Support - Version 3
& Prior
The following support information and upgrades are
available:
Professional/Standard Version,
version
3.10
If you have version 3.00 thru 3.09, then please download the
following maintenance update for Pattern Maker to update your installation. This release:
- Fixes various problems that have been found since the initial release
- Includes several enhancements (mostly for the Pro version)
- Includes updated floss colors for the DMC brand (includes those colors
added in 2001).
- Adds 25 more pattern fonts (alphabets) for use with the text entry feature
if you have version 3.05 or earlier
Be sure to see the 'maint.wri' file included with the release for a detailed list of
changes/fixes.
Please Note the following:
-
This release must be installed 'over' a licensed copy of
one of the versions listed
above since only some of the original files are updated.
-
When the install program runs, be
sure to select the disk folder where the prior version is currently installed.
-
This release will NOT work with version 2.x or 1.x.
Installation
Directions:
-
Click the 'Download' link that
corresponds to the version of Windows you are using.
-
If your browser asks you whether it should run the file after it is
downloaded, select yes. Otherwise, select a location on your hard disk for the file.
-
After the download is complete, either allow the browser to automatically
run the downloaded file or manually run it by double-clicking it using the
Windows® File
Explorer.
-
The setup files will then automatically
uncompress, and the setup program
will be started.
(If you receive any type of error at this point, then it is usually
worthwhile to clean-out the Windows temporary folder of your
computer. Often, left-over install files from other programs can
cause a conflict.)
-
Please follow the setup program directions to complete the installation.
For Windows 95/98/Me/2000/Xp:
Download Maintenance Release V3.10
(3 MBytes)
For Windows 3.1:
Download Maintenance
Release V3.10
(2.8 MBytes)
Machine Embroidery Version,
3.5.3
If you have version 3.5 thru 3.5.2.1, then please download the following
maintenance update. This release
fixes various problems that have been found since the initial release. Please see the 'maint.wri' file included with the release for a detailed list of
changes/fixes.
Please Note the following:
-
This release must be installed 'over' a licensed copy of
one of the versions listed
above since only some of the original files are updated.
-
When the install program runs, be
sure to select the disk folder where the prior version is currently installed.
Installation
Directions:
-
Click the 'Download' link below.
-
If your browser asks you whether it should run the file after it is
downloaded, select yes. Otherwise, select a location on your hard disk for the file.
-
After the download is complete, either allow the browser to automatically
run the downloaded file or manually run it by double-clicking it using the
Windows® File
Explorer.
-
The setup files will then automatically
uncompress, and the setup program
will be started.
(If you receive any type of error at this point, then it is usually
worthwhile to clean-out the Windows temporary folder of your
computer. Often, left-over install files from other programs can
cause a conflict.)
-
Please follow the setup program directions to complete the installation.
For Windows 95/98/Me/2000/Xp:
Download Maintenance
Release V3.5.3
(2.5 MBytes)
The maintenance updates above include the currently available floss updates
from DMC including the latest 27 colors introduced in 2001, as well as the
previous update. If you are a
version 3 user, then it is recommended that you obtain the new colors by
downloading the maintenance update.
If you have made changes to the floss list that was provided with the
program and
would rather only add the new DMC colors to your revised list, then please select
one of the following
links. This will download a pattern that contains the new colors. Simply open
this pattern with Pattern Maker to have the new colors automatically added to the floss
list.
For Pattern Maker version
3:
Download Pattern
with New DMC Floss Colors
For Pattern Maker versions 1 thru 2:
Download Pattern
with New DMC Floss Colors
Note: For Pattern Maker Standard version 1 users, a
warning message will appear regarding the number of colors when you open the
above pattern. Please ignore this message.
Contents
Printing Related
-
Why are one or more rows and/or columns missing at the
edges of my printout?
-
Why is there a large gap between the left and top edges of the
paper and the design?
-
Why does my printer indicate an 'out of memory' error
sometimes when I print a fairly large/complex design?
-
Why are the grid lines hard to read or missing when I
print my design?
-
When I print, why does Windows indicate that it cannot
print to the spool file?
-
Why do the grid squares appear rectangular instead of square
when I print?
-
Why is printing hanging-up for my HP Deskjet
932/952/970 printer?
