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20 MacBroidery™  Embroidery Lettering Software

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Click on the desired hoop to select it.

The selected hoop image appears in the workspace.

Creating a Custom Hoop

You can also create your own custom-sized hoops on the Preferences 

tab. Once you have set the parameters for your hoop and typed in a 

description, the custom hoop will be saved by the Hoops dialog; it will 

be available for your use in future designs.

Summary of Contents for MacBroidery

Page 1: ...MacBroidery Embroidery Lettering Software for Mac Instruction Manual ...

Page 2: ...r 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 Apple Macintosh Mac OSX Leopard Mac OSX Lion and Mac OSX M...

Page 3: ...Pan Tool 14 Zoom Tool 14 Fit to Screen 14 View Actual Size 15 Grid Tool 15 View in 3D 15 Garment Preview 15 Printing a Design 15 Status Line 16 Preferences 17 Recipe Setting 18 Machine Format Setting 19 Selecting the Hoop 19 Creating a Custom Hoop 20 Units of Measurement 21 Background Settings 22 Changing the Background Color 22 Changing the Background to a Fabric Sample 23 Creating your own Backg...

Page 4: ...roperties Tab an Overview 36 Properties of Text Segments 37 Envelope Shapes 37 Font 38 Available Characters 38 Height 39 Text Spacing 39 Sewing Order 39 Choosing a Fill Pattern 39 Density Setting 40 Adding Slant to Text 40 Pull Compensation 41 Drop Caps 41 Color Change 42 Kerning Text Segments 43 Adding Color Changes within Text Segments 44 Changing a Design 46 Functions of the Edit Tab 47 Align T...

Page 5: ...earn the basic arrangement of the design workspace This section covers The different parts of the workspace environment An introduction to the functions each of the tabs and what tools each one features Setting design preferences Configuring the toolbars CHAPTER 1 Learning about the Workspace ...

Page 6: ...he tools in the toolbar explaining the basic function of each for more specific details on these tools however please refer to the next chapter Creating and Editing New Designs The MacBroidery Embroidery Lettering Software workspace For information on customer support and software updates please see Updating your Software in the Installation Guide Please be sure to register the software with Broth...

Page 7: ... window by selecting the New design button The templates window The templates contain a generic text string or strings plus depending on the specific template a placeholder design There is a wide variety of different arrangements of templates that can be selected to base the design on For more information on modifying the text or other elements of a template please refer to the Design Editing sect...

Page 8: ...tomatically places a new default text segment into the current design Change the content font and other properties of this text using the settings on the Properties tab Add Design Use to add pre existing design e g Accents Borders or appliqués or browse for embroidery files to add to the current design Select Selects objects in the design window Zoom Used to increase and decrease the scale of the ...

Page 9: ...ose to display the tool icons with the name attached with no name or the name only Rulers Shows and hides the rulers along the top and side of the workspace window Display hoop Shows an image of the selected hoop in your design workspace Show Garment Shows and hides a graphic representation of the garment in the current setup in the workspace Background Open the background tool which adds a color ...

Page 10: ...ect The tab will display different properties depending on whether the selected object is a design or a text segment If an embroidery design object is selected you can use the Change button to swap out this design object and put another in the same place If the selection is a text object the Properties tab shows a number of different properties of the text itself such as its font color letter heig...

Page 11: ...Learning about the Workspace 9 Properties tab showing settings available when a text segment is selected ...

Page 12: ...ools on the Edit Tab Tool What it does Center Centers all selected objects in the Workspace Horizontal Center All selected objects are moved so that they are centered left to right with respect to each other but are not moved up or down Vertical Center All selected objects are moved so that they are centered top to bottom with respect to each other but are not moved left or right Align Left Aligns...

Page 13: ...om Aligns all selected objects to the bottom most item selected Rotate Left Rotates the selected object 90º counter clockwise Rotate Right Rotates the selected object 90º clockwise Flip Horizontally Flips one or more selected objects horizontally Flip Vertically Flips one or more selected objects vertically Send to back The selected object is moved behind all the other objects in the design Bring ...

Page 14: ...parated by color Open the Object list by clicking on the Object list button on the toolbar Each segment is shown in a thumbnail image along with the its color i e thread name and the number of stitches it contains The segments are shown in the order of sewing with the first segment on the top of the list and the last segment at the bottom of the list On the toolbar click on the Show Garment button...

