This document provides an overview and instructions for using Wilcom Embroidery Software 2006. It includes information about copyright, patents, trademarks and disclaimers. The software is available in different product levels ranging from 21L for lettering to 65 for advanced digitizing. Various documentation is included such as an online manual, quick start guide, and supplemental manuals for additional features. The documentation provides conventions for referring to commands, dialog boxes, mouse functions, and keyboard shortcuts.
3. Introduction
Welcome to Wilcom ES 2006, the leading software application for
embroidery industry design and manufacture. Wilcom ES is a suite of
CAD/CAM tools providing a fast, flexible way to create, edit, organize and
stitch out embroidery designs. It is designed to support the high productivity
and efficiency requirements of professional digitizers. It also allows novices
and less frequent users to become productive digitizers. Wilcom ES lets you
edit designs at any stage, or adapt existing designs for use with different
fabrics and machines.
First-time users
Wilcom ES provides a wide range of design capabilities, allowing you to
create, edit, and output embroidery designs with ease. Before you begin
working with the product, read Digitizing with Wilcom ES. This chapter
presents an overview of the basic concepts of digitizing with Wilcom ES and
provides important guidelines on how to use the software for best results.
You should also familiarize yourself with Basic Procedures. This chapter
explains how to start the application and how to use some of the essential
tools and features that Wilcom ES provides. The chapters Viewing Designs
and Working with Design Objects contain essential information about the
many ways of viewing designs in Wilcom ES as well as selecting and
manipulating design ‘objects’.
Upgrade or update users
Wilcom ES 2006 has many new and expanded features which make
digitizing easier and more efficient. Read the chapter Digitizing with Wilcom
ES to familiarize yourself quickly with the scope of these improvements.
Wilcom ES product models
Wilcom ES 2006 is available in five product levels—21L, 21E, 21D,
45 and 65. Each is designed to fulfil the needs of specific embroidery
businesses and to build upon the others to provide for the whole gamut of
stitching and digitizing requirements of professional digitizers.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 1
4. 21L—Lettering
Monogramming, Lettering
Do you routinely embroider lettering and sports Team Name garments?
Empower your business with the flexibility and reliability of in-house
lettering provided by Wilcom ES level 21L. Take possession of over 130
professionally digitized embroidery alphabets, or utilize the endless variety
of Windows fonts with Wilcom’s TrueType Font converter. Team Names and
mass monogramming is a breeze—automatically create hundreds of name
badges and emblems in seconds. Powerful lettering reshape tools let you
handle custom lettering jobs with confidence. Combined with professional
colorway and stitch processing technology, Wilcom ES level 21L provides for
all your lettering and monogramming needs.
21E—Lettering and Editing
Monogramming, Lettering, Editing
Empower your business with the flexibility and reliability of in-house
lettering and editing provided by Wilcom ES level 21E. Take possession of
over 130 professionally digitized embroidery alphabets, or utilize the
endless variety of Windows fonts with Wilcom’s TrueType Font converter.
Edit and reshape your embroidery designs or combine them with existing
ones. Change between Satin, Zigzag and Tatami, as well as adjust stitch
density and underlay settings over the whole or selected parts of a design.
With Wilcom ES level 21E, you are professionally equipped for any
embroidery lettering or editing job that comes your way.
21D—Powerful Digitizing
Corporate, Sports, Fashion
Wilcom ES level 21D introduces you to professional embroidery digitizing.
Backed with the advanced lettering and editing features of level 21E, 21D
delivers a suite of integrated and powerful digitizing tools plus the flexibility
to create reliable, quality embroidery designs. Using scanned or imported
artwork, create embroidery shapes with turning or parallel stitching plus
advanced stitch types like Program Split or Motif Fill. Ideal for companies
that do corporate, sports and fashion embroidery, level 21D supports all
common embroidery industry formats.
45—Creative Digitizing
Creative Flair, High Fashion, Inspiration
Boasting a blend of powerful digitizing tools and creative stitch effects,
Wilcom ES level 45 is Wilcom’s most popular embroidery digitizing system.
Import and convert vector files to embroidery using Wilcom’s legendary
ES 2006 Introduction 2
5. Point & Stitch technology. Advanced stitch effects such as Florentine Effect,
3D Warp, Trapunto and Stipple stitch bring your embroidery to life. Smart
Branching sequences your embroidery design, eliminating trims, while
Offset Object automatically create borders around lettering and other
design objects. Wilcom ES level 45 gives you the competitive edge to create
superior embroidery designs faster and more simply than ever before.
65—Advanced Digitizing
High Volume - Maximum Power
To arm yourself with the full power of Wilcom ES, level 65 is the only choice
for the advanced digitizer. Encompassing Wilcom’s complete range of
embroidery lettering, editing and digitizing tools, level 65 contains as
standard superior Chenille embroidery and stunning automated Sequin
design tools. Productivity and efficiency is the main focus of level 65.
Crafted to support high volume embroidery, time-saving tools such as
Mirror-Merge, Fusion Fill™ and Color Blending complement the easy-to-use
interface to give you maximum power. Take charge of your embroidery
design process with the powerful capabilities of Wilcom ES level 65.
Note For a complete feature listing, see Product Differentiation Table in the
Online Manual.
Wilcom ES documentation
Wilcom ES provides you with a number of ways to access information about
the software and how to use it, both in printed form and online via the Help
menu.
Warning Screen illustrations in the user documentation are intended to be
representations, not exact duplicates of the screen layouts generated by the
software. Procedural descriptions may be at slight variance from particular
installations depending on which default system settings are activated.
Printed documentation
With your Wilcom ES installation CD you will have received the following
printed documentation:
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 3
6. Release Notes
The Release Notes provide you with information about system requirements
for your Wilcom ES installation, details of new features and major and minor
improvements to the software release, as well as known limitations and
‘workarounds’. For an itemized listing of the new and improved features for
each level of product, refer to the Product Differentiation Table at the end of
this document. For a complete table, refer to Product Differentiation Table
in the Online Manual.
Quick Start Guide
The Wilcom ES Quick Start Guide contains installation instructions as well as
an overview of the ES Designer and ES Design Explorer applications. The
guide provides fully worked sample projects for each product level. While
these projects do not cover all product features, they provide a useful
starting point. There is also a Quick Reference section which lists all the
commands and shortcut keys used in ES Designer.
For detailed procedures covering all features of the ES Designer and
ES Design Explorer applications, refer to the online manual which can be
accessed via the Help menu. To identify sources of information relevant to
your specific model and any options you may have selected, see Product
Differentiation Table in the Online Manual.
Online documentation
Online documentation is provided in two formats—HTML Online Help and
Adobe Acrobat. Components include Release Notes, Quick Reference, Online
Manual, Online Help, as well as various User Manual Supplements.
Release Notes
An online version of the Release Notes is included with the software
installation.
Quick Reference
All commands in ES Designer can be accessed via the various menus, both
‘dropdown’ and ‘popup’, toolbar icons, menu chart (for use with digitizing
tablets), as well as ‘access’ and ‘shortcut’ keys. Many commands can be
accessed by more than one method. The Quick Reference lets you see at a
glance which method best suits you.
