# Dialogs

## The Palette Manager Dialog

The palette manager allows you to add, remove or swap flosses from your current palette and the selected scheme. You can remove all non used flosses from your current palette and you are able to add new flosses to the scheme. Additionally you can bring up the floss calibration dialog from here.

For each of the flosses you can allocate a symbol. The symbol selector dialog shows all the available symbols. Unusable symbols are shown as a box, already used symbols are shown in red. The symbol shown on the blue background is the current symbol for the selected floss.

You can allocate the number of strands of cotton used for each floss, for both stitching and backstitching. This information will be used in calculating the amount of floss required in the final design.

## The New Color Dialog

The dialog shows the name of the scheme that the new color will be added to. The color requires a name and a description, which can be anything you want, although color name will usually be defined by the floss manufacturer.

Clicking on the Color button will show a standard KDE color selection dialog. The initial color can be selected and then the parameters can be adjusted to give the correct color.

Once added this new color will be available to be included in your patterns palette via the 'Add Color' dialog. It may also be adjusted by using the 'Floss Calibration' dialog.

## The Floss Calibration Dialog

This dialog has two parts.

On the left, a pick list of the schemes that are currently available along with a list of colors that are in that scheme. The color description will be appended with '(Calibrated)' if the color has been modified by the current invocation of this dialog.

On the right, is the name and description of the currently selected color, this will be appended with '(Modified)' if the color has been modified, a preview of the color, and the current RGB values for the color.

Also shown is a 'Reset Color' button. This will reset the currently selected color to the value it had when the dialog was first invoked.

Pressing the 'OK' button will commit all of the changed colors.

Pressing the 'Cancel' button will restore all the changed colors back to thier original values.

## The Configuration Dialog

This dialog lets you configure some of the &kapp; display parameters.

Most of the options are self explanatory. The check boxes enable or disable the display of various elements. The pick lists allow selection of the required format of those elements.

The cell size value is the size of a grid square in screen pixels. The grouping value is the number of squares in a major group, ie between the heavier lines. It may be necessary to change the grid line colors if you work on dark materials and have set the patterns background color accordingly.

The scale size is the width of the border in screen pixels. You may need to adjust this if you have large patterns and want to see the full text of the scales.

## The Import Image Dialog

On the left of the dialog there is a preview of the imported image, based on the parameters on the right.

The floss scheme for the finished pattern can be selected, by default this is the same as the 'New Pattern Dialog' defaults. The maximum colors to be used for the pattern can be enabled and changed as required, by default the imported pattern will have as many colors as are defined in the original image that are converted to floss colors.

The cloth count value defaults to the 'New Pattern Properties' dialog and the scale is set such that the final size is as close to the 'New Pattern Properties' pattern size as possible. These values can be changed as required.

The Use fractionals checkbox will enable the use of fractional stitches in the imported pattern. This effectively doubles the import resolution without affecting the overall size of the pattern.

Clicking 'Import' will convert the image into a pattern.

## The Pattern Properties Dialog

The pattern size can be defined in units of stitches, centimeters or inches. The width and height values will updated automatically to the equivilent size in the new unit type if the units type is changed.

The cloth count is defined in units per centimeter or inches and is dependant on the units of size. ie. if CM is selected for the units then cloth count will be in units per centimeter, similarly for inches. if the Stitches unit is selected then the cloth count units will remain as the last CM or inches value.

The Title, Author, Copyright and Fabric fields are free text, so you can enter anything you like here. The fabric color can be set by pressing the color button and selecting the required color. This will then be shown in the editor and preview windows.

The floss scheme has a pick list for all the available floss schemes, including any that you have defined yourself.

The 'Set as default' checkbox will save the current values which will then be used as defaults for all new patterns.

The Instructions tab can be used to enter any specific instructions for sewing the pattern.

## The Pattern Library Dialog

The Pattern Library Manager has a hierarchical tree view (more of a forest really) of catagories on the left with an icon view of the selected catagory of patterns on the right.

Moving the mouse over one of the pattern icons will pop up a tooltip showing the floss scheme, size and number of colors in the library pattern. Currently it is only possible to incorporate library patterns of the same scheme as the current pattern.

Selecting an icon will enable the Insert button, which can then be clicked to insert the library pattern. Alternatively the icon can be double clicked to insert it.

When the dialog has closed, press the &LMB; on the editor window roughly where you want the library pattern to be placed. This will show you a preview of the library pattern on the current pattern. Move the mouse to adjust the position of the preview, then release the &LMB; to place the library pattern.

This method is exactly the same as using the Paste command. Similarly, the pasted pattern will overwrite the paste area. Alternatively press the Ctrl key when releasing the mouse button will merge the library pattern with the current pattern.

When creating a new library pattern, the dialog is essentially the same. The differences are that the Insert button has changed to an Add button and the icon view only shows an icon of the pattern being added.

Navigate through the tree as required and select the catagory that you want to add the new pattern to. If you want a new catagory, press the &RMB; and select the 'New Catagory' option from the context menu. Fill in the name of the catagory and press OK. If there is no catagory currently selected, the new catagory will be a root level catagory, otherwise it will become a child of the catagory currently selected.

After you have selected the required catagory, press 'Add' and the pattern will be added to that catagory.

New for this version is the functionality to export and import library patterns so they can be shared with others.

Selecting the Export library patterns menu option will bring up the library manager dialog and by using the &RMB; on a tree item or on a pattern, you can add this item to the export list. Adding a tree item will add any pattern that is stored in that section. When you have finished selecting the pattern to export, click on the Export button. A file dialog will be displayed for you to select the path and enter a filename.

The file that is created can be shared with other users of KXStitch. They can use the Import Library Patterns menu option to select the file and then import it using the same heirarchy as the original.

## The Text Dialog

The text dialog allows you to select a font and size, then enter the text. Clicking OK closes the dialog and returns you to the &kapp; window. Positioning the text is the same as pasting any other element. Press the &LMB; on the canvas roughly where you want the text, this will show a preview of the text, position the text exactly where you want it, then release the &LMB;

## The Printer Dialog

The standard &kde; print dialog has been extended with a &kapp; specific page that allows the printing of the pattern to be customized to your requirements.

The possible elements that can be printed are

- Front page

- Instructions

- Floss key

- pattern

Checkboxes in the dialog allow you to turn on or off any of these elements.

The front page will show the title of the pattern and the authors name at the top of the page if they have been defined. It will show an image of the design in the centre and a copyright message at the bottom, if it has been defined.

With the floss key you can additionally specify the printing of the floss usage which will be shown in metres, this will either be a total for all stitches, or the backstitches can be shown as a seperate length, with a with a seperate total. The stitch count for each floss can also be printed, either comprehensively with each stitch type totalled seperately or the fractional stitches can be combined and totalled together.

The pattern can be printed on a single sheet, or it will span over as many sheets as required. The Grid Squares per Inch and the Minimum Spill Over values can be adjusted to give some control over the number of sheets. The stitches can be printed in any of the available formats. The backstitches can only be printed as black or coloured lines.

For patterns that span multiple sheets, a keyplan will be printed in the top right hand corner of each sheet.