FLOW Score

Basics

Before you spend months on a pattern, you want to know two things: will this be pleasant to stitch, and what should I fix first? The FLOW score answers both. It's a number out of 100 for how smoothly the pattern will work up, with the biggest problems listed first and a fix next to each one.

FLOW is about stitching, not looks. A pattern can be beautiful on screen and still be a chore on fabric: lots of confetti, colors you can't tell apart, threads bought for a handful of stitches, endless thread changes. Those are what FLOW finds. The in-depth FLOW Score guide explains the thinking behind each part.

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The score blends four parts:

• Confetti (F, Fragmentation): how many stitches stand alone, away from others of their color.
• Color blocks (L, Locality): whether you can stitch long runs and fill whole areas in one color.
• Palette (O, Optimization): look-alike colors, barely used colors, and how many colors there are.
• Threads to manage (W, Workability): how big the job is: thread count, backstitch, pattern size.

You'll see FLOW in the editor's Check tab and while turning a photo into a pattern in image import, so you can judge a pattern before you even open it in the editor.

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What to fix first

The Check tab already sorts the problems for you. If you'd rather start from what you're noticing:

Each fix is one undo step, so trying one costs nothing.

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The FLOW view

Open the Check tab and the problems come first, under What would help most, weakest part at the top. Parts that are already in good shape sit below under Already fine, so you don't waste time on them. When nothing needs work, you'll see All four are fine.

Each part says in one sentence what's going on, and how serious it is:

The words follow your craft. On a diamond painting the first part is Speckle, on C2C crochet Stray squares, on fuse beads Stray beads.

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Fixing from the view

Each problem has its fixes right under it, so you never have to go looking for the right tool. In the editor, every fix changes your chart and is one undo step.

If Clean up confetti says there's nothing left to clean, the Confetti tool can still go further at a higher strength.

Right after an edit, the fixes are grayed out for a moment while the score catches up. That keeps a fix from acting on a color that has just changed.

See what a fix is worth

Not sure a fix is worth it? Hover over it (or focus it with the keyboard) and the score at the bottom shows If applied with the score you'd get. Nothing changes until you press. After you press, you'll see how far the score moved, such as "+6".

The estimate is close but not always exact, since some fixes make small choices of their own as they run.

Keep a color out of a fix

Sometimes a "barely used" color is exactly the one that matters: the glint in an eye, a single red berry. Merge look-alikes and Remove barely used colors show every color they'd change, each with the color it would become. Tap one to leave it out, and tap again to put it back. The fix's count and the estimate update to match.

Point at a color and it lights up on the chart, with everything else dimmed, so you can see where it's used before deciding.

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Color by color

Want to decide each change yourself? Color by color under the Palette fixes lists every look-alike pair and every barely used color on its own row, with its own Merge or Remove. A barely used color shows how much of the pattern it covers, such as "0.3% of the pattern".

Point at a row to see its colors on the chart and the score that one change would give.

Changed your mind?

After a fix, the view tells you what it did and how the score moved, for example "Merged 3 look-alikes" and "64 → 71", with Undo and Redo right there. You can step back through several fixes this way and watch the score at each step.

Once you edit the pattern by hand, that Undo turns off and the view says Edited since. The editor's own Undo (Cmd/Ctrl+Z) still works as always.

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Before you buy

Nothing spoils a start like finding out a thread was discontinued. If your palette has threads the maker no longer makes, Before you buy lists each one with a current shade to use instead: the maker's suggested substitute, or the closest current shade. Press Switch on one, or Switch all N.

Switching keeps the symbol and every stitch. It doesn't change the score, because a thread you can't buy is a shopping problem, not a stitching one.

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Look-alike symbols

Two colors that touch on the chart can end up with symbols that look alike, such as two similar triangles. On screen the colors tell them apart. On a black-and-white printout, only the symbols do.

When that happens, the Check tab shows a Symbols section listing each pair. Fix gives the smaller color of each pair a new symbol, and Not now leaves them as they are. In the palette, those colors carry a small ≈ mark.

Like Before you buy, this doesn't change the score: it's about reading the chart, not stitching it. To choose the symbols yourself, see Symbol Styles.

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Fast FLOW rescue (5 minutes)

Got a low score and want it fixed quickly? Work down the Check tab:

1. Confetti: point at Clean up confetti to see what it would give, then press it. If it eats detail you care about, undo and use Clean up by hand… with Auto mode and a mask over faces and lettering.
2. Palette: press Merge N look-alikes, then Remove N barely used colors. Leave out any color that should stay first.
3. Threads to manage: still more colors than you want? Press Reduce colors… and pick a target. 20–30 is a good start for most patterns.
4. Leftovers: Remove unused colors in Palette & Color Tools.

