Choose the right settings
Run the setup wizard so Boldbobbin fits your setup from the first design: the rulers show the units you think in, new designs open on your hoop, and color matching suggests the thread brands you own.
The first time you open Boldbobbin, the wizard appears. It asks your language first, then walks you through a few choices so the canvas, hoops, and colors match how you work. The whole thing takes about a minute, and everything you pick here can be changed later in Settings → Preferences.
You don't have to do it. The Welcome step offers two choices:
- Configure now (recommended): step through the wizard.
- Skip: jump straight to the home screen with the defaults. You can change any setting later.
The steps
Select your language
The first screen, before anything else, because it decides what every screen after it says. Boldbobbin has already picked your system's language if it has one, so usually you can just carry on.
Nine are offered: Deutsch, English, Español, Français, Italiano, 日本語, Português (Brasil), 简体中文, and 繁體中文 (Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese are new in v1.4.0). You can change it any time in Settings, or from the switcher in the home screen's footer. See Languages.
This screen is not counted as a wizard step.
1. Pick your units
Metric (millimetres and centimetres) or Imperial (inches). This sets what the canvas rulers and dimension labels show. Default: Metric.
Pick whatever your machine and patterns use. Units only change how sizes are shown, never the size itself, so you can switch later without changing your design. For example, a design 130 mm wide stays exactly that size when you switch: Imperial just shows it in inches on the rulers and dimension labels.
2. Pick your machines (optional)
Choose a brand, then a model, and click Add. Add as many machines as you own. Boldbobbin uses these to offer the right hoop sizes. For example, pick Brother, then your model, and click Add: the next step lists that machine's hoops instead of generic sizes. You can manage machines later in Settings → Machine & Hoops. See Hoops and machines.
3. Pick your default hoop (optional)
Pick the hoop new designs should target. If you added more than one machine, you choose a default hoop per machine, and the active design's hoop snaps to the matching one when you switch machines. You can always change the hoop for a single design from the header dropdown. See Choose a hoop.
4. Pick your thread charts (optional)
Choose the thread brand charts you own (for example Madeira, Isacord, Sulky). These become the threads Boldbobbin matches colors against. For example, if your thread drawer is mostly Isacord, pick Isacord, and matching a color suggests Isacord threads you can actually reach for. Leave it empty to use a generic palette and pick brands later. See Threads and palettes and Match thread colors.
5. You're all set
A summary of what you chose, then Start designing. There is a Back button here too, so you can revisit your picks before committing. Every choice is repeated in Settings → Preferences if you want to change it later.
They were dropped in v1.2.1 to make the first run shorter. Nothing is lost: Boldbobbin still calibrates your display automatically when it starts, your theme is unchanged, and both Theme and Re-calibrate display are in Settings.
What to pick if you're not sure
| Setting | Safe default | When to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Whatever it detected | Any time, from Settings or the home screen footer |
| Units | Metric (mm) | Switch to Imperial if your patterns are in inches |
| Machine | Add yours | So hoop sizes match your real machine |
| Default hoop | Your most-used size | Per design, from the header dropdown |
| Thread charts | Leave empty | Add the brands you actually stitch with |
Two things that are not in the wizard any more, and where they went:
| Setting | Where it lives now |
|---|---|
| Theme | Settings → Appearance & Units. See Customize the theme |
| Calibrate display | Settings → Calibrate Display. See Calibrate your display |
See the full Settings reference for every option in one place.