Importing Related
-
Why is the detail in the imported design less than the
detail in the original image?
-
When importing a photograph of a person, why do the facial
tones appear blocky or otherwise less accurate?
-
What is the best image file format to use for
importing?
-
What is the best image resolution to use for importing?
-
Why do I get an error when I try to scan directly into Pattern
Maker?
-
How can I force Pattern Maker to use a certain palette
of colors when it imports an image?
-
What is the best scanner to use for importing?
Exporting Related
-
What is the best image file format to use for
exporting?
-
What is the best image resolution to use for exporting?
-
Why are the grid lines not
printing correctly when I use the OLE capabilities of the program to
insert a pattern object into another program?
-
Why are the colors behind my
symbols appearing dithered (displayed using a combination of colors)
instead of as pure colors when I export?
Palette Related
-
After making changes to the palette of a design, the
changes do not appear in the design.
-
When 'color behind symbol' is
enabled, why does the symbol background color not always appear as
selected in the Palette Properties dialog box?
-
When
I select Usage Summary from the Palette Menu, why does it indicate that it
cannot calculate the usage summary for this fabric count?
Machine
Embroidery Related
-
After I export a design to a
machine file, close the design, and then reopen it, why is the View/Print
Exporting Results option no longer available for the design?
-
Why do I see the same palette
color listed more than one time in the thread change list for a design?
-
Is there a quicker way to
repeat the exporting of a file without having to step through each step of
the Machine Exporting Wizard?
-
Why were so many jump stitches
used for the back stitches when I chose a thickness of 1 thread (or 3
threads)?
-
When I created my design I
specified the finished size for the design.
After exporting to a machine file, I notice that the resulting size
is smaller than what I originally specified.
-
When I created a multi-hoop
design, I found that one of the sections did not contain any stitches
except for alignment stitches. Should
this section be stitched?
General
-
How can I make Pattern Maker open each time with a new
pattern that has an empty palette?
-
I have a sketch upon which I want to base a design. How can
Pattern Maker help me with this task?
-
When I double-click a pattern file, Pattern Maker
no longer opens automatically to display the pattern. How can I
restore that behavior?
Installation
-
The installation hangs or causes a
GPF. What should I do?
-
The installation program fails with an error "Unable to
register Mfc40.dll". What should I do?
-
After installing the maintenance release, I get the error
message "License Management error. Please contact Hobbyware".
-
After installing release 3.5 of the machine
version, I do not see the CrossStitch2 font that is provided with the
program in the list of fonts.
This usually occurs when you are using a driver for your printer that was not designed
for your printer. Please verify that you are using a driver that was designed for your
printer. It is also a good idea to check for a more recent version of the driver by
contacting the manufacturer of the printer. Often, printer manufacturers make available
driver updates via their web sites and/or bulletin boards.
This usually occurs when the Center Pattern on Page(s) option of the Page
Setup dialog is selected and the pattern only requires slightly more than one page. To
prevent this, either turn-off the centering option or specify Scale To Fit with one
page selected in the Printing Options dialog.
This usually occurs on printers which are setup to use HPGL mode instead of raster
mode. Please check your printer setup and select the 'raster' mode if it is available.
Alternatively, you may be able to add more memory to your printer to solve this problem.
Please note that it is generally better to use the HPGL mode when possible since it
reduces the time necessary for printing.
Depending upon the capabilities of your printer, you may need to adjust the grid line
options to ensure an easy-to-read grid. The grid style is selected via Grid Options
of the Fabric menu.
This usually occurs when the available hard disk space is too low. Free up more space
and try printing again.
This can happen if a printer resolution is chosen which has differing horizontal and
vertical resolutions. The printer resolution is selected via the Print Quality list
of the Print dialog. Please select one of the other Print Quality options.
If you installed the bonus software that is provided with the HP Deskjet
printers, then a bad font file may have been installed on your computer.
This bad font causes some applications to have problems when printing. To
remove this bad font:
- Open the Windows Control Panel.
- Double-click the 'Fonts' icon.
- In the window that opens, right-click on the font called 'BD Denver'.
- In the menu that appears, select 'Delete'.
- Answer 'Yes' to confirm deletion.
