UserManual:Detail

Detail Toolbox

Overview

This is where you add all those little touches that breathe life into your pattern. First, we will go over the tools in the Piece toolbox.

Tools

Add New Pattern Piece

The Add New Pattern Piece tool, found on the top-left of the Piece toolbox, (just under the pointer,) allows you to trace out your pattern by selecting nodes, (points & splines,) in a clockwise direction around its outline. This tool must be used before any of the other Piece magic can be accessed.

Internal Path

The Internal Path tool, found on the right-hand side of the toolbox, allows you to set things like pocket placement markings and darts.

Anchor Point

The Anchor Point tool, found on the left-hand side of the toolbox, allows you to set certain points for attaching features like grainlines & labels to.

Node Tool

The Insert Node tool, found on the lower right-hand side of the toolbox, allows you to add points & curves to your pattern piece which you missed when you traced it earlier. You will then find them, excluded, at the end of the list of nodes in the pattern piece Options dialog in the pattern piece screen where you will need to shift them into their proper places & activate them.

Piece Mode

The Piece mode, perhaps better called the pattern piece screen, is the second of the three steps to producing a pattern with Seamly2D.

Overview

So, you've traced out your pattern with the Workpiece Tool, & have likely been confused by how limited the Piece Tool dialog box was by the number of options greyed out, but now you've made it to the Piece screen & are wanting to know just what all you can do now. The pattern piece options dialogue, (which you previously met as the Piece Tool dialogue,) is now fully operational.

Pattern Piece Options Dialogue (Workpiece Tool)

Right-click any of the pattern pieces visible on the Piece screen, and a menu will pop up . The top item is Options, which is what we will be discussing now. Go ahead and click on it.

Paths:

The Paths section has three tabs: Main path, Seam allowance, and Internal paths.

Main path

Forbid flipping defaults to off. Theoretically, checking it prevents your pattern pieces from being mirrored. In practice, I have been unable to establish any effect.

Hide main path defaults to off. If you turn both this & Seam allowances on, the "main path," (which in this case amounts to the stitch line,) will not be shown on your pattern piece.

Next, we have the adjustable list of objects constituting the main path of your pattern piece in clockwise order. Objects is a catch-all term for the points & curves which define the pattern area. If an object was added out of the correct order you can drag it to its rightful place in the clock; shift arrow buttons are also available, which is super handy if you're using a track-pad. If you right-click an object, a menu will pop up. If the object is a point, it will ask if it should be marked as a Notch, be Excluded, or be Deleted. If the object is a curve, it will ask if it should be Reversed, be Excluded, or be Deleted. If your curve was made in a way which was counter-clockwise to the main path, it will need to be reversed.

To the left of the objects is a column of icons denoting special features relating to said object. If the object is a curve, there will be a loopy-arrow icon. If the curve was made in a way which was clockwise with the main path, the arrow must loop in the default clockwise direction, if the curve was made in a way which was counter-clockwise to the main path, it will need to be reversed, which shows as a counter-clockwise arrow. If the point has a notch, the icon will show which shape of notch it is.

Seam allowance

Seam allowance defaults to off. Check the box to access the options.

Built in defaults to off. If your seam-allowance was included in your drafting system, check this box. Notches don't show-up without a seamline, so while you could get away without turning seam allowance on, if you want your notches marked, this is how to take care of that.

In the Automatic section:

Width defines the default width for seam allowances in this pattern piece. There is also a universal option for that in the Preferences. If you're using Inches, 0.625=(5/8) without any further input your seam allowance would be 5/8" all the way around. However, there's a reasonable chance that you'll make a pattern that gets placed on a fold, in which case you have to fiddle with Nodes.

In a cruel twist of fate, "Nodes" in this situation applies only to points. There is a drop-down menu labeled "Node:" to choose which point you want to affect the seam allowance in relation to. Remember that your pattern is traced in a clockwise order. Next we come to two fields labeled "Before" & "After," pre-filled with "CurrentSeamAllowance" which means that the seam allowance on that side of the point will be the same as defined in Width above. You can change them to any ridiculous extreme you feel like, but 0 (zero/zed) for a foldline, or a suitable hemwidth for a hemline are probably the most common choices when "CurrentSeamAllowance" is not appropriate.

In the Custom section:

I have no idea if this even does anything. I appears completely null. (This section is there for future plans in the programming.)

Internal Paths

A lovely list of the internal paths this pattern piece has. If you right-click one of the paths a menu will pop up allowing you to either access the Internal Path Tool via the term "Options," or delete the path.

In the Internal Path Tool you have a few options:

You can change the path's name, which defaults to "Unnamed path", to something more relevant, like "Pocket Placement" or "top-stitching" or "Bob."

You can change the path's Linetype. The solid line is default, but there are dashed lines & dotted lines & mixed-lines available for your enjoyment.

Then we have a customizable list of nodes used to shape the internal path, with adjustment arrows below for those who find clicking easier than dragging.

And lastly, a checkbox asking whether the path is meant to be cut on fabric or not. This is handy for cutting welted pockets & other decorative slits on a cutting machine. (This user does not have access to a cutting machine to test the use of this feature.)

Pins:

A list of the "Pins" this pattern piece has. Right-click for a menu to delete pins. Drag to sort.

Labels:

If someone else, (or you at a later date,) will need to know what a pattern piece you've drafted is all about, use a label!

Piece Label Data

The first tab of this section, Piece Label Data is where you tell Seamly what to display on the label.

Labels

The second tab of this section, Labels, is where you establish the size & placement of your labels.

Grainline:

In this section you establish whether to display the grainline, & place your grainline marks. In that sense it could almost be a tab in the Labels section.

Notches:

Which notch should be which shape, set in which way, & which size? & should it be single? paired? triple? Way cooler than the misnamed "passmark" of older versions of Seamly2D.

Toolbox

Unite 2 Pieces Tool:

This tool is currently being upgraded.

On the top right of your Details Toolbox, you will see the Unite 2 Pieces tool. This tool allows two pattern pieces to become one, joined together along the line between two points on either separate piece. At this point in time the tool will not flip the pattern pieces, but it will rotate them as needed. If the line segments are different lengths, the piece with the smaller segment will be aligned with the other piece in relation to which piece you selected first. I haven't been able to figure out what the rule(s) are, if you don't like how it turned out one way, try it a different way until it looks right. One of the points will always overlap a point on the opposite piece, no centering.

Tools for creating details:

On the bottom right of your details toolbox you will find the Export Pieces tool. Clicking this button will bring up a dialog labeled "Save Layout."

Save Layout dialog

The Path option defaults to the layout folder named in your preferences & allows you to change it.

The File format, which defaults to .svg, is a drop-down which allows you to choose which format you want to save the layout as.

You can check the box for Binary form if you chose one of the .dxf options.

Those are also the most likely ones to need the Text as paths box checked.

This user is not sure what the point of the greyed-out Margins & Paper format are even doing here. It is likely that as of this posting those capabilities have not been implemented sufficiently.

The File name option defaults to <.val name>_1. It implies that the 1 is optional, but, at least in Linux, actually insists that all files end in a 1.