Trace Tool

1. Import the Raster Image

Select Image > Import from the main menu to bring your source picture into Studio. Avoid scaling the image to fit the hoop within the Work Area; enlarging a raster image increases pixelation, which hinders the Trace Tool's performance. Instead, it is recommended to resize the finished vector objects, as vector scaling does not degrade quality.

Begin the digitizing process by focusing on the large background areas first. Locate the Trace Tool (the magic wand icon) in the toolbar on the side of the screen. Perform a long-press with the primary mouse button on this icon to reveal the style panel.

Click within the yellow region of the image. Flashing marquee dots will indicate the current selection.

Click the Apply button on the top toolbar to convert the selected pixels into vector objects. This creates five separate objects: one primary fill and four internal holes (openings).

If the Ignore Openings checkbox were enabled, the software would generate only the solid outer fill. This is useful for creating underlays, but for this design, we want to maintain the openings, so the option remains unchecked.

The newly generated vector objects appear in the Object Inspector list. Objects containing holes also display those components in the Parts Inspector.

In this example, the Parts Inspector (located below the main Object Inspector) lists five objects: the fill and four openings.

Some of these openings are too thin for practical embroidery. Select object number 5 (the opening for the chin line) and delete it. The openings for the eyes and mouth contain both thick and thin sections; we will refine these manually.

Select the mouth opening in the Parts Inspector, right-click to open the context menu, and select "Edit" to enter node-editing mode.

Openings must be selected via the Parts Inspector because they cannot be clicked directly within the Work Area.

Delete the nodes on the narrow segments of the mouth opening to simplify the shape. Select individual nodes and press delete, or select multiple nodes simultaneously.

To select multiple nodes, hold the Shift key while dragging a marquee box around the desired points.

Repeat this refinement for the eye openings until only the thicker regions remain. Once finished, we will apply an overlay to the yellow fill by shrinking the openings slightly using Transform > Offset > Expand Object. Expanding the main object effectively reduces the size of its holes, ensuring the yellow stitches extend slightly beneath the eye and mouth elements.

Click each of the three gray areas and three white areas on the hat to add them to your selection.

Because the Auto Color feature is active, the software will correctly identify and assign the appropriate color to each vector object based on the source image, even though they are part of a single selection group.

If an incorrect area is selected, use the Undo command (Ctrl+Z) to revert the action.

Click Apply or Generate Stitches to convert all selected regions into vector objects simultaneously.

The six resulting objects are simple fills and generally do not require editing. If you wish to adjust stitch angles or patterns, use the Parameters window.

Note: Each object was generated with an overlay margin to prevent gaps between adjacent colors during embroidery.

11. Finalizing Detail Objects

Select the white eye highlights and the red mouth area using the Add selection mode. Click Generate Stitches to create these column-based objects.

The resulting objects are columns that include an overlay for secure anchoring.

Finally, we will trace the black outlines. Select the Add Similar option to allow the software to select all matching color regions across the entire image at once.

Add Similar

Click any black outline area. With the Column style still active from the previous step, click Generate Stitches. The software creates fill objects with the Autocolumn feature enabled.

The design is now complete. Note the visual distinction between the plain yellow fill and the column-based details. Following these steps has ensured proper overlays and openings for a professional finish.

Before exporting, verify the sewing order in the Object Inspector to minimize thread changes. If the auto-generated sequence is inefficient, drag and drop objects to group them by color.

Since the objects in this design are separate, trims are automatically inserted between elements. For other designs, such as lettering, you may wish to manually add connections to reduce the number of trims.