Embrilliance Changelog

What's new in Embrilliance 1.172

Nov 16, 2021

This is the mainstream release, supporting Merrowly, our new Interactive patchmaking tool.
It has increased compatibility with various stitch file formats. As they update, we keep up.
Testing an idea, the first new UI for Bezier in 30 years: StitchArtist editing – when dragging a curved outline, the handles may keep their angles if you hold shift. Great for those who input nodes then adjust the shape after.
Minor bugfixes, such as an pesky icon on Mac in one of the dialogs. Most of these are things for single users.

New in Embrilliance 1.170 (Jul 9, 2021)

New in Embrilliance 1.169 (Mar 19, 2021)

Features in the 1.169 Update:
Rotation Points:
There is a new special object name, “rot” which allows selected designs and objects to rotate around it. This rotation point object is a simple StitchArtist object. For those who do not have StitchArtist, a rotation point design is now part of the Alignments library, available by clicking the Merge Design button and selecting it from the library in the Embrilliance catalog as shown here.
While thinking about rotation about points other than the selection center, I’ve looked at various ways to rotate objects done in other products, such as Corel or Adobe Illustrator. Their approach seemed to me to be lacking re-usability. When you have a disjointed selection, you can alter the rotation of that selection, but as soon as the selection changes, you lose that rotation point. What if the rotation point is important? What if you need to fine-tune the rotation around that point? What if a different selection needs to rotate around that same point? What if you need to align the rotation point to some other selection? Their answers are unacceptable. I did spend too long coming up with my way of doing it, but it has been on my mind for years.
The solution I’ve created is to use the rotation point as an object. You can make as many as you like and select the one you want when you go to rotate. The normal rotation handle can be used, and the rotation object(s) are there for you to re-select as needed. You can even have multiple rotation points selected, but only the first in the sewing sequence will be used – others will rotate as normal objects.
This allows for rotation of objects around a point, to create a group, then the rotation of the whole group around another point.
Above, you can see how the letter A is being pasted, rotated, pasted again, rotated again, etc. The Alignments library design, named “Rotation Pt.” has a single object in it: A circle named “rot”. It is around this object that selections will spin. I’ve added this to the Alignments library for the ease of use for non-StitchArtist owners. Yes, it can even be used in Express, although I’m not aware of any practical uses. Better to think of it for Essentials, Enthusiast or StitchArtist.
This rotation point also allows a group of objects like the individual star designs and text in the above design to be rotated together around a single point. This group isn’t equal in size horizontally and vertically, meaning that if you rotate the group without a rotation point, they are off-center and escape the ring in the badge design. With a rotation point at the center of the ring selected with the group, designs and text stay centered in the ring.
This piece created in StitchArtist by Lisa Shaw shows how placing a rotation point at each location where an element like these antennas meet with the main design can allow you to change the angle of the element without disconnecting them from the body of the design.
Serial Numbers window Redesign:
You can now paste multiple lines in at one time, making multiple serial number entry far easier. As we create new titles for Embrilliance, the serial number count grows. Before it gets too unwieldy (some of you think it is already) I figured an overhaul was due. This also coincides with a website feature discussed below that allows logged-in users to have their registered serial numbers emailed to them. This will work with any serial number registered, regardless of where the item was purchased. If items were bought in our store in recent years, they are automatically registered, but we sell on Amazon and through online dealers as well as brick-and-mortar sewing machine shops, which is why it’s so important to fill out your registration.
Embrilliance Express mode users will enjoy the fact that there is one less pop-up window (before the program loads) now, as well.
Website Feature to Recover Registered Serial Numbers
Registered users who are logged in to our website can now have their serial numbers sent automatically to their registered email address using a simple web form. For more details and links, please read more on the page linked below.
Click here for info on new Serial Number site features
BX Installer Update:
When dropping multiple .BX files on the main program window, the results are cached and displayed at the end of the import. This allows you to drop many, even hundreds of BX installers on the program and let them install easily. No more clicking OK for each. I added 1600+ BX files in a few seconds (my PC is quick) yesterday.
Font Loading Speed:
Speed has been improved. This is something I’ve been looking at over the last couple weeks, as some of you have thousands of fonts! There is more on this topic to come, but for now, if you have a moderate number of fonts, the load time should be quite livable. 1600 fonts on my PC pop up in under a second.
Other Changes:
The Merge Designs window on Mac will retain the divider width between program runs.
Mac scrollwheel zoom and pan now works on a 2nd monitor even if it is above the main screen.
‘E’ key activated full-page crosshair cursor has been added to StitchArtist 3 on MacOS 10.
Hoop definitions have been updated – please click ‘Restore Default’ in the Edit -> Preferences -> Hoops tab to receive the latest versions.
Autobreak satins from StitchArtist 1 had a bug where some objects that didn’t need to break weren’t generating correctly. This has been fixed.
The Manual:
Manual additions include an expanded Serial Numbers section and extended Design Library information, including a section about the rotation point design in the Alignments library. The new manual can be found in the software under Help -> Help or on the Downloads page in PDF form with the links for the Embrilliance Platform Installation files.

