Hoop selection

Hoops are needed to hold the fabric tight while stitching on your machine. They are available in different sizes. A representation of the selected hoop is displayed in the design window. This provides a guideline for sizing and positioning designs. You can show or hide the hoop at any time.

Depending on the selected hoop type, the boundary of the working area within the hoop may be displayed as a thin red, blue, or dotted line. If any part of the design lies outside the stitching area, a warning appears when saving. This prevents you from accidentally stitching outside this area and damaging your machine by hitting the hoop with the needle. See also Supported hoops.

Hoop templates

When it comes to stitching out, it is important to align the fabric squarely in the hoop, with even pressure on all sides, and fabric patterns and weaves running perpendicular to the hoop. Otherwise, fabric bias allows stretch. This can distort stitching and result in puckering. Each hoop contains vertical and horizontal centering marks on the frames. These help with aligning both the fabric and the design.

Janome hoops also come with a clear plastic template overlay. These include alignment lines, with tiny holes which allow you to create positioning marks. Positioning templates for all Janome hoops are included in the software. Hoop templates can be toggled on or off independently of the hoop itself.

Uses...

• Templates are displayed with alignment and registration guide markings. This allows you to align the design in the hoop on screen, relative to the markings.
• Templates are printed with alignment and registration markings. This allows you to cut out the printed design and align it in the hoop with the physical template.

Select hoops

Whenever you create a new design, a single hoop representing the one you attach to your embroidery machine appears by default in the design window. As you position objects, the hoop position adjusts automatically so that it is always centered around objects in the window.

• Choose your machine. The hoop list is filtered to display compatible hoops.
• The Hoop Type droplist on the Context toolbar shows which hoop is currently active. The list is automatically filtered according to the selected machine type. Only those hoops supported by that machine are available. Select the smallest hoop which fits the design.
  
• Click the Show Hoop button on the View menu to display the current hoop.
• Alternatively, right-click the Show Hoop button and select a hoop from the droplist. You can also use this tab to select the current machine type.
  

• Click the Show Hoop Template icon to toggle hoop template display.
  
• The selected hoop is saved with the design in native EMB file format. When the machine reads the stitch file, the stitching area is limited by the selected hoop type.

Center hoops

By default, the software will ensure that your design is always centered in the hoop. However, you can use the manual option to lock the hoop position. This means it won’t automatically center while you are digitizing. If you are creating a single hooping, however, always turn on auto-centering to ensure that the design will fit within the selected hoop.

To set the hoop center...

• Select Software Settings > Embroidery Settings > Machine & Hoop or right-click the Show Hoop icon.

   

• In the Position panel, specify how you want the hoop centered:
  
  

  Option	Purpose
  Automatic centering	The hoop always centers itself around the design center.
  At start needle position	The hoop centers itself around the start needle point. All Janome machines need the 'At start needle position' checked. When using this option, you should also turn off the ‘Maintain Automatically’ option in Auto Start and End. See also Start & end design.
  Manual	Allows manual placement of the design anywhere in the hoop. Only suitable for machines which allow off-centering of designs within the hoop.
  Set hoop center	Allows an arbitrary hoop center to be created by digitizing a point in the design window.

• Click OK.
• If you have selected Set Hoop Center, click a point in the design window where you want to center the hoop.
  

Background colors

Set the color inside the hoop to match the fabric you intend to stitch out on. You can also set a background color outside the hoop by way of contrast. See also Backgrounds.

• Select Customize Design > Design Background or right-click the design window and select from the popup menu.

• To select a color inside the hoop, choose the Solid Color option. This allows you to set separate colors inside and outside the hoop. Select a color from the palette or mix your own.

  

• Set the color inside the hoop to match the color of the fabric you intend to stitch out on.

Rotate hoops

The Rotate Hoop tool allows you to rotate the hoop for ease of digitizing. The attachment mechanism is indicated, both on screen and printed worksheets. You can thereby tell the orientation of the design with respect to the hoop and decide how to position it. Rotate the current hoop by means of the icon or popup menu.

Custom hoops

If you are using the MB-4 machine or 'Others', you can define your own hoop and save it for later use. Right-click the Show Hoop icon to open the dialog. Notice the 'custom hoop' controls on the right.

Custom hoops are needed because new hoops become available for sewing machines more frequently than the software is updated. Also some machines include hoop adapters for third-party hoops which need to be defined in the software. Click the Create button on the Hoops tab. Two main types of hoop can be defined or edited in the software – Rectangular and Oval.

The software records the embroidery area of custom hoops to stitch file  which can then be read by multi-needle machines to determine the stitching area. On the other hand, the stitching area of single-needle machines is determined by the selected hoop type. If the file contains a ‘non-standard’ (custom) hoop code, the hoop size is automatically based on the design size which is used to limit the stitching area.