What's New in Embird 2010

A Quick Look at Embird 2010 by Carolyn Keber. Embird 2010 has just been released. It is a free upgrade to those who already own Embird 2008. I have been fortunate enough to have been beta testing this latest version for some months. The Embird authors delayed releasing this version to ensure that everything worked okay with Microsoft's new Windows 7. Now that they are happy with the result you can download it free of charge if you own Embird 2008. There are a number of new features - many of which I will write about in more detail about in the weeks to come. However, here are a few ideas on what to look for! Embird Manager When converting files you now have the ability to "batch convert" to your chosen formats at one time - thus saving a lot of time. Embird will also remember your selected formats for the next time that you wish to convert files. When sending designs as an attachment you can now choose up to 10 recipients of the files rather than one at a time as in previous versions. In the Right Panel in Manager you can choose to sort the designs in selected folders by Name, File Ext, Date or Size. You can also now create a shortcut to embroidery files in other folders using a .lnk extension. You can copy and paste this shortcut file to as many folders as you wish so that when the shortcut is clicked on you will be re-directed to the folder where the original design is stored. This saves having to have multiple files of the same design in various folders and will save space on your computer drive.  The stitch-out of any designs seen in Sewing Simulator can now be saved as an EXE file and sent to anyone that wished to "see" a stitch-out of a selected design.  Designer One owners can now specify folder names for their Designer 1 floppy disks. Embird Editor In Editor you can also save to a number of formats at one time - as in Manager.  Under the View menu if Commands is selected you can see all the trims and stops in a design. Turn this command off if you find it distracting. Embird Studio Embird Studio has a number of changes, some of which are as follows - You can now set the length of the underlay stitches in any new objects created in Studio.  Single outline lettering can now be created in Studio/Font Engine. Studio now reads from the center of a font and will create lettering in a single line (rather than the previous double outline) which can have any Sample style applied to it, including Redwork. This feature would also be great in Font Engine/Editor but for now is only available in Studio. This is so cool.  Adjustable stitch direction for Auto Columns allows you to change the direction of automatically created satin stitching.  Auto outlining of selected objects. This makes outlining so quick and easy. The shortcut for this is on the Menu Bar.  New Baseline options for lettering. There are a great many more new features as well - way too many to cover at the moment. Needless to say the new version is wonderful. I hope you enjoy it. Carolyn Keber (see below for a detailed list from the Embird Company of Whats New in 2010

EMBIRD 2010 - WHAT'S NEW Embird 2010 Build 8.5 General New language was added: Ukrainian. Manager Now it is possible to convert designs to multiple formats at once. Now it is possible to sort designs in Right Panel according to Name, Extension, Date and Size (length) of file, either in ascending or descending order. When sending design as attachment of e-mail (Right Panel > Internet >  Send Files as Attachment of E-mail), it is now possible to specify ten preselections of e-mail recipients. Also, Embird can automatically ZIP all selected files into single archive, or convert image files to .JPG format and shrink them to reduce the length of attachment. A new button for sending files in attachment of e-mail was added, it is located above the "Files:" box at the right side of Manager window. Embird now supports also shortcut files (files with .lnk extension). This means that Embird is capable of displaying designs which are referenced by shortcuts. This way it is possible to sort designs - save the real design into one folder, and create shortcuts to this design in other folders. There is a new command "Paste Shortcuts to Files in Clipboard" in "Right Panel" menu allowing to create shortcut files for files which were copied into Clipboard via "Copy Files to Clipboard". A new button for creating shortcut files was added as well, it is located above the "Files:" box at the right side of Manager window. See also new tutorial "Using Shortcut Files (.LNK)  to Sort Designs". New option "Show/Hide Summary Info Panel" added to "Options" menu. If you switch ON this panel, the boxes allowing to add the "Title",  "Subject", "Author", "Category", "Keywords", "Revision Number" and  "Comments" will appear below preview area when displaying some design. This command works only on PCs with Windows 2000/XP/Vista,  and only with hard disks formatted with NTFS file system  (i.e. it does not work with FAT system).  