Help! The Design is Missing Color Changes!
If you find that you open a design or upload it to your machine and it has fewer color changes than the color change sheet (or if your machine doesn't recognize a color stop and proceeds without allowing you to change thread), review the following for possible explanation/corrective action. Please note that this information applies to the number of color *changes*, not the number of colors used in a design.
Color-sorting, or merging of color fields. Check to make sure that your software isn't color-sorting, or joining same consecutive color fields. Even if your software has a "smart" color sort function, it may produce less-than-smart results. If you're using Embird, go into "Editor" mode and click on "options." There's a line there that says "join same consecutive color fields." Make sure that line is not checked. Download a fresh copy of the design again from your order history, and open it to confirm that the number of color changes in the design are the same as reflected on the color change sheet.
Using the HUS format The HUS format has a small color palette, and as a result, subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences in color are seen by the HUS format as the same color. For example, see this image to the right. Notice all the blue and orange colors -- on the color change sheet, the colors are light blue and smoky blue, but the HUS format reads them as the same: blue. Other colors are dark red, orange red, and red, but the HUS format reads them as "orange."
If the HUS format thinks that the same color is in two adjacent fields, then your machine or software might be merging them together to save you the trouble of stopping and changing thread. It's nice and considerate...but doesn't usually get a good result. Try an alternate format. If you're using a Designer 1 machine, see if your software can read the VIP format. You can change the format in your order history to VIP and download the new format at no charge. If your software does not read VIP, then choose the DST format and convert to SHV from that format. If you're using an SE machine, then the VIP format is preferred, so use that format instead of HUS. If you're using a Designer II, Rose, or Iris, those machines read HUS only. If you have conversion software, download the DST format and convert to HUS, and that should solve the problem.
Machine doesn't stop for color changes Some embroidery machines (most notably the Husqvarna Viking machines) have a "stop" button -- and if that "stop" button is turned off, then your machine won't stop for color changes. Refer to your machine's owner's manual to find the location of the "stop" button.
Using the Artista Editor software Sometimes folks who use the Artista Editor software will misinterpret the information in the software and believe that color changes are missing, when in reality they are not.
Here is an example. This is a screenshot of how a design looks in the Artista software. The color change sheet shows 23 color changes.
If you click "Settings" and "Thread Colors," the Artista software will show 12 colors. These are not color *changes*, these are simply the number of colors that the Artista software thinks are in the design. Because the colors that the Artista software shows are not the same as the color of thread that we use in the sewout, neither the colors nor the number of colors are expected to match between the color change sheet and the software. Confirm that the number of color *changes* are accurately reflected in the software, and then embroider the design according to the colors on the color change sheet that we provide for the design (or choose your own colors, whichever you prefer).
The number of color changes should -- and must match. To find the number of color changes in the design, click on "File" and "Design Properties." The number of color changes are listed there. Please note that the Artista Editor software does not count the first color as a "change." If a design has 23 color changes, the Artista software will show it as having 22 color changes.
Editing the design Sometimes even the smallest changes (even as minor as rotating, or adding text to a design) can result in a color change being dropped or color fields merged together. Download the design from your order history, and upload it into your machine without editing it. If the number of color changes match the color change sheet before the design is edited, then the problem results from editing. Contact the makers of your editing software to find a solution to the problem.
If you have questions about this information, or if the above information doesn't address your question, please write to us at stitch@emblibrary.com. Include: **Your order number **The name of the design **The type of machine you have, as well as the software that you use to open and edit the design. Include all of this information.