What is SVG?

Design Tips: What is SVG?

SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. As the name implies, it’s a vector graphic format, which scales well. And that’s exactly what you want from a logo if your business requires a large format printing (like a T-shirt, a signboard or a sandwich board).

It turns out that SVG was the one graphic format that most closely responds to current web development demands of scalability, responsiveness, interactivity, programmability, performance, and accessibility.

What Is SVG and Why Should You Use It?

SVG is a vector graphic format—based on XML and is used to display a variety of graphics on the Web and other environments.

Under the hood, SVG documents are nothing more than simple plain text files that describe lines, curves, shapes, colors, and text.

As it is human-readable, easily understood and modified, SVG code can be manipulated via CSS or JavaScript. after that This give SVG a flexiblity and versatility that can’t ever be matched by traditional PNG, GIF or JPGs.

SVG is an W3C standard, which means it can inter-operate easily with other open standard languages and technologies including JavaScript, DOM, CSS, and HTML. As long as the W3C sets the global industry standards, it seems likely SVG will continue to be the de-facto standard for vector graphics in the browser.

The true value of SVG is it solves many of the most vexing problems in modern web development. Let’s see what they are.

  • Scalability and Responsiveness

Under the hood, SVG uses shapes, numbers and coordinates — rather than a pixel grid — to render graphics in the browser, which makes it resolution-independent and infinitely scalable. If you think about it, the instructions for creating a circle are the same whether you’re using a pen or a skywriting plane – only the scale changes.

In contrast, raster-based formats like GIF, JPG, and PNG have fixed dimensions, which causes them to pixelate when they are scaled. Although various responsive image techniques have proved valuable for pixel graphics, they will never be able to truly compete with SVG’s ability to scale infinitely.

  • Programmability and Interactivity

SVG is fully editable and scriptable. All kinds of animations and interactions can be added to a drawing via CSS and/or JavaScript.

  • Accessibility

SVG files are text-based and do can be searched and indexed. This make them readable by screen readers, search engines and other devices. By contrast, a chart

  • Performance

One of the most important aspects impacting web performance is the size of the used files on a web page. SVG graphics are routinely smaller file sizes compared to their raster graphics brethren.

Common Use Cases and Browser Support

SVG has an avalanche of practical use cases. Let’s explore the most significant of them.

  • Plain Illustrations and Diagrams

Any traditional drawing that may have been produced with pens and pencils should translate perfectly into the SVG format.

  • Logos and Icons

Logos and icons often share the same need to be clear and sharp at any size – from button to billboard. SVG icons are more accessible and are much easier to position.

  • Animations

You can create appealing animations, and even special kinds of animation, including SVG line drawings.

  • Interactivity (Charts, Graphs, Infographics, Maps)

SVG can be used to plot data and update it dynamically based on user actions or some events

  • Special Effects

Many live effects can be achieved by using SVG, including shape morphing or different gooey effects

  • Building Interfaces and Applications

SVG enables you can make challenging interfaces and incorporate it with HTML5, web-based applications, and rich Internet applications (RIAs).

As you can see, SVG is used almost everywhere and in countless situations. The good news about all this is that browser support for SVG is getting better.

At this moment, most modern web browsers support the most important and fundamentals features of the SVG. So, now you know the ‘why’ of SVG – let’s look at the ‘how’. In my next article, we’ll walk-thru the best way to use Adobe Illustrator to prepare your SVG files for the web.

So with the right typeface coupled with the right font styles (see “Font vs typeface: the ultimate guide”), we can create designs that are quite simple and yet visually appealing at the same time. This emphasizes the most important aspects of the design while using fewer resources and also inducing the least amount of unwanted cognitive load.

Typography can be very powerful.

But what are the best free font websites?

Dribbble, Behance, Gumroad, and so on are home to a ton of hidden gems, but this involves sieving through a lot of digital resources, some of which are incomplete side ventures and “lite” versions.

That being said, make sure that you bookmark awesome resources if you do happen to come across any. Even Instagram might surprise you, and Twitter shouldn’t be overlooked either.

That aside, let’s take a look as the best free font websites.

1. Google Fonts

First of all, Google Fonts offers a fast and convenient CDN (content delivery network), making it super easy to embed webfonts into websites without having to actually host them.

Google fonts can be subsetted by script and weight, and we can also control how they’re loaded on the Web by setting the font-display CSS property from the embed code’s query string, which improves website loading times. (The CSS-Tricks article on “Google Fonts and font-display” explains how.)

Mind you, self-hosting fonts is better for privacy (because it’s cookieless) and speed (because it offers developers more control). Either way, Google Fonts has a humungous repertoire.

2. Creative Market

What’s interesting about Free Goods is that these are actually premium fonts that are temporarily free. While the section isn’t that huge, and isn’t guaranteed to include fonts specifically, each and every week it’s refreshed with six new design assets (plus three more if you sign up and another three if you spend X amount on assets).

