# Cricut Basics

# Setting Up

New Device:

1. Download the Cricut Design Space app on the new device
2. Select Sign In
3. Use the email and password on the left side of the Cricut to sign in
4. After clicking “make”, click “set up a cutting machine.”
5. Select Cricut Maker 4
    
    
    1. Follow the directions below for "Previously Connected Device" at this point

Previously Connected Device:

1. Open the Cricut by pulling the metallic/darker pink top part upwards
    
    
    1. After doing so, press the power button (right side, above the three other buttons. It looks like a traditional on/off button.)
2. Plug the device into the Cricut using the USB-C cord that is connected to the Cricut (often already laid out next to it on the left side. If not there, look behind the Cricut to find the USB-C cord. It should be connected on the bottom-right side of the Cricut.)
3. After plugging in the device, open the Cricut Design Space app
    
    
    1. If you get logged out, just log back into the Cricut Design Space app using the email and password located on the left side of the Cricut

# Designing Things

1. If your design needs to be on something specific, like a T-shirt or Vinyl Decal, you can select it as well as other kinds of templates for the base of your project. If you’re not making anything specific, you are able to select a blank canvas to start on
    
    
    1. If making a sticker, it is recommended to simply select a blank canvas
2. Select whatever it is you want to use for the design from the left sidebar (Text, Shapes, Images, etc.)
3. Use the features above to create designs however you want, like combining shapes to make a figure or a new shape

Here is an image of the "tool bar" and what each feature does:

# When Done

Once you're done with the Cricut, you need to clean up your space. Here's how to do it:

1. Unplug the computer being used from the Cricut, close out of Design Space and any open tabs, and put it back in the original location it was taken from 
    1. Delete any files you no longer need from the computer
    2. Be sure to plug it back into its charger when you return it
2. Press the power button to turn the Cricut back off
3. Push the light pink, plastic part of the Cricut up back into place until it "clicks"
4. Push the metallic, dark pink part down on top
5. Clean any remaining trash and throw it away, return all Cricut tools to their original location(s)