Electric Quilt 4 Frequently Asked Questions
My color palette started out with about 120 colors. Now when I look in the Sketchbook, my project has over 200. I didn’t add them. Where did these colors come from?
If you copied designer fabrics from the library or imported your own scanned fabrics, then EQ4 automatically adds the colors used to display these fabrics to your palette. These colors are especially useful because they blend so well with the fabric.
Can I delete colors from the color palette?
No. There is no way to delete colors from the project palette once they have been added. Sorting the most frequently used colors to the beginning of the palette is the best alternative.
If I've used a color in a block, is there any automatic way to find that color again in the color palette?
Yes. Here's how to do a color or fabric search:
- Click on the Spraycan tool, on either the Quilt or Block worktable.
- Click on the block or quilt, on a color or fabric you've used in coloring and want to locate in the palette.
- EQ4 will find it in the palette.
When coloring on a quilt, I had one block with many colorings. When I got above ten, each time I saved a new coloring it addeda new block to the Sketchbook. Why?
When you color a block, and save one coloring after another, EQ4 automatically shows your first 10 saved colorings on one block. Then it automatically saves another block drawing (same block) and begins saving the next 10 colorings on the second drawing, and so on.
This is intended to help you find the coloring you want if you've made lots of colorings on the same block. Rather than searching through 50 colorings stacked on one block drawing, you can search through 10 colorings.
However, you can change this default setting. Here's how to choose the maximum number of colorings that you want to appear on one block:
- On the FILE menu, choose Preferences.
- Click the Limits tab.
- Under "Block Colorings" type a number between 1 and 50. (If you choose 1, it means that each block coloring will show up on an individual block drawing in the Sketchbook.)
- Click OK.
Can I relocate a particular color in the palette that I've used in a quilt?
Yes. Do a color search to find any color you've used in a block or a quilt. To do a color search, have the block or quilt showing on the screen, then:
- Click on the Spraycan tool.
- Click on the block or quilt clicking on the color you want to find.
- Look at the Fabrics & Colors palette and you'll see the color you were searching for.
I'd like to line up the solid colors by shades. Can I?
Yes. You can sort the colors by yourself, or, if you have EQ4.1, you can ask EQ4 to do it for you.
- Right-click on any solid color in the Fabrics & Colors palette.
- Point to Sort Colors. If you have EQ4.1 you will have two choices: Manual and Automatic. Manual means you sort the colors in whatever order you want. (See page 111 in the EQ4 Design Cookbook.) Automatic means EQ4 will sort them for you. If you choose Automatic, the Automatic Sort Colors dialog box will appear. You can then choose one of the sorting options.
