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Realistic mode is unavailable

The Realistic render mode previews thread with lighting and depth. It needs WebGPU. If the Realistic button is disabled, your browser or device doesn't have WebGPU available.

What you can do:

  • Use Vector and Stitch modes: they don't need WebGPU and show everything you need to design and check stitches.
  • On the web, use an up-to-date browser. WebGPU is on by default in current Chrome and Edge (version 113 and later), Firefox (on Windows and Apple-silicon Macs), and Safari (macOS 26 / iOS 26 and later). It is usually not available on Linux (you can enable it behind a browser flag such as chrome://flags/#enable-unsafe-webgpu), on older Intel Macs, or in older mobile browsers. If the button is greyed out, update your browser, or try a recent version of Chrome.
  • On the desktop app, Realistic mode depends on your system's graphics support.

Also note: Vector mode is locked while a stitch animation is playing, since there is nothing to animate there. Stitch and Realistic stay switchable, so you can watch the playback in either look.

WebGPU matters in two other places:

  • Publishing needs a preview image, and previews are rendered on the GPU. A design has to be saved once from a computer that supports WebGPU before it can be published.
  • The Realistic preview in the Add shape dialog, the text dialog, and the pixel editor needs it too, and says so where it is unavailable.