Amazing Designs Apps Instruction Manual

329 Pages·2011·4.27 MB·English

Amazing Designs Apps
Instruction Manual
Amazing Designs Apps is a new embroidery software system
from Amazing Designs that contains multiple features, in
different “toolpacks” that are activated separately. You can add
new Amazing Designs Apps features as you need them.
Depending on the toolpacks that you activate, you can use
Amazing Designs Apps to:
• Create lettering, using a number of different text tools, including
Text, Circle Text, Vertical Text, etc.
• Import design files to add to your lettering segments.
• Create new fonts, using your own embroidery files.
• Create and add embellishments to monograms.
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Instruction Manual
Copyright
© Copyright 2011 Pulse Microsystems Ltd. All rights reserved.
This Amazing Designs Apps Instruction Manual and the
Amazing Designs Apps software are copyrighted by the
developer of the software, Pulse Microsystems Ltd. All rights
reserved. US Patent Nos. 5 270 939; 5 343 401; 5 430 658; 5
506 784; 5 510 994; 5 541 847; 5 668 730; 5 771 173; 5 809
921; 6 196 146; 6 216 618; 6 390 005; 6 968 255. European
Patent Nos. 0545773. Other patents pending.
Information in this document is subject to change without
notice.
The software described in this document is furnished under a
license agreement and/or nondisclosure agreement. The
software may be used or copied only in accordance with the
terms of those agreements. No part of this publication and the
software may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated,
or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form
without the manufacturer’s written permission.
Commercial or industrial use of trademark and copyrighted
works (For example, books, paintings, drawings, photos,
fanciful characters, and so forth) owned by other companies or
persons, for creation of embroidery patterns without permission
is illegal and may result in either criminal or civil liability.
Microsoft and Windows® XP/Vista/7 are registered trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation. All computer and software names
identified by TM or tm are trademarks of their respective
manufacturers.
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Special Note on the arrangement
of chapters in this book:
This Amazing Designs Apps Instruction Manual contains
information about all the available Amazing Designs Apps
modules.
Some of this information applies generally to any and all of the
Amazing Designs Apps modules. This information will be found
in chapters 1 through 3: “Getting Started”, “Learning the Basics”
and “Common Amazing Designs Apps Tools”.
In chapters 4 through 6, you will find information that is specific
to the Letter It module: “Creating & Adjusting Lettering”,
“Changing Text Properties”, and “Using Font Importer”.
Chapter 7 refers specifically the Monogram It manual; creating
new monograms with the Monogram Maker tool, and adjusting
settings relating to monogram text in the Properties Panel.
iv AMAZING DESIGNS APPS
Instruction Manual
1
Table of Contents
Getting Started......................................................................7
Amazing Designs Apps System Requirements ..............................8
Installing Amazing Designs Apps ...................................................8
Activating Amazing Designs Apps Toolpacks .................................9
Using Amazing Designs Apps in Demo Mode....................... 10
Opening and Closing Amazing Designs Apps ..............................12
Registering the Software ..............................................................13
Getting Help ..................................................................................14
Using the Online Help........................................................... 14
Learning the Basics...........................................................19
Understanding the Amazing Designs Apps Workspace ...............20
Title Bar................................................................................. 20
Accelerator Button................................................................. 20
Quick Access Toolbar............................................................ 21
Accelerator Menu Tools......................................................... 27
Tools on the Ribbon............................................................... 28
Tools on the Home Tab.......................................................... 28
Show/Hide............................................................................. 29
Tools Tab............................................................................... 30
Windows Settings.................................................................. 30
Draw Bar............................................................................... 31
Color Palette .................................................................................31
Using the Color Palette to change thread color..................... 31
Selecting a Thread Chart...................................................... 32
Searching for a Specific Color............................................... 32
Status Line............................................................................. 33
Properties Panel.................................................................... 33
Changing Thread Colors ...............................................................34
Using Scrollbars ............................................................................36
Correcting Mistakes ......................................................................36
Setting up the Workspace Environment .......................................37
Opening and Closing Designs ......................................................40
Opening Files with the Browser ....................................................41
Merging Designs ...........................................................................43
Saving Designs .............................................................................45
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Support for the Amazing Box MAX and Little MAX .......................46
Sending Designs to Amazing Box MAX................................. 46
Reading Designs from Amazing Box MAX............................ 47
Sending Designs to Little MAX.............................................. 47
Reading Designs from Little MAX.......................................... 48
Selecting Recipes .........................................................................48
Changing Machine Format Properties ..........................................49
Adjusting the Position of the Panels...................................... 49
Magnifying and Reducing the view........................................ 52
Using Auto Hide..................................................................... 54
Viewing Parts of a Design not Visible in the
Design Workspace................................................................. 54
Changing the Background Color of the
Design Workspace................................................................. 55
Showing and Hiding Machine Commands............................. 56
Showing and Hiding the Stitch Points in Designs.................. 56
Defining Grid Settings............................................................ 56
Showing and Hiding the Grid................................................. 58
Showing and Hiding a Realistic Preview of Stitches.............. 58
Viewing the Sewing Order of Designs................................... 59
Working with Hoops ......................................................................59
Displaying a Hoop while Designing....................................... 60
Adding a Custom Hoop.......................................................... 61
Deleting an Existing Hoop..................................................... 62
Measuring and Aligning Designs ..................................................62
Defining Ruler Units............................................................... 62
Measuring Distances in the Workspace................................. 63
Adding and Moving Guidelines.............................................. 63
Removing Guidelines............................................................. 64
Printing Designs ............................................................................65
Changing a Design’s Print Settings....................................... 65
Previewing a Design before Printing...................................... 66
Printing Design Worksheets................................................... 67
Common Amazing Designs Apps Tools...........................69
Using Segment Select ..................................................................70
Selecting Objects................................................................... 70
Copying Objects..................................................................... 71
