When working in 3D Digitizing or 4D^TM Design Creator, 3D or 4D^TM Cross Stitcher or 3D or 4D^TM PictureStitch, 3D Create Stitches is the icon to click to create an embroidery design from the working design file and display it on screen.

When designing in 3D Digitizing or 4D^TM Design Creator, you are working on a .can file. A .can file is an outline file containing all the instructions to create the embroidery design. For example, if you have a circle with a fill pattern inside it as well as a satin border around it, the .can file has all the instructions for that design. The fill pattern is number 184, the angle is 47, the underlay is medium, the color is red. The blue satin border has a density of 3, the width is 3.5mm and it has underlay. When you click 3D Create Stitches, your software takes that information file and turns it into an embroidery design that your embroidery machine will understand.

Similarly, when working in 3D or 4D^TM Cross Stitcher you are creating cross stitch designs called .krz files. These are the instructions for the cross stitch designs including which direction the crosses should go in, what color order to follow and other information like adding backstitches and French knots at the end of the design. When you click 3D Create Stitches, the .krz file becomes an embroidery design that can be stitched out on your embroidery machine.

The last module where you will find 3D Create Stitches is 3D or 4D^TM PictureStitch. In 3D or 4D^TM PictureStitch you are working with a picture file. You can edit the picture including changing colors, brightness, contrast, etc. You can also add lettering or other shapes to create an artistic effect. When you are ready to see the picture turn into stitches, click 3D Create Stitches. From 3D Create Stitches you can Save, Copy, Send or Print the embroidery design. This is the file your embroidery machine will understand.

Although 3D Create Stitches is a wonderful tool to create the embroidery file for the design you are creating, always remember to also save your instruction file - either the .can, .krz or picture file!

The 3D Create Stitches icon is found in 4D^TM Design Creator, 4D^TM Cross Stitcher, 4D^TM PictureStitch, 3D Digitizing, 3D Cross Stitcher and 3D PictureStitch.

3D Digitizing or 4D^TM Design Creator is the design creation area of your software. In 3D Digitizing or 4D^TM Design Creator, you can create your own embroidery designs using QuickStitch tools like QuickStitch Fill + Border or FreeHand (manual) tools like Curved Column in 3D Digitizing or Curved Satin in 4D^TM Design Creator.

4D^TM Design Creator adds the ExpressDesign Wizard which creates embroidery designs for you! No need to know the rules of digitizing to create designs when the software does it for you! The key to creating designs in 4D^TM Design Creator is that you have the ability when the design is done to edit parts or the whole design. Take a clipart or drawing through the ExpressDesign Wizard, make decisions like the size of the design, how many colors to use, what fabric you will be embroidering on and if you would like more satin or more fill stitches. When it’s complete, an embroidery is created. Now begins the fun part! Use the Edit tab to change the fill patterns choosing from one of 252 fill patterns available including cars, monkeys, diamonds, and even crawling babies!

You can also change the fills to Specialty Fills like Shape, Motif, Radial, Spiral, Contour and even QuiltStipple Fills! Check out the Inspiration page on Specialty Fills by choosing the Learning Center from your 4D^TM Embroidery System folder while connected to the Internet. Alternatively, click on the link in the Useful Links panel on the right side of this newsletter. Here you will see some of the incredible, unique designs you can create with your 4D^TM Design Creator module.

Do you know how to create your own fill patterns to use in 3D Digitizing or 4D^TM Design Creator modules? The most important step is having an image the correct size to create a fill pattern. The height and width of the picture must each be from 120 to 700 pixels.

The picture file may be .bmp, .jpg, .jif, .jpeg, .png, .tiff, .tif, .wmf, .emf or .ico. The instructions to create your own fill patterns are found in your 3D Digitizing or 4D^TM Design Creator User’s Guides. The 3D Digitizing QuickStart Exercise “Beach Party” contains a section where you ‘Digitize the Sand with an Imported Fill Pattern’.

The QuickStart exercise where you create your own fill pattern in 4D^TM Design Creator is the ‘Patterned Petals.’ The Use of a MyFill Pattern is found on the third page of the lesson.

Experiment with simple line drawings and create your own fill patterns like this.