# Embroidery File Converter – User Guide The Embroidery File Converter turns a picture into machine embroidery files. It can also open an existing embroidery file to preview, recolor, resize and convert it. Everything runs on your own computer, in your web browser. This guide opens from the **User guide** link at the top of the page. The page runs top to bottom in five steps: 1. **Picture or embroidery file** – choose what to work on. 2. **Settings** – size, threads, density, border and fine-tuning. 3. **Stitch preview** – watch the design stitch out and check it. 4. **Thread colors** – change, merge, delete and reorder threads, and edit single shapes (recolor, remove, split…). 5. **Download** – save files for your machine, a printable worksheet, or a project. Every change updates the design by itself after a short pause (a spinner says "Updating design…"). Big, busy designs can take a few minutes; the spinner shows how long it has been. --- ## 1. Picture or embroidery file Drop a file on the box at the top, or click it to choose one. - **Pictures:** PNG, JPEG and other images, SVG, PDF and AI files. Logos and clip art with solid colors work best. Photos, soft shading and very small text rarely stitch well. - **Embroidery files:** DST, PES, JEF, EXP, VP3, XXX, U01, PEC, TBF, HUS, SEW, SHV and many more. These open as they are, for previewing, recoloring, reordering, resizing and saving in another format. - **Projects** (.embproj): a file saved with **Save project** (step 5). It brings back the picture, every setting and every edit. A file that isn't one of these, or is damaged, isn't opened: a message under the settings says the file couldn't be read. **For the best results, give the design a background it can't be mistaken for.** If parts of the design are the same color as its background (white parts on a white background), the app can't tell them apart. Two ways to fix the picture before uploading it - any background-removal tool or AI image tool can do either: 1. **A transparent PNG** (background removed). Best. 2. If the tool struggles with that, **a solid bright green (#00FF00) or magenta (#FF00FF) background** - whichever color the design doesn't use. The app takes these backdrop colors out completely, holes in the design included (they're never stitched). Ask the tool to remove (or replace) the background and keep everything else exactly as it is. Image generators sometimes redraw a picture when asked to change it - check the lines, colors and lettering still match your original. **Remove background** (on by default) leaves a plain background, or a fake gray-and-white checkerboard, unstitched so only the design is sewn. Turn it off to stitch the whole image, background included. - A checkerboard is recognised even when the picture was resized (uneven tiles) or saved as a heavily compressed JPEG; pale parts of the design close to the tiles' gray (light blue-gray spokes) are kept. - Light parts of the design that touch the background (a white horse or a cream face on a white background) are kept, as long as they're an even color of their own. - A soft drop shadow or glow fading into a light plain background is removed with it, including its darkest edge right against the design. A shadow with a hard edge is part of the picture and is stitched. - **The inside of a frame** round the design (an area of the background color inside the design that's a big part of it - a fifth or more) is left unstitched too; a note under the preview says so, with **Stitch it** (see "Stitch the background color inside the design"). - The holes in lettering (the middle of an O, A or P) are left unstitched when they're the background color. - On a bright green, magenta, blue or cyan backdrop (a "green screen"), every area of that color inside the design is a hole too - never stitched. - Other small areas of the background color inside the design are left unstitched too (as fabric). If some were meant to be stitched in that color (white eyes or teeth on a white background), the note under the preview offers **Stitch them**, which turns off "Also remove that color inside the design". With it off, they're stitched in that color, and the note offers **Leave them unstitched** to turn it back on. Two exceptions, so the design looks of a piece: when the inside of a frame is left unstitched, the other holes framed by the same color are too (both bars of a logo, not one white and one bare); and on a background that isn't white or light gray (navy, beige, charcoal) they're always holes - stitching them in that color never looks meant. - A thin rim along an edge in a slightly different shade (left by how the picture was drawn - a gray line between purple and white) goes with the color it edges instead of becoming a thread of its own; so do pale tips where a shape tapers off into the fabric (a comet's tail). A real outline in a clearly different color (black round yellow) stays. - **Flags**: a part of the design in the background color that runs into the background round it (the white stripe of a flag on a white background) can't be told from the background, so it isn't stitched. When the design looks like a flag (a rectangle with colors along its sides), the note under the preview offers **Stitch them**. Any other design (a white unicorn whose body runs into the white background, a white flag field round an emblem): **Edit shapes** → **Paint** → **As in the picture**, and **Draw an outline** round the part. A transparent PNG avoids all of this. When an embroidery file is open, the picture settings don't apply. Instead you get **Resize to width (mm)** and **How to resize**: - **Scale the stitches** – for small changes (up to about ±20%). Density changes with the size. - **Re-digitize at the new size** – for big changes. Fresh stitches are made with the settings below, so density stays right. --- ## 2. Settings Everyday settings are always shown. Fine-tuning is behind **Show advanced options** (top of the Settings section). If advanced settings were changed while they were hidden (by a fabric choice or a project), a note says how many. ### Everyday settings - **Hoop** – pick your hoop (4×4, 5×7, 6×10, 8×8, 8×12 in, or a custom size). The preview shows the hoop, a message says whether the design fits, and **Fit design to hoop** sizes it to fit. - **Fabric** – choose what you're stitching on (woven cotton, T-shirt knit, polo, fleece, towel, denim, cap, leather, silk, patch/wall hanging). This sets density, stitch length, underlay, pull/push compensation and longest stitch to suit the fabric, and shows which stabilizer, topping and needle to use. Your own saved recipes also appear here. - **Orientation** – rotate 90° right, 180°, 90° left or a custom angle (clockwise), and mirror left–right or top–bottom. Set these before editing shapes: splits, painting, Keep detail areas and single-shape colors stay where they were drawn on the design and don't turn with it. - **Design width (mm)** – how wide the finished design is (5–600 mm). The height follows the picture. The width in inches is shown next to it. - **Thread colors** – how many thread colors the picture is reduced to. Type a number, or use ▼ / ▲. ▼ merges the two most similar colors into one and leaves every other color the same. ▲ splits a merged color back out. A small detail in a strongly different color (a red tongue, a pink nose) keeps its own thread longer than big areas in similar shades. When the picture has more distinct colors than threads, a note under the box says so: if a detail came out in the wrong color, press ▲. When the other colors are too small or too close to get a thread of their own (often edge shading or tiny specks), ▲ is greyed out and the note says that instead. - **Detail** – a slider from **Simplified** to **Most detail** (four steps: Simplified, Balanced, Detailed, Most detail; Balanced is the default). Underneath it shows how many pieces and trims the design has now, so you can see each step's effect. - Towards **Most detail**: smaller pieces are kept (down to about 0.5 mm²), edges follow the picture closely, and tiny colors keep their own thread longer. More pieces mean more trims and a longer sew. - **Balanced**: ragged edges are smoothed over about 1 mm and pieces under about 1.5 mm² lying among other colors (blotches in shading) join the color around them. Small dots standing on bare fabric (the dot of an i) and small round spots in a clearly different color (freckles) stay. - **Simplified**: edges smoothed over about 1.4 mm; pieces under 3 mm² and free-standing lines thinner than 0.8 mm and detail lines inside one color go (whole, never as dashes), and tiny colors merge sooner. Fewest pieces and trims - good for small designs, caps and towels. - Which to pick: clean logos and flat clip art come out the same at every step (nothing to simplify). Detailed art (a horse's mane, a crest) keeps more small pieces towards Most detail, but often looks just as good at Simplified with far fewer trims - compare them in the preview. If a step towards more detail suddenly adds many trims or slivers, step back. - Lines are always kept or removed whole: a thin outline is never left broken into dashes. - **Lettering is never simplified**: letters found in the picture keep their strokes, dots and holes at every step (simplifying used to break small lettering into bits). Very small text on a curve (a motto on a ribbon) may not be recognised as lettering, and can still be simplified away at **Simplified**. - **Outlines are always kept**, however thin the line and whatever the thread weight (a 0.15 mm outline still gets sewn, at least at the thread's own width): around the design, around a shape, between two colors. **Simplified** drops only lines standing alone on the fabric (whiskers, hairlines) and detail lines drawn inside one color (like the scales on a dragon - judged stretch by stretch, so a dragon's outline stays while the scales inside it go); the other steps keep those too. A thin line that's all that joins two parts of a shape (a stem between leaves) stays even when simplifying, so they're sewn together. Thin dark lines also survive when a big picture is shrunk to the design's size, slanted lines stay in one piece instead of breaking into bits, and a line's blended edge goes with the line (it doesn't become a thread or pieces of its own). A picture full of fine line art gets more pieces and trims - move **Detail** to **Simplified** for fewer. - The sizes grow with heavier thread (12 wt can't show pieces as small as 60 wt), and with a picture too small for the design's width (see below). - **Thread weight** – 60 wt (fine, for small lettering and detail), 40 wt (standard), 30 wt (thicker, bolder coverage), 12 wt (heavy, hand-stitched look). Thicker thread uses fewer, more open rows, and the smallest pieces kept grow with it. The needle size to use is shown underneath. - **Fill density** – Light (0.55 mm rows), Normal (0.40 mm) or Dense (0.33 mm). Denser covers better but is stiffer and takes longer. - **Border** – None, **Satin border in each color**, or **Outline in one color**. A satin edge hides jagged edges and gives a raised, finished look. **Outline in one color** sews the design's outside edge as one unbroken line all the way round, in order (and each hole, like the inside of an O, as its own loop); the lines between colors come separately. **Satin border in each color** sews each color's part of the edge with that color, so the outside edge comes in pieces, one per color, as each color is sewn. With a border on you also get: - **Replace the picture's own outline** (on by default) – if the picture already has an outline, all the way round or just in places, the border takes its place instead of going around it, so there's no double outline. The outline's area is filled with the color inside it, and the border is sewn at the design's edge. With **Satin border in each color** the border keeps the outline's color there (a black outline becomes a black satin border), sewn last on top - so that color may be sewn twice ("Sewn again: outline on top"). Only thin outlines (up to about 4 mm) that run along a good part of the design's edge are replaced: thick areas of that color (like hair the outline runs