NOTE: The "File Summary Info" will be lost if you copy the design from NTFS disk to e.g. FAT disk, because FAT disks do not support the streams required for storing the info. Now you can export "File Summary Info" to text file with .SUM extension. Select some file, click "Right Panel > File Summary Info" and click the new "floppy disk" icon which is located at the left side of OK button in "File Summary Info" dialog box. New option "Save Palette As Type" added to "Color Palette" menu, allowing you to choose how the color palette should be saved: as Embird .EDR file (recommended), or as Color File .RGB or as Text File .TXT. New option "Automatically Create Documentation Files (*.jpg)" added to "Options" menu. Switch ON this option if you want to create.JPG documentation for every file which you save in Editor or which you display in Manager. This documentation file is stored in the same folder as the corresponding design and it contains design image, color order, information about design size, stitch count and color count. Use this option together with Google Picasa application to quickly browse through your designs - see also new tutorial "Embird Co-operation with Google Picasa". New option "Show Commands" added to "Options" menu. Set this option to ON if you want to display the marks on places where there is a code for thread trim, or for thread change (stop). Note: These marks are displayed only in "Normal" view mode, not in 3D view mode. New option "Show Stitch Points" added to "Options" menu. Set this option to ON if you want to visualize the end point of every stitch. New driver developed by Simon Owen (http://simonowen.com/) allows to read/write/format non-standard floppy disks (e.g. Barudan FDR, FMC, ZSK, Marco/Zangs, Melco SS, Tajima, Toyota, M-7000 Style, Pfaff KSM, etc.) via "Left Panel" of Manager even in Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista. This driver is automatically installed with Embird, you just need to switch ON the left panel in Embird via "Options > Show Left Panel" menu. New command "Export Sew Simulator" added to "Right Panel" menu. Use this command to export selected design attached to the sew simulator.  This will create a new executable (.EXE) file on hard disk, which may be sent in e-mail to customer who can check the simulation of design sewing. New command "Export Printable Documentation" added to "Right Panel" menu. Use this command to export selected design attached to the routine, which is capable of printing the design. This will create a new executable (.EXE) file on hard disk, which may be sent in e-mail to customer who can print the design documentation on his/her computer. Eight new "Quick" buttons (I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P) for switching folders added to Manager, you will find them at the Right panel above the "Folder:" box. Now you can predefine another (fifth and sixth) filter in Manager. You will find the new buttons at the Right panel above the "Filter:" box. New button "Reset all settings to their default values and remove passwords" added to "Help > About" menu. Use this button to completely remove all user settings from Embird, including all passwords, and revert all settings to their default "after-installation" values. Now it is possible to specify the menu names when exporting designs to Designer 1 Floppy disk. Support for new formats added:    * Tajima .TBF   * Barudan .PSF (only input, output to this format is not possible)   * Proel .PUM (only input, output to this format is not possible) Embird is now capable of displaying icon from Janome .JAN files. It cannot display real stitches, only the preview icon which is contained in these files.  The "Print Custom Thumbnails" and "Export Custom Thumbnails" commands now create documentation which contains also color chips and names of colors. New thread chart "Floriani Polyester" was added. New quick buttons in "Right Panel > Preview Files" window are supported: If you are viewing designs the keys 1 ~ 7 will change the view mode (Normal, 1:1 Normal, Stitches, 3D, 3D Matte, 1:1, 1:1 Matte), and if you are viewing photos the keys 1 ~ 5 will rotate and mirror displayed image (Rotate left, Flip, Rotate right, Mirror Horizontally, Mirror Vertically). Editor Now it is possible to save design to multiple formats at once. New option "Commands" added to "View" menu. Set this option to ON if you want to display the marks on places where there is a code for thread trim, or for thread change (stop). Note: These marks are displayed only in "Normal" view mode, not in 3D view mode. New button "Send in attachment of e-mail" added