EQ the Mouse

Our mascot, EQ the Mouse, answers frequently asked questions, with some help from EQ4 Magic author, Barb Vlack. EQ has been learning the new features in EQ5 as fast as he can, so he can answer the questions about EQ5 below.

Scanning - Drawing - Designing Quilts - Oddities - Library - Printing

Scanning

Q: How do you trace something into EQ4? Do you need a scanner?
A: You don't necessarily need a scanner, because every image you'll ever need is probably on the internet. To trace something in EQ4, it just needs to be a 256 color (8 bit) bitmap.

1.Open up your web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL, etc.)

2. Go to your favorite search engine (http://www.yahoo.com, http://auto.search.msn.com/default.asp, etc.)

3. Type in whatever you want to find a picture of and search (say you're making a Christmas quilt and you want to trace a crysanthemum... type in "picture of crysanthemum"... add words like "image" or "flower" to make the search results smaller)

4. Look at the pages until you find a picture you like... (this could take 30 seconds or forever and a lifetime)

5. Check on the copyright of the picture! Especially if you plan on doing anything further with this quilt or block other than just innocent "tracing practice." (If you have further intentions [like selling the quilt], don't assume...write the webmaster with your intentions and ask. They'll probably be flattered that you asked and say it's ok.)

6. If everything's ok or you're just going to "trace only," then right-click on the image and choose your "save picture" option...save it somewhere on your computer where you can find it again. (jpg or bmp is ok).

7. Open the image in MS Paint (Start-Programs-Accessories-Paint)

8. Choose File-Save As

9. In the "Save As Type" box, change it from whatever it's at, to "256 Color Bitmap (*.bmp;*.dib)"

10. Use the directions on pages 160 - 161 of the EQ5 Design Cookbook (pages 102 - 103 in the EQ4 Design Cookbook) to import it.

11. Follow the directions on pages 94 - 95 in the EQ5 Design Cookbook (pages 104 - 105 in the EQ4 Design Cookbook), similarly to trace it. I usually use the pre-formed triangles, rectangles, circles, hearts, leaves etc. for the patches. Then I use the Adjust tool to change lines to arcs & arcs to lines, bend the arcs to fit the image, and add extra nodes to get the detail I need.

Q: If I scan my fabrics with high color will they look better?
A: Even though EQ5 will accept fabric bitmaps with more than 256 colors, we don't recommend scanning with high color because it makes your files HUGE, and usually looks no different than 256 colors. Keep in mind that the image will only appear as good as your output sources (monitor and printer) will allow. If you are doing your own scanning it may be a waste of disk space to scan a fabric at a high color depth because your printer may not be capable of producing such a wide range of color. It is strongly suggested that you save your scans as 256 color bitmaps.

Drawing

Rotating an EasyDraw line

Q: Can I rotate an EasyDraw line just by dragging it around?
A: Yes. You can rotate an EasyDraw line or lines, or a PatchDraw shape this way. Here's how:

1. Click the Select tool.

2. Click the line or PatchDraw shape. (To select more than one EasyDraw line, hold down your keyboard SHIFT key while clicking line after line.) Eight small boxes appear around it distinctive of the normal select nodes.

3. To rotate or skew using the mouse, you must enter the rotate mode by holding down the Ctrl key as you click on the center icon. This method allows you to change quickly and easily between select mode and rotate mode. When you are in rotate mode, the center cursor changes to a bull's eye and the eight small boxes change to arrows.

4. Move the cursor over one of the corner arrows until it changes to the rotate cursor. Drag in the desired direction to rotate, releasing the mouse when the select is at the desired angle.

Tips: This rotating method makes it difficult to return the line to its original orientation. So make sure you really want to rotate or that precision is not important. If not, select Undo from the Edit menu before proceeding.

You can also skew the select while you are in the rotate mode. To skew, move the cursor over one of the double-headed arrows until it changes to the skew cursor. Drag in the desired direction to skew.

Hardware Acceleration

Q: I've installed EQ5, and see funny lines on the screen/ or seem to crash often when I'm drawing. What can I do?
A: Try setting your hardward acceleration down a bit.

1. On the Windows Desktop click Start - Settings (XP users ignore this step) - Control Panel.

2. Double-click Display - click the Settings tab.

3. Click the Advanced button toward the bottom of the tab.

4. Click the Performance (Troubleshoot in XP) tab. You will see a "Hardware Acceleration" slider bar.

5. If your hardware acceleration is all the way to the right (full), then slide it a few notches to the left.

6. Click Apply; click OK.

Designing Quilts

Block Rotated 25º in Custom Set

Q: Can I rotate my blocks on the quilt anything other than just 45 degrees?
A: Yes. You can do this on Custom Set (Country Set in EQ4), Layer 2 and Layer 3.