into), lines inside the design, lettering on bare fabric and thin details sticking out at the edge (a tongue, a whisker, a horn) stay. A note under the preview says when it happened, with **Keep the picture's outline too** to turn it off. - **Only where the design meets the fabric** – borders the outside edge (and holes like the inside of an O), not the edges between colors. - **Border width** – 1 to 3 mm. - **Outline color** – for "Outline in one color". ### Advanced settings Turn on **Show advanced options** to see these. **Under Fabric** - **Stretchy fabric (knits: T-shirts, polos, fleece)** – keeps rows at least 0.35 mm apart so dense stitching doesn't cut the knit like a perforated line. - **Save settings as a recipe…** – saves the current density, stitch length, compensation, underlay and thread settings under a name. Recipes appear in the Fabric list under "My recipes". **Delete this recipe** removes one. **Stitch count and density** - **Stitch count range** – optional minimum and/or maximum stitch count. The density and stitch length are adjusted automatically to land in the range. A note says what was used, or why the range couldn't be reached. - **Fill stitch length** – 3 to 7 mm. 4 mm or more is best: shorter fill stitches put more holes in the fabric and ripple after washing. **Picture cleanup** - **Remove leftover background bits on the outside** – pockets left from the background (in the background's color, or white / light gray on a light background) and thin slivers of other colors that touch the outside of the design aren't stitched. Details inside the design are kept, and so are dots (of an i or an exclamation mark) and white lettering on a dark or transparent background. When this removes something, a note under the preview says so, with a **Put them back** button. - **Merge tiny colors into the shapes around them** – a thread covering under 0.1% of the design isn't worth a thread change; its shapes take the color around them. A note under the preview has **Keep it separate** to undo this. - **Also remove that color inside the design** – on by default: areas of the background color inside the design (holes, the inside of an O or A) are left as fabric. Turn it off if the design has details in the background color that should be stitched (white eyes or teeth on a white background); the note under the preview offers it as **Stitch them**, and **Leave them unstitched** turns it back on. Holes in lettering stay open either way. Light parts of the design that are a color of their own (not the background's) stay. (The inside of a frame round the design is left unstitched anyway.) - **Stitch the background color inside the design** – off by default: the inside of a frame round the design isn't stitched. Turn it on to stitch it (a filled patch), and to stitch the parts of a flag-like rectangular design that are the background's color (a flag's white stripe). The note under the preview offers it as **Stitch it** / **Stitch them**. - **Background tolerance** – raise it if bits of background are left behind; lower it if parts of the design disappear. **Stitching** - **Satin stitch for thin parts** – lettering and lines get smooth satin that turns with the stroke. **Thin means narrower than** (3–10 mm) sets where satin stops and fill starts. Lines under 1 mm wide get a running stitch. Lettering (found automatically: three or more letters side by side) gets a satin column along each stroke instead, at least about 0.9 mm wide - thinner strokes are widened where there's room, keeping the inside of letters (e, a, o) open. A design with lettering under about 10 mm tall is worked out in finer detail, which takes about twice as long. A long curving band with two free ends (a lollipop's spiral, a swoosh), or a long straight one that tapers to a point (a comet's tail), is also one satin column along it - one run, narrowing with the band down to a fine tip - instead of one piece per direction. Where such a band is wider than a satin stitch should be (a comet's round head) the stitches are split into shorter ones. - **Fill angle per shape** – each fill follows its shape's length (within 2° of level or upright it is taken as exactly that, so the rows don't step at the same place and show a seam). The **Fill angle** slider sets the angle for round shapes (or for all fills when this is off). - **Underlay** – stitches under the design that hold the fabric flat and lift the top stitches: Automatic, None, Center run, Edge run (contour), Zigzag, Tatami, Edge run + zigzag, Edge run + tatami. Automatic picks per shape. - **Knockdown base** – flattens towel loops and fleece pile so stitches sit on top. - **Pull compensation** (0–0.6 mm) – thread pulls fills narrower; this overlaps each color onto the one beneath so no gaps open up. - **Push compensation** (0–0.6 mm) – satin grows at its ends; this stops satin a little short where an end faces bare fabric. - **Sew text last** – lettering is found automatically and sewn after everything else so it sits crisp on top. Doesn't apply once you've dragged the threads into your own order. - **Keep satin on top** – satin that touches colors sewn after it is sewn after them instead, because satin only looks like satin as the top layer. A color with both fills and satin then gets a second thread stop. - **Sew details on top (repeat a color when needed)** – a small piece mostly surrounded by colors sewn later (a pupil the same color as the hair) gets its own thread stop after them, so it sits on top and lines up. Costs a thread change. On a single-needle machine, turn this (and Keep satin on top) off to sew every color in one go. - **Lock stitches** – ties in and off around every cut so stitches don't unravel. - **Travel over finished stitching** – whenever it saves a trim (fewest trims), only short stretches (balanced), or never (cleanest look). A satin border comes in many pieces where colors meet; between them the needle travels along the border itself (hidden under the pieces still to come) or, within the same limits, along the edge of the color's own fill, instead of trimming. - **Longest stitch** – 7 mm