John Nielsen's Pre-Design NZMQ Classes

 Pre_Design I - Introduction

Introduction to Pre-Design Studio II - Draw Quilt Designs on your Computer
(Introduction to how to digitize your own quilt designs)

Pre-Design Studio II is a computer, vector based software, made by Loes van der Heijden in the Netherlands - see http://www.pre-designstudio.com/index.html. The software cost approx. NZ$ 325.00 - or you can download a free trial for 30 days.

Requirements: None - However, if you have a computer you want to bring with the downloaded free trial - please do so, and you can practice as we go! As you can only get the free trial once - it might be a good idea to plan the time of the trial-period from mid July to mid August, so you can try before Cambridge Quilt Conference, and continue for a week or two after!

On my computer, connected to a projector - I will first introduce you to the software, the menus etc, then show how easy it is to use, as well as how to get the most out of it - of what you are interested in!

I will cover the basics of how to use Pre-Design both for manual (hand-guided) and computer guided longarm machine - and I will show you examples of embroidered designs done with Pre-Design.

N.B.- Pre-Design comes with an "in-build" panto maker - now "easy-peasy" to make your own paper-pantos! And there is more....... refer below for all the tricks of this super-duper embroidery and quilt software! Also check out Pre-Designgroup@yahoogroups.com and on UTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWO7hlRxzes

PS - If you have an IntelliQuilter - then Pre-Design is the BEST! - In my view it is a great combination, - a marriage made in heaven!

This is what Pre-Design Studio II can do!

1. Freehand SKETCH TOOL

Pre-Design Studio II has a Sketch tool where you draw freehand, by just moving the mouse, and still get nice smooth, editable vector curves.

2. Automatic REDWORK!!
Convert to stitches now has a professional "autobranching" function. That means that even if you didn’t draw the full path, the program will turn all connected lines of a drawing into a jumpfree redwork pattern (DST format) which can be sent directly to your machine. I can’t tell you how proud I am that we got this done!

3. APPLIQUE
In the Convert to Stitches function you have four stitch types: normal, bean, blanket stitch and zigzag stitch. With the blanket stitch plus Color Stops turned on, it will automatically create three layers on top of each other: running stitch material layer, a running stitch placement line, and a blanket stitch tack down layer.
With the zigzag stitches you can create multiple colored zigzag line designs.

4. AUTOTRACING
Autotracing is a very powerful function but will only work when a background image has clearly defined lines - if there are no lines in an image, how would a computer be able to find them? Reason why I still added this function to the software is that many of you have images which already have near perfect "colorbook" style lines. Seems silly to have to trace those manually. So that is why AutoTracing has been added, for the almost perfect background images to be able to benefit from the many export functions in Pre-Design Studio II.

5. EXPORT to many longarm quilt formats: DXF, HQF, PAT, TXT, CQP and SSD.
Pre-Design Studio could already export to DXF, which can be read by most quilt systems, but most of those quilt systems have their own native format, which is often more efficient than a DXF. So in cooperation with the owners of the various quilt formats we have added their formats. For CompuQuilter’s CQP format Pre-Design even has an Import CQP function!

6. BORDER MAKER (to create E2E’s, Pantos, borders)
Click on the Border Maker button, choose a shape and click add. Choose another shape (or keep adding the same shape) until you reach the desired width, then click on OK: you have a continuous line border (or E2e, or Panto) pattern, one start, one stop!
There are already a lot of continuous shapes in the new program but you can create and save your own too. Playtime, definitely playtime! Therefore I have put the Border Maker button next to the other play tools: magic circle and spiral maker :) A video showing Border Maker in action can be found on the Tutorials page

7. ECHO QUILTING
Draw a line around a design (for example around Hawaiian applique), select the line and right-click. Choose Echo and set the number of echos and the distance. Connect end of line 1 to line 2, end of line 2 to line 3 etc. A breeze. Lots of possibilities and great effects. Makes it even possible to add a seam allowance to pattern pieces by using just 1 echo.

