Release Notes and Installation Instructions for DesignShop 2004 Version Release

Transcription

1 June, 2004 Important! DesignShop Changes Release Notes and Installation Instructions for DesignShop 2004 Version Release This document contains information about DesignShop Version that may not be included in the manual. The following changes have been made to DesignShop. Each feature is available in all product levels unless noted otherwise. Please note that if you have received the DesignShop manual PN 32805, the manual will describe features that are not inlcuded in DesignShop Version , Release These features include Generate Template Outlines, and improved Step and Repeat functionality. These new features will be available in the next release of DesignShop, which will occur in August of this year. Please contact your sales representative if you would like to receive this version of DesignShop when it is released. The DesignShop Lettering System has been revamped and enhanced. New features of the lettering system include the ability to edit and manipulate individual letters, Auto-Borders, new ways to transform lettering, and more. In the DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, please select Lettering for detailed descriptions and instructions. (Auto-Borders is only available in Design- Shop and higher product levels). Information for a specific alphabet (from the Alphabet Code Sheets) can be displayed by clicking the Code Sheets button in the Lettering dialog box. If you have both DesignShop 2004 and AMAYA OS 2004, a menu item (Machine->Load Design) now provides a direct link from DesignShop to AMAYA OS. In the DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, select Using DesignShop->Working with Files, then read the section named DesignShop Files and AMAYA OS for more information. 1 degree and graphical rotation of graphics files have been added. (This feature is available in DesignShop Pro and DesignShop Pro + product levels.) Element outlines are now displayed when scaling, rotating, and moving elements. Quick Change digitizing tools have been added. These tools are only available in Pro and Pro + product levels. In the DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, please select Digitizing->Quick Change Tools for detailed descriptions and instructions. In the hoop name list in the Hoop Manager, hoop information can now be displayed in English or Metric units. Users can now hide hoops in the hoop list drop-down menu in the Hoop Manager. In the DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, select DesignShop Tools->Hoop Setup for more information. Column Width Adjustment has been added to the Expanded Stitch Processing dialog. In the 32662, Rev D 1 of 6

2 DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, select Editing in DesignShop->Editing Properties- >Scale Tab for more information. A batch file converter feature is now available. This feature will take the contents of a directory and convert the embroidery files in the directory to another file format. In the DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, select Tools->Batch Converter for more information. Color mapping has been improved. Expanded Stitch Editing has been improved and now includes the following abilities: - Stitch type can be changed from normal stitch to jump stitch and vice versa. - Color changes and trims can be inserted between stitches within an expanded element - Custom point selection: Users can edit expanded points even when the stitches tab is not active - Stitches can be edited in wireframe elements In the DesignShop HTML Help Table of Contents, select Editing in DesignShop->Editing Points for more information. Settings By Thread Color has been added to the AMAYA properties tab. Design sew time can now be saved in the OFM file by AMAYA. Design Sew Time can be viewed via the Job Info tab in DesignShop. DesignShop can now perform a number of operations (such as Auto-Digitizing) with vector files (EPS, CDR, and DXF). In the HTML Help, please see Auto-Digitizing for more information. Expanded to wireframe conversion has been improved. In the Pull Down for underlay choices on columns, a choice of Double ZigZag has been added. Two new settings have been added to the Fill Property tab: Interior Entry/Exit Points On and Minimum Stitch Length. In the DesignShop HTML Help system, select Editing in DesignShop->Editing Properties->Fill Tab for more information. The operation of Group Names and Step and Repeat has been improved. Group Names has been moved to the Lettering tab. Please see DesignShop Tools->Group Names for more information. (Group Names is only available in DesignShop and higher product levels). Auto-Sequencing has been added. This tool optimizes designs for sewing by automatically adjusting sew order and locations of entry/exit points. Product Level Adjustments The DesignShop product level now contains the following capabilities: - Opening graphics (bmps only) - Saving graphics (tif, jpg, bmp, pcx) - Scaling, mirroring, rotating graphics (90 degree increments) In the HTML Help, please see Digitizing->Working with Graphics for more information. Styles and Fabric Adjust have been added to the Lite product level. Lite now has all of the lettering functionality of higher product levels except for Group Names, Auto-Borders, AutoFont (and using TrueType fonts), and wireframe editing. Auto-Digitzing is now available at the Pro product level. Known Problems Some vector files that contain gradient information may not convert well to embroidery. Removing the gradient information from these files will improve this situation On Windows 98 and Windows Millennium systems, if you print an ofm file as a pdf, Design- 2 of 6 Melco Embroidery Systems