Deleting Objects..................................................................... 72
Moving through Designs........................................................ 72
Aligning Objects Horizontally and Vertically........................... 74
Resizing Objects ...........................................................................75
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Changing the Position and Orientation of Objects ........................76
Moving Design Objects Manually.......................................... 76
Nudging Design Objects........................................................ 76
Rotating Objects in the Workspace....................................... 77
Sequencing Objects ......................................................................79
Inserting Objects Earlier in the Sequence............................. 79
Moving an Object Forward or Backward in the
Sewing Order........................................................................ 79
Moving an Object to the Start or End of a Design................. 80
Resequencing Segments by Color........................................ 81
Removing Color Stops........................................................... 83
Creating & Adjusting Lettering..........................................85
Using Letter It to Create Lettering .................................................86
Letter It Tools......................................................................... 86
Creating a Text Segment ..............................................................87
Creating Circle Text ......................................................................88
Creating Text along a Path ...........................................................89
Custom Shapes for Text on a Path........................................ 91
Vertical Text Frame .......................................................................93
Adjusting Lettering Segments using the Text Frame
Handles .......................................................................................94
Text, Path Text, and Vertical Text.......................................... 94
Changing the Size of Text..................................................... 94
Changing the Width of Text................................................... 95
Adjusting the Corners of Text................................................ 95
Adjusting the Slant of Text..................................................... 96
Rotating Text.......................................................................... 96
Changing the Shape of Text using Envelope Handles.......... 97
Adjusting the Kerning (Space between the letters)................ 98
Repositioning Individual Letters............................................. 98
Adjusting Individual Letter Sizes............................................ 99
Rotating Individual Letters..................................................... 99
Adjusting Circle Text............................................................ 100
Changing the Size of Circle Text......................................... 101
Changing the Width of Circle Text....................................... 102
Rotating Text Around a Circle.............................................. 103
Changing the Diameter of the Circle Text frame.................. 104
Adjusting the Kerning (Space between the letters).............. 105
Repositioning Individual Letters in Circle Text..................... 106
Adjusting Individual Letter Size........................................... 106
Rotating Individual Letters................................................... 107
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Changing Text Properties................................................109
The Properties Panel – an Overview ..........................................110
Displaying a Font’s Available Characters............................ 111
Spell Checker....................................................................... 113
Changing the Height of Lettering......................................... 114
Changing a Font.................................................................. 115
Changing Font Spacing........................................................ 115
Changing Width Compensation........................................... 116
Changing the Slant setting................................................... 116
Text Extra Settings............................................................... 117
Text Properties ............................................................................118
Line Spacing........................................................................ 119
Alignment............................................................................. 119
Circle Text Properties ..................................................................120
Changing Text Properties with the Context
(Right-click) Menu................................................................ 122
Selecting Pre-Defined Envelopes........................................ 124
Changing Fill Settings .................................................................124
Density setting..................................................................... 126
Changing Pull-Compensation Settings .......................................127
Inserting Color Changes .............................................................128
Changing the Colors for a Multiple-color Font..................... 130
Using Font Importer.........................................................133
About the Font Importer ..............................................................134
Using Font Importer to Build a Font..................................... 135
Options for the Font Importer............................................... 136
Creating and Editing Monogram Lettering.....................141
About Monogram It .....................................................................142
Activating the Monogram It toolpack.................................... 142
The Monogram Maker .................................................................143
Creating a new Monogram.................................................. 143
Adding a Frame to a Monogram.......................................... 144
Adding Decorations to a Monogram.................................... 146
Note on adjusting Frames and/or Decorations.................... 148
Monogram Properties .................................................................149
Displaying the Properties Panel........................................... 150
Changing the Font............................................................... 150
Changing the Lettering Height............................................. 151
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Displaying a Font’s Available Characters............................ 151
Adjusting the 3-Letter Height Percentage............................ 152
Adjusting the Spacing.......................................................... 153
Adjusting the Width Percentage.......................................... 154
Changing the Slant setting.................................................. 155
Text Extra Settings.............................................................. 155
Changing Fill Settings .................................................................156
Choosing a Fill Pattern........................................................ 156
Density setting..................................................................... 157
Pull-Compensation Settings................................................ 158
Editing Monograms using the Frame Handles ............................159
Changing the size of a Monogram (Scaling)....................... 160
Changing the Width of a Monogram.................................... 161
Adjusting the Corners of a Monogram................................. 161
Adjusting the Slant of a Monogram..................................... 162
Rotating a Monogram.......................................................... 162
Changing the Monogram’s shape using
Envelope Handles............................................................... 163
Changing the Monogram’s shape using
Pre-Defined Envelopes....................................................... 164
Repositioning Individual Letters........................................... 165
Adjusting Individual Letter Sizes.......................................... 166
Rotating Individual Letters................................................... 166
Using Special Characters ...............................................169
Special Characters and their ASCII codes .................................170
Displaying Special Characters............................................. 170
Special Characters List........................................................ 171
Index .................................................................................175
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