ES 2006 Introduction 4
7. Online Manual
The Online Manual contains hundreds of step-by-step instructions together
with samples and screen images. These are intended to be used as a
reference, not a tutorial. The manual documents the following product
components: ES Designer and ES Design Explorer. ES Machine Manager,
and the ES Chenille, ES Schiffli, and ES Cross Stitch Options are
documented in separate supplements described below.
Online Help
Online Help provides quick access to general information on ES Designer
features and step-by-step instructions. Context Sensitive help is currently
available for dialogs by pressing the 1 key.
User Manual supplements
With your Wilcom ES installation CD you will have also received the
following online supplements:
Wilcom ES Machine Manager Supplement
This manual supplement documents the following product capabilities:
! ES Machine Manager Direct Connect
! feedback from machines
! machine activity reporting
! technical details of machine network setup.
The supplement must be used in conjunction with the Wilcom ES User
Manual.
Wilcom ES Cross Stitch Supplement
This manual supplement documents the following product capabilities:
! manual and automatic cross stitch digitizing
! cross stitch editing
! cross stitch lettering
! handling cross stitch design files.
This supplement is supplied with the ES Cross Stitch Option. It must be used
in conjunction with the Wilcom ES User Manual.
Wilcom ES Chenille Supplement
This manual supplement documents the following product capabilities:
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 5
8. ! ES Chenille features within ES Designer
! ES Chenille machines, including chain, moss, needle height
! ES Chenille stitch types and effects.
This supplement is supplied with the ES Chenille Option. It must be used in
conjunction with the Wilcom ES User Manual.
Wilcom ES Schiffli User Manual
This manual documents the following product capabilities:
! ES Schiffli features within ES Designer
! read/output to Schiffli files
! ES Schiffli disk utilities, Fixpat, Defced.
The manual is supplied with the ES Schiffli Option. It must be used in
conjunction with the Wilcom ES User Manual.
Viewing online documentation
Online documentation can be accessed from the Wilcom ES Programs folder
or from the Help menu in Wilcom ES. You can read it with Adobe Acrobat™
Reader which is supplied with your Wilcom ES software installation. Quickly
search for the information you need using standard Adobe Acrobat™ Reader
features.
To view the online documentation
1 From Windows Start, go to the Programs > Wilcom 2006 folder.
You will find the following online documents:
! Wilcom ES Online Manual
! Wilcom ES Release Notes
! Wilcom ES Quick Reference Guide.
2 Double-click the required document to open it in Adobe Reader.
ES 2006 Introduction 6
9. Fit in Window
Actual Size Fit Width Zoom dropdown
Bookmarks Page turning controls Paging settings
Tip You can open your online documentation directly from ES Designer.
Go to the Help menu and select the document you want from the
dropdown list.
3 Select the topic you want by clicking on its ‘Bookmark’.
4 Change the view magnification in any of the following ways:
! Click the Actual Size, or Fit in Window, or Fit Width buttons.
! Select the Zoom In tool, then click anywhere on the page—each
click increases the magnification.
! Click the Reader Zoom dropdown and select a setting—try 200% if
you want to look closely at screen diagrams.
5 Use the page turning controls at the bottom of the window to scroll
backwards and forwards through the book or return to previous views.
Tip Select Help > Reader Guide from the top of the Reader screen for
comprehensive information about using Reader.
Using online help
Online Help can be accessed from the Help menu in Wilcom ES.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 7
10. To use the online help
1 Select Help > Help Topics.
The ES Designer Help window opens.
2 Click Contents to display the main list of topics.
Topics are grouped under high-level headings with ‘book’ icons.
3 Double-click a book to view the list of topics, then double-click a topic.
Alternatively, click Find and enter keywords to search on a specific
subject.
Note Context Sensitive help is available for dialogs. When you open a
dialog box, press 1 to invoke relevant help.
Linking to the Wilcom website
You can access sales and support information about the products easily from
within the software.
To link to the Wilcom website
! Select Help > Wilcom Web Page.
You are directly connected to the Wilcom homepage at
http://www.wilcom.com.au/
Note You must have a correctly configured web browser on your system
together with web access.
Conventions used in the documentation
The documentation adopts the following conventions:
Commands
Commands on a submenu are referred to by both the submenu and
command name. For example the command ‘Open’ on the submenu
‘Embroidery Disk’ is referred to as Embroidery Disk > Open.
Dialog boxes
Dialog boxes are referred to as ‘dialogs’ and are displayed only if they
provide important information on using Wilcom ES. The screen images
ES 2006 Introduction 8
11. provided may differ slightly to the layouts generated by the software and
operating system you are using.
Mouse conventions
Instruction Symbol Description
Click [ Click the left mouse button.
Right-click ] Click the right mouse button.
Double-click . Click the mouse button twice without moving the
mouse.
Shift-click V+[ Hold down Shift and click left mouse button.
Click OK [ or j Click OK with the mouse or press the Enter key
on the keyboard to complete the action.
Keyboard conventions
Shortcut Description
C+S While holding down the Control key (Ctrl), press the
lowercase letter S key.
C+V+H While holding down the Control key (Ctrl), press Shift and
the H key.
For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard Shortcuts.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 9
12. PART I
OBJECT-BASED
EMBROIDERY
Designs created in ES Designer are composed of ‘embroidery objects’. They
are called ‘objects’ because they are discrete entities which can be
manipulated independently of each other. Each object has certain defining
characteristics or ‘properties’ such as color, size, position, and so on. The
most important property of an embroidery object is its stitch type.
Basic procedures
This section describes how to start ES Designer, how to open designs, start
new ones and use the basic commands. It also explains how to turn on and
off the grid and measure distances on-screen. You will also find out how to
select machine formats for different output as well as how to save designs.
The section also explains the procedure for entering security codes. See
Basic Procedures for details.
Working with design objects
This section describes how to select objects using the selection tools and
keyboard. It also shows how to select while traveling through designs or by
using the Color-Object List. See Working with Design Objects for details.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 10
13. Viewing designs
This section explains the design viewing modes available in ES Designer as
well as the various design viewing settings. It also describes how to view
designs by ‘traveling’ through the stitching sequence. Design colorways are
explained, as well as how to obtain and modify design information. See
Viewing Designs for details.
ES 2006 Object-Based Embroidery 11
14. Chapter 1
Digitizing with Wilcom ES
Embroidery digitizing consists of turning the basic shapes of a design into
embroidery objects. Different tools are suited to different shapes. You can
digitize them manually by marking points along an outline, or by using
‘smart’ tools which transform shapes automatically into embroidery objects.
Planning designs
High quality embroidery starts with good design and forward planning.
Artwork
Artwork in both bitmap and vector formats can be inserted, pasted or
scanned into ES Designer for use as digitizing ‘backdrops’. Unless you are
an experienced digitizer, do not use complicated artwork. Possible sources
include:
! books of embroidery patterns
! children’s story books
! printed table cloths or tea towels
! business cards, post cards and wrapping paper
! clipart libraries from your word processing or graphics programs
! internet or CD clipart libraries
! samples in the Wilcom ES Design folder
! original artwork—e.g. children’s drawings.