8. Show/Hide Print Preview:
Very powerful, very handy: you can see how a pattern will print over multiple pages. When you add a little line above the pattern to create extra margin and move it, you can immediately see how it influences the position on the printed pages.

9. Rulers show inches (or mm)
When the View menu is set to inches, the rulers show inches only - as big as your project!

10. Spiral Maker has three shapes: spiral, single swirl and double swirl. This makes it easier to insert it into a continuous line pattern.

11. Magic Circle can put 24 copies in a wreath. More color swatches in the palette on the right (16).

13. You can Skew a design, by moving the two Skew controls/handles in the Selection box.

14. You can set the angle of a note (0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees). This is helpful for pattern drafting, to set the notes along a pattern line. For example along the "Center Front" line you would place the note at 270 degrees.

 

Class 2: Pre-Design Studio II - Digitizing your own Quilt Designs

In this class we will concentrate on how to digitize (draw and trace) your own quilt designs, convert them to AutoCad (dxf files), for later to sew them out on a computer guided longarm system. If you like, bring some paper drawings of your own doodles, feathers or shapes, some photos of leaves, or flowers....

Requirements: Best if you have taken "Introduction to Pre-Design Studio - but not a "must".

Also a good idea to bring a USB memory stick, a laptop computer, (and your IQ tablet if you already own one).

Pre-Design Studio II software cost approx NZ$ 325.00, or you can download a free 30 days trial. (As you can only get the free trial once - it might be a good idea to plan the time of the trial-period from mid July to mid August, so you can try before Cambridge Machine Quilters’ Conference, and continue for a week or two after!).

 

Class 3: Art and Stich - The New Rolls-Royce of Computer Drawing Software for Longarmers

Again, software is by Loes van der Heijden in the Netherlands - and it is so new that the price has not been released yet! Loes will be introducing and teaching this exciting new software in May at the MQS 2010 in Kansas, USA. I hope to have my own version by then and would love to share this with you as well while in Cambridge.

This class is definitely for those keen on digitizing and converting their own paper patterns into computer guided systems, as well as adding fill around shapes or inside shapes! From the Art and Stitch’s website,  http://www.artnstitch.com/we can see what the software can do:

Use the professional drawing tools to create your quilt patterns: Freehand sketch, Line, Curve, Bezier, 3pt Arc.

Edit points/anchors, by selecting and moving them.

Draw from scratch or open an image for (auto)tracing.

Fill shapes with motifs, cross hatching, wave fills, autostipple, Creative background fillers.

Check out the tutorial of how to fill a heart shape.... http://www.artnstitch.com/tutorials.htm

Use those fills around a design, result will be jumpfree crosshatching, waves, motifs!

Turn shapes into applique designs with a mouse click.

Open (or paste) vector artwork from Adobe Illustrator® and Corel Draw ® (Export artwork as Ai, WMF, EMF).

Save in computerized longarm formats DXF, ABM Innova PAT, CompuQuilter CQP, HQ Pro HQF, IntelliQuilter ICP, PC Quilter TXT, MyQuiltingRobot MQR, SideSaddle SSD, StatlerStitcher QLI.And save in embroidery machine formats: Brother Babylock Bernina PES, Elna/Janome/Kenmore SE, Janome/Elna JEF, Melco/Bernina EXP, Pfaff PCS, Singer XXX, Tajima DST, Viking SHV, HUS, Viking/Pfaff VIP, VP3.

Open, merge, edit, tweak existing quilt designs (all major formats supported).

Open, edit, tweak, merge machine embroidery designs (all major formats supported) - turn your longarm quilt system into the biggest embroidery hoop ever!

Furthermore the new Art and Stitch software has automatic cross hatching (also around a shape!) with various effects: wavy cross hatching, line hatch, waved fill. Also automatic stippling, automatic applique. - Well, everything you wish for is in the program