Best Font for Small Vinyl Cutting: It Should Be Bold!

Two of the challenges when it comes to vinyl crafts are intricate designs and small fonts. In this guide, you’ll learn the best fonts for small vinyl cutting, plus some tips on how to create this type of project.

If you want to be a resilient crafter, you should familiarize yourself with the fonts to use and techniques to follow when cutting and weeding designs with small fonts. Whether you have a Cricut Maker, Silhouette, or other brands of cutting machines, this crafting guide is for you.

Small font vinyl creation using TeckWrap Craft vinyl

What Is the Best Font for Small Vinyl Cutting? The Top 10 Options You Can Choose From

There are different types of fonts: Serif fonts, cursive fonts, doodle fonts, and many more. Not all fonts are created equally so you have to be careful in picking one, especially for small vinyl cutting projects.

Cricut Design Space and Silhouette Software have readily available fonts you can use. Just a tip: you can download fonts online, Font Space has many downloadable fonts. Make sure to check out if the font is free for personal or commercial use.

You’ll notice below, that most of the options below have a thick font. The bolder or thicker the font, the better especially when it comes to small vinyl cutting. So here are the top 10 easiest fonts you can download for free (for personal use) and are guaranteed to cut cleanly.

1. Crafting Island

Design by Tigade Std (Free for personal use)

A perfect font for a playful vinyl project is Crafting Island by Tigade Std. This is available for download in Font Space, however, this is only free for personal use. If you plan to use this font for commercial use, you may avail of the commercial license here.

This is the perfect font for small projects, whether be it for greeting cards, T-shirts, or mug projects. Since this is a bold font, the weeding process will be easy. You got to love this playful and easy-to-understand font.

2. Permanent Marker

Designed by Font Diner

If you want a free design for both personal and commercial use, Permanent Marker is available. This is one of the best free fonts available for download at Google Fonts. This is a great option for any Cricut project.

The Permanent Marker typeface is perfect for creating brand logos. It’s unique, modern, beautiful, bold, and has clean features for small vinyl cutting.

3. Maloney

Maloney Font by Damarletter

Another great source of playful fonts is Font Bundles. This font is free for personal use. If you want to use this for commercial use, you can avail of it in Font Bundles. This TrueType font is available in regular style and extrude style. It comes with 331 glyphs and 340 characters.

You can use the Maloney font to create an intricate vinyl project just like the Christmas ornament below. It has a modern and vintage feel. It’s one of the best Cricut fonts used by many crafters.

Small vinyl fonts on a Christmas ornament

4. Pacifico

Designed by Vernon Adams, Jacques Le Bailly, Botjo Nikoltchev, Ani Petrova available at Google Fonts

The Pacifico font is a unique, original, and fun brush script font inspired by the 1950s American surfing culture. It has a light feel that’s great for making logos, statement-making items, social media posts, or packaging. This is easy to weed because the font is bold and the characters are connected.

5. Greatly Desired

Greatly Desired Font by Niskala Huruf

Quick handwritten fonts always add that personalized touch to any project. This bold font is easy to cut and weed even with the smallest dimensions. This font is greatly desired (no pun intended) for Silhouette, Cricut machines, and even other cutting machines. This font is free for personal use, for commercial use.

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6. Catchy Melody

Catchy Melody Font by Niskala Huruf

Keep your project simple and let it stand out using the Catchy Melody font available at Font Space. It’s one of the best fonts for small vinyl cutting thanks to its straightforward and bold design. This will look awesome on T-shirts and other fun projects.

7. Hello Wondey

Hello Wondey Font by FallenGraphic Studio

One of the best script fonts for small vinyl cutting projects is Hello Wondey available at Font Space. This is a free font for personal use. You can purchase the full version and commercial license. It may not be as thick as other fonts in this list, but it will come out beautifully even as a small font.

8. Yellow Rabbit

Yellow Rabbit Font by Typhoon Type by Suthi Srisopha

Are you looking for an elegant and chic font? The Yellow Rabbit by Suthi Srisopha is a great match for any graphics. This script font is not interconnected so for small dimensions create a marker box when sending it to the cutting machine.

This is free for download at Font Space for personal use only. If you intend to use this font for commercial purposes, download the license at Creative Fabrica.

9. Billion Dreams

Billion Dreams Font by subectype & Orenari

Create a billion beautiful crafts with this Billion Dreams font available at Font Space. This is the perfect font for bridesmaid proposal boxes, wedding needs, and many more. This is one of the best Cricut fonts used in many crafts. You can download this font freely for personal use. For commercial use, you may reach out to subectype.

10. Hokaplay

Hokaplay Font by AfkariStudio

Get these font bundles from Font Space by AfkariStudio. The Hokaplay font is available in rounded and regular designs. This playful design goes well with manly designs, especially for T-shirts.

