Here is a video that is very helpful

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Wilfred Davidson
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1 This lesson from The Electric Quilt Company accompanies the Electric Quilt s article, Playing with Color and Fabric Choices in EQ7, on page 80 in the Summer 2016 issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited. Enjoy! Download the EQ7 project that accompanies this lesson HERE. Requires EQ7. Scanning Fabrics Here is a video that is very helpful EQ7 has the ability to scale the fabric to the appropriate size automatically. This means your image of your block or quilt on the screen truly represents the way your block or quilt will look when you sew it with actual fabrics. 1. Lay the fabric flat on the scanner bed. The larger the fabric swatch the better, for you'll be able to crop to the repeat more easily. 2. Set the resolution of your scan to 72 dots per inch (72 dpi or 72 pixels per inch). 3. If your scanner software has a descreening option, turn it on. This will help reduce the amount of moiré produced in the scan. (Moiré is an interference pattern of dots which creates a wavelike appearance in the scan.) 4. Scan a piece of fabric that you want to use in EQ7. Please refer to your scanner/image editing program documentation for more detailed instructions. 5. Save the scan to your computer. 6. Open EQ7. 7. Click WORKTABLE > Work on Image. 8. Click IMAGE > Import Image. 9. Click the drop-down list next to Look in: Navigate to find the saved fabric scan. Click to select it, then click Open. 10. If your fabric looks crooked, click the Twist tool. 11. Enter a number in the Rotate box on the precision bar. A positive number will rotate clockwise, a negative number will rotate counter-clockwise. (Example: -0.5 for a small adjustment) 12. Click the Rotate button. 13. Click Add to Sketchbook. 14. Click the Crop tool.

15. On the Precision Bar at the top, type 3.000 for both Width and Height.

Hover your mouse over the crop box on your fabric.

2 15. On the Precision Bar at the top, type for both Width and Height. (Your crop does not have to be square, so if you get a better repeat with a 3" x 5" crop box, for example, use that instead.) 16. Hover your mouse over the crop box on your fabric. When you see a 4-headed arrow, then click, hold and drag the 3"x3" crop box around on the image until you find the best placement for the crop. Try finding the repeat in the fabric. (In other words, try not to crop through a design on the fabric. This is often unavoidable, though.) 17. Click the Apply Crop tool, click Enter, or double-click on the image to complete the crop.

3 18. Click IMAGE > Color and choose any of the Color Adjustment options to adjust the color of your fabric, if necessary. 19. Click Add to Sketchbook to save this version of your scan as an image. 20. Click IMAGE > Add to Sketchbook as Fabric. A copy of the fabric scan is now a "fabric" rather than an "image" in the Fabrics section of the Sketchbook. Please note The suggested 3"x3" crop is to keep your file sizes as low as possible. The 3"x3" image is about 225 pixels by 225 pixels which is a fairly small file. You can make your crop selection any size or shape you want, but remember, the larger the image, the slower your computer may be. Do NOT use IMAGE > Image Resize when working with fabric. When you change the size of the image, you are changing the scale of the fabric so it won't be true to scale when you use it in your quilt. Setting the crop width and height is the best way to change the size of your fabric because it "cuts out" unwanted fabric, rather than shrinking it to a smaller size. To keep file sizes as small as possible, fabric in EQ7 "tiles" (repeats) the small fabric design you save, in order to simulate the effect of a large piece of fabric on your quilt. You can make this tiling less noticeable if you find your fabric's design repeat, and spend time cropping your scan at the appropriate place. But remember it is important to keep the cropped image as small as possible. Small repeats mean small files (which is good). Large repeats mean large files (which can slow your computer). If you want or need to use the GIF or PNG file format for importing scanned fabric, you will need to make sure that you scan at 96 dpi. These two file formats require scanning at 96 dpi if you want the fabric to be the appropriate scale (size) in EQ7. All the other formats should be scanned at 72 dpi. Importing Scanned Fabrics (without Editing) EQ7 lets you import several file types into the Fabric Library: Windows Bitmaps, GIFs, JPEGs, PNGs, and TIFFs. See Scanning Fabrics (above) to learn how to scan and edit your own fabrics. 1. Click LIBRARIES > Fabric Library 2. Click Import > From Image Files. The Import from Fabric Scans dialog box will be displayed.

3. Click the drop-down list next to Files of type. Choose the image type in which the files are saved. Leaving the option on Image Files will display all image types at once. 4.

Click to select the files you want to import.

4 3. Click the drop-down list next to Files of type. Choose the image type in which the files are saved. Leaving the option on Image Files will display all image types at once. 4. Click the drop-down list next to Look in. Navigate to find the folder containing the fabric scans you wish to import. The fabric files will display in the dialog box. 5. Click to select the files you want to import. You can multiple-select by holding the Shift key and selecting a range of files, or by holding the Ctrl key and clicking on the individual files you want to import. 6. Click Open. The fabric scans will be displayed in the Import Results section of the Fabric Library. 7. Click to select the fabrics you want to add to this project, then click Add to Sketchbook. To select all at once, press CTRL+A on your keyboard. 8. These are the fabric scans imported to the Import Results section of the Fabric Library in EQ7. Don't forget to add these fabrics to your Sketchbook!

