Sfumato Stitch (old version): Creating Design

Embird Embroidery Software Tutorial

This tutorial explains how to use the older version of the Sfumato Stitch plug-in. The older version of Sfumato Stitch is an additional plug-in for Embird. To use it, you must download it (e.g., from the Embird File Archive) and install it (run the downloaded file).

Note: A newer version of Sfumato Stitch is now available. The new Sfumato Stitch is integrated into the Digitizing Studio plug-in (version 3.0 and above). However, you must pay for it if you want to use it. In other words, the registration fee for Embird or for Digitizing Tools does not cover the registration of Sfumato Stitch.

1 - Run Embird and click the "Editor" menu to switch to the Editor window.

2 - Run the older version of the Sfumato Stitch plug-in by selecting the "Insert -> Sfumato Stitch Design (old version)" command from the main menu (Picture No. 1).

Picture No. 1

3 - The Sfumato Stitch window will appear on the screen. Select the "File -> Open Image" command to open either a .bmp or .jpg image (Picture No. 2).

Picture No. 2

4 - Choose the "Selection Tool" in the toolbar at the left side of the screen (arrow 1 in Picture No. 3). Make the selection that you would like to crop and convert to stitches. To make the selection, move the mouse pointer in the work area to the top-left corner of the selection, depress the left mouse button, and drag the mouse to the bottom-right corner of the selection. Release the left mouse button there (arrow 2 in Picture No. 3). Finally, crop the image by choosing the "Edit -> Crop" command from the main menu (arrow 3 in Picture No. 3).

Picture No. 3

5 - Use the "Image -> Resample" command from the main menu to resample the image to its final size (Picture No. 4).

Picture No. 4

6 - Choose the Background Color in the Painter Toolbar (arrow 1 in Picture No. 5). Basic colors (like "Lime green" R=0, G=255, B=0) are preferred.

7 - Fill all areas of the image that should not be covered with stitches using the Selection Tool (arrow 2 in Picture No. 5). To select an area, move the mouse pointer to its first point and click the left mouse button, then move the mouse pointer to the second point and click the left mouse button again. The first and second points will be connected by a line. This way you can draw a selection polygon around the area that you want to select. Finally, double-click the left mouse button to close the polygon (arrow 3 in Picture No. 5).

8 - Once the area is selected, click the "Edit -> Delete (Fill with Background Color)" command from the main menu (arrow 4 in Picture No. 5).

Picture No. 5

9 - Click the "Preview" button in the Preview window, which is located in the bottom-right corner of the screen (arrow 1 in Picture No. 6). Wait a moment to see the preview of the embroidery design in the Preview window.

10 - Choose the correct "Hoop Size" in the Hoop Combo Box, which is located above the Preview window. Adjust the position of the design in the hoop (which is shown as a red rectangle in the Preview window): Depress the right mouse button while the mouse pointer is inside the red rectangle, move the mouse pointer (and the red rectangle) to the new position, and finally release the right mouse button.

Picture No. 6

11 - Click the "Compute Stitches" button. The program will start computing the stitches. Calculation of the design may last several minutes or even hours for very large designs. When finished, return to the Embird Editor - the program will ask you whether you want to close the Sfumato session and return to the Embird Editor or not.

Picture No. 7

12 - Back in the Embird Editor, use the "File -> Save As" command to save the design to a file on your disk. Specify the format and the file name of the new design in the dialog boxes that appear on the screen.

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