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By grouping design shapes, they can all be moved or formatted at the same time. One of the most powerful
uses of this command consists of grouping design shapes of the same color in order to eliminate unnecessary
needle (thread color) changes. For example, in a design that only has the six colors and fourteen color
changes, design shapes of the same color can be grouped in order to reduce the number of needle (thread
color) changes from fourteen to six.
NOTE: To see the number of needle (thread color) changes a design contains, click
Color Sequence
on the
File
drop-down menu. The
Color Sequence
dialog box appears, and the number of needle (thread color)
changes is shown in the
Color Sequence
list.
■
Grouping design shapes
To group a number of individual design shapes:
1
Using the
Move
tool (
), select all of the design shapes that you wish to group. “Dancing ants” (moving
dashes) appear around the shape.
NOTE: For more information about selecting multiple design shapes, see
Selecting design shapes in
chapter 3.
2
On the
Shape
drop-down menu, click
Group
. Now, when any part of the grouped shapes are clicked, the
entire grouped shape is selected.
■
Ungrouping design shapes
To ungroup design shapes that have been grouped:
1
Using the
Move
tool (
), select the grouped design shape that you wish to ungroup. “Dancing ants”
appear around the shape.
2
On the
Shape
drop-down menu, click
Ungroup
.
■
Example
To create a multicolored design from a sample design (in the “Sample” folder), then reduce the number of
needle (thread color) changes needed for sewing it:
1
On the
File
drop-down menu, click
Open
. The
Open
dialog box appears.
2
In the
Files of type
drop-down list, select “BES Files (*.bdf)”.
3
In the
Look in
drop-down list, select the “BES” folder, and then in the list below it, double-click the “Sample”
folder.
4
In the
Look in
list, select the “SEAL” file.
5
Click the
Open
button.
6
On the
Edit
drop-down menu, click
Select All
. “Dancing ants” appear around the entire design.
7
On the
Edit
drop-down menu, click
Duplicate
. A copy of the seal is added to the design.
8
With the new seal still selected, move it to the right and align it with the top of the original one.
NOTE: Before trying to move the design shape, be sure to move the pointer over either the selection
frame or the “dancing ants” around the selected design shape so that the pointer changes to a
four-headed arrow (
).
Chapter 32: Grouping and Ungrouping Design Shapes
Summary of Contents for BE-100
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