The original image detail is maintained with no loss only if the size of the pattern
that is created is equal to the size of the image. For example, the detail in a 300x200
pixel image would be perfectly reproduced if a 300x200 stitch pattern were created. Any
pattern size that is less than the original image size will result in some loss of detail.
The amount of detail loss depends heavily on the image.
In general, it is fairly difficult to import photographs of people. Sometimes it is
helpful to try lightening or darkening an image before importing. It may also help to
simplify the background to only one color before importing so that more of the palette
space of the pattern is available for the most critical areas of the image.
Most of the image formats work equally well. However, you may want to consider using a
format such as JPEG, GIF, or PCX which provides image compression so that the file sizes
are easier to manage.
It is not necessary to use very high resolutions when importing your designs. In
general, a resolution that is approximately 10 times the desired stitch count is usually
sufficient. For example, scan using 100 dpi when importing to create a 10 count design.
This saves disk space and processing time while providing good conversion quality.
This error usually occurs when the TWAIN driver for the scanner is not a 32-bit driver.
Please check with the manufacturer of the scanner for a 32-bit driver.
First, create a new design and setup the palette of the design with the desired set of
colors that you want to use when importing. Next, save the palette of this design to a
palette file. This is done by selecting Save Palette As of the Palette menu.
When you import, select this palette file via the Use this palette option of the
Image Importing Wizard. Only those colors listed in this palette file will be used for
importing.
Most any 24-bit, flatbed scanner with reasonably good software support should work fine
with Pattern Maker.
The TIFF and JPEG formats are good choices since they provide very good image
compression. In addition, these are currently very popular formats which are supported by
most publishing programs. Please contact your publisher/printer for more advice on this
option.
The image resolution requirement will depend upon how you plan to print the image. For
professional printing, please contact your publisher/printer for more advice on this
option. If you plan to print on a laser or color printer, a resolution in the 300-600 dpi
range is probably sufficient.
You may need to adjust the grid line
thickness setting for the pattern before inserting the chart
into the other program. To
adjust the settings, select Grid
Options of the Fabric
menu.
Back to Contents
You must setup your video card to use
16-bit color or higher.
Back to Contents
In versions prior to version 3.06, the Palette Properties dialog was too large for the
640x480 video resolution. As a result, the Windows 95 task bar at the bottom of the screen
hid the Ok, Cancel, and Help buttons at
the bottom of the dialog box. To resolve this problem, please download the latest
maintenance release. You can also resolve this problem by using the 800x600 or a higher
video resolution.
When
displaying alternative symbol colors, you must use the 16-bit color setting (or
higher) for your graphics adapter.
The usage calculations of the usage
summary are based upon ‘calibration’ values for a particular
stitch size (i.e. fabric count).
For example, the number of full stitches that can be
obtained from one inch of floss must be specified for the stitch
size being used. The
program includes values for 10, 14, 18, and 22 count.
If you use a stitch size other than one of those, you
will need to specify appropriate settings for that size.
To
specify settings for another stitch size, click Skein
Information
on the Floss
Usage Summary
dialog box. This
will open another dialog. In
box labeled Floss
Used Per Stitch Type,
select one of the columns, enter the stitch count at the top of
the column, and then enter the settings for each stitch type.
The exporting information is only
produced when the user selects the exporting feature.
The exporting information no longer corresponds to the
design after you make a change to the design (i.e. you
add/remove a stitch). To avoid confusion, the program does not save the exporting
information in the design file.
To re-generate this information, just re-export the
design. Be
sure to always print-out this information after exporting so you
will have the exporting information that corresponds to the
machine files.
Back to Contents
The program generates machine stitches
using three passes. First,
machine stitches are generated for the full, half, and quarter
stitches of each color.
Next, machine stitches are generated for the back and
straight stitches of each color.
Finally, stitches are generated for the French Knots.
Back to Contents
Yes.
The program is configured to initially use the Machine
Exporting Wizard when you click the Export to Machine File
button of the Machine toolbar. However, you can redefine this button to immediately export
using the current settings.
To redefine this icon, first select Export
Settings from the Machine
Embroidery menu.
In the dialog that opens, click the Options
tab. For the
Toolbar Icon options, select Exports
using the current settings.
