Command ReferenceTable of Contents
- (Ctrl+N)
- Creates a new pattern, using the default values set in the pattern properties dialog.
- (Ctrl+O)
- Opens an existing pattern
- Open a recently used pattern
- (Ctrl+S)
- Saves the pattern
- (Ctrl+Shift+S)
- Saves the pattern under a new name
- Revert the pattern to the last saved state
- (Ctrl+P)
- Print the pattern
- Set up the printing layout
- Import an image file converting it to stitches
- Display / Edit the document properties
- Insert an image as a background for tracing.
- Select a background image to remove. The sub menu for this is populated from the background images previously inserted.
- (Ctrl+W)
- Close the pattern
- (Ctrl+Q)
- Quits KXStitch
- (Ctrl+Z)
- Undo the last change. The list of changes are shown in the History window.
- (Ctrl+Shift+Z)
- Redo the last change undone. The list of changes are shown in the History window.
- (Ctrl+X)
- Cut the selected area to the clipboard
- (Ctrl+C)
- Copy the selected area to the clipboard
- (Ctrl+V)
- Paste the selected area
- →
- Limit selections to the currently selected stitch type
- →
- Limit selections to the currently selected color
- →
- Exclude backstitches from the selection
- →
- Exclude Knots from the selection
- If set, the mirror and rotate functions will make a copy of the selection, otherwise the selected area is moved
- →
- Mirror the selected area horizontally, i.e. flipped from left to right
- →
- Mirrors the selected area vertically, i.e. flipped from top to bottom
- →
- Rotate the selected area anti clockwise 90 degrees
- →
- Rotate the selected area anti clockwise 180 degrees
- →
- Rotate the selected area anti clockwise 270 degrees
Cutting and copying areas of the pattern can make use of stitch and color masks and the exclusion of backstitches and knots to limit the selection.
The paste operation in KXStitch allows you to press and hold the mouse button down roughly in the position that the paste data is to go which will provide an image of the paste data to allow accurate positioning before releasing the mouse button to finalize the position. This technique is also used for the mirroring and rotate functions. The cursor keys can also be used to move the pasted pattern around and the Enter key used to fix the position.
- Zoom the view so that the screen size approximates the physical size
- Zoom the view so that the whole pattern fits within the visible area
- Zoom the view so that the patterns width fits within the visible area
- Zoom the view so that the patterns height fits within the visible area
- (Ctrl++)
- Zoom in on the editor view
- (Ctrl+-)
- Zoom out on the editor view
- Show or hide the preview window
- Show or hide the palette window
- Show or hide the history window
- Show or hide the imported image preview window
- Show or hide a background image. The list is generated dynamically based on the inserted background images
- Fit the selected background image to the current selection area
- Quarter Stitch, the position is determined by the quadrant of the cell selected
- Half Stitch, the direction is determined by the quadrant of the cell selected
- Three Quarter Stitch, the orientation is determined by the quadrant of the cell selected
- Full Stitch
- A small half stitch, the position is determined by the quadrant of the cell selected
- A small full stitch, the position is determined by the quadrant of the cell selected
- French Knot Stitch
- Paint stitches onto the canvas - Press down the mouse button and drag around the window. Stitches will be added to each cell passed over. Release the mouse button to stop painting.
- Draw a line of stitches onto the canvas - Press down the mouse button at the start of the line, drag to the required end point of the line and release the mouse button. Stitches will be added to each cell that the line passes through.
- Erase stitches - Press down the mouse button and drag over the stitches to be deleted. All stitches within the cells passed over will be removed. Release the mouse button to stop erasing. To erase backstitches hold down the Ctrl key and left click in the start or end point of the backstitch, if there is more than one backstitch at the digitized point this method will erase the first one found. To delete a specific backstitch, click and drag from one end to the other. To erase french knots hold down the Shift key and left click on the knot to delete it.
- Draw a rectangle - Press down the mouse button at one corner of the rectangle and drag to the opposite corner. Release the mouse button and an unfilled rectangle of stitches will be added to the canvas.
