Brother Pe Design 7 Manual

							115
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
Changing colors of a stitch 
pattern
The colors of imported stitch patterns or objects 
converted to stitches can be changed in the following 
way.
Toolbar button: 
1.Click  , or click Sew, then Sewing Order/
Color.
→The Sewing Order/Color dialog box 
appears with each data in the pattern in a 
separate frame.
2.Select the frame for the data whose color you 
want to change.
3.Click .
→The Thread Color dialog box appears.
4.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.
5.Repeat steps 2. to 4. for each data whose 
color you want to change.
6.Click OK.
→The pattern is displayed with the new colors.
Converting a stitch pattern 
to blocks
Imported stitch data or patterns converted to stitch 
pattern can be converted into blocks (manual 
punching data), allowing you to change some of their 
sewing attributes and to scale individual colors while 
keeping their stitching quality.
1.Select the stitch pattern imported into the 
Design Page where you want to apply the 
setting.
2.Click Sew, then Stitch to Block.
→The Stitch to Block sensitivity dialog 
box appears.
3.Move the slider to select the desired 
sensitivity.
4.Click OK.
→The data in the blocks are grouped so that 
any setting change will affect the whole 
pattern, and the Sewing Attributes bar 
appears as shown below.
bMemo:
To close the dialog box without applying the 
changes to the settings, click Cancel.
bMemo:
The Normal setting should provide 
satisfactory results in most cases, but 
depending on the complexity of the pattern, 
you may need to select a setting more 
towards 
Coarse or Fine. 
						

							116
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
c“Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151, “Scaling patterns” on page 103 
and “Selecting points” on page 106
Splitting off parts of a stitch 
pattern
The Split stitch tool in the Tool Box allows you to 
split a pattern after tracing an enclosure around the 
parts that you want to cut off. You can then move the 
cutoff sections to rearrange the pattern, combine it 
with other patterns or even delete it.
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
2.Click the stitch data that you want to cut a 
section from.
→All other stitch data disappear from the 
display, and the shape of the pointer 
changes to  .
3.Click in the Design Page at the point where 
you want to start drawing the enclosing lines.
4.Continue clicking in the Design Page to 
specify each corner of the enclosure around 
the area to be cut off.
bMemo:
 To quit the operation, click Cancel.
 To modify the sewing attributes of all blocks 
of the same color within the pattern, hold 
down the   key while selecting a block 
whose color or sew type settings you want to 
change. (An alternate method is to first 
ungroup the colors of the pattern by selecting 
the menu command 
Edit – Ungroup.) Use 
the zoom tools to zoom into the design to 
select the color more easily. All blocks of that 
color are selected and the block color and 
sew type appear in the Sewing Attributes bar.
 When you scale blocks, the number of 
stitches sewn automatically adapt to the 
new size of the blocks, allowing you to keep 
the original embroidery quality.
aNote:
The Stitch to Block command cannot be 
used with some stitch pattern imported 
from embroidery cards.
 Some fill patterns are lost when scaled 
after setting the Stitch to Block function, 
therefore it is recommended to scale while 
holding down the   key or by 
selecting the menu command 
Edit – Numerical Setting – Size.
bMemo:
 The selected color blocks can be moved or 
scaled individually, therefore, if you want to 
move the whole pattern once it has been 
ungrouped, be sure to carefully regroup 
each individual color pattern by selecting 
the menu command 
Edit – Group.
 You can further modify the pattern by using 
the Point Edit tool.
Alt
Without Stitch to Block
 With Stitch to Block
Ctrl
bMemo:
This tool is available only for stitch data, and 
when the Text, Outline, and Manual Punch 
tools are not selected.
aNote:
Patterns created with the drawing or Text 
tools of Layout & Editing need to be 
converted into stitches before they can be 
cut with the Split stitch tool.
bMemo:
You can also click the Split stitch tool after 
selecting stitch data.
bMemo:
In the Tool Box, only the Zoom tool is 
available, allowing you to zoom in on the stitch 
data to better view the area. 
						

