Multi-colored Frame Design 
http:199.164.64.8/~pmilner  2/25/97

The PC Designer tutorial on coloring designs is a bit unclear. The 
main thing you want to do in designing is to work with natural colors (red
lips, green leaves, etc.)  If there is not a color on the color bar, then just
use one that is sort of close.

Commercial designs often are mass converted to many different formats 
(HUS, PCS, EXE, etc.) and probably do to practicality show as black/dk.
blue, royal blue, turquios, aqua, etc. as per our color bar order--very 
unnatural looking and definately not pleasing to the eye. Please don't make
your own designs this way!

Manually outline each design area as you are ready to fill it color by color. 
The autotrace function, by popular Pfaffie List opinion, causes more work 
and errors than making your own outlines.  So that the outline can easily 
be deleted after filling, pick an unusal color for your outline. Fill and color
in the exact order you want the pattern to be stitched out. This means you
will need to think and plan ahead as to which part of the design should be
digitized first.

HINT: work from the background to the foreground.  i.e. you would digitize
in this order:  sky, clouds, mountains, lake, duck.
 
After a section has been dititized, watch the color bar closely as you
press the  arrow key through the design.  Any time you see the color of the
outline appear, you need to delete it.   To double check you have left no
stray outline stitch, send your design to the Pfaff. Use #8 key to run
through the colors to see if you've left any stray outline stitches. Then go
back to computer and delete problem stitches.

REMINDER:  The #8 key sews or displays colors in order of the color bar,
NOT the order you digitized your design. If we were to sew out our outdoor
scene the #8 key will give you this order: lake, sky, moutains, duck,
clouds. So when you design your work, be sure to enter the thread color
order in the remarks section for future reference.

At any time you may change a selection of stitches to another color. That
will not change the stitching order. Also if you insert stitches they
become part of the design section with stitches prior to the insert of a
lower number and stitches after the insert of a high number.  All stitches
are numbered in the order you lay them down unless you insert stitches
then the next stitches just get their number bumped to a higher number a
la domino effect!

HINT: The default white background of working area does not lend itself
well to light colored stitches.  Change the background temporarily until
quitting program. Look to the bottom of the row of color bars on the left.
Double click in the gray area and a little color menue will open up. Select a background color that will contrast better with white, yellow, or lt grey
stitches. I generally prefer to digitize in a darker color and when finished
with that section, then change stitches to white, yellow, or etc. See which
works better for you.

When your design is complete, you can then do an outline around the entire
project or parts of the design in any color you desire.  The teddy bear on
card #1 for example has a black outline. You as the designer might have
gone with a brown outline. Many commercial designs lay down a double or
tripple outline for more emphasis.

When you send your design to the Pfaff, you will choose "col 1..x" mode
NOT #8 key to stitch out your design.  The Pfaff will stop at each color
change. You will need to refer to your notes or the remarks section to
know what the thread color order will be. For example our outdoor scene:
1) ltblue sky, 2) wht clouds, 3) grn mountains, 4) dk bl lake, 5) yel duck


---Features of Avvio (a freeware PC application) by Serggio

1. Delete (trash) part of the design by color. 
2. Find a stray stitch that causes uncessesary thread stops
3. Sort colors and reduce color changes
4. Change order of color stitching

download from <http://www.ebicom.net/~derosia/download.htm>