3 Shop will generate a fatal error. When reading EDS3 ofm files that contain arced lettering and a lettering width that is not set to 100%, the lettering can be distorted. The workaround for this is to adjust the Horizontal Letter Spacing setting in DesignShop. Auto Borders, when used with complicated alphabets, can cause distortion on the borders generated from columns that have tight corners and many wireframe points. The workaround for this is to convert to wireframe and edit the singleline column. Design Database will not read Japanese or Chinese design notes saved with ofm files. When opening JEF or XXX files, an extra stitch is inserted at the beginning after a color change. When saving Palettes, if a SEW file is opened and the file colors are saved as a Palette, the Palette cannot be recalled as an error message is generated saying it has reached the end of the file. If a user creates a design in DesignShop containing only vector elements (contains no stitches) and then sends this design to AMAYA OS, AMAYA OS will crash. Users should make sure all designs sent to AMAYA OS contain stitches. If you change the Base Line of the lettering object to Perspective, shape the lettering object as a pennant, then move one of the letters off the screen, DesignShop may crash or generate a large number of stitches. Incompatible Hardware Testing has shown that the following hardware will perform poorly or not at all with the Design- Shop program. External USB floppy drives are not compatible with DesignShop. If you connect an external floppy drive to your DesignShop PC, your operating system may crash and the floppy drive will become useless for all applications. System Requirements DesignShop Release Notes PC with a Pentium II 300 MHz or higher processor (Pentium III 450 MHz or higher recommended for levels higher than DesignShop Lite). If you plan on installing AMAYA OS and DesignShop on the same PC, a Pentium III 850 MHz or higher is recommended. (Please see the General Notes section for more information on running AMAYA OS and DesignShop on the same computer). Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Millennium, Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, or Windows 2000 operating system. If you plan on installing AMAYA OS and DesignShop on the same computer, either Windows 2000 or Windows XP is highly recommended. (Please see the General Notes section for more information on running AMAYA OS and DesignShop on the same computer). Note: Non-western languages (such as Polish, Czech, Japanese and Russian) require Windows 2000 or Windows XP. 128MB of RAM Super VGA video adapter and monitor configured for 1024x768 resolution or higher, video driver set to High Color or better for Windows 98 / Millennium; color or higher for 32662, Rev D 3 of 6

4 Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional and Windows If you want to change the settings of your screen resolution, please click on the Start button of your Windows taskbar, followed by a click on Help. Do a search for display, resolution. USB or Parallel port for DesignShop security dongle CD-ROM drive (required for DesignShop installation, 16X is recommended) Two or three button mouse (3 button mouse preferred) Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher Installing DesignShop Please note that you must have Local Adminstrator rights on the PC on which you wish to install and run DesignShop. (If you are installing a USB dongle, please see the installation instructions accompanying the dongle). The DesignShop parallel port dongle must be attached to an available parallel port of the computer before installing the DesignShop program. Attach the DesignShop dongle to the back of any existing dongles. Failure to do so may cause these programs to not operate correctly. The general rule of thumb for stacking dongles is to connect the newest to oldest, with the oldest connected to the computer. To install the DesignShop software insert the DesignShop CD into your CD ROM drive. The Setup program should start automatically. If the Setup program does not start automatically, click on START/RUN and type D:\SETUP (where D: is the drive letter of the CD ROM drive) and click on OK. The DesignShop installation asks several questions during the installation. It may ask you to type in your Access Code; this can be found on the cover of your DesignShop CD jewel case. It will also ask if you want to copy the EDS III and EDS IV alphabets to DesignShop. During installation, if you encounter a message box titled ReadOnly File Detected, click on the Don t display this message again checkbox, followed by a click on the Yes button. During installation, if you encounter a message box titled Locked File Detected, click on the Don t display this message again checkbox, followed by a click on the Reboot button. General Notes Important: You can install and run AMAYA OS and DesignShop on the same computer. However, for optimum performance of both of these programs, the guidelines listed below should be followed. 1. The minimum system requirements for both programs must be met. Also, either Windows 2000 or Windows XP and a Pentium III 850 MHz or higher processor are highly recommended. 2. It is recommended that you install AMAYA OS/DesignShop on a dedicated PC. That is, the PC on which AMAYA OS/DesignShop are installed should not be used to run any other software applications. 3. ENS should not be installed on the AMAYA OS/DesignShop PC. 4 of 6 Melco Embroidery Systems