I’ve been checking the Free Goods section on Creative Market every week for years, and I’ve built up a large repository of high-quality fonts that cost literally nothing. Font Bundles runs a similar deal.

3. Font Squirrel

Font Squirrel is like Unsplash but for fonts, considering how long it’s been around (a really long time!) maybe saying that Unsplash is like Font Squirrel but for stock images is more accurate! It’s one of the veteran free font websites alongside Dafont, 1001 Free Fonts, and Urban Fonts, although “squirrel” is better.

Although many of the veteran sites look a little outdated, Font Squirrel has kept its website somewhat modern compared to the rest. It also has a couple of very useful tools:

what is an svg file

4. FontSpace

FontSpace is one of the nicer-looking websites, although it only offers fonts that are free for personal use.

what is svg? FontSpace

5. Befonts

What sets Befonts apart is its focus on display fonts.

Although some of the fonts only offer lite/demo versions and often enough only come in TTF/OTF format (meaning they’re less suitable for the Web), Befonts is one of the very few websites that doesn’t take the “we have everything” approach (which can be overwhelming sometimes). Besides, you can always convert TTF and OTF fonts into webfonts.

what is svg? Befonts

6. Font Shop

Font Shop doesn’t focus completely on free typefaces like Font Squirrel and FontSpace, but it’s still a rather decent alternative if options one to four didn’t have what you were looking for.

I find it to be the least user-friendly of the options, but the fonts are relatively high-quality.

what is svg ? Font shop

Which font format do I need?

OpenType (OTF) and TrueType (TTF) font formats have been the standard for a really long time, and they’re still used heavily in graphic design today. Therefore, WOFF formats have better compression on the Web. In fact, the new Google Fonts embed code only offers the WOFF2 format now.

So, in short:

  • WOFF2 for web embeds
  • TTF/OTF for everything else

Which font style do I need?

Nowadays, it doesn’t really matter all that much because the norms have been thrown out the window a little bit. As an example, Serif fonts can have a modern feel now (think Medium).

Instead, we should focus more on clarity:

  • Legibility (how easy it is to tell characters apart)
  • Readability (how easy it is to read sentences as a whole)

Some of this comes down to the font itself, so one should be observant when deciding which fonts to use, but other times it comes down to how the font is styling (in terms of size, weight, and so on).

When in doubt, the WCAG 2.0/2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) have everything you need to know about typography and its many attributes, such as line spacing, line width, line height, font sizing, and so on.

Conclusion

Fonts are super useful, and they’re often all that’s needed to achieve the right amount of visual, emotional appeal without laying on more and more visual clutter. Your design needs text anyway, so why not make it the most outstanding aspect of it?

cricut font

Cricut Fonts – Make A Monogram In Cricut Design Space

Want to truly customize all your Cricut crafts and projects? Everything you need to know about Cricut fonts, including the best Cricut fonts in Design Space by category: script fonts, bold fonts, fonts to use for monograms, etc!

Make sure to learn how to upload fonts to Cricut Design Space! It’s easy and gives you a ton of flexibility when creating your Cricut designs.

I have been making projects with my Cricut and using Cricut Design Space for a couple years now. Cricut fonts like a cat lady loves cats.

I tend to be fairly minimalistic, but the font folder on my computer suggests otherwise.

Lucky for all of us Cricut has added a lot of new ones ! I combed through all of them to share with YOU my very favorite fonts in Cricut Design Space, and organized them into categories; script fonts, bold fonts, font pairings, and some of the best fonts for monograms!

What are Cricut Font?

Cricut fonts are fonts that are built into the CDS software. They are designed specifically for Cricut machines. Therefore, when you use one of Cricut’s fonts, you will get a clean and beautiful cut every time.

You can add your monogram to just about anything! I’ve seen it on luggage, tumblers and water bottles, sweatshirts, keychains and more. I made these monogram keychains for guests at a baby sprinkle earlier this month. You can see how I did it here.

Ideally, you will read this tutorial from the beginning, because as we go, we will be implementing the concepts mentioned in the previews steps.

Are you ready?

Let’s Daydream Into Reality!

How To Design You Monogram In Cricut Design Space?

Let’s jump into how to make your own monogram for free!

Step 1 – Download the MONOGRAMOS font from here (it’s free).

Step 2 – Install font on your computer. NOTE make sure you do not have Design Space open when you install your font or it won’t show up in Design Space.

To install your font after you’ve downloaded it, open up the font zip folder, therefore click the OpenType Font File and click INSTALL in the top left corner.