							117
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
→The dotted line that is drawn when you 
move the pointer changes to a solid line 
when the next point is specified.
5.Double-click in the Design Page to specify the 
section to be split off.
6.Edit the cutoff section as desired.
bMemo:
 To remove the last point that was entered, 
click the right mouse button. Each 
successive right-click removes points, one 
by one, in the opposite order that they were 
entered. Once all points are deleted, the 
Tool Box buttons are available again, 
however, the application remains in Split 
stitch mode. 
 An enclosure is valid only if it contains stitch 
data. If it contains no stitch data, an error 
message appears, and the enclosure is 
erased, but the application remains in Split 
stitch mode.
 Sections enclosed several times by lines of 
an intricate figure alternate between being 
selected and deselected. Therefore, in a 
figure like a pentagram for instance, only 
the points are selected, and the center is 
deselected as it has been enclosed twice.
aNote:
 Only one cutoff section can be specified 
from the pattern at one time. Repeat the 
procedure for each piece of the pattern 
that you want to cut off.
 The cutoff piece moves to the end of the 
sewing order and the thread color order 
appears in the order selected for the 
original pattern. 
						

							118
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
Drawing Shapes
The Circle or Arc tool allows you to create several curved patterns: regular circles (or ovals), arcs, fan shapes 
and arc & strings.
About circles and arcs
All of these patterns, except arcs have an outline 
and a inside region, and can independently be 
assigned different sewing attributes. Arcs are simple 
outlines.
Drawing a circle or an oval
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
, and the Sewing Attributes bar 
appears similar to the one shown below.
2.Click in the Arc shape selector, and then 
select Circle.
3.Drag the pointer in the Design Page.
→The point where you start dragging is 
considered a corner of an imaginary 
rectangle around the oval. The point 
where you release the mouse button is 
the diagonally opposite point of the 
rectangle. The oval will fit inside this 
imaginary rectangle (its greater axis is 
along the longer edge of the rectangle, 
and its smaller axis is along the smaller 
edge).
Drawing an arc
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
, and the Sewing Attributes bar 
appears similar to the one shown below.
aNote:
When drawing a shape with this tool, select 
the shape before drawing. You cannot, for 
example, draw a circle, then change it to an 
arc afterward.
The setting is applied to all patterns that you 
will create with the Circle or Arc tool, until the 
setting is changed.
Circle Oval Arc
Fan shape Arc & string
bMemo:
 You can change the color and sew type 
either before or after drawing the shape. For 
more details on changing these settings, 
refer to “Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” 
on page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the 
Sewing 
Attribute Setting dialog box to define other 
attributes of the shape. (For more details, 
refer to “Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will 
be applied, however you can modify them 
later.
bMemo:
To draw a circle, hold down the  key 
while dragging the pointer.Shift 
						

							119
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
2.Click in the Arc shape selector, and then click 
Arc.
3.Proceed as you would to draw a circle or an 
oval.
→A radial line appears on the oval when the 
mouse button is released.
4.Move the pointer to the start point of the arc, 
and then click.
→The radial line disappears.
5.Move the pointer until the arc has the desired 
shape, and then click.
Drawing a fan shape
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
, and the Sewing Attributes bar 
appears similar to the one shown below.
2.Click in the Arc shape selector, and then click 
Fan Shape.
3.Proceed as you would to draw a circle or an 
oval.
→A radial line appears on the oval when the 
mouse button is released.
4.Move the pointer to the start point of the fan 
shape, and then click.
→The radial line disappears.
5.Move the pointer until the fan has the desired 
shape, and then click.
bMemo:
 You can change the color and sew type 
either before or after drawing the shape. For 
more details on changing these settings, 
refer to “Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” 
on page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the 
Sewing 
Attribute Setting dialog box to define other 
attributes of the shape. (For more details, 
refer to “Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will 
be applied, however you can modify them 
later.
Click at start point.
Move to end point.
Click at end point.
bMemo:
 You can change the color and sew type 
either before or after drawing the shape. For 
more details on changing these settings, 
refer to “Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” 
on page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the 
Sewing 
Attribute Setting dialog box to define other 
attributes of the shape. (For more details, 
refer to “Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will 
be applied, however you can modify them 
later. 
						