Importing Fabrics from Manufacturer s Websites Lots of fabric images on the internet are perfect for putting right into EQ7! For our example we are using Erin McMorris Noe line by FreeSpirit. 1.

5 Importing Fabrics from Manufacturer s Websites Lots of fabric images on the internet are perfect for putting right into EQ7! For our example we are using Erin McMorris Noe line by FreeSpirit. 1. Go to the website 2. Right click on the first (larger) image on the left. 3. Select Save Image As and navigate to where you would like the fabric saved. 4. Click Save. 5. Click on the next fabric swatch to make it larger then repeat Steps 2-4.

When you have saved all the swatches you want 1. Open EQ7 2. Click Libraries > Fabric Libraries. 3. Click Import > From Image Files. 4. Click the drop-down list next to Files of type.

6 When you have saved all the swatches you want 1. Open EQ7 2. Click Libraries > Fabric Libraries. 3. Click Import > From Image Files. 4. Click the drop-down list next to Files of type. Choose the image type in which the files are saved. Leaving the option on Image Files will display all image types at once. 5. Click the drop-down list next to Look in. Navigate to find the folder containing the fabric files you wish to import. 6. Click Open. 7. Click to select the fabrics you want to add to this project, then click Add to Sketchbook. To select all at once, press CTRL+A on your keyboard. Please note All fabric manufacturer s websites are different. Steps for saving images will vary. The Electric Quilt Company cannot guarantee that the manufacturer s websites fabric swatches are to scale. Importing Downloads from Manufacturer s Websites Some fabric manufacturers even have downloads already made specifically for EQ7!

For our example we are using Michele Scott s Calypso Surf line by Northcott. 1. Go to the website http://www.northcott.net/productdetail.aspx?fbid=1&colid=791&colorid=1236 2.

7 For our example we are using Michele Scott s Calypso Surf line by Northcott. 1. Go to the website 2. Click the Download Fabrics for EQ button. 3. Open your Downloads folder and copy the Calypso-Surf-722.zip file to your desktop. 4. Right click on the folder and choose Extract All 5. Open EQ7 6. Click Libraries > Fabric Libraries. 7. Click Import > From Image Files. 8. Click the drop-down list next to Look in. Navigate to find the Calypso-Surf-722 folder. 9. Click Open. 10. Click to select the fabrics you want to add to this project, then click Add to Sketchbook. To select all at once, press CTRL+A on your keyboard. Please note

8 All fabric manufacturer s websites are different. Steps for saving downloads will vary. The Electric Quilt Company cannot guarantee that the manufacturer s websites fabric downloads are to scale. Download Free Fabric Every Month from ElectricQuilt.com 1. Go to website 2. Hover your mouse over the Fabric of the Month button beneath the collection you want download. 3. Select the icon that corresponds to the operating system on which you wish to install the files. If prompted, click Save. The installer file will begin downloading. 4. Once the installer has downloaded completely, open your computer s Downloads folder to locate the file. These installer files will look something like this: Fabric of the Month 2016 January.exe (Windows) OR Fabric of the Month 2016 January.pkg (Mac) 5. Double-click on the file to start the installation. Follow the prompts. 6. When installation is complete, open EQ7 > Libraries > Fabric Library. Your new fabrics will show up below the EQ7 libraries. If you currently have EQ7 open, please close and reopen to see the new fabrics in your Fabric Library.

Click LIBRARIES > Fabric Libraries 2. Click Search > By Color.

9 Search by Color in EQ7 Searching by color is fun and can be helpful when you're trying to find that perfect green fabric for your quilt. 1. Click LIBRARIES > Fabric Libraries 2. Click Search > By Color. The Search by Color dialog box will display giving you options for your search.

10 3. Put a check next to the libraries you want to search through. This list shows the EQ7 library as well as any other libraries you may have linked. 4. Enter the number of results you want from your search. The higher the number, the longer the search will take. Allowable values are Click on the down arrow next to the color swatch. A color box will display. Choose the color you want to search for. Use the scrollbar at the bottom of the color box to see all the color options. 6. Click Search. A blue progress bar will appear at the bottom-left of your screen indicating the search progress. 7. When the search is finished, a prompt will display telling you how many fabrics were found. Click OK. The fabrics will be displayed in the Search Results section of the Fabric Library. 8. Click to select the fabrics you want to add to this project, then click Add to Sketchbook. The Electric Quilt turns 25 in 2016 and is going all out! Prizes, contests and more! See here for more info! As always contact techsupport@electricquilt.com or for EQ questions or issues.

Generations Automatic Stand-Alone Lace By Bernie Griffith Generations Software

Generations Automatic Stand-Alone Lace By Bernie Griffith Generations Software We are going to create an open Italian lace. Generations software products provide advanced image processing features allowing for the creation of stand-alone lace with just a few simple techniques. A