TruEmbroidery; 3 Software Newsletter August 2017

Welcome to the TruEmbroidery™ 3 newsletter. This month we will review the basics of how to make your own system lettering fonts with TruE™ 3 QuickFont, part of TruE™ 3 ELEMENTS and TruE™ 3 ELITE.

Flower Icons

icon

The TruE™ 3 QuickFont QF.jpg application assists you in making system lettering from TrueType® or OpenType® fonts found on your computer.

QuickFont is Assistant-based, and offers multiple Stitch Types, each with its own options.

fills.jpg Within QuickFont, six Stitch Type icons are: Satin satin.jpg, Pattern Fill fill.jpg, Pattern Fill + Satin Border fillsatin.jpg, Satin Border satinb.jpg, Appliqué applique.jpg, and Outline outline.jpg.

Other icons include Stitch Options SO.jpg to change the properties for Satin Columns or Pattern Fill Stitch Types; Thread Color Color.jpg to change the color of the Pattern Fill or Satin Columns; Border Stitch Options BSO.jpg to change the properties for a Satin Border, Appliqué or Outline Stitch Type; Border Thread Color Bcolor.jpg to change the color of the border or outline; and Print Catalog print.jpg , used to print a gridded listing of all letters and characters that are created in the Quick Font with the selected options.

Additional icons may be found within the Stitch Options SO.jpg and Border Stitch OptionsBSO.jpg , and will vary according to the selected Stitch Types. Consult Quick Help help.jpg for a detailed explanation of all the icons, and how to create and save a new System Font.

Flower Tips and Techniques

tips and techniques

This month we will step through some of the QuickFont options, and review how to make a System Font that can be accessed from the Letter page of the Design Panel in TruE™ 3 Studio

When you open the QuickFont Application QF.jpg from Launchpad or from a custom shortcut you have created on the Dock, the Select Font window offers Font and Typeface selection menus.

selectfont.jpg

Open openarrows.jpg the Font menu to scroll through all TrueType® and OpenType® fonts available on your computer.

Once you select a Font, open openarrows.jpg the Typeface menu to see if more than one typeface is available for that font. Many fonts include Regular, Bold, Italic, and Bold Italic options. Some only have one Typeface.

In File Type, you can select either 'For using in my TruEmbroidery Software' to add the new font to the Letter panel in TruE™ 3 Studio, or 'For using on my embroidery machine' for the specific brands shown in the Machine list.

filetype.jpg

Open openarrows.jpg Character Set to see the specific sets of characters available in your selected font. Character sets vary from font to font.

charset.jpg

Continue continue.jpg to advance to Set Stitch Options.

Stitch Type has a choice of 6 different stitches.

stitchtype.jpg

Once you select a Stitch Type, the preview window updates to show a live stitch view, and the Real Size percentage of your preview is shown under the preview window.

preview.jpg

Satin and Pattern Fill Stitch Types have Stitch Options settings SO.jpg, so you can set the stitch properties to suit the projects for which you plan to use the font.

fills2.jpg

Satin Border, Appliqué and Outline use Border Stitch Options BSO.jpg so you can set the unique properties used in an Appliquéd letter, or other border type stitches.

Satinline.jpg

Pattern Fill + Satin Border has both Stitch Options and Border Stitch Options.

stitchtype2.jpg

Tip: When making Appliqué in TruE™ 3 QuickFont, Appliqué placement steps use Stop or Halt commands rather than thread color changes. If your brand of embroidery machine does not recognize Stop commands (and doesn't stop when you have created Appliqué lettering), open the letters in TruE™ 3 Modify to remove the Stop commands and add additional Color Changes.

app.jpg

Font Options, which specify the size of the font set, change for Machine Fonts or System Fonts. Available Font Options change, depending on whether you are making a Quick Font for TruE™ 3 Studio or for a sewing and embroidery machine.

When you select an embroidery machine, you set a specific Output Size to make the font set, which will load into the embroidery machine.

fontoptions.jpg

When you make a System Font for the Letter page in TruE™ 3 Studio, you can set a Minimum and Maximum Output Size Range, which determine the optimal size to make this set of letters in the TruE™ 3 Studio application.

fontoptions2.jpg

When you make a System Font, the default Output Size Range will change with the selected Stitch Type. For example, Satin lettering will default to a smaller size range than Pattern Fill, which looks nicest when the letters are large enough to display the pattern's texture.

Tip: To make large Satin fonts, try selecting from one of the 12 textures available in the Stitch Options SO.jpg to avoid long satin stitches that might snag.

patterns.jpg

You can also select a Joining Point for the letters.

  • Baseline connects one letter to the next at the bottom or base of the lettering.
  • Nearest Point connects letters wherever they are closest.
  • Continuous optimizes Script fonts so they connect like handwriting.
joining.jpg

Continue continue.jpg to move to the Output Options. Output Options specify where and with what name to save the Quick Font.

Here, you can Save to USB Stick or Folder if creating your Fonts for an embroidery machine.

usb.jpg

If you are making a System Font for TruE™ 3 Studio, Save Font File specifies a Font Name based on the Font name and Typeface, Character Set, and Minimum and Maximum Size Range. You can add to or overwrite the name if you wish.

savefontfile.jpg

TruE Font Collection specifies My Fonts (unless you made a Script font). My Fonts is recommended for all Quick Fonts so you can easily identify them as fonts you have made!

Print Catalog print.jpg shows a preview of the characters that are included in your new Quick Font!

printing.jpg

The Printer is your computer's default printer. You can also opt to print to a PDF, and save the reference sheet for future printing!

pdf.jpg

If you plan to create an additional font or two, select 'Return to start when I click Done' in New Font.

newfont.jpg

Select Done and you are ready to open your new Font set in TruETM 3 Studio's Letter page in the Control Panel!

Best wishes from TruEmbroidery™ 3 Software

PS: Watch for the TruEmbroidery™ 3 newsletter next month when we will try out a few fun techniques using PhotoStitch.


PPS: View more information about PREMIER+ 2 features.