Brother Pe Design 6 Manual

							Advanced OpreationLayout & Editing
183
Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
Specifying the Sewing Area
The sewing area can be specified.
1.Click Sew, then Select Sewing Area.
→The following dialog box appears.
2.Select the desired sewing area (Design Page 
area or Use existing design area).
3.Click OK.
bMemo:
To quit the operation, click Cancel.
→If Design Page area was selected, the 
patterns will be sewn so that the needle 
position when you start sewing is aligned 
with the center of your Design Page.
bMemo:
When Design Page area is selected, the 
dimension of the pattern matches the size of 
the Design Page, therefore reducing the 
ability to move a pattern around the layout 
screen of your embroidering machine.
→If Use existing design area was select-
ed, the patterns will be sewn so that the 
needle position when you start sewing is 
aligned with the center of the actual pat-
terns.
bMemo:
When Use existing design area is selected, 
the actual pattern size is maintained, 
therefore allowing greater mobility when 
using the layout functions of your 
embroidering machine.
c“Specifying the Design Page” on 
page 108
Design Page (on your screen)
A
Sewing area = Design Page area
A
Sewing area = Use existing design area
A
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Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
Checking and Editing the Sewing Order/
Color
The sewing order of pattern colors as well as the 
sewing order of pattern objects of the same color 
can be checked and modified as necessary.
Toolbar button: 
1.Click  , or click Sew, then Sewing Order/
Color.
→A Sewing Order/Color dialog box similar 
to the one shown below appears.
bMemo:
The dialog box can be made longer so that 
all parts of the pattern can be viewed.
To enlarge each pattern to fill its frame, click 
.
To display in one frame all patterns of the 
same color that will be sewn together, click 
.
2.Click OK to apply the settings and to close the 
dialog box.
bMemo:
 When multiple patterns are combined into 
one frame,   appears to the left of the 
number of that frame.
Click   to display the combined 
patterns in separate frames. 
 appears under the first frame, and 
each frame is displayed with a subnumber 
following the first, to indicate its sewing 
order within the patterns of the same color.
Click 
 to recombine all of the patterns 
back into one frame.
 To close the dialog box without applying 
the changes to the settings, click 
Cancel.
Selecting data
1.Select a pattern in the Sewing Order/Color 
dialog box.
→The selected pattern has a pink line 
around it, and “marching lines” appear 
around the corresponding pattern in the 
Design Page.
bMemo:
 To select multiple patterns, hold down the 
 or   key while clicking the 
frames for the desired patterns. In 
addition, multiple frames can be selected 
by dragging the pointer over them.
 When the 
Sewing Order/Color dialog box 
is closed, the pattern that was selected in 
the dialog box remains selected in the 
Design Page, unless it is a locked pattern.
ShiftCtrl
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							Advanced OpreationLayout & Editing
185
Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
Editing the sewing order
The sewing order can be changed by selecting the 
frame containing the pattern that you want to move, 
then dragging the frame to the new location. A 
vertical red line appears, indicating the position 
where the frame is being moved.
An alternative method for moving the frames is by 
clicking the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box.
To move the selected pattern to the beginning 
of the sewing order, click  .
To move the selected pattern ahead one 
position in the sewing order, click  .
To move the selected pattern back one 
position in the sewing order, click  .
To move the selected pattern to the end of the 
sewing order, click  .
bMemo:
When dragging a frame containing combined 
patterns, the patterns will display in separate 
frames after you release them. Click   to 
the left of the first pattern for that color to 
recombine them into one frame. Dropping a 
frame containing combined patterns next to 
another frame containing combined patterns 
of the same color displays all patterns in 
separate frames.
Combining patterns of the same color
When a Design Page contains a combination of 
patterns, those patterns with the same color can be 
grouped together from the Sewing Order/Color 
dialog box. Simply drag the frame of the patterns 
with the same color to position them beside each 
other.
bMemo:
Check the stitching after changing the 
sewing order to be sure that overlapping 
patterns will not be sewn in the wrong order.
