Learn to use the glyphs in your fonts.
Did you ever purchase a beautiful font that you thought had all sorts of swirls, flourishes and curly swashes? But then you try to use it in your Silhouette Cameo and those fancy things are nowhere to be found! Those extras are called “glyphs” and they’re waiting for you to use them. However, you do need to upgrade to “Designer Edition” or higher to find them.
Here’s how to find the glyphs!
This will turn your plain text into something fabulous. Once you know where to find the glyphs, you’ll be crafting like the pros.
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This tutorial is using the Samantha font, one of my absolute favorites. It’s a bit pricey, but you can often find it on sale. For me, it’s totally worth the price.
But the same technique works for ALL fonts. Some other popular fonts have glyphs shaped like hearts like this one. And some even have a stethoscope glyph like this one. How adorable is that!
First, select the text tool.
Again, you must be using Designer Edition or higher in Silhouette Studio. It’s a one-time fee, NOT a monthly charge. Open a project and start by clicking the text tool on the left.
Then select your glyph.
The glyphs are in the second tab of the Text Style Tool Panel on the right side of your work area. To use a glyph, place a cursor on your page using the Text tool on the left side of the page. Click on the glyph you want to use and it’s automatically placed in the text box. Isn’t that easy?
That’s good for the “B”. Now let’s find a lower case “e” for the end of the word.
Super Secret Squirrel Tip
You don’t have to use only the fonts from the particular font you’re working with. In the middle of a word, simply change fonts, grab the desired glyphs from a different font, and continue as normal. You see, some fonts, especially the free ones, don’t have glyphs or flourishes. So type in the free font, change over the a fancy font to grab and insert the glyph. Then return to your original font. Mind. Blown.
All done!
That’s really all there is to it. This simple technique will transform your crafts into something unique.
OH, but wait…what if I use Cricut instead?
Just a couple more steps are necessary. If you’re on a PC, you can download a free program called MainType. The glyphs are in the “Public Use Area” for you to copy, then return to your Cricut Design Space and paste. Really nothing more than cut and paste, but just switching from one program to another as you copy and then paste. Then go back to Cricut and select the SAME FONT you got the glyph from. Then simply paste! If you don’t use the same font, it won’t work.
If you’re on a Mac, the fonts are in Font Book. It’s already installed on your computer. Open a finder window, go to Applications, open Font Book. Find the glyph and copy it with right click or cmd V. As with the PC, then go back to Cricut and select the SAME FONT you got the glyph from. Then simply paste! If you don’t use the same font, it won’t work.
So, are you ready to do this?
If you want to get started right away and don’t yet have Designer Edition, or you’re on Cricut and don’t want to bother with MainType, the FREE file for the “Believe” is in my Resource Library. You can get the password for all the free files by filling out this form. But seriously, you should play around with this and learn to master it!
I’ve also created a set of 9 popular Christmas phrases. They’re available at my brand new shop at https://www.Shop.AudreyGail.com
While you’re at it, check out this tutorial to make a gift box for those adorable Arabesque tile ornaments that are all the rage right now.
How to Make Beautiful Words on Silhouette Cameo using Glyphs
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