Furthermore, this font is suitable for small vinyl cutting for product labels, logos, custom mugs, packaging designs, and many more. You can use this font for personal use. For commercial use, you can purchase it at AfkariStudio.

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Tips & Tricks When Cutting Small Vinyl Fonts

Small fonts and intricate designs are always a challenge for crafters. The tendency is, that the font is too small that it won’t cut well on the vinyl. Or you can’t perfect cutting that intricate image design during the weeding process.

If it’s your first time creating a small vinyl cutting project, stick to the default settings of the cutting machine. Because if you do, you won’t figure out the cause of why the project is screwing up. 

If the material doesn’t cut or weed correctly, adjust one setting at a time — the speed, force, and segment overcut, which will be discussed later on. All of these settings are available for both Silhouette and Cricut machine.

Just like all the other craft projects out there, consistent practice and knowing the tips and tricks will save the day. So here are several tips and tricks you can put up your sleeve when creating designs with small fonts and intricate images.

Holographic Glossy Rainbow Adhesive Vinyl available at TeckWrap Craft

Tip #1: Use the Offset Setting

Offset Tool in Silhouette Studio®

The first step when cutting small fonts is to use the offset setting of your design space. This applies to cutting intricate free SVG files as well. The purpose of the offset setting is to thicken the design.

If you used the offset setting, this will prevent the blade of the cutting machine to come close to the area of the vinyl that has been already cut. The default offset distance is .125, but upon your judgment, if you think the thin fonts need a larger offset, you may do so.  

Tip #2: Place a Weeding Box Surrounding the Small Font

Another tip when cutting a small font is to place a weeding box around the design. The purpose of placing a weeding box is an easier weeding process later on. If there’s a weeding box, you can weed out the inside of the box first and work your way on the design itself. To create a weeding box, use the ‘Draw a Rectangle Tool’.

Tip #3: Change the Cut Speed

When it comes to the speed of the cutting machine, slower isn’t always better, or a faster speed might result in a disaster. For small fonts and intricate designs, choose the Cut Settings or speed between 1-3.

Elegant font using TeckWrap Craft adhesive craft vinyl

Tip #4:  Turn on the Segment Overcut Setting

For small fonts, turn on the ‘Segment Overcut’ and adjust the distance to 1. The Segment Overcut settings force the cutting machine blade to pick up and create a new line. If this setting is not turned on, the blade may keep pivoting and may result in the vinyl tearing and the whole project gets ruined.

Tip #5: Reduce the Force Setting

The Force setting of the cutting machine is the pressure of the blade against the vinyl. For small fonts and intricate designs, reduce the Force settings. If the Force setting is too much, it may cause the vinyl to tear.

Fun font and design for small vinyl cutting

Tip #7: Use a Cutting Mat

Accessories available at TeckWrap Craft

This tip is not just for small fonts and intricate designs, but it’s advisable for all other vinyl projects as well. If you use a cutting mat that’s sticky, it will place the vinyl firmly in place, so it won’t move too much while cutting.

Tip #8: Weed Carefully

Tweezer available at TeckWrap Craft

The last and most important step is to weed carefully. You can use a weeding tool or tweezer to remove the excess vinyl. Be careful when weeding small designs by using high-quality tools from TeckWrap Craft. Make sure to transfer it to the transfer tape properly as well.

Weeding Pen available at TeckWrap Craft

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Cut Small Fonts on Vinyl?

To cut small vinyl fonts, you can adjust the setting of your cutting machine like offset, weeding box, cutting speed, segment overcut, and force.

What Is the Smallest Font Size a Cutting Machine Can Cut?

The smallest size font a cutting machine can cut is ¼ inch or 0.25- inches. Some of the best fonts you can use for small vinyl cutting are Sans Serif Font, Cricut Sans, and Pacifico.

Why Is My Vinyl Peeling While Cutting?

The vinyl may peel while cutting because of various reasons — improper offset, worn-out blade, or too small letter size. Also, make sure the cutting machine has the right force and speed.

Are Script Fonts Easy to Weed in Vinyl?

Yes, script fonts are easy to weed in vinyl as long as you have the right cut speed, force, size, and overcut setting. You can download many cursive free fonts online to use for your vinyl projects.

Why Am I Having a Hard Time Weeding My Vinyl?

You may have a hard time weeding your vinyl because the force setting is too deep. Try to reduce the force so it won’t cut the backing paper of the vinyl.

Fun fonts using TeckWrap Craft adhesive vinyl

Final Thoughts

The bottom line of this all, whether it be a script font or Sans serif font, you can create small projects with TeckWrap Craft vinyl. Make sure to remember the tips and tricks above and practice! This guide is applicable for both adhesive and heat transfer vinyl.