Cricut Design Space Fonts

Step 3 – Open Cricut Design Space, add text and add the first letter of your monogram. “MAKE NOTE OF THE FONT SIZE OF YOUR DESIGN”

Step 4 – Add a square and resize around the second two letters in the monogram, select all and slice the second to letters out of the design, and last remove all excess letters and pieces so only the first letter is left.

Step 5 – Add text and add the second letter of your monogram. Make sure it is the SAME TEXT SIZE as the first monogram letter. Add a square and resize around the first letter of the design, select all and slice the first letter out of the design, at last, remove square and two sliced first letters.

Step 6 – In the same way, we add the last letter “Y”, therefore remove all excess letters and pieces so only the last letter is left, line up all letters of monogram and align center vertically, at last select all and attach.

Step 7 – You can now change the size of your monogram to fit whatever you are putting it on.

Cricut Design Space

So cute, right? I love being able to make 100% customized gifts for my friends!

I hope this post has helped show you just how amazing it is that you can use your own fonts within Cricut Design Space. However, it allows us to create amazing designs, above and beyond what Cricut Design Space offers on its own.

Special gift to you

I hope you enjoyed the article!

Don’t forget to share it on your favorite social media

Here’s the Silhouette/Cricut Cutting Mat I choose for my DIY Projcet

Do you like these ?

Cricut Design Space

Learn more on Cricut Design Space and making the most of your Cricut

Are you new to Cricut and wondering how to start in Design Space? When I first got a Cricut and started using CDS (Cricut Design Space), I was overwhelmed, to say the least. I had never really used a design program before.

When it comes to getting started with a Cricut machine and the Design Space software it can be daunting trying to figure out what all the functions and terms.

Even though you are anxious to use all those wonderful craft materials, before jumping into tutorials it can be helpful to familiarize yourself with all the terminology that Cricut uses.

The purpose of this article is to teach you and show you an overview of every Icon, and Panel of the Cricut Design Space Canvas Area. The canvas is the Design Space graphic work space where you will design and arrange your vectors or prints and access all the tools.

Lower Right Corner of CDS:

  • Slice – Cut images out of others or slice objects. Use to make split letter monograms.
  • Attach – Attach text or images so they cut out exactly as you have them on your canvas
  • Weld – Weld cursive text so it is one continuous line and no tails are cut. Weld objects to turn into one object.
  • Contour – Delete inside or outside of images or unwanted lines.
  • Flatten – Flatten your image together to print it

Upper Right Corner of CDS:

  • Layers Panel – See all the different layers of your images. Click the eye to hide or unhide certain layers.
  • Color Sync – See how many colors you have on your canvas. Change items to the same color by dragging and dropping in this panel.

Now, Cricut Design Space is my favorite design software! It is so user-friendly and can do so much. let’s get started!

How to Use Cricut Design Space

If you need help setting up an account in CDS, hop on over to my getting started with Cricut Design Space tutorial.

Canvas – The canvas refers to the screen that you are designing on. To start a new project on the Cricut Design Space landing page, simply click on one of the two “new project” buttons.

Cricut Design Space
Cricut Design Space

This will open up your canvas. Now let the magic of creating begin!

There is also a Zoom in and out buttons to see the tiny details or the big picture on the bottom left corner.

On the left side, you will find the main buttons.

  • New – start a new project
  • Templates – One of my favorite parts of the canvas is using the templates so you can see how your project will work on different items. You can easily change the color and the size of the templates to get a better idea.
  • Projects – opens up all the different projects in CDS
  • Images – where you’ll find all the images you can buy off Cricut Access and also the ones you’ve uploaded
  • Text – What I use the most! Type in text and find the font you want to use in the drop-down menu. Watch my all things font Cricut Design Space video tutorial to learn more.
  • Shapes – All the basic shapes and scoreline. You can make a ton of different designs just by adding shapes together.
  • Upload – Upload a svg, jpeg, or png that you have saved on your computer. See #8

Do you want to learn more about cricut? Cricut Fonts?

Share it!
If you like this post and think someone else could benefit from it, make sure to post it on your favorite social media, by doing so, you aren’t only helping someone else to learn and find cool resources, but you are also supporting my work.

Special gift to you

Do you also like HTV?

This is two new products launched by our LinkedGoVinyl, it suitable for Silhouette Cameo and Cricut Explore One/Air/Air 2/Maker

It has been sold on Amazon.com, and we have received a lot of good reviews from customers.

Cricut mats

Cricut Mats Guide – Which Cricut Mat Should I Use?


I felt so confused when I first got my Cricut.

I feel overwhelmed with all of the differences between Cricut Mats, what materials you should use with each one of them, and how to clean and care for them, you are in the right place.

The purpose of this article is to help you avoid the same doubts I had about the Cricut Mats and provide you with the right knowledge about them. If you read this article, you will be a PRO!

cricut mats on cricut air explore

Today we are going to tackle one of the most frequently asked Cricut questions, let’s learn what a Cricut Mat is and which ones are available.