Note Be sure to check the copyright of any images you have not created
yourself. If unsure, contact the company and seek their permission.
Design shapes and stitching sequence
Before digitizing, you need to analyze and plan design shapes and stitching
sequence carefully. Design shapes need to be clearly defined to make them
easy to embroider. The best shapes have relatively constant width, with
smooth edges, no sharp turns and no small, protruding details.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 12
15. The digitizing sequence defines the stitching sequence, or order in which
shapes are stitched out. Of course you can always change the sequence to
improve the stitchout—for example, to minimize color changes. Details
should be stitched last.
1
5 details last
2
3
4
Completed design
Good design is enhanced by the use of the correct backing, tension and a
good quality embroidery machine. Keep the following points in mind when
digitizing your design and assessing the final output:
design looks details are clearly
good—shapes, colors, defined
balance
shapes are filled with stitches are angled to
correct fill and outline match shapes
stitches
lettering is clear and
easy to read
The stitched-out design should also have the following characteristics:
! The design stitches out efficiently on the machine.
! Stitches are neat, smooth and even.
! Shapes are stitched correctly—no unwanted gaps.
! The fabric has not puckered around the stitched areas.
! The design is free of loose ends.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 13
16. Digitizer tablet
If you are using a digitizer tablet, you
need to prepare an enlargement drawing
from the artwork and place it on the
digitizer tablet. After registering the
drawing, you digitize it using the digitizer
puck. See Using Digitizing Tablets for
details.
Object-based embroidery
Designs created in ES Designer are composed of ‘embroidery objects’. They
are called ‘objects’ because they are discrete entities which can be
manipulated independently of each other. Each object has certain defining
characteristics or ‘properties’ such as color, size, position, and so on. The
most important property of an embroidery object is its stitch type.
Working with design objects
ES Designer provides various ways to select the objects in an embroidery
design. Modify the design as a whole or select individual objects for more
precise modification. The Color-Object List provides an easy way to select
objects and colors in designs and access their properties. Use it to group and
ungroup, lock and unlock, and show and hide objects as well. See Working
with Design Objects for details.
Viewing designs
ES Designer provides many viewing modes to make it easier to work with
your designs. Zoom in on an area to see more detail, view the design at
actual size, or view a thumbnail of the whole design in a separate Overview
window. Pan the design to move it across the design window instead of
scrolling, and quickly change between one view and the last.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 14
17. Show or hide various design elements with
the available display settings. You can show
or hide outlines, needle penetration points,
connectors, stitch angles, machine function
symbols and the stitches themselves. You
can also view designs in TrueView.
When working with embroidery designs, you
need to understand the stitching sequence.
Check this by ‘traveling’ through the design Normal view
stitch-by-stitch. You can also check it by
slowly ‘redrawing’ the design on-screen. You
can also preview a design in different colors
on different fabrics by selecting from among
any number of pre-defined colorways.
ES Designer gives you comprehensive
information about your designs. Even before
opening a design, you can check the
software version number and other design
information for EMB files directly from TrueView
Windows Explorer. View stitching details in
the Design Properties dialog. The production worksheet also provides
essential production information, including a design preview, the size of the
design, color sequence and any special instructions. See Viewing Designs for
details.
Digitizing designs
In ES Designer, you build designs from basic shapes or ‘embroidery
objects’. These are like ordinary vector objects in that they have certain
defining characteristics or ‘properties’ such as color, size, position, and so
on. They also have properties unique to embroidery such as stitch type and
density.
Digitizing methods
The process of creating embroidery objects on-screen is called ‘digitizing’.
Like the creation of designs in graphics applications, this involves the use of
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 15
18. input or ‘digitizing’ tools. These are similar to drawing tools except that the
end result is an embroidery rather than a vector object.
large irregular shape line (Run)
(Complex Fill)
columns of varying width (Input A)
narrow columns (Input C)
turning stitches (Input B)
Different tools are suited to creating different shapes or design elements.
There are specific tools for digitizing larger complex shapes, asymmetrical
columns of turning stitches, columns of varying width, columns of fixed
width, lines, and even individual stitches. See Digitizing Methods for details.
Fill and outline stitches
The most important property of all embroidery objects is the stitch type. The
software uses object outlines and associated stitch type to generate
stitches. Whenever you reshape, transform or scale an object, stitches are
regenerated according to its stitch type and settings.
Run for lines
Tatami for large
shapes
Satin for narrow
shapes
Stitch types divide broadly into two categories—outline and fill. Satin fills
are generally suited to columns and borders. Tatami stitch is used to fill
larger shapes with solid fields of stitching. Run stitch, Backstitch, and
Stemstitch are considered both digitizing methods and stitch types. Both
Zigzag and E Stitch are used as outline stitches. Zigzag is frequently used
for tacking down appliqués, while E Stitch is used as the cover stitch. Both
can also be used for decorative effect. See Fill and Outline Stitches for
details.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 16
19. Colorways and thread charts
When digitizing, you select thread colors for each object you create from the
color palette. This contains a selection of thread colors tailored for each
design or color scheme.
Colorway 1 Colorway 2
The particular ‘colorway’ represents the actual thread colors in which a
design will be stitched. In fact you can define multiple color schemes and
switch between them. This has important implications for sales
presentations as well as production. You can also print multiple colorways,
design backgrounds, and icons of color blocks together with the production
worksheet.
For each colorway you define, you can
select colors from commercial thread
1 charts or define your own. Search for
2 particular threads by various criteria.
Automatic thread color matching helps
3 you locate thread colors based on
4 closest match across one or several
thread charts. You can also match
5 thread colors from imported
graphics—vector or bitmap. See
Colorways and Thread Charts for
details.
Connecting embroidery objects
Connectors link objects in a design. They can be run stitches or jumps. You
can use automatic settings to generate connectors, trims and tie-offs, or
add them manually.
connector
trim stitching starts
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 17
20. Travel runs are typically used to connect segments within filled objects.
Adjust travel run length to reduce stitch count. See Connecting Embroidery
Objects for details.
Improving stitch quality
ES Designer provides many techniques for achieving smooth, even
placement of stitches, and eliminating gaps in your designs. Strengthen and
stabilize designs with automatic underlay.
with underlay without underlay
Compensate for fabric stretch with pull compensation. Reduce stitch
bunching with stitch shortening and fractional spacing. Adjust stitch density
for more efficient production and remove small stitches automatically.
Control corner stitching with Smart Corners and fine-tune handling of long
stitches with Auto Split and Auto Jump. Set automatic start and end points.
with no effects with Auto Split with Auto Jump
These features are all object properties and can be applied, removed or
modified at will. See Improving Stitch Quality for details.
Digitizing with artwork
There are two broad categories of artwork file, both of which can be
imported into ES Designer for use as digitizing backdrops—vector and
bitmap. To create good quality embroidery, you need to choose or create
suitable artwork of either format.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 18
21. Digitizing with vector images
ES Designer provides tools to draw shapes and outlines directly on screen.