Confetti cleanup alone often lifts the score 15–25 points.

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Confetti (F)

Why it matters: every lone stitch means starting and finishing a thread for one X. Lots of them and you lose your rhythm, and the back of your work fills with tails.

Confetti is the heaviest part of the score (30%), because confetti affects every minute of stitching. The card tells you what share of your stitches stand alone.

Fixes: Clean up confetti on the card, or the Confetti Cleanup tool when you want to choose the strength and where it works. Merging look-alikes helps too, since two near-identical colors side by side count as confetti.

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Color blocks (L)

Why it matters: good color blocks let you settle into an area, stitch across a row without changing thread, and fill a shape in one color. Poor ones have you hopping all over the fabric.

Two things count (25% of the score): how many same-color stitches sit in a row (the card gives the average), and how big the same-color areas are.

Color blocks has no fix of its own. Cleaning up confetti and merging look-alikes are what raise it.

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Palette (O)

Why it matters: in a tidy palette every thread earns its place. An untidy one has you buying threads you can't tell apart on fabric, and threads used for a few stitches.

Three things take points off (20% of the score). Each can only take so much, so every color you merge or remove moves the score:

1. Look-alike colors, up to 50 points. Colors that are hard to tell apart on fabric. They count per color, not per pair: five browns that all look alike are four threads to spare. The closer the match, the bigger the cost.
2. Barely used colors, up to 35 points. Colors used for under half a percent of the stitches. Each costs 6 points.
3. Palette size, up to 15 points. One point per color over what's typical for a pattern this size.

The size is a reference point, not a rule: "34 colors. Patterns this size typically have 15–35." A large palette of distinct, well-used colors is a fine pattern. See how many colors a pattern needs.

Fixes: Merge N look-alikes, Remove N barely used colors, or one at a time with Color by color. You can also edit colors yourself in the palette.

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Threads to manage (W)

Why it matters: this part tells you what you're signing up for: how many bobbins, how much backstitch, how big the job is (25% of the score). It's scope, not a flaw. A big pattern with many colors can still stitch beautifully when the other three parts are good.

Three things count:

1. Thread count: up to 20 colors costs nothing. Above that the score drops in steps, by up to 30 points past 40 colors.
2. Backstitch: a lot of backstitch, by length and by number of lines, takes up to 35 points. A pattern with no backstitch gets a 10-point bonus, so adding backstitch lowers this part. Add it where it helps the design anyway.
3. Pattern size: patterns bigger than 250×250 lose up to 20 points.

Fix: Reduce colors… opens Simplify Colors.

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What the numbers mean

The score shows green from 70, yellow from 50, and red below that.

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Where to find it

In the editor: the colored badge with your score at the bottom of the left toolbar opens the Check tab in the right panel. On a short window the badge is hidden; open the Check tab directly.

On a tablet or phone: tap Check on the tool rail (it may be under More). You can still see the chart behind it, so the highlighting from Show on the chart and from pointing at colors stays visible. Fixes that open a tool, like Clean up by hand… or Reduce colors…, close it; the others leave it open so you see the new score.

While turning a photo into a pattern: on the Pattern step of image import, the FLOW score sits at the bottom of the settings and moves as you change them. It opens the same view. Its fixes change the import settings rather than the chart, so they hold when the pattern is remade: Clean up to N%, Show on the pattern, Drop N barely used colors, Try N colors, and Color by color. Some of these don't appear for pixel art, an art color style, or a PDF palette.

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Tips & gotchas

• FLOW is guidance, not a grade. A 60 doesn't mean your pattern is bad, only that it'll take more patience. Some designs are just complex.
• "Looking good" or better? Start stitching. Past 70, extra tuning rarely changes how the pattern feels.
• Confetti first. Cleaning it up is almost always the fastest way to raise the score.
• Point before you press. If applied tells you whether a fix is worth it.
• Keep the colors that matter. Leave a highlight color out of a merge or removal before you press.
• Check before you leave image import. Comparing settings there by their FLOW score saves cleanup later.
• Backstitch lowers Threads to manage. That's scope, not a flaw.
• Style matters. Pixel art or deliberately speckled designs may score lower. FLOW measures stitching comfort, not artistic merit.
• Fixes can trade off. Strong cleanup can soften detail. Use overlay images (U) to compare with the original.