Brother Pe Design 7 Manual

							235
Manually Creating Embroidery Patterns From Images (Design Center)
2.Select the drive and the folder, and then type 
in the file name.
3.Click Save to save the data.
Importing the embroidery 
pattern into Layout & Editing
Layout & Editing can be opened from Design Center, 
and the embroidery pattern completed in the Sew 
Setting Stage of Design Center can be imported into 
a Design Page in the Layout & Editing window.
Toolbar button: 
1.Click , or click Stage on the menu bar, 
and then click To Layout & Editing.
→The Import size dialog box appears.
2.In the Magnification box, type or select the 
magnification factor.
3.Under Orientation, select the desired 
orientation.
4.Click Import to import the embroidery pattern.
→The embroidery pattern is displayed in the 
Design Page of the Layout & Editing 
window.
bMemo:
 The correct extension is automatically 
selected.
 Image data from the Original Image Stage 
can only be saved as a bitmap file (.bmp).
In the Line Image Stage, image data is 
saved as a .pel file.
In the Figure Handle Stage and the Sew 
Setting Stage, pattern data is saved as a 
.pem file.
aNote:
If you select a file type of a previous software 
version, saved .pem files can be opened 
with that version of the software; however, 
some information may be lost.
bMemo:
When opening a .pem file in Design Center 
version 7 with a file saved at the Sew Setting 
Stage in Design Center version 1.x, go back to 
the Figure Handle Stage, and then go to the 
Sew Setting Stage to obtain the sewing data 
at a higher quality.
bMemo:
 To quit the operation, click Cancel.
 If a file already exists with the name 
specified in the 
Save As dialog box, the 
following message appears.
 To overwrite the file, click 
Yes.
 If you do not want to overwrite the 
existing file, click 
No. You can then 
enter a different file name.
aNote:
If the sewing attributes of an outline or region 
are not set, the embroidery pattern cannot 
be imported.
aNote:
 The embroidery pattern cannot be magnified 
to a size larger than the Design Page.
 The magnification factor cannot be set 
below 25%.
bMemo:
To quit the operation and close the dialog box, 
click Cancel. 
						

							236
Manually Creating Embroidery Patterns From Images (Design Center)
Changing Software 
Settings

Changing the grid settings
A grid of dotted lines or solid lines can be displayed 
or hidden, and the spacing for the grid can be 
adjusted. (This function is available only in the 
Figure Handle Stage.)
1.Click Display, then Grid Setup.
→The Grid Setting dialog box appears. 
2.To display the grid, select the Show Grid 
check box. 
To hide the grid, clear the Show Grid check 
box.
3.To set the grid spacing, type or select a value 
in the Grid interval box. (The setting range is 
1.0 to 25.4 mm (0.04 to 1.0 inch).)
4.To display the grid as solid lines, select the 
with Axes check box.
To display the grid as dotted lines, clear the 
with Axes check box.
5.Click OK to apply the changes and to close the 
dialog box.

Changing the measurement units
The measurements for values displayed in the 
application can be in either millimeters or inches.
1.Click Option, then Select System Unit, and 
then select the desired measurement units 
(mm or inch).
aNote: 
When the Show Grid check box is selected 
and the 
with Axes check box is cleared, 
only the intersecting points of the grid will be 
displayed.
bMemo:
To close the dialog box without applying the 
changes to the grid, click 
Cancel. 
						

							237
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
Starting up Font Creator
1.Click  , then select All Programs, 
then PE-DESIGN Ver7, then Font Creator to 
open the Font Creator window.
→The Font Creator window appears.
Opening a File
Creating a new font
You can begin with a blank work area to design a 
new font.
Toolbar button: 
1.Click  , or click File, then New.
→If the current work area has already been 
saved or has not been edited, a new work 
area appears immediately.
→If the current work area has not been 
saved, you will be asked whether you 
want to save the changes.
c“Opening a font file”  on this page, 
“Overwriting” on page 253 and “Saving 
with a new name” on page 253
Opening a font file
A previously created or saved font file can be 
opened to be edited.
Toolbar button: 
1.Click  , or click File, then Open.
bMemo:
To fill the entire screen with the Font Creator 
window, click the maximize button on the right 
end of the title bar.
bMemo:
 To save the work area, click Yes.
 To abandon the work area, click 
No.
 To return to the work area, for example, to 
modify it or save it with another file name, 
click 
Cancel. 
						