for clothes and anything washed; 12 mm for things that aren't worn (patches, wall art). Longer stitches are split, and wider satin becomes fill. No stitch is ever shorter than 0.6 mm. --- ## 3. Stitch preview The preview shows the design stitched out on the fabric. - **▶ Play** watches the stitch-out; **⟲** restarts; the slider scrubs to any point; the speed menu runs from 1× (real time) to 1000×. Under the preview you see the current thread, stitch number and time. - **As programmed / On fabric** (above the preview) – **As programmed** (the default) shows exactly what the machine is told to sew. **On fabric** shows roughly how it sews out: the thread's pull shortens stitches along their direction, and push spreads the edges of filled areas out across it, so gaps can open between colors and edges move a little. It uses the chosen **Fabric**'s amounts (or your recipe's; without one, a typical woven fabric, or a knit when **Stretchy fabric** is on). The changes are a few tenths of a millimetre, so zoom in (full screen) to see them. The **Pull compensation** and **Push compensation** settings make up for this. It only changes the preview, not the file. - **Compare with picture** – a slider reveals the original picture over the stitches. - **Problem spots** – boxes on the preview, and a numbered list under it, show where the stitches differ most from the picture: **Missing** (part of the picture with no stitches), **Extra** (stitches where the picture has none) and **Wrong color** (stitched in a clearly different color - the list shows the picture's color → the stitched one). It also says how much of the design each kind covers. Click a spot to open **Edit shapes** zoomed onto it, with a hint on how to fix it. Not counted: what you changed on purpose (your edits), edges, differences under 2 mm², and unstitched parts in the background's own color. It can't tell when the background removal itself got it wrong (a white part of the design on a white background looks like background): check the notes under the preview for that. Not every spot is a fault: a gradient becomes bands of thread, and a line can't be thinner than the thread. Pictures only (not opened embroidery files). - **⛶ Full screen** (top right of the preview) – the preview fills the whole window so you can see the design bigger. The play button, slider and speed menu stay under it. **✕ Exit full screen** or the Esc key goes back. In full screen a **Zoom** bar sits next to that button: **+** and **−** zoom in and out (up to 800 %), **Fit** shows the whole design again, and Ctrl + mouse wheel (or a trackpad pinch) zooms around the pointer. Zoomed in, scroll the preview to move around; playing the stitch-out still works. Leaving full screen goes back to the whole design. - **Fabric color** – shows the design on white, natural, greys, black, navy, royal blue, red, forest green, pink, khaki, denim, or any custom color. This only changes the preview, not the design. - Advanced only: **Only selected colors** (show just the threads selected in step 4), **Show jumps**, and **Density map** (needle holes per mm²; red areas are too dense). Under the preview: size (mm and inches), stitch count, thread colors (how many different colors, each counted once), thread stops (only when a color is sewn more than once, so there are more stops than colors), an estimated sewing time, and (advanced) trims, travel runs, stitch lengths and a rule check. **Check before stitching** lists warnings such as a design that doesn't fit the hoop, very dense areas, or a color that is used twice and why. --- ## 4. Thread colors Each thread is shown as a swatch, in stitching order. A color that is sewn twice (for example "Sewn again: details on top" or "satin on top") shows why. The count next to the title is the number of different colors; when a color is sewn more than once it also gives the thread stops (for example "2 colors, 3 thread stops"). - **Select** a color by clicking it. Shift-click selects more. - **Change the stitching order:** drag a swatch to a new place, or use Alt + arrow keys. Once you set your own order, automatic ordering such as "Sew text last" stops applying. - In a picture, the order is by color: dragging a color moves all of it. A "Sewn again" swatch is placed automatically (Sew details on top / Keep satin on top), so dropping a color just before or after one may not change anything; turn those settings off for full control. A color that lies on top of another can't be moved before it while those are on: the note under the colors says so when a move is undone that way. - With Alt + arrow keys, the color you moved keeps the keyboard focus, so you can press again to move it further. - In an opened embroidery file, a color can have several thread stops (black, white, black…). Dragging moves just that one stop. Two stops of the same color that end up side by side become one stop. - You can drag again straight away, while the design is still updating; each move builds on the one before. - **Show on image** – highlights where the selected colors are in your picture. - **Change color** – pick a new color for the selected thread (color picker, hex code or R/G/B, or one of the design's other threads), then **Apply color**. This changes every shape of that thread; to change just one shape, use **Change color** in Edit shapes (below). - **Merge colors** – select two or more colors, **Confirm merge**, then choose which color the merged thread should be. - **Delete color** – that color isn't stitched at all. - **Weight** (advanced) – a different thread weight for the selected colors. - **Match to thread brand** – shows the closest thread from the Brother or Janome chart (Brother shows the color name only; Janome also gives the thread number). **Use these thread colors** switches the design to those exact colors. "(approx.)" means the chart has no close match. - **Undo** steps back one edit (it shows how many there are). **Reset edits** removes them all. Edits are remembered as a list and replayed whenever the design updates, so they survive changes to the settings. ### Edit shapes **Edit shapes** (in