Page 15: ...ent design will sew out It controls which parts of the design will be shown in the design window You can move the slider by dragging the round button to see a design as it will look sewn to a particular point as you drag it from left to right more of the design will show in the design workspace ...

Page 16: ...e situations use the Pan tool to change your view of the project To use panning select the Pan tool and click and drag the mouse in the workspace Zoom Tool Use Zoom to magnify or reduce parts of your design When you select Zoom the cursor changes to a small magnifying glass To use the Zoom tool click in the workspace to zoom in or click and drag to select the area that you would like to zoom in on...

Page 17: ... click the tool to hide the 3D stitches again press the 3D tool again Garment Preview Use the Show Garment button to show or hide a preview of a sample garment in the workspace the garment preview image is selected from the list of images in the Garments tab Printing a Design If you wish to see a printed version of the design use the Print function on the toolbar This will open up a Print dialog f...

Page 18: ...status line gives some useful information about the current design For example the status line allows you to keep track of the overall stitch count and the actual size of the design This is automatically updated as you make changes to the design The following design information is displayed in the status line Zoom the percentage magnification of the design in the workspace Dimensions overall width...

Page 19: ...he Workspace 17 Preferences Use the Preferences dialog to choose global settings that apply to the workspace and the current design You can open the preferences dialog by selecting the Preferences button on the toolbar ...

Page 20: ...sequent design files that you create and the fabric settings of the selected recipe will be applied to all the lettering your create in the design To choose the recipe 1 Open the Preferences dialog 2 Click the arrows button next to the Recipe field You see the list of available recipes 3 Select a Recipe appropriate to the garment or fabric will be sewing on 4 Click the Apply button 5 Choose the Ne...

Page 21: ...yed in the workspace window serves as a guide for sizing and positioning your design To choose the hoop 1 Ensure that the hoop will be visible by clicking the Show Hoop button on the toolbar 2 Open the Preferences dialog 3 In the Preferences dialog select the machine format e g PES DST VIP etc that you will be using 4 Click the arrows button next to the Hoop field You see a drop down list of hoops...

Page 22: ...op image appears in the workspace Creating a Custom Hoop You can also create your own custom sized hoops on the Preferences tab Once you have set the parameters for your hoop and typed in a description the custom hoop will be saved by the Hoops dialog it will be available for your use in future designs ...

Page 23: ...name will now be displayed in the list of hoops that you can select from in the Hoops dialog 4 In the Preferences dialog select the name of the new hoop from the drop down list 5 Click Apply The new hoop shows in your design window Units of Measurement You can change the units that are used by the software on the Preferences panel These measurements apply to the rulers the Properties height and th...

Page 24: ...e the background to a darker color to help light colored stitches show up better Alternatively you can also choose from a set of background fabric images which give a simulation of what the design will look like on an actual garment Changing the Background Color To change the background color 1 On the Toolbar click in the Background tool The Colors dialog will open ...

Page 25: ...u will now see the new color as the workspace background close the Colors dialog Changing the Background to a Fabric Sample To change the background to a fabric 1 On the Toolbar click the Background icon A drop down list of options appears 2 Select Background Fabric from the list The Fabrics folder opens in a new dialog box This folder contains a list of fabric images that come with the software y...

Page 26: ...following procedure explains how to open up the Fabrics folder and save images into it To create and save your own background image 1 Create and save the image of your fabric 2 In the Applications folder select MacBroidery Embroidery Lettering Software to highlight it 3 On your keyboard press Control and click simultaneously You see a context menu 4 From the menu select Show Package contents A new...

Page 27: ...into the spacing boxes which will change the grid interval Note that there are two types of settings the Grid major and the Grid minor The minor line separation goes by linear distance that is it is given in mm or inches depending on what units you have selected The Grid major on the other hand is given in number of lines that is you set a number of minor grid lines per major grid line You can als...

Page 28: ...26 MacBroidery Embroidery Lettering Software ...

Page 29: ...This section covers Using templates to create a design Editing embroidery designs in the workspace Arranging and editing objects using the Edit tab CHAPTER 2 Creating and Editing New Designs ...