New in Embrilliance 1.165 (Oct 7, 2020)

Platform:
Added a ‘Select Object’ on context (right-click) of Color Properties on a color.
Added Skew/Warp of design using Alt key while dragging sizing handles.
Added checkboxes to Preferences > Hoop for ‘Save Preference’ and/or ‘Apply To Page’.
Increase data in menu View > About this page to include font and design metrics as well as incorporate all notes. That text can now be copied for use in a text editor.
Added command View > Clear Guides to remove all guidelines at once.
‘m’ key toggles the measure tool.
Design names in the object tree can now include non-English letters. Windows allows anything on the language code page. Mac allows all. Internally they are now UTF-8 so they are interchangeable across OSes.
Lettering can use alternate letter versions and sizes for native fonts.
Track original patterns on native fonts: Patterns are exempt from stitch length calculation for auto-fill.
Mac smart quotes will be honored if they exist in the font, otherwise regular quotes will be used, if they exist.
Save Image (Enthusiast, StitchArtist):
Added dialog for texture, background color, DPI, etc. to Utility > Save Image.
StitchArtist:
Adjust short stitching in satin columns based on thread weight. Ex. 12wt thread will now short-stitch at densities necessary for that thread. The thread weight is taken from the thread brand name, ex: Cotton, 12wt.
Load and show transparent PNG as image.
Drag/Drop images, copy images or filenames from clipboard/pasteboard.
Drag/Drop .svg files, paste by filename.
Added stagger to Motif Fill.
StitchArtist level 2, 3:
New commands on Create> Outline menu: Delete Holes, Complete Symmetric
StitchArtist level 3:
Added Publish Font Extension: Fonts may be extended with new letters, alternate versions and sizes.
Added context menu ‘Select by generation type’, ‘Select by Quickstyle’ using Ctrl-Right-click.
Whip Stitch 3 & 5 pass added to Column style.
Allow 4 position monograms, new position is Right-Center (label as d) ex: Al , Au, Ad, Ar
‘e’ key adds full-page crosshairs to cursor during draw with points, column input.
‘N’ (Shift-N) key for sound during point input.
Compensation on columns now has individual side selection.
Ctrl-d: Create new design.
New Commend on menu Reconstruct Outline
Update:
All Embrilliance fonts are now convertible to StitchArtist objects.
Measure tool changed to only affect statusbar when the mouse button is down, removes annoying flicker.
Designer’s Gallery Creator to use purchased SA upgrade levels.
Added hotkey indicators to menu items in view menu.
Honoring stitch length when pattern is present on published font.
Block ‘e’ added inclines for improved radical envelopes
Comedy W modified for NP and font now NP enabled.
Adjusted for Windows 10 security, affecting ability to read Designer’s Gallery Studio catalog.
Drawing cursors updated for StitchArtist.
StitchArtist deselection by clicking in open space deselects points first, if any, before deselecting object.
Create mode: Drag select with no current selection, selects digitizing objects which have their center in the drag.
Auto Entry/Exit now applies for branched sets as well as normal objects.
Zoom maximum level increased to 48 for micro-point editing. Do not digitize at high zoom levels.
Adding trims to digitizer objects which are tied on both sides and > 1mm apart, assumption is that the user intends a trim.
Tighten tolerance on simple inflate, especially at small values.
Preference to Remove Hidden Stitches during Save defaults to off. It’s easy enough to click the Scissors (RHS button).
Mac Save-As panel in Catalina is different, and has had changes, now handled better.
Ctrl key on Mac to send commands to MacOS: use Cmd instead.
Manual:
Added text at the end of the Color section regarding the context menu.
Added Font Extension section at back of manual.
Updated section: Main View > Hoops. First image update, sentence about checkboxes added.
View options text added after after Check for Updates.
Thread weight overview added after Applique Settings in Color section.
Thread weight blurb added in Thread Editor section.
Save Image section updated and moved to Product Features.
Added paragraph about Drag/Drop images/filenames to the Importing Background images section in StitchArtist.
Added line about vector filename paste in Vector section of StitchArtist.
Added text in Column Objects about Pass Count for whip stitch.
Added Delete Holes, Complete Symmetric, updated Reconstruct Outline in SA section.
Added text about Ctrl-Right-click as ‘Select by Style’ or Select by Type’ in SA3 after Autoscroll Toggle section.
Added text about ‘d’ option for four position monogram naming in SA3 section “Publishing Fonts.”
Added Object Pattern / Underlay Retention after digitizing tips in SA3 section “Publishing fonts”
Updated keyboard references.
Compensation added to satin column.
Size/Rotate section now mentions Skew.
Fix:
Drag-select knots in hole to allow drag-move.
Removed gray box that was drawn on Mac when first motif added.
Print size on Mac could sometimes be wrong.
Mac motif property buttons had to be re-wired in newer OSes.
Mac tree name-edit was not always available.
Print color-list could display wrong stitch counts on digitized objects.
Delete points should always cause regenerate, unless delayed.
Baste design could go off center.
Cleanup selected points on non-selected objects when performing an ‘open outline’.
Rotate handler (double-click) from statusbar was broken.
Fixed bug in foam Join on narrow ends.
Allow spacing to work on rotated vertical text
When moving from circle to single line, if spacing has been applied, recreate the lettering.
When tree changes selection, points are de-selected.
Fix possible crash when opening outline.
Cleanup shape conversion to outline.
Fix: First letter Remove Hidden Stitch with Expanded font.
Push compensation is only visible in SA3.
Remove min/max size publish data on convert to stitches.