to main toolbar located at the top of Editor window. Font Engine New option "Show sub-folder name as a part of font name in the list of available fonts" was added to dialog box which allows to specify folders for not-installed fonts. Switch ON this option if you want to have the folder name displayed before the font name. This is great if you have sorted fonts into folders, and want to see them by folders, not only in alphabetical order. Cross Stitch When importing image or chart, a dialog box will appear on the screen, allowing to crop the image or chart. New button "Send in attachment of e-mail" added to main toolbar located at the top of Cross Stitch window. Studio New controls for adjustment of stitches direction in auto-column objects. Please see the help file > Controls > Direction Lines. New function 'Auto Outliner' to create double layered outlines of complex fill and column objects. Enhancement to 'Arrange outline parts' function - forward path is always set to single stitch, even when original outline parts are of other outline type (satin or redwork, for example). Fix to 'Arrange outline parts' function. New 'Arrangle outline parts (no connections)' function. Same as 'Arrange outline parts' function except it does not connect parts that are too far (like inner circle in 'O', for example). It creates a separate objects from them. Enhancement to Font Engine and auto-column stitching algorithm. Enhancement to Font Engine nearest points connection to small objects like dot on "i". Connection to such objects is now hidden beneath main part of letter (if possible). Support of various combinations of lettering fill (plain fill, auto-column, redword), outline (outline, no outline), and nearest point connection options (everywhere, only  inside letters, none). Options that were previously available as buttons are now moved to respective combo boxes. New control (sizeable corners) to set text baseline size and position more conveniently. Especially suitable for setting circular or elliptical baseline. Storage of recently created/edited texts (combo box in text mode) for easy return to editing of previously created text. This function also saves stored text sessions into the main design file (eof) so now it is possible to open design and return to text editing without use of .ltg files. New function for conversion of object (fill, outline, column, ...) selected in the work area into the text baseline. This function is accessible via main menu > Text > Text with Selected Object as Baseline, and via main menu > Text > FontEngine Text with Selected Object as Baseline. The first version works with alphabets and second with Font Engine lettering. Import of text baseline .etb files is now available in Studio (main menu > Text > Import Baseline). Use 2 commands above this one to put text on imported baseline. New global parameters to set min. and max. underlay stitch length (center, edge, zig-zag) for columns and fills. It affects also auto-column objects. These parameters are accessible via main menu > File > Paramaters > Length tab. If size of selected object is displayed in the status bar (bottom of the Studio window), click on the status bar opens the transformations window (object sizing, rotation, .. etc.). Displaying of nodes direction in editing mode (arrow in the middle of selected element). Fix to splitting of letters like o and O in alphabet lettering. Fix to 'Q' in alphabet 22 - triple stitching on the left side instead of single stitching. Fix to objects shaping > Intersection. Fix to objects disappearing in 3D mode without fabric when user scrolls work area and selects object. New commands to save and load color palette (main menu > Design >) New command in editing mode "Reduce Nodes Number" to simplify edited edge. Intended mainly for editing of lettering with too much distorted edges. New command in main menu > Transform > "Reduce Nodes Number" to simplify selected objects. Intended mainly for editing of lettering with too much distorted edges. New function to create redwork object from fill or column (main menu > COnvert > Area to center line) New option for Font Engine lettering - Redwork. If turned on, lettering is created as center line. New command 'Set Identical Colors' added to pop-up menu that appears after drag-and-drop opration in the object inspector window. Highlighting contours of selected objects (to turn it off, use main menu > Edit > Preferences > Selection) Displaying of Objects without stitches with semi-transparent fill for easier recognition. Better selection of fancy outlines. Now selection works not only for outline center curve, but also for all stitches, i.e. it is much easier to select fancy outline in the work area. Adjustment of connection stitches to actual stitches of previous and next object (in a previous