Page 30: ...nd Adding Embroidery Designs Creating a Design from a Template Using the template window is a quick way to create the basis for an embroidery design using placeholder text and designs There are a number of different templates which come pre loaded with your software that have different arrangements of these placeholders After selecting the desired template you can substitute your own text and or e...

Page 31: ...or etc for further details see Adjusting Text Properties For details on changing the default design in the design see Changing a Design in the Template 4 If applicable select the generic placeholder image in the design template and replace it with a design from another source For more information see Changing a Design 5 When edits are all completed save the file For information on saving in differ...

Page 32: ...ine format BRFM but you can also choose from a number of machine stitch formats such as PES versions 5 9 DST SEW JEF and many others Important note regarding outline vs stitch formats Files saved as the outline format BRFM will contain both outline vector graphic information and stitch information Designs saved in this format can be edited without compromising the quality of the stitches because t...

Page 33: ...f you save the design in stitch format when you re open it later the text portion will not be editable in the same way To save a design 1 Do one of the following On the menu bar select File Save As On the toolbar click the Save tool You see the Save As dialog box 2 In the Save in list browse to the location you want to save your file 3 In the File Name box enter the file name for the design you wa...

Page 34: ...owing Text Multi line Arc Circle 4 Click in the workspace A selection frame containing placeholder text appears in the workspace 5 Open the Properties panel and change the default text by typing new text in the Text field 6 Make any necessary changes to your lettering using the various fields on the Properties panel for example font letter height slant etc For more details see Properties of Text S...

Page 35: ...is will merge the file into the current design Using the Add Design tool to add an Accent Appliqué Border or Frame 1 From the toolbar select the Add Design tool You see an option menu 2 From the option menu choose any one of the following Add Accent Design Add Appliqué Design Add Border Design Add Frame Design An array of thumbnails of the available designs will be displayed in the lower part of t...

Page 36: ...5 Click and drag the mouse as you drag note that the Add Design appears in outline in your workspace This outline indicates the size and orientation of the design before it is actually generated in your design 6 To finish placing the Design segment release the mouse button Your accent border frame or appliqué appears in your design ...

Page 37: ...ter at the position you would like to place the design file 5 Click and drag the mouse as you drag note that the Design appears in outline in your workspace the outline indicates the size and orientation of the design before it is actually generated in the workspace 6 Click Open The selected embroidery file will be merged into the current design You can also insert a design quickly by just followi...

Page 38: ...lays and allows you to adjust properties of the selected text or design object Note that the text object or design object must be selected with the Select tool before its properties will show up on the tab The sections that follow explain each of the properties on this tab and how to change them ...

Page 39: ... can change the overall shape of text in the workspace with the envelope setting Envelopes are a set of predetermined shapes that can be applied to the overall outline or bounding box of your text segment The envelope shape is selected on the Properties panel To choose an envelope 1 Select the lettering segment in the workspace 2 In the tabs area click on the Properties panel to bring it forward 3...

Page 40: ...ers letters numbers and other marks that can be entered for available embroidery fonts For example some fonts only allow you to enter uppercase characters while other fonts allow you to enter both uppercase and lowercase characters The available characters box also tells you the minimum and maximum recommended heights for sewing out the font To display an embroidery font s available characters 1 S...

Page 41: ...ses To change font spacing 1 Use the Select tool to select a text object 2 Open the Properties panel 3 In the spacing field enter the font spacing you want to apply 4 Click Apply to save your changes You see your text s letter spacing altered accordingly Sewing Order The sew order property determines at what point in the text segment the sewing will start from the left from the right or from the c...

Page 42: ...ield enter a new density value higher numbers correspond to lower density lower numbers correspond to higher density 3 Click the Apply button The density will be applied to the selected segment Adding Slant to Text Use the Slant setting to create a slanted effect for your lettering Slant changes the degree value of the slant on your lettering A negative value slants your lettering to the left a po...

Page 43: ...ple if you adjust the pull compensation to 120 the stitches will be extended 20 longer than with no pull compensation set Drop Caps The drop caps setting can be used to change the height and vertical alignment of the letters at the beginning and end of the selected text There are two fields for this setting the top one corresponds to the first letter of the segment the bottom one corresponds to th...