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Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
→A File Open dialog box similar to the one 
shown below appears.
2.Select the drive and the folder.
3.To open a file, select it, and then click Open, 
or double-click the file’s icon.
→If the current work area has already been 
saved or has not been edited, the 
contents of the selected file immediately 
appear in the work area.
→If the current work area has not been 
saved, you will be asked whether you 
want to save the changes.
c“Creating a new font” on page 237, 
“Overwriting” on page 253 and “Saving 
with a new name” on page 253
Opening an image in the 
background
First, we will prepare a background image to create 
the custom font character.
You can open an existing image file in the work area 
to be used as a background image. There are many 
different types of files that can be imported:
Windows bitmap (.bmp)
Exif (.tif, .jpg)
ZSoftPCX (.pcx)
Windows Meta File (.wmf)
Portable Network Graphics (.png)
Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)
Kodak PhotoCD (.pcd)
FlashPix (.fpx)
JPEG2000 (.j2k)
1.Click File, then Template Open.
→An Open an image file dialog box similar 
to the one shown below appears.
2.Select the drive, the folder and the desired file.
3.Click Open to open the file.
bMemo:
To quit the operation and close the dialog box, 
click 
Cancel.
bMemo:
 To save the work area, click Yes.
 To abandon the work area, click 
No.
 To return to the work area, for example, to 
modify it or save it with another file name, 
click 
Cancel.
bMemo:
If the Preview check box is selected, the 
contents of the selected file will appear in the 
Preview box. 
						

							239
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
→The image fills the work area.
The Design Page 
guidelines
The standard guidelines for creating fonts are 
shown in the Design Pages. The contents of each of 
the guidelines are as shown below.
(A) Base Line
This line is the reference for positioning the 
font character.
Normally, from this line to the Capital Line will 
be the font height. This line cannot be moved.
(B) Capital Line
The font’s standard height will be from the 
Base Line to this line. This line cannot be 
moved.
(C) Mean Line
When in lower case, the standard height of the 
font will be from the Base Line to this line. It 
can be moved by dragging the triangle icon on 
the right edge.
(D) Descender Line
This line is the standard for characters with 
parts that hang down (descenders) such as 
“g” and “y”. It can be moved by dragging the 
triangle icon on the right edge.
(E) Ascender Line
This line is the standard for characters with 
parts that extended above (ascenders) such 
as the accent mark. It can be moved by 
dragging the triangle icon on the right edge.
(F/G) Set Line
This line will be the font width. The font width 
can be adjusted by dragging the triangle icon 
on the bottom edge.
bMemo:
 Double-clicking the file name also opens 
the file and closes the dialog box.
 To quit the operation, click 
Cancel.
aNote:
 With .pcd and .fpx files containing many 
pages, only the first page can be opened. 
Tiff files with LZW compression cannot be 
opened.
 Only one image can be added to the work 
area. If you try to display a different image, 
it will replace the previous one.
bMemo:
 The template image that remains in the 
work area can be displayed or hidden, or a 
faded copy of the image can be displayed. 
For details, refer to “Changing the display of 
the background image” on page 254.
The 
Base Line, Capital Line and Set 
Lines
, which appear as red lines in the 
sample bitmap, have been added as 
guidelines so the background image can be 
positioned more easily.
(E) Ascender Line
(B) Capital Line
(C) Mean Line
(A) Base Line
(D) Descender Line
(G) Set Line
(F) Set Line 
						

							240
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
b
Memo:
 The heights and widths specified for the Base Line, Capital Line and Set Lines are 
the reference mask for creating the font 
character.
 The heights of the 
Ascender Line, Mean 
Line and Descender Line are the same for 
all characters. Therefore, if any of these 
heights are changed, the setting is 
maintained, even when a different character 
is selected to be edited.
 The widths of the 
Set Lines can be set 
separately for each character. 
						

							241
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
Selecting the Character To Be Created
The character to be created can be selected.
1.Click the Select Character button in the 
Select Character bar.
In the Select Character dialog box that 
appeared, select the character to be created.
bMemo:
 Characters where pattern has already been 
created appear with a blue background.
 To return to the Design Page without 
selecting a character, click outside of the 
Select Character dialog box.
 If “space” in the upper-left corner of the 
Select Character dialog box is selected, 
“SPACE” appears in the Select Character 
bar.
aNote:
If any part of the character pattern extends 
off the Design Page when a different 
character is selected, a message appears. 
Before selecting a different character, edit 
the character pattern so that no part extends 
off the Design Page. 
						