Back to Contents
When an even number of threads are
specified for the thickness of a back (or straight) stitch, the
program generates machine stitches which result in a back stitch
getting stitched from one end to the other end, and then back to
the starting end. While
stitching a particular back stitch, if another back stitch is
reached which branches off of the current stitch, the program
generates stitches for that branching back stitch.
The stitches generated for the branching stitch will
complete back at the original stitch which will then be
continued.
In the case of an odd number of threads
per machine stitch, the needle does not end where it starts for
a particular back stitch. Therefore,
it is not possible to handle back stitches that branch off of a
back stitch without using jump stitches.
It is recommend that odd values only be used in special
cases where you need the full range of thicknesses.
Back to Contents
When exporting to a machine file, the
design size will correspond to that portion of the fabric
actually containing stitches.
Any extra fabric around the design will be ignored in the
size calculation.
Back to Contents
The program will generate alignment
stitches for all sections of a multi-hoop design.
In some cases these stitches are not needed, but in other
cases these alignment stitches should be stitched so that
subsequent sections can be aligned.
For example, if 3 sections across by 3 sections down are
required to represent a design, and if the middle section
contains no stitches except for alignment stitches, it is still
important to stitch the alignment stitches of that section since
they will be needed to position the section to the right and
below it.
Back to Contents
First, create a new design and remove all colors from the palette. Next, save the
palette of this design to a palette file called default.pal in the Pattern
Maker Patterns subdirectory. This is done by selecting Save Palette As
of the Palette menu. Next, make sure that the New Pattern on Startup option
of the File menu is checked. Close and then restart Pattern Maker for the palette
change to take effect.
First, scan your drawing. Next, import the scan into Pattern Maker using the Include
image as an over/underlay option of the Image Importing Wizard. This will create a new
pattern with your drawing included as an image behind the grid. You can then trace your
drawing using the various stitch types.
Download and install the latest maintenance release (v3.10/3.5.3 or
later). When you run this release it will check to determine if Pattern
Maker is associated with pattern (PAT) files. If not, you will be prompted
to confirm that you want pattern files to be re-associated with Pattern
Maker. Answer YES to this prompt. This will then restore double-click
functionality.
The following are possible reasons for the error and suggestions for eliminating the
problem.
- A conflict with a concurrently running program such as a screen saver or virus scanning
program.
Shut down all nonessential programs and attempt to run the installation again. This
includes any virus checking software which may be running in the background.
- TEMP folder related problems.
Make sure that there is at least 1MByte of free space in the TEMP folder. (You can find
which folder is used as the TEMP folder by typing "set" in a DOS window.) If
not, free up some space and attempt to run the installation again.
Move any left-over files from a previous install to another folder. If a file cannot be
moved because it is in use, then restart the system and try installing again.
- Uninst.exe is read-only.
Make sure that Uninst.exe is not marked as read-only if it already exists on the system.
If it already exists, it can be found in the 'Windows' folder.
This problem may be caused by an improper version of the file 'msvcrt40.dll' already on
the system.
To determine whether this is the case:
- Open the Find 'File or Folder' dialog via the 'Start' menu of Windows.
- In this dialog box type 'msvcrt40.dll in the boxed labeled 'Named'.
- Click 'Find Now' to begin searching for this file.
- If the file is found, right-click the filename as listed in the results box, and then
select 'Properties'.
- In the Properties dialog box that opens, select the 'Version' tab at the top.
- If the file version shown is '4.2000.6164', then you have an improper version installed.
To correct this problem:
- First close the Properties box for the file.
- In the Find dialog box right-click the 'msvcrt40.dll' filename again, and select
'Rename'.
- Rename the file to 'msvcrt40.old'.
- Re-run the Pattern Maker installation program.
If you have trouble renaming the file in step #3 because the Windows operating system
is currently using this file, then do the following:
- Restart the computer.
- As Windows is restarting, press and hold the SHIFT key to disable all startup programs.
- Rename the existing 'msvcrt40.dll' file as described above.
- Re-run the Pattern Maker installation program.
This error occurs if the maintenance release is not installed over the previous version
of Pattern Maker. To correct this problem, please re-install the maintenance release.
During the install process, please specify the install location for the maintenance
release to be the location where you have the previous version currently installed. If you
have uninstalled the previous version, then you will need to reinstall it first.
Please download the maintenance update. This update will address the
font installation problem, as well as provide all of the current updates for
that version.
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