Editing the color
1.Select the frame for the pattern whose color 
you want to change, and then click  .
→The Thread Color dialog box appears.
2.Select the desired color, and then click OK.
→The object appears in the new color in the 
Sewing Order/Color dialog box and in 
the Design Page.
3.Click OK.
→The pattern is displayed with the new col-
or.
bMemo:
To close the dialog box without applying the 
changes to the settings, click 
Cancel.
aNote:
 Pieces of patterns that have been cut with 
the Split stitch tool appear at the end of the 
sewing order, depending on the sewing 
order of the original pattern and can be 
edited as any other pattern.
 The sewing order of the separate pattern 
sections cannot be edited. It is 
automatically determined by the order set 
for the whole design.
 Objects with no sewing attributes appear 
in a dotted frame, and there is no number 
for the sewing order below the frame.
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Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
Zooming
You can zoom in to work on details of the embroidery pattern or you can zoom out to work on any part of the 
embroidery pattern that cannot be viewed in the work area.
Zooming in
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→Five buttons appear:  .
2.Click .
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
.
3.Click the area that you want to view enlarged.
bMemo:
To zoom in on a specific area, move the 
pointer near the desired area, and then drag 
the pointer diagonally over the desired area.
Zooming out
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→Five buttons appear:  .
2.Click .
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
.
3.Click the area that you want to view reduced.
Zooming to actual size
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→Five buttons appear:  .
2.Click .
→The Design Page is displayed at its actual 
size.
Zooming on selected 
objects
1.Select the objects that you want to zoom on.
2.Click   on the Tool Box.
→Five buttons appear:  .
3.Click .
→The Design Page is zoomed to display 
only the selected objects.
Zooming Design Page to 
window
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→Five buttons appear:  .
2.Click .
→The entire Design Page is displayed to fit 
within the window.
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							Advanced OpreationLayout & Editing
187
Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
Previewing the Sewing Image
Once the embroidery pattern is complete, you can display a preview of it in order to see how the stitching is 
connected, or you can display a realistic preview of it in order to see how the pattern will appear once it is sewn. 
1.To display a preview of the embroidery 
pattern, click Display on the menu bar, and 
then click Preview.
An alternate method is to click the Toolbar 
button indicated below. 
→A preview of the embroidery pattern ap-
pears. 
bMemo:
To zoom in (or out), click   on the Tool 
Box, click   (or  ), and then click the 
desired area of the embroidery pattern.
2.To leave the preview display, repeat step 1., 
or press the   key.
3.To display a realistic preview of the 
embroidery pattern, click Display on the menu 
bar, and then click Realistic Preview.
An alternate method is to click the Toolbar 
button indicated below. 
→A realistic preview of the embroidery pat-
tern appears.
bMemo:
To zoom in (or out), click   on the Tool 
Box, click   (or  ), and then click the 
desired area of the embroidery pattern.
4.To leave the realistic preview display, repeat 
step 
3., or press the   key.
Changing realistic preview 
settings
Set the realistic preview settings for the desired 
realistic preview display.
1.Click Display, then Realistic Preview 
Attribute Setting.
→A Realistic Preview Attribute dialog box 
similar to the ones shown below appears.
2.Use the Thread Width slider to set how wide 
the thread will appear.
3.Use the Contrast slider to set the contrast.
4.Use the Brightness slider to set how bright 
the display is.
Preview
Esc
Realistic Preview
aNote:
 The embroidery pattern cannot be edited 
while the realistic preview is displayed.
 The Realistic Preview function cannot 
display a clean preview of the pattern if the 
monitor is set to 256 colors or less. The 
monitor should be set to at least 16-bit 
High Color (65536 colors). 
Esc
When a realistic pre-
view is displayedWhen a realistic pre-
view is not displayed
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Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
5.Click Apply to display a realistic preview of the 
patterns with the new settings (when the 
realistic preview is displayed).