Alternatively, insert or paste vector images created in third-party drawing
packages for use as digitizing backdrops. Scale and transform them in the
same way as embroidery objects. You can also select colors for vector object
outlines and fills. When working with overlapping vector or embroidery
objects, merge, trim or split them using the Shaping tools.
Vector images have the advantage over bitmap images that they can be
converted directly to embroidery objects using a variety of input methods.
This allows you to concentrate on design shapes without having to think
about stitch properties and sequence. See Digitizing with Vector Images for
details.
vector image
converted to
embroidery design
Digitizing with bitmap images
Artwork can be inserted, pasted or scanned into ES Designer and cropped
for use as digitizing templates or ‘backdrops’. These help you to:
! digitize shapes manually
! digitize shapes automatically with Point & Stitch
! digitize complete images automatically with Smart Design
! digitize photographs with Photo Flash.
Scan artwork directly into ES Designer and edit it before use. Open images
directly in MS Paint, Corel PHOTO-PAINT®, or Paint Shop Pro™. Images
updated in this way are automatically re-imported into ES Designer.
Alternatively, insert bitmap images saved on your hard disk into
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 19
22. ES Designer. Show or hide them as you digitize. See Digitizing with Bitmap
Images for details.
Preparing images for automatic digitizing
ES Designer supports the automatic and semi-automatic digitizing of both
bitmap images and vector images. The quality of the resulting designs
greatly depends on the type and quality of the original artwork. In order to
make bitmap images—both outlined and non-outlined—more suitable for
automatic digitizing, ES Designer provides image processing capabilities
and links to graphics packages. See Preparing Images for Automatic
Digitizing for details.
Bitmap image scaled and background Areas recolored and outlines
removed—ready for manual digitizing improved—ready for automatic digitizing
Automatic digitizing
ES Designer provides a variety of complementary tools and techniques for
automatically digitizing suitably prepared artwork. See Automatic Digitizing
for details.
All colors omitted Background color
except black omitted
! The Auto Trace feature lets you convert scanned artwork to vector
objects. You can then convert these to embroidery objects using a
variety of input methods.
! The Point & Stitch tools provide everything necessary to digitize shapes
in bitmap images automatically without using manual input methods.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 20
23. ! Smart Design automatic digitizing is intended for people working at all
levels of the embroidery industry. Smart Design automatically converts
bitmap images to fully digitized embroidery.
! Photo Flash lets you create embroidery designs directly from
photographs and other grayscale bitmap images. The effect resembles
the output of a line printer.
gray scale
image
digitized with
Photo Flash
Modifying designs
After digitizing a design, you can modify it as a whole, edit individual objects
or even individual stitches.
Combining and resequencing objects
ES Designer provides techniques for
combining and resequencing
objects. You can add to designs by
duplicating and copying objects.
Combine designs. Split objects into
smaller ones and remove overlaps
between objects. See Combining
and Resequencing Objects for
details.
The stitching sequence
naturally occurs in the order
in which the design was
digitized. The Color-Object
List displays a sequential list
of objects grouped by object
and color. It provides an easy
way to group, cut, copy and
paste, and resequence
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 21
24. selected objects and color blocks. See Selecting and viewing objects with
the Color-Object List for details. See also Resequencing embroidery objects.
Group objects together to apply a
change to them all at once. Better
still, apply Branching to join
like-objects to form a single
‘branched object’. Objects are
resequenced, connectors
minimized, component objects
grouped, and stitches regenerated.
Apply an underlay to all. See
Automatic branching for details.
Arranging and transforming objects
ES Designer also provides techniques for
arranging and transforming objects. Change the
position, size and orientation of objects by
moving, scaling, rotating, skewing, and mirroring
them. Group objects together to apply universal
changes, or lock them to avoid unintentional
modification. Modify objects directly on-screen or
using the Object Properties dialog. Access
commonly used functions via the Color-Object
List. See Arranging and Transforming Objects for
details.
Converting and reshaping objects
There are also techniques available for converting
and reshaping objects. Convert among vector and
embroidery objects of different types at all stages
of the design. The points you mark when digitizing
a shape become its ‘control points’. These vary
slightly with the object type. Use them to edit or
transform objects—e.g. reshaping, scaling, letter
spacing, changing entry and exit points. Modify
stitch angles of selected objects. Add multiple
stitch angles as required. See Converting and
Reshaping Objects for details.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 22
25. Editing stitches and machine functions
Techniques are available for specialist stitch and
machine function editing. In essence, you edit
individual stitches like any other object, moving
the needlepoint position as required.
ES Designer also lets you manually insert
machine functions and modify them. This
flexibility allows you to adapt designs to almost
any machine requirement. A Stitch List is
available to help you locate stitches and
machine functions. See Editing Stitches and
Machine Functions for details.
Advanced digitizing techniques
ES Designer provides specialized productivity features as well as special
effects and digitizing techniques.
Object properties, styles and templates
Every object you create in ES Designer has a unique set of properties that
are stored with it whenever you save the design. You can set the properties
of a selected object to be the current property settings. You can also apply
current property settings to existing objects. A style is a group of property
settings stored under a unique name. You can save any combination of
settings to a style. This makes it easy to apply these settings to selected
embroidery and lettering objects. Templates are special files used to store
styles and default property settings. See Object Properties, Styles and
Templates for details.
Style 1 Style 2
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 23
26. Specialized digitizing techniques
ES Designer provides specialized
digitizing features to save time as
you digitize, and for special
effects and machine functions.
There are input tools for digitizing
circles, stars, rings and appliqué
objects, as well as methods for
creating repeated or ‘backtracked’
duplicates, adding borders or
filling holes. See Specialized Digitizing Techniques for details.
Borders
Add attractive borders such as rectangles, ovals, and shields to
designs using the Borders symbol set. When you add a border, it is
automatically sized to fit the current design. See Adding borders to designs
for details.
Appliqué
Automatically create all the stitching you need for
appliqué using Auto Appliqué. Simply extract
appliqué shapes from a design to a separate file.
See Digitizing for appliqué for details.
Tip Cross stitch is sometimes combined with
appliqué for special effects. Cross stitch is a popular
technique for filling large areas with low stitch
counts. It can also be used for outlines and borders.
It is suitable for homeware, tablecloths, children’s clothes and folk designs.
See ES Cross Stitch Supplement for details.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 24
27. Textured fills
ES Designer provides special tools to create textured effects from needle
penetrations. Apply offset fractions and partition lines to Tatami fills to
create split-line patterns.
Tatami Offset Partition Lines Random Factor
Alternatively, apply Program Split or Flexi Split to create decorative fills
from pre-defined patterns of needle penetrations. Select from the library or
create your own. With User Defined Split, create your own split lines when
you want to add detail to filled objects. See Textured Fills for details.
Program Split Flexi Split User Defined Split
Artistic stitch effects
ES Designer provides many artistic effects and stitch types to create
textured and contoured fill stitching. Use Jagged Edge to create rough
edges, shading effects, or imitate fur and other fluffy textures. Accordion
Spacing varies stitch spacing between dense and open fill, producing
shading and color effects which are difficult to achieve manually. The Color
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 25
28. Blending effect creates interesting perspective, shading and color effects by
blending two colored layers.
