| Author | Content |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 23, 2008
06:15 PM Post #5922900
| Looking to purchase software to make patterns of my own pictures for family and friends. Does anyone have any information about them? Wondering if they are easy to use, and accurate.
Any info is welcome. thanks in advance, |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
11:11 AM Post #5939354
| Try this one:
http://www.pcstitch.com/
|
silverfluter
Fredericksburg, TX
(Zone 8a)
December 29, 2008
11:22 AM Post #5939395
| This is a really exciting idea! I have a picture in mind that I've wanted to do for a long time, but didn't know how to make a chart. The picture is a painting in an art gallery, so I don't know what legal challenges I might have to meet because of that. I'm guessing that as long as I don't try to sell it, it's ok. Has anybody actually tried the easier one of these two? This painting has a lot of highlights and shading in it that are really important to the picture. Thanks for posting this thread and the link. |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
11:43 AM Post #5939496
| My version of PC-Stitch is several years old. To create a cross-stitch pattern from a picture, you first have to scan the picture. You then import the picture into PC-Stitch, specifying the thread count of the fabric (e.g. 14, 18, 22 etc.) and how many thread colors to limit the pattern to. It pretty much does the rest. You can edit the resulting cross-stitch pattern to tweak it if you'd like.
I am thinking about upgrading - I am sure they have made many improvements since my version! |
silverfluter
Fredericksburg, TX
(Zone 8a)
December 29, 2008
01:26 PM Post #5939933
| Hmmm. The getting the picture scanned part would be my first challenge. I forgot the only picture I have is in a book about art galleries.:( I think it's in a gallery in Austin which is not far from me (an hour and a half), but I'm thinking that just walking into a gallery and taking a picture of a painting would be frowned upon. Guess I have to call the gallery. Still, exciting software idea though! |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
02:07 PM Post #5940077
| I should add, for anyone else looking at this thread, that if your picture is already in digital form (like from a digital camera), there is no need to scan anything. You just import the picture file (I think it will import most common formats: jpg, bmp, etc.) |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 29, 2008
02:12 PM Post #5940093
| Thanks Jeannie63, do you know if it requires a certain printer? Is the software user friendly...I'm not too good with a computer. |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
03:21 PM Post #5940331
| Any printer is fine. One that does color will print out a nicer chart.
It has been awhile since I used my program, but I believe you can tell it to print the pattern out on more than one sheet of paper - makes for easier reading!
I didn't find the software that difficult to use, but I've been messing with computers since the '80s. Crazy4brugs - you only live about 45 miles from me, so I could come for a visit if you are really having problems! |
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)
December 29, 2008
03:25 PM Post #5940348
| If the picture has a name you could Google for that, you might find a pic of it on the internet somewhere and then you'd have an electronic version that you could put into the software. Or if the picture itself isn't named, if you at least know the name of the artist you could look for it that way too. |
vossner
Richmond, TX
(Zone 9a)
December 29, 2008
03:34 PM Post #5940388
| I give pcstich and similar programs a big, huge, gigantic thumbs down if you're not artistically inclined. I bought the program and for practice scanned an amaryllis pic. As somebody mentioned, the program gives you the option to limit the colors, ie. 5 shades of red, as opposed to 30 or whatever that the program will want to recognize from the scan. But then the pic looks funny. If you have an artistic eye, you can probably fix but if not, you've got a mess that will make your eyes water, lol.
I concluded that unless you're artistic enough to modify the pattern that the program produces, you are not going to be happy with it. I wasn't. Thinking that I couldn't be the only one that was so unhappy w/ the program, I called every single needly shop in my area. All the ladies seemed vaguely familiar w/ the program but they thought they'd have to spend too much time adjusting the coloring on the image to get a good pattern. Better to spend the time actually needling, lol.
Another thing is that you get what you pay for. The $25 program is much less user friendly than the $250 program.
After my experience I gained a new appreciation for all the people that paint those beautiful canvasses. Also, an appreciation for those souls savvy in computer graphics who can tweek the images.
I am happy to provide my unsolicited 2 cents. When I posted for input about those programs I got no responses here or elsewhere. Only the people that wanted to sell me a digital canvas responded, I wonder why...
|
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
03:44 PM Post #5940428
| The prices now are about $40 for the standard, and $80 for the Pro version of PC-Stitch. Shrinking your original picture down to size *before* importing it into PC-Stitch helps a great deal with the final pattern. |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 29, 2008
04:00 PM Post #5940475
| Jeannie63, that is so kind of you to offer !!
What if someone e-mails me a picture that they took with a digital camera and I save it. Then I wouldn't need a scanner.
Am I following this right ?
|
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
04:03 PM Post #5940486
| Yes, you are correct, you won't need a scanner in that case :) |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 29, 2008
04:10 PM Post #5940500
| Great that will save a few $$$ |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
10:59 PM Post #5942059
| Okay, I just upgraded my old version of PC-Stitch to the Pro version. I used Microsoft Paint (comes with Windows) to re-size a picture of my cat so that it was 115 pixels wide by 90 pixels high, saved the file, then imported it into PC-Stitch. This is the pattern that was created. It uses about 50 colors of DMC thread: 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
11:18 PM Post #5942158
| Did the same procedure with a picture of my sister:
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 29, 2008
11:19 PM Post #5942168
| Neither of these patterns were tweaked, and other than entering in the width in number of stitches, and setting the cloth count to 22, I accepted all the program defaults. |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 30, 2008
06:45 AM Post #5942816
| How big will your finished size be for your cat ? |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 30, 2008
09:46 AM Post #5943105
| On 22 count cloth, it would be about 5 1/4" by 4" |
vossner
Richmond, TX
(Zone 9a)
December 30, 2008
01:09 PM Post #5943751
| Jeannie, I wished I had met you when I was hot for doing my own canvases. That pic looks very good and super impressed that you didn't have to tweek. I forgot to mention I also tried to do a canvas of my beautiful black puppy and it was absolutely awful, lol.
This message was edited Dec 30, 2008 11:11 AM |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 30, 2008
02:23 PM Post #5943991
| Well I purchased the software, it should arrive soon. I'm anxious to try it.
Thanks again. |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 30, 2008
03:02 PM Post #5944146
| Cool! Did you get the standard version, or spring for the Pro version? |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
December 30, 2008
04:10 PM Post #5944393
| Had to go all the way with the Pro version. lol |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 31, 2008
10:04 AM Post #5947061
| Let me know if you have any questions! |
sjweld
Reedsburg, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 31, 2008
11:25 AM Post #5947363
| Jeannie, I think you should actually cross stitch that one of your sister! I bet she would love such a keep sake. She sure is a cutie. LOL |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 31, 2008
11:28 AM Post #5947376
| LOL maybe after I complete the three patterns I am working on now!! |
sjweld
Reedsburg, WI
(Zone 4b)
December 31, 2008
11:36 AM Post #5947410
| Ha ha, that'll be YEARS from now!! |
Jeannie63
Mequon, WI
(Zone 4b)
January 16, 2009
03:28 PM Post #6013224
| crazy4brugs, did you get your software? Have you had a chance to play with it yet? |
crazy4brugs
Kansasville, WI
(Zone 5a)
January 17, 2009
02:08 PM Post #6016640
| Jeannie, it took awhile to get the software. But I did down load it. Haven't had too much time to play with it, been working too many hours. |