							120
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
Drawing an arc & string
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
, and the Sewing Attributes bar 
appears similar to the one shown below.
2.Click in the Arc shape selector, and then click 
Arc & String.
3.Proceed as you would to draw a circle or an oval.
→A radial line appears on the oval when the 
mouse button is released.
4.Move the pointer to the start point of the arc & 
string, and then click.
→The radial line disappears.
5.Move the pointer until the arc & string has the 
desired shape, and then click.
Selecting the circle/arc type

Arc shape 
Use this selector to select the type of arc.
1.Click in the Arc shape selector.
→The settings appear.
2.Click one of the settings.
→The setting is applied to all patterns that 
will be created with the Circle or Arc tool, 
until the setting is changed.
bMemo:
 You can change the color and sew type 
either before or after drawing the shape. For 
more details on changing these settings, 
refer to “Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” 
on page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the Sewing 
Attribute Setting
 dialog box to define other 
attributes of the shape. (For more details, refer 
to 
“Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151
.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will be 
applied, however you can modify them later.
Click at start point.
Move to end point.
Click at end point.
bMemo:
The Arc shape selector appears in the 
Sewing Attributes bar when   on the Tool 
Box is selected.
Click at start point.
Move to end point.
Click at end point. 
						

							121
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
Drawing a rectangle
With the Rectangle tool, you can draw rectangles 
with sharp or rounded corners. A rectangle will 
automatically have an outline and an inside region 
that can independently be assigned different sewing 
attributes.
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
, and the Sewing Attributes bar 
appears similar to the one shown below.
2.Drag the pointer in the Design Page.
→The point where you start dragging is 
considered a corner of the rectangle. The 
point where the mouse button is released 
is the diagonally opposite corner of the 
rectangle.
Specifying the radius of the 
rectangle corners

Edge radius 
Use this selector to select the shape of the rectangle 
corners.
1.Click in the Edge radius selector.
2.Type the desired radius (0.0 to 100.0 mm 
(0.00 to 3.93 inches)) and press the   
key, or click the desired value.
→The setting is applied to all patterns that 
will be created with the Rectangle tool, 
until the setting is changed.
→If a rectangle was selected, the setting is 
also applied to that rectangle.
Drawing various shapes
The Shape tools allow you to draw 24 types of 
shapes, such as hearts, stars or polygons. These 
shapes will have an outline and an inside region that 
can independently be assigned different sewing 
attributes.
bMemo:
 You can change the edge radius, color and 
sew type either before or after drawing the 
shape. For more details on changing these 
settings, refer to “Edge radius” on this page, 
“Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” on 
page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the 
Sewing 
Attribute Setting dialog box to define other 
attributes of the stitch. (For more details, 
refer to “Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will 
be applied, however you can modify them 
later.
bMemo:
To draw a square, hold down the  key 
while dragging the pointer.Shift
bMemo:
The Edge radius selector appears in the 
Sewing Attributes bar when   on the Tool 
Box is selected. It also appears when a 
rectangle in the Design Page has been 
selected.
Enter
Example 1
Edge radius: 0.0 mmExample 2
Edge radius: 20.0 mm 
						