Or, click OK to save the settings for the next 
time that the Realistic Preview function is 
select (when the realistic preview is not 
displayed).bMemo:
To close the dialog box without applying the 
changes to the settings, click Close or 
Cancel.
c“Previewing the Sewing Image” on 
page 187
Checking the Stitching
The actual stitching as it will be performed by the sewing machine can be viewed using the stitch simulator. 
You can choose to view the stitching simulation of whole designs or, for large patterns created on a custom-
sized Design Page, view it by pattern section.
Toolbar button: 
1.Click  , or click Display, then Stitch 
Simulator.
The Stitch Simulator dialog box appears, 
and the embroidery pattern is cleared from the 
Design Page.
To begin the stitching simulation, click 
.
bMemo:
 During the stitching simulation, the play 
button ( ) changes to a pause 
button ( ).
 A marker ( ) indicates the current 
position in the simulation.
 To get a better view of the stitching, zoom 
in on the design before opening the 
Stitch 
Simulator
 dialog box.
To reverse the simulation to the beginning of 
the previous color, click  .
To advance the simulation to the beginning of 
the next color, click  .
To reverse the stitching by a specific number 
of stitches, type or select the desired number 
of stitches, and then click  .
To advance the stitching by a specific number of stitches, type or select the desired number 
of stitches, and then click  .
To reverse the stitching to the previous pattern 
section, click  .
To advance the stitching to the next pattern 
section, click  .
bMemo:
 and   
appear only for 
patterns created on custom-sized Design 
Pages.
To stop the simulation and return to the 
previous display, click  .
bMemo:
The slider shows the current location in the 
simulation. In addition, the slider can be 
moved to change the position in the 
simulation.
Drag the slider indicated by   to adjust the 
simulation stitching speed.
bMemo:
 The first number beside   indicates the 
number of the current stitch, and the 
second number indicates the total number 
of stitches.
 The first number beside   indicates the 
number of the color being drawn, and the 
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							Advanced OpreationLayout & Editing
189
Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
second number indicates the total number 
of colors used.
 The first number beside   indicates the 
pattern section that is displayed, and the 
second number indicates the total number 
of hoop sections in the pattern. This 
indicator appears only for patterns created 
on custom-sized Design Pages.2.Click   in the upper-right corner of the 
dialog box to close the dialog box.
bMemo:
If a pattern was selected when the Stitch 
Simulator
 dialog box was displayed, only 
the selected pattern is drawn in the 
simulation.
Checking Embroidery Pattern Information
Sewing information such as dimensions, needle count, color count and color order of patterns can be checked 
in the Design Property dialog box.
1.Click Option, then Design Property.
→The Design Property dialog box ap-
pears.
bMemo:
 You can select and check the properties of 
individual objects within the embroidery 
pattern by selecting the pattern before 
opening this dialog box.
 To display the colors as the machine’s 
preset color names, select the 
With Basic 
Color check box.
 This dialog box can be resized. The size of 
the dialog box is retained until it is changed 
again.
 To close the dialog box, click 
Close.
→If the Design Page was set to Custom 
Size and no object in the Design Page is 
selected, the sewing information for the 
entire Design Page is displayed hoop by hoop, and a Design Property dialog box 
similar to the one shown below appears.bMemo:
 The Design Page is automatically zoomed 
in on or zoomed out from to fit in the entire 
window.
 The first line of the dialog box shows the 
position of the displayed pattern section 
within the embroidery hoop installation 
order.
 Only the patterns within the corresponding 
section appear in the Design Page and are 
outlined in red.
aNote:
If a pattern is larger than the Design Page or 
if it is positioned so that it does not 
completely fit within the Design Page, the 
error message “Please change the object 
size or position.” appears instead of this 
dialog box. After the pattern causing the 
error is displayed selected, change its size 
or position. (If more than one pattern causes 
the error message to appear, they will be 
displayed in the sewing order.)