							242
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
Creating a Font Character Pattern
Using the Manual Punch tools, create the font character pattern.
A background image can be displayed so that the font character pattern can be created more easily.
Color and stitching settings are done with Layout & Editing.
c“Opening an image in the background” on page 238
1.Click   on the Tool Box.
→Five buttons appear: 
 is for creating straight block-type 
punching patterns. (Shortcut key:  )
 is for creating curved block-type 
punching patterns. (Shortcut key:  )
 is for semi-automatically creating block-
type punching patterns. (Shortcut key:  )
 is for creating running-type punching 
patterns (the broken line is sewn). (Shortcut 
key: )
 is for creating feed-type punching 
patterns (the broken line is not sewn). 
(Shortcut key:  )
The font character pattern can be created 
using the tools listed above.
In the next example, we will create the pattern 
for “T” with straight block-type and running-
type punching pattern.
2.Click   to start creating a straight block-
type pattern.
→The shape of the pointer changes to 
.
3.Click in the Design Page to specify point 1 
(start point).
4.Refer to the illustration below, and click in the 
Design Page to specify points 2 through 4.
!!btn59.bmp!!
Z
X
C
V
B
bMemo:
To remove the last point that was entered, 
click the right mouse button.
1
243 
						

							243
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
5.After clicking point 4 (the last point of the 
block-type pattern), click   (running-type 
pattern button), and then in the Design Page 
to specify point 5 through 7.
6.Click   (straight block-type pattern), and 
then click in the Design Page to specify points 
8 through 10 as shown in the illustration 
below.
7.Click .
8.Click  , and then click in the Design Page 
to specify points 11 through 12.
9.To complete the pattern, double-click point 13 
(the last point of the entire pattern).
67
5
8 9
10
11
12
bMemo:
 When entering points, change the punch 
type by pressing the appropriate shortcut 
key.
 A template image is needed in order to use 
the semi-automatic block-type punch tool. If 
there is no image, this tool will create a 
punching pattern like the straight block-type 
punch tool.
 Once the pattern is drawn, you can still 
transform straight block-type patterns into 
curved block-type patterns and vice versa. 
For details, refer to “Editing points” on 
page 249.
13 
						

							244
Creating Custom Fonts (Font Creator)
Editing Font Character Patterns
Selecting patterns
1.Click   on the Tool Box. 
→The shape of the pointer changes to  .
2.Click the pattern that you want to select.
→Handles appear around the pattern to show 
that it is selected.
3.To select an additional pattern, hold down the 
 key and click the other pattern.

Selecting all patterns
1.
Make sure that   on the Tool Box is 
selected.
2.Click Edit, then Select All.
Moving patterns
1.Move the pointer over a selected pattern or 
group of selected patterns.
→The shape of the pointer changes to  .
2.Drag the pattern to the desired location.

Aligning patterns
The selected patterns can easily be aligned as 
specified.
1.Select the patterns which you want to align.
2.Click Edit, then Align, then Left, Center, 
Right, Top, Middle, or Bottom, depending on 
how you want to align the patterns.
→The selected patterns are aligned as 
shown below.
bMemo:
To deselect the pattern, select a different one 
or click a blank area of the work area.
bMemo:
 You can also select patterns by dragging the 
pointer across the pattern that you want to 
select. As you drag the pointer, a selection 
frame is drawn. All patterns that are 
contained in that selection frame are 
selected when the mouse button is released.
 If you selected patterns that you did not 
want, click a blank area of the work area to 
deselect all patterns, and start again.
Ctrl
bMemo:
 To move the pattern horizontally or 
vertically, hold down the   key while 
dragging it.
 Pressing the arrow keys moves the selected 
pattern one grid mark in the direction of the 
arrow on the key. If the grid is not displayed, 
the pattern moves a distance smaller than 
the smallest grid interval in the direction of 
the arrow on the key.
 Holding down the arrow key for the desired 
direction continues moving the outline in that 
direction.
Shift
Bottom
Right Center LeftMiddle Top