versions this was done during transfering finished design to Editor). Swedish translation by Monica. Ukrainian translation by Taras. Completed and revised German translation by Christine. Fix to freezing of trace tool. Fix to problem with last stitch in Sfumato object being other color than it should be. Fix to disappearing image problem. Added numbering of column stitch samples. Highlighted selected text options (like bold, italic, other side ...) with yellow glow to indicate which option is selected and which is not. Displaying of object's color number (in order of apeareance in the design) next to object index in the object inspectro window. This helps to identify objects of same or different color. "Corner" function in Studio (main menu > Tranform > Corner ...). Fix to motif shift for fill objects. Displaying of real size scale in percentage added to zoom info in status bar. Faster rendering of design at large zoom. Fix to sew simulator problem with stray stitches. Fix to several problems caused by unselection of objects after move, opening parameters window, and other operations. Fix to problem with opening lettering project files (.LTG) Fix to transfer of hoop info into Editor (if image is larger than selected hoop). Fix to transfer colors of Sfumato Stitch objects into the Editor. Fix to checkboxes (like 'Middle point first') accidentaly switched on/off with space bar. When using 'Split Applique to layers' function, the original applique object is erased. Fix to displaying image behind stitches when starting sew simulator. Preserving of user set parameters when installing new version. Sizing in Transformations Window also in %. Align commands in Transformation window now use first selected object as a reference, i.e. all align commands are performed relative to object that was selected as first. Added possibility to mark multiple threads in catalog at once. Hold SHIFT or CTRL depressed to select a range of threads. Left mouse button selects threads and right mouse button deselects threads. Added "Find" box, "Previous" and "Next" buttons to search threads in catalog by typing thread number of part of the name. If color in palette is changed, all objects of this color are changed to the new color automaticaly. Fix to problem with stray stitches in plain fill holes when object has both carvings and holes. Enhanced displaying of jump stitches in 3D. Tie-up stitches are now displayed (in green color) when jumps are displayed. New function (main menu > Convert > to Editable Stitches) to convert stitches in selected vector objects to editable manual stitches. Create any object as a start and then use this function to access and edit individual stitches. This function can be used for precise adjustment of motif fill, for example. New hoops: Brother Cap Hoop 2 (130 x 60 mm) Brother Cylinder Frame (90 x 80 mm)  Brother Square Hoop (200 x 200 mm)  Janome MC200 (140 x 140 mm) Fix to 'Not valid Embird file' problem. Hoops New hoops were added:   * Pfaff Elite Hoop (200 x 260 mm) (find it in Viking hoop section)   * Janome MC200 (140 x 140 mm)   * Bernina Artista Small (oval, 72 x 50 mm)   * Bernina Artista Jumbo Hoop (oval, 260 x 400 mm)   * Super Double Wide Hoop-It-All™ for Bernina 730/740/630/640/200/185 added to "Other Hoop-It-All™" list   * Super Double Wide Hoop-It-All™ w/bonus bracket for Bernina 730/740/630/640/200/185 to "Other Hoop-It-All™" list New hoops were added:  * Pfaff Elite Hoop (200 x 260 mm) (find it in Viking hoop section)  * Janome MC200 (140 x 140 mm)  * Bernina Artista Small (oval, 72 x 50 mm)  * Bernina Artista Jumbo Hoop (oval, 260 x 400 mm)  * Super Double Wide Hoop-It-All™ for Bernina 730/740/630/640/200/185 added to "Other Hoop-It-All™" list  * Super Double Wide Hoop-It-All™ w/bonus bracket for Bernina 730/740/630/640/200/185 to "Other Hoop-It-All™" list Tutorials New tutorial is now available at http://www.embird.com/sw/embird/tutorial.htm:   * Embird Co-operation with Google Picasa   * Open Viking Majestic Hoop Design   * Save Viking Majestic Hoop Design   * Send Files in Attachment of E-mail   * Using Shortcut Files (.LNK) to Sort Designs