Jagged Edge with Accordion Spacing Tatami with Color
Tatami backstitch with circles Blending
Apply Trapunto effect to force
underlying travel runs to the
edges of an object so that they
can’t be seen through open
stitching. See Connecting
Embroidery Objects for details.
Create ‘chiaroscuro’ effects with
Contour. Choose between Standard and Spiral. For another type of curved
effect, use Florentine Effect to curve needle penetrations along a digitized
line. Liquid Effect allows you to enter twin curves. See Artistic Stitch Effects
for details.
Contour spiral Open fill with Single curve with
Trapunto Florentine Effect
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 26
29. Motif runs and fills
Motifs are pre-defined design
elements, such as hearts,
leaves or border patterns. They
generally consist of one or more
simple objects, and are stored
in a special motif set. Use Motif
Run and Motif Fill to create
ornamental runs and textured
fills. Create your own motifs or
use the ones provided with the
software. Motifs can be scaled, rotated and mirrored in the same way as
other objects. Using 3D Warp with motif fills, you can also create interesting
three dimensional effects. See Motif Runs and Fills for details.
Sequins and boring
Some embroidery machines are equipped with a
sequin dispenser that drops sequins onto the
garment as it stitches. Some are also equipped
with a boring knife or needle to cut holes in the
fabric, producing an effect similar to lace. Often the
two techniques are used in combination.
ES Designer provides support for both.
ES Designer provides a dedicated set of Sequin
tools which allow you to digitize sequined designs
for compatible machines. Create sequin runs along
digitized lines, either placing sequins manually or
letting the software generate placement positions
according to current settings. The Sequin tools also
allow you to digitize individual sequins for even
greater control. If your embroidery machine is
equipped with a boring knife or needle, you can use
the Borers tool to cut holes in the fabric, producing
an effect similar to lace. See Sequins and Boring for
details.
Embroidery lettering
Create top-quality lettering quickly and simply. ES Designer provides a large
range of scalable closest-join alphabet styles and multi-color and fancy
stitching alphabets to choose from.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 27
30. Creating embroidery lettering
Add lettering directly to designs using current settings or with the aid of the
dialog. With object-based operation, you can type and manipulate your text
directly on-screen, changing the size or spacings to fit. Apply formatting just
like a word processor, including italics, bolding, and right/left justification.
Change values for the whole text or for individual letters. See Creating
Embroidery Lettering for details.
Adjusting lettering layout
ES Designer gives you both interactive and precise numeric control over
many settings affecting lettering objects. Adjust both individual letters and
lettering objects as a whole. Apply horizontal, vertical, and curved
baselines. Modify baseline type, length, radius and angle, as well as
position. You can even define the rotation angle of letters relative to the
baseline or the design itself. See Editing Embroidery Lettering for details.
Adjusting lettering stitch settings
When it comes to stitching, you can fine-tune the density, add pull
compensation and underlay, or change to center-out stitching. Like all
embroidery objects, each lettering object has its own stitch properties.
Adjust settings at any stage. ES Designer also gives you precise control over
the stitch angles of individual letters. You can also specify the join method
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 28
31. and stitching sequence you prefer. See Adjusting Lettering Stitch Settings
for details.
Special lettering features
Add special characters and symbols to your lettering. Create interesting
distortions using lettering envelopes. See Creating special effects with
envelopes for details.
Bridge Pennant Perspective Diamond
Use the Team Names feature to create designs with multiple names. For
example, use the same logo with different names for sports teams or
corporate uniforms without having to create multiple copies of the same
design. See Team lettering for details.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 29
32. Custom alphabets
Turn any TrueType font installed on your system into an embroidery
alphabet. See Converting TrueType fonts to embroidery alphabets for
details.
Typically spacing between certain character pairs appears uneven due to the
optical illusion of having straight lines and curves side-by-side. Automatic
kerning is a user-defined option allowing you to customize kerning. See
Automatic letter kerning for details.
Sometimes you find that you want to reshape a letter to improve its
appearance, perhaps to suit a particular lettering height. ES Designer lets
you save the letter as an alternative version. In fact you can save multiple
versions of the same letter within the same alphabet. See User-refined
alphabets for details.
Letter ‘a’ opened Default ‘a’ too narrow
up at smaller size at small size
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 30
33. You can even create your own custom alphabets. Alternatively, modify an
existing alphabet for special applications. See Creating custom alphabets for
details.
Merge letters from two or more alphabets with the stand-alone alphabet
merging utility. See Merging alphabets for details.
Design processing & encoding
Design processing and encoding involve all the important, back-end
operations of embroidery design and manufacture. This is where you
actually output your designs to machine, disk, printer, cutter, and so on. For
this, you will need an understanding of embroidery file types as well as
different machine formats. Depending on your setup, you will also need an
understanding of traditional storage media including embroidery disks and
paper tapes.
Processing design files
By default ES Designer saves to its native file format, EMB. This format
contains all information necessary both for stitching a design and for later
modification. When opening designs created or saved in other formats,
ES Designer converts the design internally to EMB format. You can then
modify it using the full range of ES Designer features. Depending on the file
type, you may need to provide additional information to assist ES Designer
in the conversion process. ES Designer also supports the processing of
Melco CND outline files, including color merging and reassignment of colors.
See Processing Design Files for details.
Changing machine formats
Different embroidery machines speak different languages. They have their
own control commands for the various machine functions. Before you can
stitch a design, it must be in a format which can be understood by the
embroidery machine. When you select a machine format, ES Designer
translates the digitized design into machine functions that can be
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 31
34. understood by that machine. If required, you can customize machine
formats to meet specific machine requirements. See Changing Machine
Formats for details.
Outputting designs
You can output embroidery designs in a variety of ways—saving to
embroidery disk, punching to paper tape, sending appliqué shapes to a
cutter, or sending directly to machine for stitching. From the same design
file, you can also output a production worksheet for the embroidery machine
operator. Designers frequently want to distribute their designs so that they
can be seen in real colors, in TrueView or otherwise. In ES Designer you can
save both design images and production worksheets to disk or email them
direct. See Outputting Designs for details.
Embroidery disks and paper tapes
Embroidery disks are specially formatted floppy disks used to transfer
designs from computer to embroidery machine. You can format embroidery
disks and save designs to them from within ES Designer. The format you
use will depend on the selected embroidery machine. You can also open
designs from embroidery disk directly into ES Designer.
Paper tape is the traditional medium for storing designs in stitch data
format. You can read paper tape designs of various formats into
ES Designer. Once a design is read, you can output it without change,
modify it and output it in its original format, or save it as an EMB file. You
can also punch designs to paper tape from ES Designer. See Embroidery
Disks and Paper Tapes for details.
Design management
ES Designer provides a number of productivity tools to help you manage
designs and design elements for re-use. The Embroidery Clipart feature is
a powerful productivity tool which makes whole designs and design
fragments easily available. ES Design Explorer provides an efficient way for
viewing and managing embroidery designs in folders.