- Draw a filled rectangle - Press down the mouse button at one corner of the rectangle and drag to the opposite corner. Release the mouse button and a filled rectangle of stitches will be added to the canvas.
- Draw an ellipse - Press down the mouse button at one corner of the ellipse and drag to the opposite corner. Release the mouse button and an unfilled ellipse of stitches will be added to the canvas.
- Draw a filled ellipse - Press down the mouse button at one corner of the ellipse and drag to the opposite corner. Release the mouse button and a filled ellipse of stitches will be added to the canvas.
- Draw a filled polygon - Click on each cell marking the vertexes of the polygon, click and drag to create more complex curves. Each of the vertexes are marked by a circle with a black line joining them. To close the polygon click on the starting cell again. You can use the Backspace key to remove the last point, or the Esc key to remove all vertexes and cancel the operation.
- Insert text in stitches. This invokes the text dialog. Select the font required and the size, enter the text and click . Press the mouse button roughly where you would like the text, move the mouse to position the text accurately and then release the mouse button. This is the same as the paste function.
- Insert patterns from the currently selected library that match the keys pressed. This allows the creation of pattern alphabets that can have a key assignment. After selecting this tool and clicking a position on the pattern for the insertion point, each key pressed will be searched for in the current library for a matching pattern. If found this will be inserted at the position on the pattern and the insertion position then advanced by the width of the inserted character pattern. The pattern space will be extended right to allow further characters to be entered. Pressing Enter will start a new line under the position of the original insertion point, the pattern space will be extended downwards to accommodate the new line if insufficient space is available. Backspace will delete the last character entered and the Space key will advance the insertion point by either the width of a space character in the library or a predetermined amount if no space character exists. The text will wrap onto the next line if the edge of the pattern is reached and the end of a word is detected.
- Select a rectangular region - Press down the mouse button at one corner of the rectangle, drag to the opposite corner and release the button. A selection rectangle is shown to indicate the area.
- Allows the selection of a color from the existing stitches. Hovering over stitches will show a tool tip indicating the color under the cursor. Clicking with the mouse button will select it.
- Add backstitching to the canvas - Press down the mouse button at the start of the backstitch, it will snap to the closest of 9 points in the cell, drag to the end point of the backstitch and release the mouse button, again this will snap to the nearest of 9 points in the cell.
- Add and remove colors to the current palette. Assign symbols and the number of strands for the stitching and backstitching.
- Show the symbols associated with each color
- Removes the unused colors from the palette.
- The next color selected will be swapped with the currently selected color. If you select the eye dropper tool, you can choose the color to be swapped with directly from the pattern.
- The next color selected will replace the currently selected color. As with swap colors, you can use the eye dropper tool to select the color from the pattern.
- Open the pattern library manager which is a non modal dialog allowing the creation and use of libraries of patterns or alphabets. Drag and drop is available to allow the dragging and dropping of patterns from the library to the pattern. Automatic conversion of flosses to suit the current pattern and scaling of the image to the current pattern scale for accurate positioning.
- Extend the pattern top, left, right and bottom
- Center the pattern in the canvas
- Crop the canvas to the extents of the pattern
- Crop the canvas to the extents of the current selection
- Insert a number of rows represented by a selection area
- Insert a number of columns represented by a selection area
Apart from the common KDE Settings menu entries described in the Settings Menu chapter of the KDE Fundamentals KXStitch has these application specific menu entries:
- Change the scale display format to Stitches, CM or Inches.
- Change the way stitches are displayed.
- Change the way backstitches are displayed.
- Change the way knots are displayed.
- Enable or disable color highlight mode
- Show or hide the stitches
- Show or hide the backstitches
- Show or hide the french knots
- Show or hide the grid
- Show or hide all the background images
- Open KXStitch configuration dialog.
Additionally KXStitch has the common KDE Help menu items, for more information read the section about the Help Menu of the KDE Fundamentals.