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Render modes

Boldbobbin shows your design three ways. The switch sits in the top-right of the canvas, above the stitch overlays; cycle through the modes with Shift+S. (It used to live in the header; it moved in v1.2.2, so mode-switching happens where you are looking.)

Show paths as editable outlines: the design's geometry, not its stitches.
The same leaf shown in each mode, using the app's real toggle icons. Cycle modes in the app with Shift+S. The preview is a teaching diagram, not the app's GPU renderer.
  • Vector: paths as editable outlines. This is the geometry you edit.
  • Stitch: the generated stitches, the way the machine will sew them.
  • Realistic: the thread with lighting and depth, for a true-to-life preview.

Connecting stitches in Realistic mode​

Where two same-color shapes sit close enough to be connected rather than jumped or trimmed, Boldbobbin bridges the gap with real running stitches (see Settings → Connection). Realistic mode draws those bridge stitches like any other thread, so the preview matches what the machine will actually sew, and the stitch animation walks across them a stitch at a time instead of skipping the gap.

Realistic mode needs WebGPU​

Realistic mode requires WebGPU. If your browser or device doesn't support it, the Realistic button is disabled; Vector and Stitch still work. See Realistic mode is unavailable.

Stitch overlays​

Three overlays sit under the render-mode switch. All three are Stitch mode only: vector mode has no machine stitches to inspect, and realistic mode does not draw jumps or trims at all.

  • Vector / Stitch / Realistic (Shift+S cycles): the three ways of looking at the design. Always shown.
  • Jumps (Shift+J): show jump stitches, the needle's travel moves between shapes. Stitch mode only.
  • Trims (Shift+T): mark thread-trim points, where the machine cuts the connecting thread. Stitch mode only.
  • Points (Shift+P): ring every point the needle comes down. Stitch mode only.
Reproduction of the canvas HUD, using the app's real icons. The render-mode switch sits on top; the three stitch overlays sit beneath it and appear in Stitch mode only.
  • Jumps (Shift+J): the needle's travel moves between shapes. The button wears a frog, which reads as "jump" at a glance.
  • Trims (Shift+T): where the machine cuts the connecting thread.
  • Points (Shift+P): a ring at every point the needle comes down. Each ring is drawn against its own thread, so it reads on a thread of any color and on a light or dark canvas.

Jumps and trims show inside a word too, which is where they earn their keep, since a digitized word's travel is all internal. And clicking any object reveals its own jumps and trims without turning an overlay on first.

Stitch mode also shows each object's entry and exit markers and the connectors that travel between objects, so you can see where stitching starts, ends, and jumps. See Vectors vs. stitches for stitch vertex types.

Snapping and Guides left this HUD

They had toggles here until v1.2.2. Snapping is now reached with Shift+Y or from Settings, and a guide is hidden like any other object, from the Layers panel.

Animating the stitch-out​

Animate, on the bottom bar, plays your design stitching out from start to finish in a drawer above the bar. It is a per-color timeline: one lane per color block, laid out in the order the machine sews, with jumps and trims marked on it and an optional needle cursor showing where the machine is. You can switch between Stitch and Realistic views mid-playback and set the playback speed; Vector mode can't animate. You can also export the animation as a video. See Export a video.