							122
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→The buttons for the 24 types of shapes 
appear.
2.Click the button for the type of shape that you 
want to draw.
→The shape of the pointer changes to that 
for the selected shape.
3.Drag the pointer in the Design Page.
→The point where you start dragging is 
considered a corner of an imaginary 
rectangle around the shape. The point 
where you release the mouse button is the 
diagonally opposite point of the shape. 
The shape will fit inside this imaginary 
rectangle.
About straight lines and 
curves
The Outline tools allow you to add straight lines and 
curves to your pattern.
If the straight line or curve is set to be open (Open 
Path), it will end at the last point entered. Since this 
type of pattern is a simple outline and does not have 
an inside region, line sew type and color settings 
can only be applied to the line itself.
If the straight line or curve is set to be closed (Close 
Path), the last point will automatically connect with 
the first one. Since this type of pattern has an outline 
and an inside region, each part can be assigned 
different sew types and colors. However, if the line 
of the pattern crosses itself, the inside region 
cannot be filled, and the line must be uncrossed 
so that the fill can be applied.
While creating the pattern, you can freely switch 
between drawing straight lines or curves, and once 
they are drawn, straight lines can be transformed 
into curves, and curves into straight lines.
Furthermore, if an image is used as a template, one 
tool can be used to semi-automatically extract the 
image boundary.
bMemo:
 You can change the color and sew type 
either before or after drawing the shape. For 
more details on changing these settings, 
refer to “Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” 
on page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the 
Sewing 
Attribute Setting dialog box to define other 
attributes of the stitch. (For more details, 
refer to “Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will 
be applied, however you can modify them 
later.
bMemo:
To draw the shape while maintaining the 
original height-to-width proportion, hold down 
the   key while dragging the pointer.
Shift
Open line
Closed line Start pointEnd point
This closed line crosses itself,
so the regions will not be filled.
Open curve
Closed curve Start pointEnd point
This closed curve crosses itself,
so the regions will not be filled. 
						

							123
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
Drawing straight lines and 
curves
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→
Three buttons appear: 
 is for drawing straight lines. (Shortcut 
key: )
 is for drawing curves. (Shortcut key: 
)
 is for semi-automatically drawing lines. 
(Shortcut key:  )
2.Click the button for the type of line that you 
want to draw.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
,   or  , and the Sewing 
Attributes bar appears similar to the one 
shown below.
3.Click in the Design Page to specify the start 
point.
4.Click in the Design Page to specify the next 
point.
5.Continue clicking to specify every point, and 
then double-click the last end point.
bMemo:
 You can change the path shape, color and 
sew type either before or after creating the 
shape. For more details on changing these 
settings, refer to “Path shape” on page 124, 
“Color” on page 149 and “Sew type” on 
page 150.
 You can also use the settings in the 
Sewing 
Attribute Setting dialog box to define other 
attributes of the shape. (For more details, 
refer to “Specifying sewing attributes” on 
page 151.) If you do not change these 
settings at this time, the current settings will 
be applied, however you can modify them 
later.
Z
X
C
bMemo:
To remove the last point that was entered, 
click the right mouse button. 
						

							124
Arranging Embroidery Designs (Layout & Editing)
Selecting the attributes of 
line ends

Path shape 
Use this selector to select whether the broken lines 
and curves will be open or closed.
1.Click the Path shape selector.
→The settings appear.
2.Click the desired option.
→The setting is applied to all patterns that 
will be created with the Outline tools, until 
the setting is changed.
→If a broken line or curve was selected, the 
setting is also applied to that broken line 
or curve.
aNote:
 While drawing the pattern, you can freely 
switch between the different line types 
either by clicking a different button or by 
pressing the shortcut key.
 Even after the pattern is drawn, you can 
transform straight lines into curves and 
vice versa. For more details, refer to 
“Transforming straight lines into curves or 
curves into straight lines” on page 108.
If 
Close Path is set, double-clicking will 
automatically draw a line between the last 
and the first points of the line.
 When drawing a straight line, hold down 
the  key while moving the pointer to 
draw vertically or horizontally.
 A template image is needed in order to 
draw using the Semi-Automatic tool. If 
there is no image, this tool will draw like 
the Straight Line tool.
bMemo:
The Path shape selector appears in the 
Sewing Attributes bar when   on the Tool 
Box is selected. It also appears when a 
broken line or curve in the Design Page has 
been selected.
Shift