EMBIRD - WHAT'S NEW ? (free upgrade for current 2006 owners, just download new installation files, no new passwords needed, existing ones will work) Whats new in Embird 2006 (Build 6.3) updated 24 July 2007 This Build was compiled in Delphi 7 instead of Delphi 2007 for Win32, to avoid bugs introduced by new development environment. Support for Janome 350E added to "Right Panel > Input/Output Operations > Output to JEF CompactFlash Card" dialog box. Whats new in Embird 2006 (Build 6.2) updated 17 July 2007 Fixed problem with "Access violation error" which appeared after merging designs in Editor and saving whole design to the disk, and also after conversion from format to format in Manager. Fixed bug which caused wrong colors when displaying some PES designs. Fixed bug in Admelody Rayon thread chart.   Whats new in Embird 2006 (Build 6) updated 9 July 2007 General New thread charts Admelody Rayon, Brildor Polyester, Thread Delight Poly and Madeira Burmilana were added. Thread charts Madeira Rayon, Madeira Polyneon, FuFu Rayon and FuFu Polyester were revised. Bug which caused freezing of Embird for a while after window maximizing fixed. Help is now based on .CHM files for better compatibility with Windows Vista. Routines for processing ZIP archives were revised, now it is possible to exctract files from password-protected archives, and also it is possible to create new password-protected archives. Several minor bugs fixed. Manager New type of documentation added to Manager's "Right Panel" menu:  "View Custom Thumbnails", "Print Custom Thumbnails", "Export Custom Thumbnails". This new type allows to specify the   number of rows and columns of design thumbnails per page. New command "Print Floating Template" added to Manager's "Right Panel" menu. It allows to print template containing a single design in 1:1 scale with corresponding hoop in the background anywhere on the paper. In case the design is too big to fit a page, it will print on multiple papers. New menu "Change Animation Color" added to "Color Palette" menu. It allows to change the color used for animation, default is red color.  New option "Show Main Hint" added to "Options" menu. It allows to enable/disable the displaying of big yellow rectangle with hint for Middle Panel. If OFF, and "Show Hints" option is ON, all other hints except big main hint will be displayed after several seconds of user inactivity. Insert Text and Font Engine Window Six new Alphabet plug-ins are available: Alphabet 34 ~ Alphabet 39.   The box with list of Alphabets and Envelopes was fixed for compatibility with Windows Vista. Now it is possible to cancel the process of inserting calendar, clock, and multiline text. Digitizing Studio Enhanced import of vector graphics (detection of holes). Faster drawing of 3D preview. Freehand tool fix. Fix in "Change column width" function. Fix in "Broaden thin parts of columns" function for joined objects. "Mirror Sides" check box in Parameters window/Outline tab for easier mirroring of sample, border or sketch outlines. "Apply" button in Parameters window. Fix in Create backward path function.  Fix in Sort Colors function. Fix in editing tools. Cross Stitch The "File > Design Name" command was replaced with "File > Design Notes"   command, which allows to insert multiple lines of comment. Iconizer Now it is possible to enable Embird Indexer for Google Desktop in "Options > Iconizer Settings" menu. Embird Indexer for Google Desktop is Embird Iconizer add-on which integrates with Google Desktop application. Google Desktop is free application developed by Google company http://www.google.com and it allows to search your computer as easily as you search the web with Google internet search engine. Starting with Embird 2006 Build 6, Embird Indexer is included in Iconizer plug-in. This means that it works in full mode only if you have registered Iconizer plug-in, otherwise it will work only in Demo mode. Embird Indexer allows you to easily search for your embroidery designs on your hard disk, it supplies important information about the designs to Google Desktop, e.g. stitch count, color count, design size, hoop size, design thumbnail, etc. Note: Before you start using Embird Indexer, you must install Google Desktop application on your PC, which is available at http://www.googledesktop.com Iconizer now displays also "Hoop Size" in popup menu which appears after right click on the design filename in Windows Explorer. It also diplays the design size in both millimeters and inches. If you "Enable Viewer for Total Commander" in "Iconizer Settings" menu in Embird Manager, you can use "Ctrl+Q" key for switching ON the "Quick View" of the selected file in Total Commander. Also, it is possible to add custom columns displaying "design width", "design height", "number of stitches", "colors", "thread changes", "hoop width" and "hoop height" via "Show > Custom Column Mode > Configure Custom Columns" command of Total Commander. New Hoops Janome Gigahoop was revised. Support for M2 and M3 hoops for Janome MB-4 added (when saving to .JEF+ format). Support for five Magna-Hoops(tm) for Janome added to "Custom" tab in "Hoop Size" dialog box. Support for "Super-Giant-L Hoop-It-All™ for Singer Futura CE-200" added. Tutorials New tutorials are now available at http://www.embird.com/sw/embird/tutorial.htm: Decapsulation of Floppy Disk Display Calibration Embird Indexer for Google Desktop Encapsulation of Floppy Disk Printing Templates of Multiple Designs on Single Sheet Writing Designs to USB Stick