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Settings

Open with Settings → Preferences… (Ctrl/Cmd+,). The dialog has seven tabs: Appearance & Units, Parameters, Machine & Hoops, Calibrate Display, Threads, Keyboard Shortcuts, and Graphics. Most changes apply when you click Save; a few (language, machines) apply immediately. Reset to defaults restores the form to defaults.

Appearance & Units​

  • Theme: a grid of theme swatches under Light and Dark, plus your Custom themes. Customize… / Edit theme… opens the theme editor. See Customize the theme. Default: Boldbobbin.
  • Unit system: Metric (mm) or Imperial (in). Default: Metric.
  • Language: Deutsch, English, Español, Français, Italiano, 简体中文 (Simplified Chinese), and 繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese). The choice applies live so you can judge a translation before committing to it, and Cancel puts it back. On a fresh install Boldbobbin starts in your system's language if it has one. See Languages.
  • Fabric preset: Cotton, Polyester, Denim, Knit / Jersey, Organza / Sheer, or Felt. Sets the default new projects start with; each project remembers its own fabric preset from then on (change it per-project from the header's Fabric dropdown, next to Machine and Hoop). Default: Cotton. See Stitch types.

Parameters​

The sections appear in this order.

  • Connection: how Boldbobbin treats the gap between consecutive same-color stitch blocks, and how a connected gap is actually stitched.
    • Auto-connect below (mm): default 3. Gaps this short are bridged with real running stitches.
    • Auto-trim below (mm): default 10. Gaps between the two thresholds become jumps; anything longer is trimmed.
    • Running stitch length (mm): default 2, minimum 0.1. The stitch length used for those bridges. A gap shorter than twice this length is a single straight stitch; lowering it splits bridges into several stitches. This length is written into exported machine files.
  • Boolean cleanup → Weld tolerance (mm): when a Union or Intersection (see Tools) leaves a hairline sliver where shapes shared a border, borders and slivers narrower than this are dissolved automatically. Default 0.1 mm (below stitch resolution, so visible geometry doesn't change), maximum 5. Set to 0 to disable the cleanup, or raise it if a border that should merge still leaves a gap.
  • Autosave → Interval (seconds): default 30, range 5–600.
  • Stitch cache → Memory budget (MB): keeps generated stitches in memory so undo, redo, and reopening a design don't have to regenerate them every time, trading a little RAM for a snappier history. Default 32, up to 1024. Larger values remember more of your edit history; set to 0 to turn the cache off.
  • Ties on new objects: ties are the small back-and-forth stitches that anchor the thread so it can't pull out. Every object carries its own tie settings; what you set here is only the value a newly drawn object starts with, and changing it never touches an object you already made. Edit an existing object's ties in its Properties panel or from the essentials bar. See Ties.
  • Snapping: aligns objects you draw or drag to other objects, the grid, and the hoop. Default: off. Hold Ctrl or Cmd during a gesture to flip it for that one action.
    • When on, choose which targets it aligns to: Align to grid, Align to hoop, Align to other objects (each independent, all on by default).
    • Show alignment guides: draw the guide lines and × markers that show what you lined up with. Turn it off to keep snapping active but hide the overlay. Default: on.

Machine & Hoops​

Changes on this tab and on Keyboard Shortcuts save immediately, and Reset to defaults leaves them (along with display calibration, custom themes, and the panel layout) alone.

Add the machines and hoops you own. + Add machine offers two ways under How to add the machine:

  • From catalog: pick a Brand and Model, then check the hoops under Hoops you own.
  • Custom machine: name a machine that isn't in the catalog and Create machine.

For either, + Add custom hoop defines a hoop by name, width and height (mm), and shape (Rectangle or Oval). Set a default machine and hoop. See Choose a hoop. Changes here save immediately.

Calibrate Display​

Shows your current display PPI and whether it's Calibrated or Using fallback (96 PPI). Re-calibrate display… opens the calibration dialog. See Calibrate your display.

Threads​

Pick the thread brand charts you own; these become the threads available for matching. Empty = a generic palette. See Threads and palettes.

Keyboard Shortcuts​

Remap command shortcuts and pick a Preset: Illustrator (default), Affinity Designer, or Inkscape. Click Change on a command and press the keys; Unbind, Reset, and Reset all to defaults manage them. See Customizing shortcuts.

Graphics​

Device-local rendering quality (depends on your GPU; not synced).

  • Quality preset: Low (no anti-aliasing), Balanced (4× MSAA, the default), or High (2× supersampling). "Custom" appears if your advanced knobs match no preset.
  • Advanced
    • Anti-aliasing: None, MSAA, or SSAA. Changing this rebuilds the GPU surface.
    • Stitch width: 0.6–2.0 px; how wide stitches are drawn. Applies live.

Languages​

Boldbobbin speaks seven languages. On a fresh install it picks yours from your operating system rather than starting everyone in English, and language is the first screen of the setup wizard, above the welcome text. There is also a switcher in the home screen's footer, next to Settings.

The translation reaches the whole app, not just the panels: menus, tooltips, the command palette, the shortcut sheet, and right-click menus all follow the active language. Numbers and dates are written the way your language writes them, so a French, German, Italian or Spanish reader sees 1.234,5 where an English reader sees 1,234.5.

A few things stay in English on purpose:

  • Machine and thread-brand names, and the language names themselves (Deutsch stays Deutsch).
  • Palette color names, because the color name is written into an exported PES or DST file as the thread name. A French user's export would otherwise carry French thread names onto someone else's machine.
  • Anything you typed yourself, such as a theme you named.
The newest screens may still be in English

The six non-English languages are complete for everything that shipped up to v1.2.3. The newest strings, mostly the pixel editor and the getting-started walkthrough, fall back to English where a translation isn't in yet. That's a fallback, not a bug: a visible English string beats a blank control.

Where settings are stored​

Settings are saved in your browser/app local storage. Graphics, tool defaults, and display calibration are specific to the device you're on.