When you purchase a font or download free fonts from sites like Google Webfonts, you’ll get one file or more files ending in TTF or OTF. In case you only have a ZIP folder, double-click or right-click it first to unzip.
Install font
On a PC: Right-click on the font file ending in OTF or TTF and select “Install.”
On a Mac: Open the FontBook app and drag and drop your OTF or TTF font file or an entire unzipped folder full of files in there. FontBook will extract the font files automatically.
Then, open up your design app (Cricut, Illustrator, Figma, etc.) and navigate to the Fonts palette in Illustrator or System Fonts dropdown in Cricut. There, you’ll find your newly installed font ready to be selected.
Tip: If you have the option of picking between OTF and TTF, select OTF. This is the newer format which can have more features, such as alternate glyphs.
Access OpenType features like alternate letter designs
When you purchase an OTF (OpenTypeFeature) font, you’ll often get a lot of special characters. For example, if you’re looking to swap letters with alternate letter design if the font provides them, you can double-click on a letter inside your text box in Illustrator, and it’ll bring up other design options if they exist. To swap, click on the letter you want.
In Cricut, you’ll need to open up the Character Map app on a PC or Character Viewer on a Mac and find the font you want. Click it to pull up all glyphs that come with the font. Then, copy the letter design you like and paste it into your text box inside Cricut.
In Figma, open the “Type Details” palette to access OpenType features such as stylistic sets.
