Stitch Era - interface features for working with a design
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In principle, someone is working on it and there should be a better version in a not so distant future.
If you want to modify this page, please discuss it with the person working on it (see the "history")
Introduction
Stitch Era has a fairly complex interface. The purpose of this piece is to introduce some features and tricks that you will need for many different tasks. We will not explain how to draw and manipulate vectors, stitch sections, etc. but introduce some tools that will help understanding what you have got on your screen.
Zooming
When working with vectors and embroidery objects you sometimes have to zoom in a lot.
- To zoom into the right spot,
- Click on the zoom area tool bottom or hit F6,
- then move the cursor over the center of area you plan to work with.
- then rotate the mouse wheel.
- Another zooming-in option is to use the pull-out menu of the same zoom area button and select the zoom level. Professional seem to work at 600%...
- To see the whole picture again: Click on the button next to it (Maximize Total) or hit CTRL-F6
- Finally, if zoomed, you need to see other parts of your design, you can use the hand to "drag" the workspace around (nothing will be changed in the drawings just your view of it ...)
F6 / CTRL-F6 are the only two shortcuts I know by heart for now. I really use it all the time...
Hiding and locking objects
We mentioned this before, but often you have to turn on/off either view of vector objects or view of stitch objects. If both are on, you may get confused. As rule: Always turn of vector object view when you edit stitch sections !
- Use the little buttons on top right to turn on (green) or off (red)
Now these buttons are also pull-down menus that give you additional hide/unhide and lock/unlock facilities.
You may for example hide stitch sections. This is very convenient when you work with objects that print on top of each other. See the screen capture below.
Warning: Before you freak out if at some point you can't see vectors or embroidery stitch sections or parts ... have a look at these tools. They will tell what should show/not show and what is locked/unlocked !
Rendering of stitch sections
You can look at stitches in two fundamentally different ways.
- Normal view, i.e. some sort representation that shows stitches as dots and lines
- 3D view, a kind of simulation that shows how the printed object would look. This simulation is not very good, but nevertheless helpful.
To turn 3D view on/off, use the little red ball in the lower left or hit 'F7
If a static view is not enough, you then can examine and simulate the stitching process in three ways:
1) If you tick Navigation View, navigation controls will appear to the right of the play head and and that allows you to navigate forward and backward in your design and jump to different points of interest, e.g.
- section to section
- stitches by 10's or 100'.
- color to color
2) To the very right, there is a simulation player (including speed and thickness of stiches control). Hit the little arrow in order to simulate what your embroidery machine will do.
3) you also can move the play head forth and back.
Depending on whether 3D view is on or off you will get a different view.
This tool is crucial for spotting potential trouble in your design, e.g. parts that are stiched over others when they should not. Of course, you do think about these things, but there is always 1 or 2 things that are missed.