1. Click the Adjust tool.

2. Click the block, to select it.

OR you can hold down your keyboard CTRL key, position your cursor in the center of the selected block (match crosshairs) and click. You'll see the cursor change to a rounded arrow. Point to a corner node on the block, watch until you see the cursor changing to a rounded arrow there, then you can drag the block to rotate it.

Q: Can I design a quilt that ends with half-blocks along each side?
A: Yes. Barb Vlack tells you how:

1. Draw a vertical line, using EasyDraw, across your block to divide it in half.

2. Keep and color the block. (You will then be able to get templates to print for this half a block.)

3. Choose QUILT - New Quilt - Horizontal.

4. On the Layout tab choose the number of blocks you'd like.

5. On the Borders tab choose:

Style: Rectangular blocks

Left: Width of your half block

Top: 0

Right: Width of your half block

Bottom: 0

6. Set your full-size blocks in Layer 1.

7. Click Layer 2. Set your full-size blocks with the line drawn through them in Layer 2, on the half blocks in the border. You want the blocks to hang half-way over the border. So line up the block's vertical line with the outer edge of your quilt.

8. Now the magic. You're still on Layer 2. Click the Adjust tool. Click a block in your border, to select it. Click the middle clip tool on the Graph Pad. The block will get clipped to fit your border size block. Note: If you do not see the Graph Pad, click VIEW on the main menu - choose Graph Pad. You'll need to follow step 7 and 8 to set and click each block separately. Be sure to clip each block. Sometimes it looks as though the block is clipped, but it is not clipped unless you have clipped it with the clip tool on the Graph Pad.

9. To print the "half block," click the Select tool, click the half block (you must be on Layer 2), click FILE - Print - Templates. You will get templates for the whole block with the line drawn through, but you can delete the extras, or just print them all and use only the ones you need.

Add Symmetry

Q: How do I rotate fabrics?
A: Rotating fabrics is a new EQ5 feature. This lets you change your vertical stripe into a horizontal one and so on. The restriction of this feature is that the fabrics must be 256 color bitmaps and they must not be compressed. Most of the scanned fabrics in EQ5 fit this criterion. The “computer-generated” fabrics do not. If the fabric is not available for rotating, the menu will be disabled.

Click directly on the fabric you want to rotate. Click the small arrow next to the tabs on the Fabrics Palette. Point to Add Symmetry. Click the symmetry option you would like to apply. A new fabric will be added to the palette immediately after the original one. The focus (or frame) will automatically change to display the new fabric. Now you can use this rotated fabric to color with.

Oddities

Q: Why does my screen seem to flash or blink in the program?
A: Do you have a waving American flag on your desktop? Or an animated character, such as Bonzai Bob? That's what's causing the flash. Delete the desktop animation and your screen flash will be fixed in a lash.

Library

Q: Since I have BlockBase as well as EQ5, why don't I get BlockBase blocks when I search in the Library?
A: What you get depends on search categories you have checked. "Search Name" searches the name on the block notecards. But BlockBase blocks don't have a name on the Name line -- instead, they have the Brackman I.D. number. That's because many blocks have more than one name, so Barbara Brackman gave each block its own unique I.D. number as an identifier. So be sure to click "Search Notes" as well as "Search Name" to include BlockBase blocks in your search. BlockBase blocks have the earliest-known name on the notecard's Notes section. You still may not find all the blocks you would expect, however. That's because if a block has more than one name, only the earliest name will be on the notecard's Notes section.

Printing

Q: How can I print my quilt smaller on the page?
A: You can export the quilt as a bitmap and print from EQ, or another program, such as Word. To export a quilt you use the Export Snapshot tool.

1. Click the Export Snapshot button.

2. Click, hold and drag the cursor from the top-left of the image you want to capture to the bottom-right. As you drag you'll see a dotted rectangle shwoing what you are capturing.

3. Release the mouse. You will see an Export Snapshot box appear. To print from EQ5 (or EQ4) click Print. To take your quilt into another program, click Copy to the Windows clipboard. You won't see anything happen. But you can now open Word, or whatever program you use, and choose EDIT - Paste. The quilt will appear and you can resize it and print it here.



CONTENTS: Announcements - Ask EQ - Free Stuff - Works For Me - Show & Tell - Quilt University - Printing on Fabric - Quilters' Colors Patriotic Pin - Tips For Printing On Fabric - Linda Franz - Betty Ensz & Laura Jane Quint - Create a Coloring Book.