only*** available for Cricut customers in the US and Canada (and perhaps in the UK). It is *not* available anywhere else in the world - not Australia, not New Zealand (where I live), the rest of Europe etc.

    I've no idea why that is but it's sooooooooooo frustrating. It makes this kind of list incredibly useful for those who can't even buy a Cricut Access font for $5 if we wanted to!!!

    Kind regards
    Rochelle

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  15. Thank you for this. Wish I wold have found it sooner. Very helpful.

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  16. Oh boy, am I learning new things thanks to you. Fonts were on my to learn list.

    Ok! so tried fontlab Pad and tried the Milton font for my explorer air 2. When I did my test, I still only have the option to draw as my selection, should it say writing? Maybe I missed a step? Thank you for paving this path and making learning easier.

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    1. Draw is the same as write with cricut - you want to choose "draw". They changed the term in one of the updates. It can be a bit confusing! :-)

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  17. Thank you for your hard work, for the same reason as Rochelle. It is much appreciated


    Rochelle. I agree with you. I live in Australia and I think it is disgusting that after so many years and so many sales in our countries, Cricut still chooses to act as if our countries are non-existent.

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  18. THANK YOU i have been trying off and on for months trying to write and always get the “hollow” words. I am going to reread this and try to download some fonts. I cant say how much I appreciate this article.

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  19. Heather THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all this wonderful information. I have a project for a wedding that I am trying to get done. My original plan was to engrave on basswood and then cut out the shapes but that failed badly on my maker. Backup write the text with gold metallic ink and then cut the shapes but I couldn't find a font that wouldn't bubble or be too thick for the size of the pen!! Ugh! I even went to the expense of buying a foil quill set to get the right look but still couldn't find a font that would not bubble. I can't wait to try some of these. So excited!!!!

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  20. Hi, thanks for all this information.
    I have a question though and I hope you all don't think I'm really stupid...
    When you say to store markers upside down, do you mean tip down?
    Thanks again!

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  21. Thank you for this!!!! Makes life MUCH easier

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  22. Heather, you are a LIFESAVER!!!! I have been visually searching thru fonts trying to find ones that will write with cricut. I thought if I could find ones that were SKINNY it would work. I came up with a list of about 30. I was specifically looking for a script font, but only fond maybe 2 or 3 of those 30 that worked, but they were not script. I was about to give up when I stumbled upon your Pinterest page. I don't feel "thank you" is enough, but I will say it repeatedly...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your hard work that you put into your blog post! All the links you have supplied us, your Facebook page, your continued updates, ect. If you had a donation page, I would not hesitate to do so. Again, THANK YOU from a forever follower. Kindly, Debbie

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  23. Hi Heather,
    I just found your blog. I'm loving it! So much info in one place! I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the font that you use on the 'My Favorite Free Fonts For Writing'? I can't seem to find it!
    Thank you so much!
    Dana

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  24. I've downloaded some of the writing fonts above that appear to be thin single lines, but when I type text in design space and change the text to draw, they ALWAYS come out as bubble outlines instead of single lines. I think you'd said some work and some don't which is fine, but I can't get any of the fonts I downloaded to draw a single thin line. Every single one is bubbled. What am I doing wrong? Am I missing a step?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. How large are they? Most of my write tests are at 1 inch tall, so larger than that will change your results. It will also vary by pen size of course, which is why I have the samples sorted by pen.. and you will see an outline for many in design space, as the pen will still follow the path of the blade - but when you actually use them, they should be solid, as shown in the examples.

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  25. I am in the same boat as unknown january 31, 2020 at 9:44 AM. I followed the list, downloaded the single line fonts specified, installed and they come up as cutting with no option to draw or write
    ???

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    1. On a computer, it's on the top left - beside "line type" - you change it to draw there. I am unsure where it is on an ipad, but look for the line type option.

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  26. Hello! I was hoping to look at your articles specific to the pen used but the links are sending me to "blogspot Onboard".

    This article is SO helpful btw, thank you!

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    1. Ugh! Thanks for letting me know - I'm trying to fix that this morning. A Blogger update last year messed up links randomly throughout my blog, changing some of them to "edit" links instead of going to the site they are directed to. I never know which posts it effected until someone tells me, so thank you! I'm fixing it now.

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  27. Hi, I know this post is very old, but I'm trying to click the links and it just sends me to an empty blog page. Do the links still exist? Thank you so much for your help! you are a life saver!

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    1. I just clicked on all of them and they all opened for me... maybe refresh the page, it's possible it didn't load properly for you the first time?

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  28. This is really great! Thanks so much for providing a much needed resource!

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  29. Thanks for the info heather - super helpful and wish i found it earlier. Has anyone seen these free fonts? They are for laser engravers but they work with cricut.
    https://k40lasercutter.com/product-category/fonts/single-line-fonts/

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  30. I've been looking for Cricut compatible writing fonts. Thanks from Australia.

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