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Open design files

You don’t need any experience to start with your embroidery software. You can simply open a design and send it to your machine for ‘stitchout’. This is a good place to start. Alternatively, you may want to combine different designs or add lettering to existing designs. Once you are used to the steps involved in sewing out designs – either included samples or ones you have purchased – you will soon want to make global design modifications such as resizing, or changing thread colors and fabric types. As you gain in confidence, you will want to create your own designs from scratch.

By default the software saves designs to its native ‘EMB’ file format. This format contains all information necessary both for stitching a design and for later modification. The software opens many other embroidery file formats. You can save designs in EMB as well as other file formats. See also Embroidery file types.

The screen illustrations in this publication are intended as representations, not exact duplicates of screen layouts generated by the software. The samples used to illustrate software features and capabilities may not be exactly duplicable, depending on your product level.

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 or copy design

Using the Manage Designs toolbox, you have the option of opening one or more selected designs in their own design tabs. Simply select a design or designs by holding down <Ctrl> as you click, and then click Open Selected. This command opens the original file. Alternatively, click New From Selected. The only difference for practical purposes is that New From Selected creates a copy which opens in a new design tab, thus preserving the original design file.

Use Standard > Open Design to open an existing embroidery design.

Use Standard > New From Design to create a new design based on an existing design.

There are other ways of opening designs into your design window. The Standard toolbar which is available at all times lets you open recent designs or open designs from your hard disk.

If you want to open one design into another, an 'Insert Design' function is available. Combine designs or design elements into a single design layout. See Insert designs.

Use Standard > New Blank Design to create a new blank design.

Open blank design

When you create a blank design, a new tab is added to the design bar. The blank design is loaded with pre-defined fabric settings and design colors.

Use Context > Group to group selection. Or press <Ctrl+G>. This tool is also available via Arrange menu.
Use Context > Ungroup to ungroup grouped selection. Or press <Ctrl+U>. This tool is also available via Arrange menu.



Ungroup designs on opening

By default, designs are grouped when first opening in the software. In higher product levels, they can be ungrouped by means of the Ungroup tool on the Context toolbar. Alternatively, untick the 'group designs' checkbox in the Embroidery Settings > Design tab. Once ungrouped, you are free to edit individual objects in the design. See also Edit objects.

In lower level products, designs always remain grouped since object editing is unavailable.