Objects and layers
A design is a stack of objects. The Layers panel (right side) lists them. Read this page to know what each kind of object does when it sews, and to control the order the machine sews them in, which decides what ends up on top.
Kinds of object
- Vector: an editable outline (a shape, a pen path, a satin column, or text). Vectors generate stitches. See Vectors vs. stitches.
- Line art: a drawing made of lines, sewn in one thread. You draw the lines, and the route the thread takes along them is planned again every time you edit or resize the drawing. New in v1.3.3. See Draw line art.
- Pixel sprite: a grid of colored cells you paint, which stitches out as crosses or small satin blocks. It is one object in this list, but the machine sews it one color at a time. See Create pixel art.
- Stitch block: actual stitches, either generated and "frozen" from a vector or imported from an embroidery file.
- Reference image: a raster image you trace over. It is not stitched; the Layers panel tags it "ref".
Guides (measured lines and shape outlines drawn with the Ruler) also appear in the Layers panel, tagged "guide". Like reference images, they're not stitched.
Order matters
The order in the Layers panel is the stitch order: the order the machine sews. The bottom row is sewn first and sits under the rows above it. Each row shows a stitch-order number.
For example, for a white name on a navy patch, the patch has to sew first so the name lands on top of it. If the name sews first, drag the patch's row below the name's, or select the patch and use Send to back.
Reorder by dragging, or use:
- Send forward (Ctrl/Cmd+]) / Send backward (Ctrl/Cmd+[)
- Send to front (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+]) / Send to back (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+[)
Visibility and lock
Each object can be hidden (eye toggle) or locked. A locked object can't be selected or edited on the canvas until you unlock it.
The Layers panel has a toolbar of bulk controls:
- Hide selected, Hide all, and Show all act on the whole design, and Deselect clears the current selection.
- Hide other colors hides every part whose color isn't in your current selection, so you can focus on one color at a time.
- Hide non-selected hides everything that isn't selected, leaving only the selected shapes visible, so you can isolate them.
- Optimize entry/exit moves where the thread enters and leaves shapes so the machine travels less between shapes of the same color that sew one after another. It works on your selection, or on the whole design when nothing is selected. See Entry and exit.
- Shift-click two rows to select the whole range between them.
Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+H is a one-key way back to a visible scene: it hides the selection if you have one, hides everything if nothing is selected, and reveals all whenever anything is hidden.
Groups (folders)
Group selected objects with Group selection (Ctrl/Cmd+G) and split them again with Ungroup (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G). A group moves, resizes, and rotates as one, and in the Properties panel it can carry a Color override and a Fill opacity for everything inside it. The Properties panel's Bake folder action makes those permanent: it applies the group's move, resize, rotation, and overrides to each object inside. It asks first, and you can undo it.
Two Convert to actions also produce folders rather than a single object:
- Inner satin → Satin columns: a folder of real satin columns and running Travel objects, in sewing order.
- A sprite → Connected component layers: a folder of sprites, one per connected blob of color.
Scene panel
The Layers panel emphasizes stitch order as a flat list. The Scene panel (toggle it from the Window menu) shows the same design as a folder tree instead: groups appear as collapsible headers with their member objects indented underneath, so you can see and manage structure rather than sew order. Click a folder to select everything inside it; New Group and Ungroup buttons are there too. Visibility and lock toggles match the Layers panel.
New in v1.3.0: each panel carries a small ? that says what it is for, since a flat list and a folder tree of the same design look more alike than they are.
- Layers: the sewing order. "Every part of the design in the order the machine sews it, bottom row first. Each row previews its part, and moving a row changes when that part sews."
- Scene: how the design is organized. "Groups of parts that move, hide and lock together. This is organization only: regrouping or reordering here does not change the order the machine sews in."
That last line is the one to remember: reordering in Scene does not change the stitch order. Only Layers does that.
Arranging the panels
Boldbobbin's side panels start in one right-hand column: Layers and Scene tabbed together on top, Properties below, with Chat (new in v1.4.0, where you talk to Bobby) as a tab beside Properties. (Thread colors are not a panel: they live on the bottom bar.)
Drag a panel's tab to move it: to another group, or to any edge of the editor to dock it there. Drag the divider to resize. Close a panel with the × on its tab, and get it back from the Window menu or the + button in any tab bar ("Add a panel here"), which offers whatever is currently closed. The Window menu lists Layers, Scene, and Properties only; bring Chat back with the + button or Ask Bobby in the header.
A panel stays the size you leave it, its tabs stay along the top wherever you dock it, and closing or re-opening one won't resize the others. Window → Reset panel layout puts everything back.
Selecting
Use the Select tool (V): click an object, Shift-click to add, drag a marquee to select an area. The Lasso (Q in the default preset) selects inside a freehand boundary, and Color select (C) picks every object of one color. When you select something, the floating action bar appears with common actions, and the essentials bar at the top of the canvas fills with its settings.