Your first project, from example to export

1. Open the example

After installation, sign in and activate your device if asked. From the home screen, open “Carrier badge”: a round, two-colour medallion bundled with the application. You do not need to prepare an image.

If examples fail to load, use Retry. For your own design, import a PNG, JPEG, HEIC/HEIF or SVG with clear edges.

2. Choose size and fabric

The example opens at 125 mm wide. Keep this size while learning the controls, then choose your fabric, hoop and the actual needle count of your machine. Check that the design fits inside the hoop’s stitchable area.

• To reproduce the home-page preview: width 125 mm, Polo / piqué, Custom coverage at 100%, Max colours 2, Preserve shades, generic Tajima machine, 360 × 500 mm hoop and Isacord 40 thread chart.
• Select the thread you will actually use. The software cannot infer fabric, hoop or thread from the image.

125 mm is the example size, not a recipe validated for every fabric.

3. Digitize and compare

Choose Digitize, or Re-digitize if an initial plan is already loaded, and wait for the new result. This replaces the initial example preview with your current settings. Compare its silhouette and colours with the source image. Zoom into edges and small inner gaps: an attractive preview alone does not prove they can be stitched.

• The colour count is a maximum before calculation; the result may use fewer.
• After changing size, fabric or colours, digitize again and review the new result.

4. Review the checks

Open Quality, filter a problem type and select a diagnostic to locate the affected area. If a correction is available, review it before applying. Unresolved problems remain visible.

• In Simulation, follow colour passes, jumps and thread changes. Two colours may produce more than two passes.
• Check the hoop and needle sheet for your machine. A rejected correction is not a repaired problem.

5. Save, then export

Save the project as .clstd to keep the source and editable work. Then export DST or PES according to the format your machine accepts. A needle sheet accompanies the export; keep it with the machine file.

An available export does not certify stitch-out quality. If the plan changes, refresh it and export again before transferring the file to the machine.

6. Test on the fabric

First stitch a scrap using the same fabric, stabilizer, thread, needle and hoop as the final project. Compare dimensions, legibility, gaps, registration and puckering. Keep the tested file and front and back photos.

Change one parameter at a time between tests. StitchMind does not yet have complete physical validation: simulation does not replace this test.

If the result needs work

Return to the saved project and identify the problem before changing several settings.

• Unreadable small letters: enlarge the text or simplify the font, then check the inner openings. There is no universal minimum height; test on your fabric.
• Too many colours: reduce Max colours and digitize again. For a logo with gradients, try Flatten logo gradients and compare the retained detail. Preserve shades remains the default.
• Dense areas or puckered fabric: locate overlaps and the density diagnostic. Check fabric, thread and stabilization first; increasing coverage can worsen the result. Test again after one change.
• Export refused: finish or cancel the current calculation, refresh edited stitches, then read the machine check. Check hoop dimensions and that a current plan exists. Save the project before contacting support.