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Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
 To display information for other pattern 
sections, click Previous or Next.
 The pattern sections are displayed in order 
from left to right, top to bottom. Pattern 
sections that do not contain any stitching 
will not be displayed.
 To close the dialog box, click 
Close.
Editing User Thread Color Lists
Original thread color charts can be created and 
edited.
1.Click Option, then Edit User Thread Chart.
→A dialog box similar to the one shown be-
low appears.
User thread charts can be created and edited 
to contain a list of threads that are used most 
often or a list of all threads that you have. 
Thread data from system thread charts can be 
included or new thread data can be added.
Creating a new thread chart
1.Click New Chart.
→The New Thread Chart dialog box ap-
pears.
2.Type in the name of the chart, and then click 
OK to save the chart with the entered name.
bMemo:
A saved chart can be selected from the User 
Thread Chart 
selector, then edited.
Deleting a chart
1.From the User Thread Chart selector, select 
the chart that you want to delete.
2.Click Delete Chart to delete the selected 
chart.
Editing a chart
1.From the User Thread Chart selector, select 
the chart that you want to edit.
aNote:
The Previous button cannot be clicked 
when the design corresponding to the first 
hoop is already displayed. In addition, the 
Next button cannot be clicked when the 
design corresponding to the last hoop is 
already displayed.
aNote:
If no chart is selected, the editing operation 
cannot be performed.
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							Advanced OpreationLayout & Editing
191
Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
Adding an item from a system thread chart
1.From the System Thread Chart  selector, 
select the brand of thread that you want to 
add.
2.From the list at the bottom of the dialog box, 
click the thread colors that you want to add.
bMemo:
To add multiple items, hold down the   
or   keys while selecting thread colors.
3.Click .
→ The selected items are added to the list in 
the user thread chart.
Adding a new item
1.Click  New Item .
→ The  Edit Thread  dialog box appears.
2.To create a new color, click  Mix.
→ A dialog box similar to the one shown be-
low appears.
3.Specify the color, and then click  OK to add the 
specified color to the  Edit Thread dialog box.
4.If necessary, type in the code, brand and 
description into the appropriate boxes.
bMemo:
Only numbers can be entered for the code.
Shift
Ctrl
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							192
Layout & EditingChecking Embroidery Patterns
5.Click OK to add the new item to the user 
thread chart.
bMemo:
An asterisk (*) appears in front of the index 
number of newly added items.
Deleting an item
From the list for the user thread chart, select the 
item to be deleted, and then click  Delete Item to 
delete the item from  the user thread chart.
Editing an item
An item registered in the li st for a user thread chart 
can be edited to change the color or thread number.
1.From the list for the user  thread chart, select 
the item to be edited, and then click  Edit Item. →
The following dialog box appears.
2.Edit the item details in the same way as 
adding an item.
bMemo:
As with newly added items, an asterisk (*) 
appears in front of t he index number of 
edited items.
Changing the order of items
From the list for the user  thread chart, select the 
item to be moved, and then click  up or  down  to 
change the order of the item.
aNote:
Thread colors in embroidery patterns 
created with this software may appear 
differently on the embroidering machine.
1. Embroidering machines without a function 
for displaying thread color information
The specified thread information cannot be 
displayed on some machines.
2. Embroidering machines with a function for 
displaying thread colors
Of the thread information specified in the 
embroidery pattern, only the thread colors 
are displayed on the machine. However, the 
thread color names that are displayed are 
limited to the machine’s preset thread color 
names. Therefore, use thread color names 
in the embroidery pattern that are closest to 
the machine’s preset thread color names.
3. Machines with a thread color index
Some machines can display the thread 
information (such as the color, the color 
name as well as the brand name and thread 
number) specified with this software. The 
machines can display the color, the color 
name as well as the brand name and thread 
number.
However, for items edited or added by the 
user (items marked with an asterisk (*)), only 
the thread number is displayed.
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