# 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.

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 dialog includes a Pick Color button which allows selection of a color from anywhere on screen. This could be from a background image for example to allow easy selection of matching colors. The cursor will change to a cross with a color swatch indicating the color of the pixel under the cross. After clicking on a pixel, a floss that closely matches the selected color will be selected in the flosses list.

### Symbol Selector

For each of the flosses you can allocate a symbol. The symbol selector dialog shows all the available symbols. Used symbols are shown grayed out and a tooltip will show Used when the symbol is hovered over. For the palette, the symbol library used can also be changed by selecting one from the drop down list. All the flosses will then be allocated a symbol from the new library.

## 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 Palette Manager 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 their original values.

## The Configuration Dialog

This dialog lets you configure a number of elements of KXStitch.

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

You can return to the default set of parameters using the Defaults button.

## 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 Properties 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. Checking the Ignore Color box allows you to click the dropper tool to select a color in the image that will be ignored on import. This is useful to remove backgrounds that you don't need converting to stitches. The ignored color will be displayed as a checker board pattern in the preview.

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 Crop image checkbox enables cropping of the preview image. Click and drag across the preview image to select the area required. Guide lines are shown before selecting the starting point to allow more accurate placement. Once an area is selected the preview will be rerendered to show the cropped area. Further cropping can be done if required. Clicking on the reset button, or turning off cropping will revert the preview to the original image.

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 OK will convert the image into a pattern.

## The File 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 equivalent 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 dependent 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 Units is changed to Stitches 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 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 categories on the left with an icon view of the selected category of patterns on the right. This dialog is non modal and can be left open whilst working on the pattern.

The simplest way to use the library patterns is to drag and drop them onto the pattern space. Alternatively using the &RMB; on a library pattern will show a context menu with an option to copy it, this can then be pasted into the pattern as many times as required.

Additional items on the context menu are:

- Delete: Delete a library item, for which a confirmation dialog is shown.

- Properties: Show the properties dialog for the item.

The properties dialog for each item displays its size and the floss scheme used, the baseline value and the associated keyboard character. The baseline is used to position the character pattern vertically relative to the cursor position when using the Alphabet tool. Positive values move it down, negative values move it up. The associated character is only required for use with the Alphabet tool. After clicking in the associated character text box, the next key press, including modifiers (&Shift;, &Ctrl;, &etc;) is used as the key.

Create new libraries by clicking the &RMB; on either an existing category, to create a sub category, or on a blank area of the library list, for a new top level category, and select the New Category option, enter the name and click OK.

Creating a new library pattern by selecting an area in the pattern editor, select copy, then use the &RMB; on an existing category and select paste. If necessary you can use the properties option to add an associated key if you want to use it as a character library.

Library patterns can be dragged and dropped to other libraries in the list to allow you to rearrange them to your needs. Note that there is no checks to ensure that the key codes assigned to library patterns is unique and you should modify any that duplicate an existing one.

## 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 &kxstitch; 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;.

## Extend Pattern Dialog

This is used to extend the pattern in various directions by a number of cells. Enter the number of cells in the spin boxes and press OK to extend the pattern.

## The Printer Dialog

The dialog has a page list on the left showing a thumbnail for each of the pages. The right panel contains the layout editor where the elements can be placed. Each element is customizable using the context menu and can be positioned and sized to suit your requirements.

Select a printer configuration template. Currently a similar one to KDE3 is included.

Append a page - This will append a page at the end of the list.

Insert a page - This will insert a page before the one currently selected in the list.

Delete a page - This will delete the page currently selected in the list.

Select an element - Used to select elements for editing or resizing.

Insert a text element - Used to insert a text element onto the current page.

Insert a pattern element - Used to insert a pattern element onto the current page.

Insert an image element - Used to insert an image element onto the current page.

Insert a key element - Used to insert a floss key element onto the current page.

When adding elements, select the required element icon, then select the area of the page that the element is to occupy by clicking and dragging with the &LMB; from one corner to another. The properties of the element can be viewed and changed using the context menu accessed by the &RMB;

The elements can be resized by selecting them using the select tool, this will provide a sizing rectangle around the element. The corners can be dragged around to adjust the size or the whole element can be moved by clicking and dragging using the &LMB;.

The page has an associated properties dialog which allows setting the page margin and the grid size and visibility. The page margin provides a guide for the placement of objects but does not prevent elements from being positioned outside the defined margin.

### Pattern Element

The pattern element will show the arrangement of stitches on the grid. The properties dialog can be used to configure how the stitches will be displayed. This allows the element to display as a picture of the pattern or as the working pattern showing the symbols.

The pattern element defaults to showing the whole pattern when it is created. Using the properties dialog a selection of the required area can be made in the preview window by clicking and dragging a selection area.

#### Map Element

The map element is used when the pattern spans multiple sheets. It shows the area of the whole pattern that this element represents. It can be enabled in the pattern element properties.

### Text Element

A text element can be used to add text notes to the pattern or to show titles or comments. The text is configurable with fonts, color and transparency. In addition a border can be displayed.

Text elements can also utilize variables which will be converted to properties from the pattern.

#### Text Variables

- ${title}
- ${author}
- ${copyright}
- ${fabric}
- ${instructions}
- ${horizontalClothCount}
- ${verticalClothCount}
- ${width.stitches}
- ${height.stitches}
- ${width.inches}
- ${height.inches}
- ${width.cm}
- ${height.cm}
- ${scheme}
- ${page}

### Key Element

The key element shows the flosses used. The properties dialog allows the selection of the fields that can be displayed. The First element and No. elements can be used for large keys that may span multiple pages and allows some symbols to be on one page and others to be on another page.

### Resize Element

All elements can be resized by selecting them with the which will show the resize boundary. The whole element can be moved by clicking and dragging inside the element. To resize, hover over the corner resize handles, click and drag to the required size.