Support - Version 4
The following support information and upgrades are
available:
Release
4.08
Maintenance release 4.8.x.12 is now
available. This release includes fixes, new
features, and
enhancements. Click here
to view the release notes for this release.
Installation
Directions:
You must currently have version from 4.01 thru 4.07
installed
to use this update.
The easiest way to install
the update is by using the Check for Updates feature of
Pattern Maker. Please use the following steps for that
method:
-
Open Pattern Maker.
-
Select Check for Updates from the Help
menu. Follow the prompts to have Pattern Maker use your Internet
connection to check our web site for the update. No information is
sent to us during this process.
-
After the program indicates that an update is
available, follow the prompts to have the program download the update and
install it.
Please use these steps to manually
download and install the update:
-
Click on a link
below to begin the file transfer.
-
If your browser asks you whether it should run/open
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 open
the downloaded file or manually run it by double-clicking it using the
Windows® File Explorer.
-
The setup program will then be
started. Please follow the setup program directions to complete the installation.
Pattern Maker v4 Level
|
Download Link for Update
|
Size
|
Standard |
Download |
18 MB |
Standard + ME Add-on |
Download |
18 MB |
Pro |
Download |
18 MB |
Pro + ME Add-on |
Download |
18 MB |
|
|
|
Please Note: The PDF format
of the help information is not included in the above update
files. To download the latest, please use the link below.
Download
Revised Help PDF (2.3MB)
Click
here to download a floss update for the new 35 colors added by DMC in 2017.
Click here
to download an update to the Finca Mouline palette. This
update includes the newer colors.
You must already
have release 4.06.
Please save this file to this
folder:
c:\program files\hobbyware\pattern maker for cross
stitch\colors
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
-
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?
Licensing
-
When I run Pattern Maker, the
Licensing
Wizard
appears. What
should I do?
-
I was using Pattern Maker in
the trial mode. However, now
the program shows the
Licensing
Wizard
when I open it.
-
I was using Pattern Maker in
the trial mode, but it appears to have ended the trial mode too early.
-
I used the
Licensing
Wizard
to successfully authorize my copy of the program a while
back. However, I now find
that the
Licensing
Wizard
is appearing again.
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 Chart 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 the
Fit to One
Page
option of the same dialog box.
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.
However,
since it is typically impractical (due to size reasons) to create designs where
a stitch is used for each pixel of the image, it is necessary to sacrifice some
detail.
In
general, it is fairly difficult to import photographs of people.
Be sure to use the Foreground selection tool to mark that portion of the
scanned photo that corresponds to the face.
Sometimes it can also help to lighten or darken the image.
This can shift the colors in the image such that better floss equivalents
may be available.
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 the colors in this
palette file
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 are 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
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 Create a New Pattern on Startup option
of the Preferences dialog box 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 underlay for tracing
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 30 MByte of free space in the TEMP folder
(usually c:\windows\temp).
If
not, free up some space and attempt to run the installation again.
Move any left-over files in the temporary folder 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.
The
Licensing
Wizard
is part of the license management of Pattern
Maker. Some levels of Pattern Maker require that the program
be authorized before use. This
is an easy process that is as simple as entering the provided
serial number, and then allowing Pattern Maker to contact the
HobbyWare license server. Once
the program is authorized, the program will work without the
need to re-enter the serial number.
After the trial period has expired, you
can no longer select the trial option.
Please see the question above for more information.
In some cases the trial mode will be
terminated if the date on the computer is changed too much.
Also, certain
disk optimization software can cause conflicts (see below).
In some cases an installed license can
be lost if certain disk optimization/defragmentation software is
used. For that type of software, please configure it to
exclude files having the following extensions: ‘ent’,
‘key’, and ‘rst’. If
this problem occurs, please re-use your serial number to
re-authorize the program via the
Licensing
Wizard
.
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