Cricut makes 4 different mats to use with their Explore Air machines: Cricut® LightGrip Cutting Mat, Cricut® StandardGrip Cutting Mat, Cricut® StrongGrip Cutting Mat, and the Cricut® FabricGrip Cutting Mat.

Each of these mats is used to cut many different types of materials (from lightweight materials like printer paper and washi tape sheets to heavyweight materials like faux leather and corrugated cardboard). If you don’t use the correct mat for your project, you risk running your materials and then have a tough time removing them from the mat.

What do you need Cricut Mats?

Many people wonder if mats are needed for all our DIY projects.

Well, the answer is yes, you will always need to use a mat for each project. This is because every material you cut needs to be stable and solid on the surface; otherwise it will move, which is the source of the disaster.

Before I got the Cricut Mat, I have never understood why there are different colors of mats, if you don’t know what Mat does like me, this is a interesting thing for you to know.

4 different cricut mats
  • StrongGrip Mat (Purple): Provide a strong adhesive surface perfect for securing heavyweight materials. such as thick cardstock, specialty cardstock, magnet material, chipboard etc
  • LightGrip Mat (Blue): It is specially formulated for lightweight materials, such as office paper, pearl paper, printer paper, vellum, vinyl, washi sheets etc.
  • StandardGrip Mat (Green): Perfect for a wide range of medium-weight materials, such as cardstock, printable iron-on, pearl paper, vellum, printer paper, window cling, printable fabric etc.
  • Fabric Mat (Pink): Made from higher-quality, higher-density PVC to withstand the increased pressure of the Rotary Blade

You have the option of either purchasing the 12 x 12″ Cricut Mat or the larger 12×24″ Cricut Mat. Both of these sized mats work in all the Air Explore Machines as well as the Cricut Maker machine. So sizing is truly dependent on the size of the projects that you will be working on.

Here is a quick explanation of the mats, their grip and the material you should be using with them:

StrongGrip Mat (Purple)

The StrongGrip mat is brilliant for heavyweight materials. 

You need the strong sticky grip in order to keep the thicker material as the machines have to apply more pressure to cut through these materials.

  • Glitter cardstock
  • Specialty cardstock
  • Magnet material
  • Chipboard
  • Poster board

LightGrip Mat (Blue)

The blue LightGrip Cutting Mat has just enough sticky grip to hold material firmly in place during cutting, yet it allows for easy removal of the lighter weight material when you are finished cutting.

  • office paper
  • cardstock
  • light cardstock
  • construction paper
  • printable iron-on

StandardGrip Mat (Green)

StandardGrip Cutting mat is perfect for cutting medium-weight materials, and it also has the perfect amount of grip that makes for easy removal of your material.

  • Vinyl
  • Pearl Paper
  • Vellum
  • Printer Paper

Fabric Mat (Pink)

The pink FabricGrip mat has specially been created to allow those with a Cricut Maker to cut through even the thinnest of materials without the need for fabric stabilizer, just on its own with the Rotary blade and the Cricut Maker.

  • Bonded fabric
  • Any type of fabric with the rotary blade

Where can I buy Cricut Mats?

I am pretty sure that every craft store has them on hand. Plus I am quite busy and going to the store is not an option for me. However, I always buy these products online so I can compare prices.

When I first got my Cricut, I got this pack on amazon because It has all four mats.

It’s always a good idea to check out the Official Cricut website. They have everything and sometimes outstanding deals.

How to care for and clean my Cricut mat?

Taking good care of your mat is very important to ensure that your cuts are always nice and smooth.

We have published such an article in the previous post. Check out the method here.

Special gift to you

This is two new products launched by our LinkedGoVinyl, it suitable for Silhouette Cameo and Cricut Explore One/Air/Air 2/Maker

It has been sold on Amazon.com, and we have received a lot of good reviews from customers.

  • LinkedGo cameo cutting mat 12×12 inch work perfectly in Silhouette Cameo 4/3/2/1 and Cricut Explore One/Air/Air 2/Maker
  • LinkedGo cutting mat square gridded area size: 12 x 12 Inch, minimum accuracy: 0.25 x 0.25 Inch contain exact grid lines, which will greatly help the cutting process.
  • 12×12 inch cutting mat is a multi-purpose mat that is perfect for a wide range of huge size materials.
  • LinkedGo cutting mats are 3 PCS in pack. Our replacement cutting mats are made of PET which is durable and environmental-friendly.
  • Keep the clear film cover on the cutting mat when storing to keep cutting mat stickiness free from scraps and dust.

Sharing is caring!

I spent multiple hours to put this useful content together! If you learned something and think someone else could benefit from this great article. Don’t be shy and share it on your favorite social media!