the Thread colors buttons) opens the **Shapes** panel. A "shape" is one connected area of one thread color. Shapes are listed under **In stitching order** (advanced) or **All shapes**, with each one's size and how it's stitched. If colors are selected in step 4, only their shapes are offered. **Zoom** (above the shapes picture): **+** and **−** zoom in and out (up to 800 %), **Fit** shows the whole design again. Ctrl + mouse wheel (or a trackpad pinch) zooms around the pointer. When zoomed in, scroll the picture to move around; every tool works the same while zoomed. Everyone can: - **Select** shapes by clicking them (Shift-click adds more). The selected shapes are shown on their own, in full color, with everything else faded; **Show whole design** / **Show just this shape** switches between the two. - **Select shapes smaller than … mm²** – picks all tiny shapes at once. **only on the outside edge** limits it to shapes touching the outside of the design (leftover background bits), not details inside it. - **Change color** – gives just the selected shapes a different color; the rest of their thread stays as it is. Pick a color (color picker, hex code or R/G/B), or click one of the design's other threads under "Or use a thread already in the design" to move the shapes onto that thread (no extra thread change). Any other color becomes a new thread of its own. Works on parts made with Split too. Pictures only; in an opened embroidery file, change the whole thread instead. - **Sew last** – the selected shapes are sewn after everything else, on top of all other colors and details (little black eyes, a pupil, a highlight). If their color is also used elsewhere, it goes on again at the end (one extra thread change; the thread list shows "Sewn again: marked Sew last"). The shapes list shows "· sewn last" for them. Select them again and press **Don't sew last** to put them back in their usual place. Shapes split off later keep the mark. - **Remove: fill with surrounding color** – the selected shapes become part of whatever color surrounds them. - **Remove: leave unstitched** – the selected shapes aren't stitched; the fabric shows through. - **Paint** (in the tool row) – paint part of the design in a thread color, **Bare fabric (not stitched)**, **As in the picture** (each spot gets the thread nearest the picture's own color there; a color no thread has gets a new thread), or **Other color…**. Three ways to say where: - **Click an area** – click a part of the picture and everything of about that color around it is painted at once, like a paint bucket. With **As in the picture** this brings back a part that went with the background (a white stripe on a white background, a white belly). It only paints inside the design's outline, which follows its curves and bridges gaps up to about a sixth of its size (a white muzzle open to a white background stops across the gap instead of running round the cheeks). If the picture has even a faint line all round the part (the soft edge of a drawn shape), it stops there, so a rounded edge stays round. Clicking the empty background around the design does nothing - draw an outline instead. - **Draw an outline** – click points around the area, double-click (or press Enter) to close it, then press **Paint**. - **Draw a line** – click the points of a line, double-click (or Enter) to end it, choose the width (0.5 - 5 mm) and press **Paint**. Lines under 1 mm are sewn as a running stitch, wider ones as satin. Good for a lost whisker or a thin outline. **Clear** (or Esc) starts over; Backspace removes the last point. Painting is undone with **Undo** like any other edit and is redone at any size. - **Keep detail** (in the tool row) – click points round an area, double-click (or Enter) to close it and press **Keep detail**: everything inside keeps its full detail - fine lines, small spots and colors - as at **Most detail**, whatever the **Detail** setting, while the rest of the design is simplified. Kept areas show as dashed green outlines. **Undo** removes one. With **Show advanced options** on you also get: - **Split** – cut shapes into separate shapes. Click to place the points of a cut line (as many points as you like, so the line can bend); double-click or press Enter to end it, then draw more lines if one isn't enough. **Undo point** (or Backspace) removes the last point, **Clear lines** starts over, and **Split** cuts along all the lines together - so a part joined on in two places is freed by drawing a line across each join. Select a shape first to cut only that shape; otherwise every shape the lines cut apart is split (a selection the lines don't cross, such as the pieces of the last split, is ignored). A line has to go all the way across a shape - start and end it just outside the shape. If nothing could be cut, the page says so and the split isn't added to **Undo**. Each part can then be given its own settings, and it's sewn as its own piece. - **Split off area** – select the shape to cut (for example the body), choose **Split off area**, then pick the area: - **On a shape** – click the shape the parts lie on (for example the face; it turns blue). Every part of the selected shape lying on it becomes its own shape – eyebrows, outlines, mouth – cut where they cross its edge. If a feature cuts the face in two (an eyebrow running right across it), click each piece of the face, and the eye whites too. - **Inside an outline** – click points roughly around the area and double-click (or press Enter) to close it. The parts of the selected shape lying on other colors inside it come off. The outline doesn't need to be exact: bits that just belong to the rest of the shape stay with it. Then press **Split off**. The parts that came off are selected afterwards. Split and Split off area only keep parts of 15 mm² or more. Smaller bits (for example a sliver where a cut line ran beside an edge) go back to the shape they touch most, so the design doesn't break into tiny pieces that would barely get stitched. - **Join selected** – joins selected shapes of the same color back into one. - **Reshape** – select one shape, choose