Here’s my attempt at putting all the best resources for engraving/etching with tools in a Cricut in one place.
Many more resources and live help: My Cricut Engraving Facebook Group
My ebook: Engraving Photos onto Acrylic with the Cricut Maker e-book by me
Engraving Tools
Maker
- Cricut Maker Engraving Tool You need both the tip and the QuickSwap housing if you don’t already have the housing (the one with plunger on top). Use with Engrave Linetype and Material Setting to match your blank.
Explore series
[Please note that Cricut does not officially support engraving on Explore models. Damage caused to your machine by any 3rd party tool or accessory, including this one, will not be covered by your Cricut warranty. If you are concerned about this, wait until your machine is at least a year old.]
Important: Lift tool up in clamp to match blade height.
Use with Foil Linetype, dial set to Custom and material set to Cardstock
What you can engrave
Max thickness
- 3/32 inches or 2.4 mm is official Cricut max for Maker (same thickness works in Explore models)
Sources
Metal
Anodized/colored aluminum is preferred as it provides better contrast (above) or you can use a filler on plain blanks provided the engraving is of sufficient depth (below)
- Craft Chameleon CSD Metal (coated aluminum tags)
- Silhouette Etching Metal Sheets (shown in header image) from Swing Design or Amazon
- Cards and tags from Creating Unkamen
- Blank Metal Business Cards from Amazon (as shown in font samples below)
- Bottle Openers from Craft Chameleon
Acrylic
- Craft Chameleon CSD Acrylic under 2mm thickness acrylic shapes for Explore or Maker including tags and light base inserts
Design Space Templates for common blanks
- Blank Slate or Imagine brand dog tags
- Creating Unkamen dog tags
- Creating Unkamen guitar picks
- Thank you tags with jig Unkamen and Blank Slate
- Craft Chameleon Bottle Opener
- Impressart Bracelets
- CSD Maker acrylic kits include Design Space templates
note that a more up to date list of templates in maintained in my Facebook group files
Filling Fonts and Images for Engraving
Hatch filling of fonts and images is highly recommended for best engraving results as shown in this page’s header image. 3rd party software, such as Inkscape, SureCutsALot5 or Silhouette Studio Business Edition is recommended for this, but a Design Space only method is also available.
- How to fill fonts and images in Design Space
- How to fill fonts and images in Silhouette Studio
- How to add fill to any font or image with Inkscape and Axidraw extensions
- How to fill fonts/images using inset in Inkscape
- How to fill fonts and images using SCAL4 from Scrappy Dew
“Pre-filled” Fonts for Engraving
No Parking | Scanographia | Made with B | Just Skinny | Gist Extra Light and Upright Extra Light | VTKS Thanks You
Foglihten No.01 | Ostrich Sans Inline | Fancy Pens | STF Trilineae | Marcel Caps | Stoneburg Hatched | DK Carte Blanche | Colonna MT | Elizabeth-Ann | Debonair Inline |
Some Cricut fonts for engraving (writing style)
Creating your own Engraving Designs
- Single layer method for photos by me
- Engraving Photos onto Acrylic with the Cricut Maker Ebook by me
- Drawing designs in vector iPad app
- Converting line art to open paths with Rapid Resizer
How to align engraving onto blanks
- Make and use an engraving jig
- Dummy Shape Method for positioning engraving
- Cricut SnapMat (feature of iOS app)
General Engraving Tutorials
Maker
- Foolproof Bracelet Engraving video with free files
- Engraving on metal by Jennifer Maker
- Engraving with the Maker by Abbi Kirsten
- Engraving Pie Servers by Well Crafted Studio
- Engraving Acrylic video by Melody Lane
- What Materials can we Engrave by Jennifer Maker
Explore
Explore using Accessory Side Tool
- Engraving (A side tool discontinued) with the Cricut Explore tutorial by Amy Chomas
- Ken’s Creations demo of Chomas engraving tool (A side tool discontinued)
Other Engraving-related tutorials
- How to get a true size shape (for blanks) in Cricut Design Space
- How to move your star wheels
- How to polish and darken engraved aluminum bracelets
