Signing in
You can design in Boldbobbin without an account. Sign in when you want to
export a machine file (a free account is enough, as of v1.3.1), or to save
designs to the cloud and open them on another device. If the sign-in dialog
appears because you pressed Save, it also offers Save without signing in,
which writes a local .vemb file instead.
Open the sign-in dialog from the Sign in button (top-right of the window). The dialog is titled "Sign in" and offers two methods.
Continue with Google
Click "Continue with Google". On the web, you're taken to Google's sign-in page and back. On the desktop app, your usual web browser opens for the Google login while the dialog reads "Redirecting…". Finish signing in there (if the browser asks whether to open Boldbobbin, allow it) and the dialog closes by itself: you're signed in, and the app window does not reload.
Signing in with Google, or through the link in the sign-up email, reloads the page. As of v1.3.1 Boldbobbin keeps the design you were working on across that reload and reopens it, still marked unsaved if it was. A save or an export that was waiting for the sign-in then carries on. Before v1.3.1 you came back to an empty editor.
Email and password
The dialog has "Sign in" and "Sign up" tabs.
- Sign up: enter your Email and a Password (at least 8 characters), then "Create account". Boldbobbin sends a confirmation email: "Check <your email> to confirm your account. The link will sign you into Boldbobbin." You must confirm before you can sign in.
- Sign in: enter your email and password and click "Sign in".
- Forgot password? opens a reset form: enter your email and click "Send reset link". If an account exists, a reset link is emailed to you.
After signing in
Your email and current plan appear in the account badge. To sign out, open the same badge and choose "Sign out".
The badge names one of six plans: Free, Pro, Lifetime, Bullis, Business, or Max. It always shows exactly one: if you have your own plan and also a seat in an organization, you get the better of the two, so it never reads "Pro and Business". The menu also lists your credit balance for advanced auto-digitize; credits that come from an organization are listed under the organization's name. See Plans and credits.
If the badge reads Not verified, Boldbobbin could not check your plan. There is a Try again button; paid features may be unavailable until it succeeds.
If you see "Cloud is not configured (missing env vars).", this copy of Boldbobbin has no cloud connection set up (it is not about your internet): the editor still works, but cloud sign-in and saving are unavailable. See Sign-in problems.
Team invitations
If someone has invited you to a team, a row appears across the top of the window on every screen, naming who invited you and their email address, with Accept and Decline. Accepting refreshes your plan, your credits, and the team's library immediately, with no restart. See Work in a team library.
What needs an account
| Works without signing in | Needs an account |
|---|---|
| Drawing, stitches, Properties panel, palettes | Saving a design to the cloud |
Local .vemb save / open, autosave drafts | The My designs cloud list |
| Importing | Opening your designs on another device |
| Exporting a machine file (new in v1.3.1; a free account is enough) | |
| Making and editing your own fonts | Publishing a design to the community gallery |
| Keeping your own fonts with your account | |
| Advanced auto-digitize (it runs on a server) | |
| Chatting with Bobby, the assistant (new in v1.4.0) | |
| Joining a team and using its team library |
You start a design in the desktop app at home and want to finish it on a laptop at a craft fair.
- At home, sign in, press Save, and choose Save to Cloud (or use File → Save as → Save on cloud if this design already saves to your computer).
- On the laptop, open the desktop app or app.boldbobbin.com and sign in with the same account.
- On the home screen, open Browse Cloud and click the design in My designs.
A font you make belongs to the account that made it. Signing out hides your fonts rather than deleting them, and signing back in returns them. See Fonts and lettering.
Next: Create your first design.