Reshape, drag the outline points (double-click an edge to add a point, Alt-click a point to remove it), then **Apply shape**. - **Shape settings** (right-hand side) for the selected shapes, then **Apply to selected** (or **Reset to automatic**): - **Stitch type** – Automatic, Fill (tatami), Pattern fill, Satin, Contour fill, Spiral fill, Running stitch, Triple run (bean), Hand-stitch look, Cross-stitch, Appliqué, 3D puff (foam), Sequins, Free-standing lace. - **Pattern** (for Pattern fill) – Textures: Waves, Diamonds, Bricks, Herringbone, Diagonal lines, Chevrons, Steps, Scales, Random (sand). Row shapes: Wavy rows, Circles, Gradient, Cross-hatch. - **Angle** – Automatic, or a fixed angle in degrees. - **Density** – design setting, Light, Normal, Dense or Extra dense. - **Underlay**, **Thread weight** (a different weight is a different spool, sewn as its own stop) and **Pull compensation**. What the stitch types are for: - **Fill (tatami)** – rows of running stitches; the standard fill for big areas. - **Pattern fill** – a fill with a texture or shaped rows. - **Satin** – smooth, shiny zig-zag across the shape; best under 7 mm wide. - **Contour fill** – rows that follow the outline, ring inside ring (petals, leaves). - **Spiral fill** – like contour, but one continuous spiral. - **Running stitch** – a single line along the centre or around the outline. - **Triple run (bean)** – each stitch sewn three times; a bold line. - **Hand-stitch look** – long-short stitches like hand sewing. - **Cross-stitch** – classic crosses on a grid. - **Appliqué** – placement line, stop to lay fabric, tack-down, stop to trim, satin cover edge. - **3D puff (foam)** – dense satin over foam; the machine stops so you can place the foam. - **Sequins** – a sequin every 5 mm; needs a sequin device (Tajima DST). - **Free-standing lace** – a mesh with a satin edge, stitched on water-soluble stabilizer. --- ## 5. Download - **My machine** – pick your machine's format, then **Download**: Brother / Babylock (PES), Tajima (DST), Janome (JEF), Melco / Bernina (EXP), Pfaff / Viking (VP3), Singer (XXX), Barudan (U01), Brother (PEC), Tajima (TBF). - **All formats** – every format one by one, or all of them in a .zip. - **Printable worksheet (PDF)** – thread list in stitching order (with brand thread names if matched), hoop, fabric, stabilizer and a picture of the design. - **Save project** – keeps the picture, settings and edits in one file. Drop it back in later to carry on. Tip: stitch a test on scrap fabric before using good material. --- ## Fixing common problems Start with **Problem spots** above the preview: it boxes the places where the stitches differ from your picture (missing, extra or wrong color) and opens each one in **Edit shapes**. Then find what you see below - the first fix is usually the best one. Most of these the assistant can also do for you. **Part of the design is missing** - Same color as the background (white on white): the app can't tell it from the background. Best: **Edit shapes** → **Paint** → **As in the picture** → **Click an area** on it. If it runs into the background with no edge at all, **Draw an outline** round it instead. A flag's white stripe or the inside of a frame: press **Stitch them** / **Stitch it** in the note under the preview. At the very edge of the design, or for the cleanest result: upload a transparent PNG, or the picture on a bright green or magenta background (step 1). - A light color close to the background's (cream on white): lower **Background tolerance** (advanced). - A fine line or a tiny spot: see "Fine lines or small spots disappeared". **Background is stitched (specks round the edge, a box, a shadow)** - Raise **Background tolerance** (advanced) a step at a time. - Specks left on the outside: keep **Remove leftover background bits on the outside** on; for the rest, **Edit shapes** → **Select shapes smaller than … mm²** with **only on the outside edge** → **Remove: leave unstitched**. - A bigger leftover area: select it in **Edit shapes** → **Remove: leave unstitched**, or **Paint** → **Bare fabric (not stitched)** over it. - A busy, gradient or photo background: give the picture a transparent or bright green / magenta background (step 1). **A hole is stitched in the background's color (inside a ring, between legs)** Press **Leave them unstitched** in the note under the preview, or turn on **Also remove that color inside the design** (advanced). For one hole only: select it in **Edit shapes** → **Remove: leave unstitched**. **A small detail is the wrong color (a pink nose came out gray)** The picture has more colors than threads, so some share one. Press ▲ next to **Thread colors** until it gets its own; or select it in **Edit shapes** → **Change color**. **A detail is hidden under another color (eyes covered by later stitching)** Select it in **Edit shapes** → **Sew last**. If it's joined to a bigger shape of its color (an eye's outline running into the head's), free it first with **Split off area** - see "make a detail sit on top". **Fine lines or small spots disappeared** - In one area: **Edit shapes** → **Keep detail**, draw round it. - Everywhere: move **Detail** towards **Most detail**. - Still gone: **Paint** → **Draw a line** over it. Lines thinner than about 0.3 mm, and lettering under about 4 - 6 mm tall, can't be sewn - make the design bigger. **Ragged edges, speckles, lots of tiny pieces** Move **Detail** towards **Simplified**. Keep **Merge tiny colors into the shapes around them** (advanced) on. To clear what's left: **Edit shapes** → **Select shapes smaller than … mm²** → **Remove: fill with surrounding color**. **Too many trims, jumps or thread changes** See "get fewer trims or jumps" and "get fewer thread changes". **Fabric shows between colors (gaps along edges)** Raise **Pull compensation** (advanced) to 0.4 - 0.5 mm. On knits choose the fabric (or turn on **Stretchy fabric**, advanced), keep **Underlay** (advanced) on Automatic, and use the stabilizer the fabric box suggests - a stretching fabric opens gaps no setting can close. **Shading came out as stripes** Thread can't blend, so