Text Tool

Basics

Most patterns that carry words carry only a few: a name and a date on a birth sampler, "Home Sweet Home", initials in a corner, a line from a song. The Text tool turns typed words into stitches on your chart, in the font, size and thread color you choose.

Text you place stays editable. Fix a misspelled name, try a different font, or move the date down two rows, without redrawing anything. When it's final you can convert it into ordinary stitches.

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Which font for which job

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Adding text

1. Press T, or click Text in the left toolbar.
2. Pick the thread color for your lettering.
3. Click the chart where the words should go. A piece of text appears there and the text box opens.
4. Type. The chart updates as you type, and pressing Enter starts a new line.
5. Click Done or press Escape when you've finished typing.

To add a second piece of text, click an empty part of the chart to deselect the first, then click again where the new one should go. On a phone or tablet, the text box and font settings are in the Text sheet.

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Choosing a font

Open the font list under the text box. Filter it with Small, Fonts or Backstitch, or search by name. Mark the fonts you reach for most as favorites to find them faster. Your choice applies to the selected text, and to the next text you place.

• Small fonts are pixel alphabets drawn stitch by stitch, in sizes like 3x5 and 5x7. They stay crisp and readable at the smallest sizes, which makes them right for dates, initials and sampler verses.
• Fonts are regular typefaces turned into stitches, including Google Fonts and the fonts on your computer. Script and display faces give names real character, but they need height to look right.
• Backstitch fonts draw letters as lines instead of filled squares: Sans, Serif, Script, Cursive and three Gothic styles. See Backstitch lettering.

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Size, thickness and spacing

How big should lettering be? Big enough to read once stitched. If you squint at it on screen, it will be worse on fabric.

• Small fonts use Scale, x1 to x5. At x1 each dot of the letter is one stitch, at x3 it's a 3×3 block.
• Fonts and Backstitch fonts use Height (squares), 10 to 60, so you can size a title to fit the space you have.
• Thickness (Fonts group only) decides how full the strokes are. Raise it when thin letters break apart, lower it when letters clog together and the holes in "e" and "a" fill in.
• Bold and Italic work for fonts in the Fonts group.
• Letter Spacing opens up or tightens a word. Line Spacing and alignment appear once your text has more than one line.

You can also stitch the letters in half stitches: the stitch type selector next to the color works for text too.

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Backstitch lettering

Backstitched words are a classic finish: a name under a picture, a verse along the bottom of a sampler, or lettering that runs across stitched areas without hiding them.

Pick a font from the Backstitch fonts group. The text is drawn as backstitch lines and shows up with your other backstitch on the chart. Choose the color next to the font, and set the number of strands (two by default). Height, Letter Spacing, Line Spacing, Curve and Warp work as they do for other text. The other effects aren't available for backstitch fonts.

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Outlines, shadows and curves

When words sit on top of a busy picture, or you want a title to look finished, add an effect with Add Effect in the Effects section:

• Outline puts a ring of a second color around each letter, so words stay readable on any background.
• Shadow adds a drop shadow in a second color.
• Gradient fades the letters from one color to another, top to bottom.
• 3D Extrude gives block letters depth.
• Inner Light adds a lighter highlight inside each letter.
• Texture Fill fills the letters with a pattern instead of a flat color.
• Curve bends the line of text into an arch, upward or downward, for a name over a wreath or under a picture.
• Warp stretches the text taller in the middle or at the ends.

Effects use colors from your palette, so pick a color that's already in your thread key or add one first. Each effect can be switched off or removed again, and Small fonts have Curve and Warp right under their size.

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Changing text later

Click a piece of text to select it. Then:

• Drag it to move it, or use the arrow keys to nudge it one stitch at a time.
• Drag the corners to resize it, or the rotate handle to turn it.
• Double-click it to change the words.
• Change the font, size, color or effects in the panel, and the selected text updates.
• Shift+click more text to change several at once.
• Cmd/Ctrl+D duplicates it, handy for a matching line of text.
• Delete removes it.

Right-click text for the same actions, plus moving it to another layer. Every change can be undone with Cmd/Ctrl+Z.

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Converting text to stitches

Select the text and click Convert to Stitches. The letters become ordinary stitches in your pattern, so you can recolor a single stitch, erase a stray one, or blend the lettering into the design around it.

After converting, it's no longer text: you can't change the words or the font. Convert when the wording is final, or undo straight away if you change your mind. You don't have to convert to export: text prints on your chart and in exports as it appears in the editor.

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Common jobs

• A name and date on a birth sampler. A Small font at x1 or x2 for the date, a larger script or backstitch Script for the name. Center both under the main motif, not the fabric edge.
• Initials and the year in a corner. A Small font at x1, in a thread already in your pattern.
• A sampler verse. Type it on several lines, set the alignment to center, and adjust Line Spacing until it fits the band.
• A title over a picture. A bold font with an Outline, or Curve to arch it over the motif.
• Planning notes. Put labels like "Top" or "Repeat here" on their own layer and hide it before exporting.

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Tips & gotchas

• Go bigger than you think. Small text that looks fine on screen can be hard to read in thread.
• Thin fonts break up when small. Choose a chunky font, raise Thickness, or switch to a Small font.
• Busy backgrounds hide words. Add an Outline, place the text on a plain filled shape, or use a backstitch font.
• Check the spelling before you convert. Up to then, fixing a name is a double-click. After, it means redrawing letters.
• Lettering for a gift? Use a separate layer so you can try a few versions and hide the ones you don't use.