Note ES Design Explorer is not a multi-user database for company-wide
design management. Wilcom Design Workflow is a central design storage
and management application. Any design format that can be read by
ES Designer can be stored in Design Workflow. Design Workflow uses
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 32
35. Microsoft SQL technology and is a true multi-user tool, allowing far greater
control of designs throughout your company. For this type of requirement,
refer to the Design Workflow User Manual.
Embroidery Clipart
The Embroidery Clipart feature allows you to recycle
commonly used design elements and greatly speeds up the
process of creating new designs. Use the clipart library to
permanently store useful embroidery elements and assign
keywords to them. Summary information such as width and
height, number of stitches and colors is automatically
recorded.
The library displays all design elements currently recorded to
your personal database. Behind this functionality is the
powerful Microsoft Data Engine or MSDE. Sort and search
functionality is provided to filter your list according to name,
keywords, number of colors, or number of stitches. Once a
suitable design element is located, simply drag and drop it
as ‘embroidery clipart’ into the current project.
Automatically find the nearest match between selected
clipart element colors and the current palette. See Embroidery Clipart for
details.
ES Design Explorer
With ES Design Explorer, you can browse design files stored on your
computer hard disk, CD-ROM, or floppy disk, as well as cut, copy, paste and
delete them. It recognizes all design file formats used by ES Designer. See
ES Design Explorer Basics for details.
Designs in ES Design Explorer
folders can be sorted in various
ways. This is useful when you
want to select designs for
stitching out, printing,
archiving, and so on. Once a
design is selected in an
ES Design Explorer folder, you
can send it direct to an
embroidery machine or
punching machine. You can also
batch-convert your EMB and
other design files to and from
other file formats directly from ES Design Explorer. See ES Design Explorer
Advanced Functions for details.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 33
36. Create design catalogs containing thumbnail images and/or summary
information. These can be sent to a printer, published on your website or
intranet, and exported in formats suitable for spreadsheet and database
programs, and for integration with third-party e-commerce solutions.
Archive design files in folders with the built-in WinZip utility. This can be
useful for sending or receiving multiple files via email. You can even view
design files within ‘zipped’ archives.
ES 2006 Chapter 1 Digitizing with Wilcom ES 34
37. Chapter 2
Basic Procedures
Wilcom ES software is an MS Windows-based product incorporating many of
the conventions with which most PC users are already familiar. To start using
ES Designer, you need to understand something about the organization of
the graphical user interface (GUI) as well as a few basic procedures such as
opening and saving designs. Other basic procedures include displaying the
grid, accessing design information, and selecting machine formats.
Security codes enable access to features within the software. You also need
to be able to identify your system’s access codes, and enter new codes for
upgrades.
This section describes how to start ES Designer, how to open designs, start
new ones and use the basic commands. It also explains how to turn on and
off the grid and measure distances on-screen. You will also find out how to
select machine formats for different output as well as how to save designs.
The section also explains the procedure for entering security codes.
Starting ES Designer
Double-click to start ES Designer.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 35
38. Open ES Designer using the desktop icon or the Windows Start menu. The
screen image shown here displays an exploded view of all toolbars in the
product.
To start ES Designer
! Double-click the ES Designer shortcut icon on the Windows desktop.
Alternatively, select Programs > Wilcom ES > ES Designer from the
Start menu. ES Designer opens with a new, blank design (Design1).
Title and Menu bars
Standard toolbar
Stitch Types toolbar
Show Vertical toolbar
Pointer toolbar
Input toolbar
Travel toolbar
Image toolbar
Status bar
Prompt line
Design Window Color toolbar General object properties
! Customize the design window by showing or hiding the grid, changing
the grid dimensions, and showing and hiding toolbars. See Displaying
the grid and Showing or hiding toolbars for details.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 36
39. ! The Status and Prompt bars include a General Properties panel for
continuous display and routine modification of general object properties.
See also Accessing object properties.
Stitch type and General properties
current settings permanently available
Status bar
Prompt line
Stitch count Length and angle of Current color
Coordinates of current current stitch Current function
needle position
Using commands and tools
Once you start ES Designer, you use commands or tools, and dialogs to
complete your tasks. You select commands in ES Designer in the same way
as other Windows applications—from menus, toolbars, or popup menus.
Dialogs provide the other principal way of engaging with the system. They
come in two forms—modal and modeless. Modal dialogs effectively lock the
system until you have finished with them. The idea of the ‘modeless’ dialog
is that you can keep it open as long as you need to while working
interactively with different settings. Keyboard shortcuts are also available
for the most frequently used commands. See Quick Reference for details.
Showing or hiding toolbars
Use Show Pointer Toolbar (Show Vertical toolbar) to display the Pointer
toolbar.
Use Show Input Toolbar (Show Vertical toolbar) to display the Input
toolbar.
Use Show Travel Toolbar (Show Vertical toolbar) to display the Travel
toolbar.
Use Show Image Toolbar (Show Vertical toolbar) to display the Image
toolbar.
Toolbars provide quick and easy access to most ES Designer commands. You
can choose to show or hide them for convenience.
Tip To increase your working area, hide unwanted toolbars and use the
menu and keyboard commands instead. See also Quick Reference.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 37
40. To show or hide toolbars
1 Select View > Toolbars.
The Toolbars dialog opens.
2 Select the toolbars you want to display.
3 Click OK.
Tip Use the buttons on the Show Vertical toolbar to display the Pointer,
Input, Travel, and Image toolbars on the side of the design window.
Toolbar docking and parking
ES Designer toolbars are dockable. To move a toolbar to a more convenient
location, click-and-drag it. To dock it in its normal position, double-click the
toolbar title. The toolbar parking feature allows you to make better use of
available screen ‘real estate’.
Click-and-drag toolbars and
modeless dialogs into
toolbar park
By default, the Toolbar Park toolbar is situated just above the design
window. Simply drag and drop any toolbar into the Park to move it out of
the way. Click the tab and drag it back out when you need it. You can also
park the Color-Object List, the Color Palette Editor, and the Object
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 38
41. Properties dialog. The Toolbar Park toolbar itself can be docked at the
bottom of the screen.
Tip A toolbar parked in the Toolbar Park area is automatically removed by
deactivating it in the Toolbars dialog.
Selecting commands from toolbars
Toolbars provide quick and easy access to ES Designer commands. Click a
toolbar button to activate a command or, where applicable, right-click to set
its properties. Some icons are ‘toggles’ which turn on or off associated
functions.
To select commands from toolbars
! Rest the pointer over a tool icon to see its name in a ‘tooltip’.
! Click the icon to activate the command.
! Right-click to adjust settings or activate the secondary command.
! If the tool has both left and right-click commands, the name is split
with a slash (/). For example, the Polygon Select/Line Select tool
lets you select objects within a polygon when you click it, or objects
along a line when you right-click.
! For many tools, right-clicking accesses current command settings.
For example, left-clicking Satin/Values selects Satin as the stitch
type, while right-clicking accesses Satin stitch settings in the Object
Properties dialog.