soft shading becomes bands of color. ▲ more **Thread colors** makes the bands finer; ▼ fewer gives a bolder, flat look, which often stitches better. Photos rarely stitch well. **Stitches go the wrong way, or a line shows across a fill** Select the shape in **Edit shapes**, untick Angle **Automatic**, type an angle → **Apply to selected** (see "change the direction of the stitches"). **Lettering is hard to read** See "make lettering crisper": usually the letters are too small for thread. **Two outlines (the picture's and the border)** See "add a border to a picture that already has an outline". **Too stiff, puckered, or the thread keeps breaking** Choose your **Fabric** (it sets density and compensation to suit it), use Light **Fill density** or a **Stitch count range** (advanced), and use the stabilizer the fabric box suggests. Knockdown base is only for towels and fleece. **It looks blocky or blurry, or a warning says the picture is too small** More detail has to come from a bigger, sharper picture - no setting can add what isn't in it. Or make the design smaller. **It doesn't fit the hoop** Choose your **Hoop** → **Fit design to hoop**, or lower **Design width**. --- ## How do I…? **…make a detail (eye, pupil, outline) sit on top of the color around it?** Quickest: open **Edit shapes**, click the detail (Shift-click to add more, for example both eyes) and press **Sew last** – it is sewn after everything else, so no other color or detail goes over it. Otherwise: Make sure **Sew details on top** is on (advanced). A small piece that is mostly surrounded by colors sewn later is then sewn again after them. If the detail's outline is joined to a bigger shape of the same color (for example an eye's outline that runs into the outline of the head), it counts as part of that big shape and is sewn underneath. If the outline joins the bigger shape somewhere you can cut, you can fix it: turn on **Show advanced options**, open **Edit shapes**, click the big shape, choose **Split off area**, click the shape the details lie on (for example the face) and press **Split off** – every detail lying on it comes free at once. Or choose **Split** and draw a line across each place the outline joins the big shape (click points, double-click to end each line), then press **Split**. Once the detail is a separate shape it goes on top. Check the result in the preview (play the stitch-out); in the thread list the color shows "Sewn again: details on top". The lines together have to cut the shape apart. If they miss a join, the split does nothing - add a line across the join you missed. Where the outline runs along a long edge of the bigger shape, follow that edge with a bent line. **…sew every color in one go (single-needle machine)?** Turn off **Sew details on top** and **Keep satin on top** (advanced). If an outline in one color uses the same color as a fill, drag that thread to the end in Thread colors so the outline carries straight on in it. **…get fewer thread changes?** Use fewer thread colors (▼), merge similar colors, turn off **Sew details on top** and **Keep satin on top** (advanced), and check whether any color is used twice (the swatch says why). **…get fewer trims or jumps?** Move **Detail** towards **Simplified** (the number of trims is shown under it). Set **Travel over finished stitching** (advanced) to "Whenever it saves a trim". Remove tiny shapes (Edit shapes → Select shapes smaller than …). Fewer colors help too. **…add more detail, or simplify the design?** - More detail: move **Detail** towards **Most detail**, press ▲ next to **Thread colors**, make the design wider, or use 60 wt thread. If a warning says the picture is too small for the design's size, more detail has to come from a bigger picture: no setting can add what isn't in it. - Simpler: move **Detail** towards **Simplified**, press ▼ next to **Thread colors**, or use thicker thread (30 or 12 wt). **…find what came out wrong?** Tick **Problem spots** above the preview. Each spot is boxed on the preview and listed under it; click one to open it in **Edit shapes** with a hint. Typical fixes: a missing part that went with the background → **Paint**, **As in the picture**, **Click an area** on it; a lost fine line → **Keep detail** round it (or **Paint** a line); a wrong color → ▲ more thread colors, or select the shape and **Change color**; extra stitches → select the shape and **Remove**. **…bring back a part that was removed with the background (white on white)?** Open **Edit shapes**, choose **Paint**, **As in the picture**, **Click an area**, and click that part. If it isn't separated from the background by any edge, choose **Draw an outline** instead and draw round it. If that part is at the edge of the design (a flag's outer white), or it's easier: make the picture a transparent PNG, or put it on a solid bright green or magenta background, and upload it again (see step 1). **…keep fine lines or small spots in one area but simplify the rest?** Set **Detail** where you want it for the whole design, then open **Edit shapes**, choose **Keep detail** and draw round the area to keep (whiskers, a face, small lettering). **…remove leftover background specks?** Keep **Remove leftover background bits on the outside** (advanced) on. For the rest, open **Edit shapes**, use **Select shapes smaller than … mm²** with **only on the outside edge**, then **Remove: leave unstitched**. **…remove the background's color inside the design (a hole in a shape)?** Press **Leave them unstitched** in the note under the preview, or turn on **Also remove that color inside the design** (advanced, Picture cleanup). The holes in lettering and the inside of a frame round the design are already left unstitched. **…stitch the inside of a frame, or a flag's white stripe?** Press **Stitch it** / **Stitch them** in the note under the preview, or turn on **Stitch the background color inside the design** (advanced, Picture cleanup). **…get a detail's color back (a pink nose came out gray, a black eye came out blue)?