New in Embrilliance 1.147 (Jun 30, 2015)

New in Embrilliance 1.1461 (Jun 1, 2015)

Font import window changes (AlphaTricks):
Mapping is displayed as text above the letter.
User can drag any letter, not just the currently selected one.
Drag occurs anywhere in the letter’s area, not just on the stitches.
Imported fonts now have an attribute “Hidden” which means it will not be displayed in the font selection pop-up in the Letter properties pages.
The top, center and bottom measurement of the selected letter is now shown in the importer.
When a user is dragging, they can hold the Ctrl key to move at 1/10th the rate for more precise alignments.
‘Stitch’ property for imported fonts. Also imported fonts can now remove overlaps intra-design similar to the built-in fonts (even appliques).
Font Selection
Utility->Save Image (Enthusiast):
Updated 3D rendering system: Designs are now rendered at 600 DPI which gives the ability to zoom in and have a clear image.
Object View:
Designs with selected objects are now shadow-highlighted in the tree.
Stitch Generation (StitchArtist):
Satin columns with low density generate better (stay within the outline) even on narrow, tightly turning shapes.
Automatic column splitting has been improved.
Fills have been sped back up.
Overwriting StitchArtist working (.BE) files has occurred when a user opens the stitch file, then does a plain ‘Save’ or ‘Save Working File’ and then says ‘its Okay to Replace my file’ (which saves over the working file that wasn’t open). When saving a working file ‘over’ another (replacing) the program checks the current one on disk and compares the two.
Auto-Satin objects in StitchArtist - creating branched objects.
Reset by clicking on the QuickStyle button in the object properties.
NormalQSFormats:
Minor adjustments for new OEM software and machine compatibility. (JEF split and DST with RTO)
Built-in Fonts:
Some letters had minor jumps not visible in home machines but were affecting commercial machines. These now have internal stitching adjusted to cut the number of apparent trims.
Preferences:
If the hoop is not touched, it won’t change the hoop on the page. This was an annoyance.
Field size now shown in mm and approx inches.
When selecting a hoop, it is now also shown in approximate inches.

New in Embrilliance 1.145 RC (Mar 27, 2015)

Font import window changes (AlphaTricks):
Mapping is displayed as text above the letter.
User can drag any letter, not just the currently selected one.
Drag occurs anywhere in the letter’s area, not just on the stitches.
Imported fonts now have an attribute “Hidden” which means it will not be displayed in the font selection pop-up in the Letter properties pages.
The top, center and bottom measurement of the selected letter is now shown in the importer.
When a user is dragging, they can hold the Ctrl key to move at 1/10th the rate for more precise alignments.
The reason for these is to accomplish more precision with letter overshoot – above/below the baselines – and to allow that overshoot to be made similar on multiple letters by matching the values as needed.
When a Lettering design is selected, there is now an added ‘Stitch’ property for imported fonts. This is analogous to the ‘Stitch’ page for built-in font Lettering. It contains some simply density and compensation control. Also imported fonts can now remove overlaps intra-design similar to the built-in fonts. This is NOT the same as Enthusiast or DRK adjustments; it is only available on mapped fonts, making them similar to built-in fonts.
Utility->Save Image (Enthusiast):
There is an updated 3D rendering system. This is visible in the main view as you zoom in, and also in the Save Image Utility from Enthusiast: Designs are now rendered at 600 DPI which gives the ability to zoom in and have a clear image.
Object View:
Designs with selected objects are now shadow-highlighted in the tree.
Stitch Generation (StitchArtist):
Satin columns with low density generate better (stay within the outline) even on narrow, tightly turning shapes.
Automatic column splitting has been improved.
Fills have been sped back up.
Formats:
Minor adjustments for new OEM software and machine compatibility. (JEF split and DST with RTO)
Built-in Fonts:
Some letters had minor jumps not visible in home machines but were affecting commercial machines. These now have internal stitching adjusted to cut the number of apparent trims.
Preferences:
If the hoop is not touched, it won’t change the hoop on the page. This was an annoyance.