FLOW Score

Basics

FLOW is your pattern's stitching comfort score. It helps you spot why a pattern feels messy — and gives you fast, practical fixes. The in-depth FLOW Score guide covers the concepts behind each sub-score and how they translate to real stitching experience.

Video Placeholder

A pattern can look good on screen and still feel awful to stitch: too much confetti, too many colors, muddy outlines, or noisy gradients. FLOW highlights the biggest pain points and shows you what to fix first.

FLOW is a weighted blend of four sub-scores. Each one flags a different kind of annoying:

• F — Fragmentation: how much confetti (lonely speckle stitches)
• L — Locality: how well same-color stitches are grouped together
• O — Optimization: whether your palette is clean and efficient
• W — Workability: practical complexity (size, color count, backstitch density)

---

The 4 things FLOW measures

FLOW answers one question: how enjoyable will this pattern be to stitch?

Patterns with high FLOW scores have well-grouped colors, minimal confetti, clean palettes, and manageable complexity. Low-scoring patterns have scattered stitches, near-duplicate colors, and constant thread changes.

The four sub-scores combine into a single number. Each one is scored 0–100, and the ones that affect every minute of stitching are weighted heavier.

---

Fast FLOW rescue (5 minutes)

If your score is low, this recipe usually gets you most of the way:

1. Turn on ConfettiScope (Shift+C) — find the hotspots.
2. Run Confetti Cleanup — Auto mode, start around 50% strength, preview, apply.
3. Simplify Colors — reduce to your target (20–30 is a great starting point for most patterns).
4. Remove unused colors — one-click cleanup.
5. Add Backstitch to areas that need crispness — faces, text, borders.

Check the score after each step. You'll often see it jump 15–25 points from confetti cleanup alone.

---

F — Fragmentation (confetti)

What it feels like: You're constantly swapping threads for single stitches and losing your rhythm. Every isolated stitch means starting and stopping a thread.

Fragmentation is the heaviest-weighted sub-score because confetti affects every minute of stitching.

What good looks like:

Fast fixes:

• Run Confetti Cleanup (start ~50% strength, preview, apply).
• Use Simplify Colors to merge rarely-used colors.
• For text or faces: use Mask in Auto cleanup to protect details.

---

L — Locality (color grouping)

What it feels like: Good locality means you can settle into a zone — stitch across a row without changing thread, fill a whole area in one color. Bad locality means you're jumping all over the pattern.

Two things contribute:

• Run length: How many same-color stitches you can stitch in a row before changing thread. Longer runs = more satisfying stitching.
• Region size: How big same-color areas are. Bigger regions = more zone time, less jumping.

What good looks like:

Fast fixes:

• Merge similar colors (reduces color fragmentation).
• Confetti Cleanup (consolidates scattered stitches).
• Simplify Colors to reduce the palette.

---

O — Optimization (palette efficiency)

What it feels like: An optimized palette means every color earns its place. An unoptimized palette has near-duplicate threads you can't tell apart, barely-used colors that add hassle for no visual payoff, and more threads than necessary.

Three things drag it down:

1. Near-duplicate colors — Two threads that look almost identical. The closer they are, the bigger the penalty.
2. Barely-used colors — A color used for less than 0.5% of total stitches. It's probably not adding much but it's adding a thread to manage.
3. Too many colors — More colors than recommended for the pattern size. Past a point, it becomes constant re-threading and clutter.

Fast fixes:

• Click "Fix it" on redundant color issues in the FLOW panel — merges the pair in one click.
• Remove unused colors.
• Simplify Colors to reduce the palette.
• Replace or remove barely-used colors from the palette.

---

W — Workability (practical complexity)

What it feels like: Workability tells you what you're getting into — how much thread management, backstitch work, and sheer pattern size you're dealing with.

Three things contribute:

1. Thread count — More colors = more bobbins to manage. Up to 20 colors is free; above that, the score decreases gradually.
2. Backstitch density — Lots of backstitch adds execution time. No backstitch at all gets a small bonus.
3. Pattern size — Bigger patterns take longer. This isn't a flaw, just a reality.

Important: Workability isn't a quality problem — it's information. A large pattern with many colors can still be excellent to stitch if F, L, and O are high. W just tells you the scope.

---

What the numbers mean

The badge in the toolbar is color-coded to match. Green at a glance = you're in good shape.

---

Difficulty classification

FLOW also classifies your pattern into a difficulty level based on the composite score, color count, and pattern size. All three criteria must be met:

This classification appears in the FLOW panel and can be included in PDF exports.

---

Issues list

The FLOW panel includes an expandable issues list — specific, actionable problems detected in your pattern. Issues are sorted by severity: most impactful first.

The "Fix it" button on near-duplicate color issues merges the pair automatically — one click to improve your score.

Screenshot Placeholder

---

Where to find it

Desktop editor:

• Left toolbar badge — A color-coded circle at the bottom of the toolbar showing your composite score. Click to open the full panel.
• Right panel → Analysis tab — The full FLOW panel with all four sub-scores and the issues list.

Import mode:

• Floating indicator — A small badge near the zoom controls. Click to expand into a mini FLOW panel. Updates live as you adjust import settings.

Mobile editor:

• Bottom bar — Tap the FLOW entry to open the score breakdown with issues list.

The score updates in real time as you edit. Confetti cleanup, color merges, palette changes — the badge reflects the impact immediately.

Screenshot Placeholder

---

Tips & gotchas

• FLOW is guidance, not law. A score of 60 doesn't mean your pattern is bad — it means it'll be harder to stitch. Some designs are naturally complex.
• Fragmentation has the biggest impact. Confetti cleanup is almost always the fastest way to boost your score.
• The score updates live. Every edit is reflected immediately. Watch the badge while you work.
• Issues have "Fix it" buttons. For near-duplicate colors, one click merges the pair.
• Import mode shows FLOW too. Before you even open the editor, the import preview shows FLOW. Use it to compare different import settings.
• Workability isn't a quality problem. A 500×500 pattern with 50 colors will score lower on W — that's information, not a flaw.
• Style matters. Pixel art or intentionally speckled patterns may score lower — that doesn't mean they're wrong. FLOW measures stitching comfort, not artistic merit.
• Improvements can trade off. Aggressive smoothing can soften details. Always preview before applying, and use Overlay (U) to compare against the original.
• Green badge = ship it. If the badge is green (85+), the pattern is in great shape. Stop optimizing and start stitching.