** The picture has more colors than threads, so some share one. Press ▲ next to **Thread colors** until the detail gets its own thread. To change just that shape instead, use **Change color** in **Edit shapes**. **…add a border to a picture that already has an outline?** Choose a **Border**. **Replace the picture's own outline** (on by default) swaps the picture's outline for the border, so you don't get two outlines. If you want both, turn it off (or press **Keep the picture's outline too** under the preview). If a thick outline (over about 4 mm) is still doubled, select its color in Thread colors and **Merge colors** it into the color inside, or recolor it in **Edit shapes**. **…make the design fit my hoop?** Choose your **Hoop**, then **Fit design to hoop**, or lower **Design width**. **…make lettering crisper?** Keep **Sew text last** and **Satin stitch for thin parts** (advanced) on, and use 60 wt thread for very small letters. How small still reads (capital height): bold lettering about 4 mm, regular weights about 5 mm, fonts with hairline serifs about 6 mm. Below that the inside of letters fills in and thin strokes can't be sewn - make the design bigger, or use a bolder font in the picture. Clean pictures work best: a blurry or heavily compressed picture loses thin strokes. **…stop puckering on T-shirts and knits?** Choose a knit fabric (or turn on **Stretchy fabric**, advanced), use Light density, and use cut-away stabilizer as the fabric box suggests. **…make stitches show on towels and fleece?** Choose Towel or Fleece as the fabric. It turns on **Knockdown base**; use a water-soluble topping. **…change the direction of the stitches in one area?** Advanced options → Edit shapes → select the shape → uncheck Angle **Automatic**, type an angle → **Apply to selected**. **…give one area a texture?** Edit shapes → select it → Stitch type **Pattern fill** → pick a pattern → **Apply to selected**. **…change the color of just one shape (one eye, one letter)?** Open **Edit shapes**, click the shape (Shift-click to add more), press **Change color**, pick the color or one of the design's threads, then **Apply color**. If the part you want is joined to more of the same color, cut it free first with **Split** or **Split off area** (advanced), then select the part and change its color. **…change a thread color to match my spool?** Select it in Thread colors → **Change color**, or use **Match to thread brand** and **Use these thread colors**. **…lower the stitch count?** Use Light density, a smaller width, or set a **Stitch count range** (advanced). **…undo something?** **Undo** in Thread colors steps back one edit; **Reset edits** removes them all. Changes made by the assistant can be undone with the **Undo** button on its message. --- ## Words used in this app - **Thread stop / color change** – the machine stops so you can change thread. - **Trim** – the thread is cut between areas; **jump** – the needle moves without stitching. - **Fill / tatami** – rows of stitches covering an area. - **Satin** – zig-zag stitches across a narrow shape; smooth and shiny. - **Underlay** – stitches sewn first, under the design, to stabilize it. - **Pull / push compensation** – small adjustments for how thread pulls fabric. - **Density** – how close the rows of stitching are. - **Stabilizer / topping** – material behind / on top of the fabric while stitching. ## Limits - Auto-digitizing works best on logos and clip art with solid colors. - A picture can't give more detail than its own pixels: when a small picture is made big (its pixels come out over 0.4 mm), a warning says how big a picture the size needs. - When the background is white, white parts of the design that touch it can't be told apart from it (the white stripe of a flag); turn off **Remove background**, or use a transparent PNG or a bright green / magenta background (see step 1). - Lettering under about 4 - 6 mm tall (depending on how bold it is), and lines thinner than about 0.3 mm, lose detail: thread is about 0.4 mm thick and a satin column needs about 1 mm. - Very large, busy designs (many small separate pieces) can take minutes. - Satin is simpler than commercial software; small seams can appear where strokes turn sharply. - PES and JEF can only name threads from Brother/Janome charts; VP3 keeps exact colors. - An outline joined to a bigger shape of its color is sewn with that shape (see "make a detail sit on top" above) until you separate it: **Split off area** frees it in one go, or **Split** with a line across each place it joins (all the lines cut together). Or select it and press **Sew last** once it's its own shape. - **Paint**'s **Click an area** can't tell a part of the design from the background when they're the same color with no edge between them; draw an outline then. - When the app runs online (on Google Cloud Run) rather than on your own computer, saved recipes are shared by everyone using that address and can be lost when the server restarts. --- ## The assistant The **Ask the assistant** button opens a chat about this app. It can: - answer questions about using the app; - look at the design you have open (its threads, shapes and stitching order); - see where the stitches differ from your picture (the same **Problem spots** you can show on the preview); - make changes for you – splitting or joining shapes (**Split**, **Split off area**, **Join**), shape stitch settings and **Sew last**, the color of single shapes, removing shapes, painting areas and lines (**Paint**), **Keep detail** areas, thread colors, order and weights, the **Fabric** (with its stitch settings, as when you pick it), rotating or mirroring the design, and the other settings – shown in its reply with an **Undo these changes** button; - explain how to do it yourself when it can't (it can't reshape outlines, pick the hoop, match threads to a brand's chart or download the file). **New chat** clears the conversation and starts over (changes it already made stay; use their **Undo these changes** buttons first if you don't want them). It doesn't change your original picture. It only talks about this app; it can't help with other topics. Questions it can't answer are noted so the app can be improved.