5 4. On the AMAYA OS/DesignShop PC, when running AMAYA OS, avoid performing hardwareintensive tasks such as scanning. Also, it is recommended that extensive digitizing be performed on a different PC. If you load a design to an AMAYA from DesignShop (using Machine->Load Design) while the machine is running, the design will be sent to the Pending folder for the appropriate cluster. When using Corel Draw to save.cdr or.eps files that contain text, it is recommended that the text be saved as outlines. If you are using the Batch Converter to convert Tajima (dst) files, and you want to change the Jumps per Trim setting from the default of 6, open any file, then save the file as a dst file. When saving the file, change the Jumps per Trim setting to the desired value and click OK. This will change the default value used by the Batch Converter. Alphabets: 87 alphabets are installed with DesignShop Lite. Product levels higher than Design- Shop Lite include these alphabets, plus 49 additional alphabets. DesignShop / EDS III Conflicts - If you install DesignShop on an EDS III computer, the DesignShop sydex driver will install and you will not be able to perform any import / export functions in EDS III. The only workaround for this is to reinstall EDS III. If you install EDS III after you have installed DesignShop the EDS III sydex driver will install and you will not be able to perform any import / export functions in DesignShop. Should you experience this problem re-install the program files for DesignShop (this will tell the operating system not to load the EDS III sydex driver upon next reboot). When reading condensed designs and then saving them as expanded, it is recommended that the design cleanup filter should always have the "Accumulate Short Stitches" control checked (turned on). Failure to do so will result in designs that contain artificially high stitch counts. Some video systems will sometimes leave traces of lines or dots on the screen during editing and or digitizing. Some systems will also not "color in" the markers for selected straight and curved points. These problems can usually be fixed by performing the following steps. For Windows 98 / Millennium: Bring up the Window's "Display Properties" page by right clicking on the desktop followed by a click on the "Properties" menu item. Click on the "Settings" tab. Click on the "Advanced" button. Click on the "Performance" tab. Vary the "Hardware Acceleration" control as needed. Different systems will require different settings. For Windows 2000: Bring up the Window's "Display Properties" page by right clicking on the desktop followed by a click on the "Properties" menu item. Click on the "Settings" tab. Click on the "Advanced" button. Click on the "Troubleshooting" tab. Vary the "Hardware Acceleration" control as needed. Different systems will require different settings. Zoom Levels - A larger zoom factor can be achieved on Windows 98 / Millennium systems by decreasing the size of the DesignShop workspace area. The default setting of 16x16 inches will yield a zoom factor of 806%. By reducing the workspace area to a setting of 12x12 inches an additional 400% can be obtained. Reducing the workspace area further will yield even higher zoom factors but at the expense of scrolling capability. An additional benefit of reducing the workspace area is that the Navigator is easier to use because the design appears larger in the Navigator window. Note that reducing the workspace area does not affect the size at which the design is displayed in the view window. Care should be taken when using higher zoom factors - when digitizing, the user is more inclined to enter points too close together when a difference of a single point appears on the screen as multiple inches. The user should determine what 32662, Rev D 5 of 6

6 physical size of designs is typical and set the workspace area accordingly. The size of the workspace area can be changed as follows: 1. From within the tree view, right click on the project entry 2. Select Properties 3. Select Project 4. Change the Workspace Area to the desired settings. Microsoft recommends that there be no less than 60% to 65% resources available at all times. If the resources are less than this, Microsoft states that Windows and/or the application(s) running can become unstable. 6 of 6 Melco Embroidery Systems