Basic Shapes

Creation/Transform Mode

Basic shapes are geometric and ornamental patterns that are often used as basic building blocks in creating embroidery.

Geometric shapes include ellipse, triangles, regular polygons, etc.

Ornamental shapes include flowers, stars, hearts, spirals, etc.

Usage

Basic shapes can be used in two working modes of the Studio:

1. Selection/Transform mode - create ready-to-use shapes quickly and easily.
2. Vectorization mode - create basic shapes as part of a spline edge of a digitized object.

This chapter deals with the option #1 - creation of the ready-to-use shapes in Selection/Transform mode.

Parameterization

Unlike stock patterns loaded from a library, shapes created with this tool are not pre-digitized. The studio generates such shapes on the fly, allowing it to fine-tune their shape using a few adjustable parameters. This means that these shapes can be modified using a few controls during the creation process.

The available set of parameters varies depending on the shape created and the type of embroidery object to which the shape is being converted.

These parameters include, but are not limited to: angle, thickness (for columns), sharpness, number of sides or points, etc.

Example of parameters: horizontal and vertical curvature of a rounded rectangle shape.

Note: Since these shapes are created for use as embroidery designs, their shape must be chosen with moderation in order to be embroidered nicely. An inappropriate combination of parameters can result in stray stitches and a design that is not usable for embroidery.

Selection/Transform mode, ready-to-use shapes

Shapes drawn in this mode are automatically converted to embroidery objects, such as a plain fill, mesh, outline, or column. That is why they are called ready-to-use.

Basic shapes are created in this mode using the Shapes tool. The Shapes tool is located in the vertical toolbar on the main screen of Studio Next.

Vertical Toolbox.

The Shapes tool has an expander button, meaning it allows you to select an option from a pop-up panel.

Options indicate the type of embroidery object to which the shape will be converted.

Drawing a Shape

Select Proper Option, Start the Shape Mode

Long-tap the Shapes tool button to bring up the options panel, then select the desired option. This switches the program to shape drawing mode.

You can also just click the Shapes tool button. The shape drawing mode will start with the currently selected option.

Example: a shape tool option that creates a column object

Select and Draw the Shape

The left, right, and top panels of the Studio switch their contents, and the program displays the controls for the shape mode. Select the desired shape from the menu in the top panel. Then draw the shape in the work area.

Handles

A shape has two handles (small circular nodes) that define the size and proportions of the shape, and one center handle that allows you to move the shape.

Snapping

The left panel contains switches that turn on/off snapping of handles to the grid, guidelines, etc. You can use these to precisely position or align the shape.

Example: A rounded rectangle shape drawn using handles

Parameters

While in the Shapes mode, adjust the shape parameters in the main control panel if necessary. In the case of a rounded rectangle, this is primarily the curvature of the corners. If the resulting object is to be column, also adjust the thickness parameter.

The Completion of the Shape, Conversion to Embroidery Object

After successfully completing the shape mode, the shape will be converted to the selected vector object. In this example, it is a column object.

Example: A column object created with a rounded rectangular shape and filled with stitches

Note: The conversion of shapes to columns uses the Corner parameter, which defines how sharp corners are truncated or smoothed.

Note: In addition to using the basic shapes directly as embroidery objects, you can also use them to create temporary templates. Use these temporary templates to position other embroidery objects in place. Then delete the temporary templates. This way you can create regular designs such as mandalas. The template can be any type of object, such as an outline, for example.

Note: In addition to using the basic shapes directly as embroidery objects, you can also use them to create a custom baseline for Lettering.