Page 44: ...lor of a segment 1 Select the design object in the workspace 2 On the Properties tab click the beside the color field and select the color you wish to change 3 Click the color swatch button the small colored rectangle next to the color field The Colors dialog will open in a new window If the design or lettering has more than one color in it the colors will be displayed in this drop down list in th...

Page 45: ...ke it more visually appealing or to make it fit in a tighter space You can adjust the kerning by entering any number of kerning marks in between the letters in the Text box on the Properties panel Add a greater than symbol to increase kerning and a less than symbol to decrease it One or mark represents 1 20th of the width of a letter M of the font you are working in To move letters closer together...

Page 46: ...than sign between the letters you want to kern For example if you wanted more space between the x and t in the word Text you would enter Te xt 3 Click the Apply button to apply the change You see the lettering altered accordingly Adding Color Changes within Text Segments When you are creating designs involving lettering you may find that you want to have two or more colors in a single line of text...

Page 47: ...ween letters in each position that you want a color change to occur 3 Click Apply The thread colors changes appear all the text sub segments after the first one will change color The text segment as it appears initially after adding the tildes or color change marks The first letter retains the original color and the following ones are assigned arbitrary placeholder colors until you chose your own ...

Page 48: ...or field of the Properties panel In the Properties panel click the Apply button The letter or sub segment changes to the chosen color 5 Repeat step 4 for each letter or sub segment in the text The text segment with new thread colors applied Changing a Design If you have selected a design rather than text in the workspace you will see different options on the Properties panel One of these will be t...

Page 49: ... workspace replacing the old one Functions of the Edit Tab Individual objects or groups of objects in the design can be easily modified with the Editing tools in MacBroidery Embroidery Lettering Software The tools on the Edit tab allow you to modify existing embroidery objects including both designs and text Align Tools The Align Tools can be used to align different objects in the workspace relati...

Page 50: ...es 2 In the tabs area click the Edit tab 3 In the Resize area do the following Center Moves all the selected objects to the center of the hoop Horizontal Center All selected objects are moved so that they are centered left to right with respect to each other but are not moved up or down Vertical Center All selected objects are moved so that they are centered top to bottom with respect to each othe...

Page 51: ... turns the selected object 90º in the clockwise direction Use the Flip Vertically tool to flip an object around a vertically mirrors top bottom use the Flip Horizontally tool to flip it horizontally mirrors left right Arrange tools Embroidery segments in the workspace appear stacked in layers in the order in which they were added to the design Therefore objects that are added later may obscure tho...

Page 52: ...nge tools 1 Select the object you want to move in the layer order 2 Do one of the following Click the Send to back tool to put it to the first bottom layer Click Bring to front to move it to the last top layer You see the stacking order changed accordingly ...

Page 53: ...rs in text 42 Changing lettering shapes 37 Color changes within text segments 44 46 Color Palette 45 Creating lettering slanted lettering 40 Customizing the toolbar 7 D Deleting objects 32 Density 40 Density Setting for text 40 Design Window 4 Design Worksheets printing 16 Design workspace 4 14 Drop Caps 41 E Edit tab 10 47 Editing tools 10 Envelopes 37 F Fabric background 23 Fill Pattern of Text ...

Page 54: ...sign 30 Open new design 28 Outline file format BRFM 30 31 Outline file saving as 30 P Pan tool 14 Patterns 39 Preferences dialog 17 Printing a Design 15 Printing as PDF 15 Properties tab 8 36 Pull compensation 41 Pull compensation setting 41 R Recipe Setting 18 Redraw Bar 13 Reset Template 6 Resize Edit tab 48 Resize tool 10 Right tool Align 10 48 Rotate tools 11 49 Ruler Toolbar button 6 Units of...

Page 55: ... Spacing 39 Text entering 39 Text Alignment 40 Text height 39 Text Properties 37 43 44 Tools editing 10 Top tool Align 11 48 U Units of Measurement 21 V Vertical Center tool Align 10 48 View designs in 3D 15 Viewing designs 14 15 Viewing tools 14 Views tools 15 Back to 1 to 1 15 Zoom 14 W Workspace 4 Workspace preferences 17 Z Zoom tool 6 14 ...

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