Note Object properties can be modified with or without objects
selected. The former affects only selected objects. The latter affects
current settings. See Working with object properties for details.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 39
42. Using popup menus
Generally speaking, popup menus of context-specific commands can be
accessed from the design window as well as some modeless dialogs.
To use popup menus
1 Right-click a selected object/s in the design window or modeless dialog
such as the Color-Object List.
The popup menu opens.
2 Select a command from the menu.
Tip A frequently used command is Properties. This opens the Object
Properties dialog for selected objects. See Accessing object properties
for details.
Accessing object properties
Use Object Properties (Standard toolbar) to set properties for selected
objects.
The most important dialog in ES Designer is the Object Properties dialog.
This is a ‘modeless’ dialog, meaning that it stays in the design window as
long as you need it. Use it together with a General Properties toolbar to
adjust properties of selected objects as you work.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 40
43. To access object properties
1 Open the Object Properties dialog by any of the following means:
! Select View > Object Properties.
! Click the Object Properties icon.
! Double-click an object in the design window.
! Right-click an object in the design window and select Properties
from the popup menu.
! Right-click an object in the Color-Object List and select Properties
from the popup menu.
Select required
tab
Adjust settings
Scroll to view
dialog
Apply settings
2 Select a tab to access the object property set you want to adjust.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 41
44. 3 Use dropdown lists, radio buttons and checkboxes to choose options.
Adjust settings by keying in precise values or by using the popup slider
control.
After clicking
‘swivel’ button, drag
popup slider to set Click ‘swivel’ button
to invoke slider
control
‘Radio’ buttons are
mutually exclusive
Checkboxes are
optional
Tip The slider control has two operating modes—Normal and
Accelerated. Holding down the Ctrl key puts it in Accelerated mode.
4 Apply settings by means of the control buttons at the bottom of the
dialog.
Revert to previous settings
Apply current settings to Save settings to the
selected object/s current template
Click to invoke the Click to invoke help
‘effects’ tabs about a particular tab
Note You have the choice of applying changes to object properties
immediately or by means of the Apply button. See Setting Object
Property ‘apply’ options for details.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 42
45. 5 Click the FX button to access a separate set of more specialized object
property settings such as Accordion Spacing, Stitch Shortening, Smart
Corners, etc.
General properties
permanently available on
right side of status bar
Click to apply
or revert
6 Adjust general object properties—width, height, position—by means of
the General Properties controls at the bottom of the screen where they
are permanently available.
Tip The Object Properties dialog can be temporarily parked in the new
Toolbar Park toolbar for easy access. See Toolbar docking and parking
for details.
7 Close the Object Properties dialog by any of the following means:
! Click the Object Properties icon.
! Click the X icon in the Object Properties dialog to close.
Undoing and redoing commands
Use Undo icon (Standard toolbar) to undo an action and Undo Arrow to
undo a range of actions.
Use Redo icon (Standard toolbar) to redo an action and Redo Arrow to redo
a range of actions.
You can undo the effects of most commands. If you change your mind, you
can redo them again. ES Designer ‘remembers’ up to 256 undo and redo
command actions.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 43
46. To undo and redo commands
! To undo a previous command, simply click the Undo icon.
When ES Designer cannot remember more commands, Undo is
dimmed.
! Click Redo to re-apply an ‘undone’ command.
! To undo or redo a range of actions, use the dropdown lists by clicking
the arrow next to Undo/Redo icons.
Redo selected
actions
Undo selected
actions
Tip To cancel the current selection in the Undo/Redo List or close it, click
the Undo/Redo Arrow button again or click away the list without
selecting any action.
Opening designs
Use Open (Standard toolbar) to open an existing design.
ES Designer opens a comprehensive range of both outline and ‘stitch’ files.
You can also open designs from proprietary embroidery disks, or read them
from paper tape. See also Embroidery design formats and Embroidery Disks
and Paper Tapes in the Online Manual.
Warning You cannot open EMB files created with a later version of the
software than the one you are currently running.
To open a design
1 Click the Open icon.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 44
47. The Open dialog opens.
preview panel
design data
preview on/off
2 Select a folder from the Look In list.
3 If the design is not in EMB format, select a file type from the Files of
Type list.
4 Select a design or designs.
! To select a range of items, hold down Shift then select the first and
last in the range.
! To select multiple items, hold down Ctrl as you select.
5 Select the Preview checkbox to preview the design (for supported file
formats) together with the design data. This includes stitch and color
numbers, design height and width, and software version number (V6.0
onwards).
Tip For more information about a selected file, right-click and select
Properties from the popup menu. See Viewing design information in
Windows Explorer for details.
6 For file types other than EMB or ESD, click Options and change the
recognition options. See Processing Design Files for details.
7 Click Open.
Creating new designs
When you start ES Designer, a new file—Design1—is automatically created,
ready for you to start digitizing. By default, Design1 is based on the
NORMAL template. Templates contain pre-set styles, default settings or
objects, to make digitizing quicker and easier. When you create a file based
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 45
48. on a template, the template’s values are copied to the new design. You can
create additional designs based on the NORMAL template, or select a
different template. New designs are given a name, and numbered
sequentially—e.g. Design1, Design2, and so on. See also Working with
design templates.
Creating new designs with the NORMAL template
Use New (Standard toolbar) to start a new design with the NORMAL
template.
Whenever you click the New icon, a blank design opens in the design window
using the default ‘NORMAL’ template.
To create a new design with the NORMAL template
! Click the New icon.
A blank design opens in the design window.
Tip Whenever you create a new design, save it with a new name. See
Saving designs for details.
Creating new designs with selected templates
Use New (File menu) to start a new design with a selected template.
You can select a custom template to base your new design on. See also
Working with design templates.
To create a new design with a selected template
1 Select File > New.
The New dialog opens.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 46
49. Note If there is no template other than the default, the New dialog may
not appear.
2 Select a template from the list.
3 Click OK.
Tip Whenever you create a new design, save it with a new name. See
Saving designs for details.
Generating stitches
Use Generate Stitches (Generate toolbar) to generate stitches for new or
selected objects.
With ES Designer designs, stitches are automatically generated from design
outlines and properties. You can either generate stitches as you digitize, or
wait until you have defined the outlines. With Generate Stitches on (the
default), stitches are calculated for new objects whenever you press Enter.
They are also updated whenever you scale, transform or move the object.
If speed is an issue, you can digitize objects with Generate Stitches off. You
can also select objects and remove all generated stitches. With Generate
Stitches off, only object outlines appear.
To generate stitches
! To generate stitches for new or selected objects, click the Generate
Stitches icon or press G.
If any objects are selected, stitches are generated for them
automatically. If no objects are currently selected, stitches are
generated for new objects as soon as you press Enter.
! To remove stitches, or digitize without generating stitches, deselect
Generate Stitches icon or press G again.
Tip Make sure Show Outlines is selected, and the colors of background
and object(s) when selected contradict each other, otherwise the objects
will not be visible in the design window. See Changing background colors
and fabrics for details.
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 47
50. Displaying grids, rulers and guides
ES Designer provides a set of grid lines to help accurately align or size
embroidery objects. The Show Rulers and Guides feature improves
usability by allowing you to accurately position stitches and align objects in
the design.
