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1989-12-03
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STITCH MATRIX
Copyright 1988
Chet Walters
Welcome to Stitch Matrix! If you do counted cross stitch, mosaic
tiling, needlepoint, hook rugs, or any other craft that uses designs
illustrated with graph paper, this is the program for you! But, we want
you to know that this is a preliminary version ONLY. Stitch Matrix is
in the public domain and can be distributed in it's original form
freely to whomever and wherever you like. The copyright for the Stitch
Matrix name and color symbol designs will remain the property of Chet
Walters. But again, we must emphasize that Stitch Matrix is distributed
in cooperation with NEO STAG and CHQ BBS as part of a market survey. If
you would like to see a fully implemented design program with the
following projected features:
320 by 400 DESIGN CAPABILITY!
PROVISION FOR QUARTER/HALF/BACK STITCHES!
BLOCK SAVE/LOAD/COPY
INVERT BLOCK LEFT/RIGHT UP/DOWN
SAVE/LOAD BORDER WITH USER BORDER DESIGN!
TYPE IN SAMPLER STYLE FONTS! WITH USER FONT DESIGN!
USER DEFINABLE SYMBOL TABLE
FULL FEATURED ZOOM
COMPATIBILITY WITH ANY PRINTER!
AUTO DMC (R) FLOSS CHARTING
AUTO CENTERING MARKS
USER DEFINED GRID
DISPLAY GRID ON/OFF
LINE/CIRCLE/POLYGON/BOX etc.
AND MUCH MORE!
send a post card to:
NEO STAG / CHQ BBS
PO Box 45
Girard, OH 44420-0045
The author feels that the market for such a design program is too
limited. With the equipment needed (ie ATARI 520 or 1040 color, dot
matrix printer, and someone interested in producing designs) the author
does not think that the FOUR MONTH or more development time would be
worth while. But you can change all that! Send us a card or letter
expressing your desire to see a fully implemented program with the
above listed features and maybe we can change Chet's mind about this!
Include your return address and you will be sent a reply with the
results of the poll so far, and also a notification if and when the
full blown version is available. Projected price: $15 - 20 dollars. If
our efforts are successful, the package will contain a starter cross
stitch set and a number of ready to print and stitch or hook or tile
designs! Again, it all depends upon YOU! Send us a card!
Of course, you're probably wondering just how to use the current
version of Stitch Matrix! It's so easy, there's really no need for any
extensive dox. Stitch Matrix will load any lo-res Degas pic (see note),
compressed or uncompressed from which you select a block to print as
your stitch design. At present, it works only with color 520 or 1040
ST's and Epson compatible dot matrix printers.
At the title screen, press any key to load a pic. Once the pic is
loaded, you're asked to click on the color you wish to be the
background (eg the fabric, or blank part). Click on SURE IS if you've
chosen the proper one. You are then presented with a moveable box which
is initially a full printout page in size, 80 across by 90 down. You
can stretch or shrink the box to your own specs by holding down the
LEFT mouse button and moving the mouse in the direction desired. Size
the box and move it about until you've framed what you wish to print.
Press either the RIGHT mouse button or ANY key. Turn on your printer,
make sure there's enough paper, choose your selection of Draft or Final
from the printer box and slicker than snail's trails, it's done! Once
printing has finished, a box of the colors used along with a reference
number is displayed. You can hold up your floss to the screen for best
match while filling in the symbol & color chart that has been printed
(we plan to do this automatically for you in the finished version).
That's it!
Some hints:
Unlike Degas, the box frame used with Stitch Matrix is NOT
inclusive. In other words, only what appears INSIDE the box will be
printed. What appears under the lines or outside the box does not
print. This, of course, means that you cannot print an ENTIRE screen as
the pixels under the lines are truncated. Your maximum grid therefore
is 318 wide by 198 high.
We recommend that you use the ANY KEY feature once you've sized and
placed your box. Those little mice are cute enough, but for critical
movements (or non-movements for that matter) they are hard to keep
steady when pressing their buttons. Use the left mouse button to size
your box. Then move the mouse to place the frame accurately, centering
it around your design. Then gently remove your hand from the mouse and
press the SPACE BAR to exit without disturbing the placement. This
trick yields the best results.
Always set your printer to top of form before beginning a print
session. A single page printout can be a maximum count of 80 wide by 90
high. Anything larger will be printed on several pages according to a
"best fit" algortihm. You can then clip and paste these pages together
for the complete design. A full screen will use 13 sheets of paper
counting the symbol legend. The finished paste up of a full screen
printout is approximately 34 inches by 19 inches. While this may seem
large, it does approximate the size of actual graph paper and provides
for a very "readable" design. If you think about it, a 300 by 200
design represents a huge amount of stitch work. Designs normally are
only about a fourth of this size. Many designs are only 40 by 60 or so.
Keep this in mind when you are creating a design pattern with Degas.
When using Degas for preparing a design for use with Stitch Matrix,
it's best to work with zoom and a pixel at a time. This yields the best
results, but is sometimes difficult to work. That is why we need a
fully implemented design program so don't forget .....
DROP US A LINE!!!!!!!!
Donations for Stitch Matrix as it stands are gratefully accepted. A
donation will get you on our Beta Test list if and when we decide to
release a fully implemented design version. We also welcome suggestions
on things you would like to see included in the final version. We are
here for YOU!
NEO STAG / CHQ BBS
PO BOX 45
GIRARD, OH 44420-0045
BBS # 216-758-0284
It has been brought to our attention that if you are using a STAR GEMINI
printer, you must set the DIP switch so that it is in the IBM mode. STAR
mode will not perform the n/216 line feeds that STITCH_X needs to make a
nice printout. This will be fixed in the final version of course.
**NOTE: STITCH_X v1.20 will now load not only DEGAS pics, but NEO and TINY
pics as well! To load these other formats, they must be low res pics and
the filenames must have the extenders to match their storage format. If
you wish to load a NEO pic, it must have the extender "NEO". To load a
TINY pic, it must have the extender "TNY". Any discrepencies may well
crash the program.
STITCH_X v1.20 also has been modified so that it will print both the
actual stitch design and the color symbol table properly on STAR printers.
We have recently learned that CYBER PAINT from ANTIC has an excellent full
featured zoom and also saves pics in DEGAS format. It has promise as THE
development tool for stitch designs. Try it!