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Modify a design

Once you are used to the steps involved in sewing out designs – either clipart or ones you have purchased – you will soon want to make global design modifications such as resizing, or changing thread colors and fabric types. These are all relatively simple operations. We outline some of the common ones here.


Use Manage Designs > Open Selected to open the design(s) selected in the Design Library window.

Use Manage Designs > New From Selected to create new design(s) based on the selected design(s) and/or bitmap(s) from a chosen template.

Open design

  • Open the design you want to use.
  • Press <Ctrl + A> to select all objects and press <Ctrl + G> to group them.

Use Design Colors > Threads >> to toggle Threads docker display. Use it to find threads from different charts and change design colors.

Change colors

Adjust design colors as preferred. The simplest technique is to click objects in the design and select a color from the Design Colors toolbar. Many other techniques exist such as using the Sequence docker to select objects or entire color blocks. You can also select colors from different thread charts. See also Recolor a design.

Use Context > Size + 10% to increase the size of selected objects in 10% increments.
Use Context > Size - 10% to decrease the size of selected objects in 10% increments.

Resize design

Check design dimensions, and resize as required. For example, if you are stitching a left chest design, maximum size will be approximately 4.25" or 108 mm square. You can scale objects by dragging the selection handles with the mouse or by specifying the exact dimensions in the Context toolbar. Alternatively, use the Size buttons to resize in 10% increments. Stitches are regenerated and original stitch density preserved. See also Transform objects.

Use Context > Rotate Left 15° to rotate selection in 15° increments to the left.
Use Context > Rotate Right 15° to rotate selection in 15° increments to the right.

Rotate objects

Use Customize Design / Context > Background and Display Colors to change design background and display colors.

Visualize design

Go to the Customize Design toolbox and use the Background and Display Colors tool to visualize the design on a garment or article. See also View designs.

Click View > Show Hoop to show or hide hoop. Right-click for settings.

Hoop design

Choose a hoop via the View toolbar or Context toolbar. From the Context toolbar, choose your machine and a suitable hoop from the droplists. Alternatively, right-click the Show Hoop icon to access the Embroidery Settings dialog. If possible, choose a hoop which covers the entire stitching area. See also Hoop selection.

Use Output Design > Export Design to export the current design to a machine file for stitching.

Use Output Design / Context > Transfer Design to transfer current design to the design folder. Right-click for settings.

Output design

Send the design to machine via data media (usually memory stick). Or by file transfer. See also Output designs.

Check your machine documentation for steps involved after transferring the design to machine.