Deleting Elements

Charlie

Does anyone know if there's a way of tidying up designs after I've finished amending them? Whenever I delete and move elements of the design I keep getting left with loads of extra jump stitches that I can't remove. It ends up effecting the overall dimensions of the design.

I also feel like it would be helpful to have a way of locking stitches or layers, so they can't be selected when amending stuff.

Matthias

Charlie Usually consecutive jump stitches should be combined, e.g. after deleting a design's part … but I remember this optimization having an exception for DST files (whose multiple jumps are considered as trim commands). You might remember our conversation one year back…

It looks like I need to introduce specific stitch types to allow a proper handling - hopefully resolving the issue you just mentioned. Maybe you're willing to provide a sample file by mail…?

In the meantime it might help to mark the "off" stitches using the rectangle selection tool and remove them.

Matthias

Charlie I also feel like it would be helpful to have a way of locking stitches or layers, so they can't be selected when amending stuff.

I like that … although I have currently no clue how to handle it from a user interface perspective. Maybe similar to stitch selection, but clicking with a pressed modifier key (e.g. <Alt>) to lock a part / thread / stitch against selection. A different color could be used to indicate the locked part.

Just thinking loud and definitely not a small / short-term task, but noted.

Matthias

Matthias It looks like I need to introduce specific stitch types to allow a proper handling - hopefully resolving the issue you just mentioned.

FYI, I just started improving the handling of DST designs: These files are indicating a command to trim a thread with some consecutive jump stitches - which are normally combined by StitchBuddy. When @Charlie reported this issue I disabled jump optimization for DST files as a quick-fix … which lead to erratic leftovers after moving / deleting parts of a design.

In future trim commands will be preserved during file modifications, and considered when writing a DST file.

Charlie

Thanks for your response and for assisting over email again, always much appreciated. Selecting single stitches and deleting them wasn't working, but since you told me about pressing <cmd> to select multiple stitches at once they've been getting deleted much more consistently. Such a simple tool and yet I had no idea it was a thing!

Matthias

Matthias In future trim commands will be preserved during file modifications, and considered when writing a DST file.

I have just submitted StitchBuddy 3.4.2 (2958) for Apple's review as public beta versions for macOS and iOS. These updates will introduce the following changes:

Trim commands in DST files are preserved; these commands are indicated by scissors icons and enlarged needle points in the underlay view if jump stitches are shown
The color of symbols (needle points and trim commands) is adjusted to the background color for better visibility. This works for individual background colors as well as the dark / light theme on iOS.

I will start a dedicated discussion in the "Beta Testing" category to gather your feedback once the test versions have been approved.