Displaying the grid
Click Show Grid (Standard toolbar) to show or hide the grid. Right-click to
change the Grid settings.
Use grid lines to help accurately align or size embroidery objects. You can
show or hide the grid at any time. Default grid spacing is 10 mm x 10 mm.
To display the grid
! Toggle grid display by any of the following means:
! Click the Show Grid icon.
! Select Special > Options > Grid and Guides tab and select the
Show Grid option.
Show Grid
! Select View > Grid and Guides tab and select the Show Grid option.
! Press Shift+G.
Tip You can change grid spacing, select a reference point and turn Snap
to Grid on or off in the Options dialog. You can also change the color of
the grid lines. See Changing display colors for details. See also Setting
grid options.
Displaying rulers and guides
Click Show Rulers and Guides (Standard toolbar) to show or hide rulers and
guides. Right-click to change the Guides settings.
Drag the Ruler Zero Point to reset a new ruler zero point.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 48
51. Rulers are located to the top and left side of the design window. The unit of
measurement—mm or inches—depends on the regional settings in the
Windows Control Panel. The ruler scale, illustrated with numbers and ticks,
depends on the zoom setting. Guides are dotted vertical and horizontal lines
placed across the design window to help you align objects. Each guide has
a yellow guide handle on the ruler that can be used to move or delete it.
Guides are displayed ‘on top’ of the grid, if present, but ‘beneath’ all images,
vector objects and embroidery objects. Rulers must be displayed before a
guide can be created.
Note By default, rulers and guides are switched on. When they are
switched off, guides are hidden but are stored in the design and will
reappear when switched back on.
To display rulers and guides
! Toggle ruler display by any of the following means:
! Click the Show Rulers and Guides icon.
! Select Special > Options > Grid and Guides tab and select the
Show Rulers and Guides option.
Show Rulers and
Guides
! Select View > Grid and Guides tab and select the Show Rulers and
Guides option.
! Press Ctrl+R.
Click-and-drag to
reset ruler zero
point
Click-and-drag to
reposition guides
Click ruler to
create new guide
Drag guide off
ruler to remove
ES 2006 Wilcom ES Online Manual 49
52. ! Reset the ruler zero point by clicking and dragging the box in the top
left-hand corner of the design window to the required point in the
design.
The point where you release the mouse becomes the new zero
point—X,Y (0,0). The grid always lines up with the rulers. Whenever the
ruler zero is changed, the Set Reference Point checkbox in Special >
Options > Grid tab is deselected.
! To create a guide, click on either ruler—horizontal or vertical—and
click-and-drag it into position. Multiple guides can be created and just as
easily removed.
! For more accurate positioning of guides, double-click the yellow handle.
In the Guide Position dialog, enter a precise distance from the zero
point, and click OK.
Enter precise
position
Note The ruler zero and the design zero are not the same and in
general do not coincide. When the zero point of the rulers is changed,
the guides maintain their current displacement from the zero point of
the design, not the zero point of the rulers.
! To remove a guide, drag the yellow guide handle off the design window.
Tip You can turn Snap to Grid and Snap to Guide on or off in the
Options dialog. You can also change the color of grid and guidelines. See
Changing display colors for details. See also Setting grid options.
Measuring distances on-screen
Use Measure (View menu) to measure distances on-screen.
Measure the distance between two points on screen using the Measure
command. You can show these measurements in a tooltip. Measurements
are shown in millimeters or inches, depending on the option selected in the
Windows Control Panel. See your Windows documentation for more
information.
ES 2006 Chapter 2 Basic Procedures 50
53. Tip For more accurate results, zoom in before you measure. The
measurement is always the actual size, and is not affected by the zoom
factor.
To measure a distance on-screen
1 Select View > Measure or press M.
2 Click the start point.
3 Move the pointer to the end point and hold the mouse still.
The following information displays in the Status bar:
! Position coordinates of the end point (X=, Y=)
! Length of the measured line (L=)
! Angle of the line relative to the horizontal (A=).
Tip If turned on, the measurements will also appear in tooltips. Use the
tooltip with the crosshair cursor on for a more accurate measurement.
See Setting other options for details.
measurements
appear as tooltip
4 Press Esc to finish.
Selecting machine formats
Select the Select Machine Format (Machine menu) to select a machine format.
Before you start digitizing, decide which machine format to use. A design’s
machine format can be changed at any time for stitching to another machine
type, or sending to a paper tape punch or embroidery disk.
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54. To select a machine format
1 Select Machine > Select Machine Format.
The Select Machine Format dialog opens.
Select machine
format
2 Select a machine format from the list.
Note You can customize or add formats to suit the embroidery machine
you will use to stitch the design. See Creating custom formats or
Adjusting standard machine format settings in the Online Manual for
details.
3 Click OK.
Saving designs
Use Save (Standard toolbar) to save the current design. Right-click to open
the Save As dialog.
ES Designer lets you save designs in EMB as well as other outline and ‘stitch’
file formats. You can also save designs to proprietary embroidery disks, or
punch them to paper tape. See Embroidery design formats and Embroidery
Disks and Paper Tapes in the Online Manual. See also Saving designs for
machine.
Saving a design records its file name, location and format, and updates it
with any changes you make. When you save an existing design under a new
name, to a different location or format, you create a copy of the original
design.
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55. Tip Save your design early and often. Do not wait until you finish working.
You can also set ES Designer to save automatically while you work. See
Setting automatic save and backup options for details.
To save a design
1 Click the Save icon.
If this is the first time you have saved the design, the Save As dialog
opens.
Tip To save changes to an existing file but preserve the original, use
Save As.
folder containing
design
design name
format list
2 Select the folder where you want to save the design from the Save In
list.
3 Enter a name for the design in the File name field.
4 Select a file format from the Save as type list. See Supported
embroidery file formats for details.
Warning If a design feature is not available in the file type you select,
it will be converted—e.g. Flexi Split stitching may be changed to plain
Tatami.
5 Click Save.
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56. Tip Files saved in EMB format are automatically compressed when
saved and decompressed when re-opened. This reduces the storage
space required, and makes it possible to save large files to floppy disk,
or send them as email attachments.
Once you have saved a design, every time you click Save on the toolbar
the file will be updated.
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57. Chapter 3
Working with Design Objects
ES Designer provides various ways to select the objects in an embroidery
design. Modify the design as a whole or select individual objects for more
precise modification. The Color-Object List provides an easy way to select
objects and colors in designs and access their properties. Use it to group and
ungroup, lock and unlock, and show and hide objects as well.
Note In ES Designer vector objects and embroidery objects are in fact
inter-convertible since they share many of the same characteristics. See
also Digitizing with Vector Images.
This section describes how to select objects using the selection tools and
keyboard. It also shows how to select while traveling through designs or by
using the Color-Object List.
Selecting and deselecting objects
You can select all objects in a design, cancel all selections, or remove
individual objects from a selected group.
Selecting all objects in a design
Select all objects to apply changes to a whole design. See also Quick
Reference.
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