Satin Studio Manual

Threads and colorways

A screen color describes light. A spool contains dyed fiber with thickness, sheen, and behavior under real illumination. Satin Studio keeps both facts without confusing one for the other.

Build the project thread rack

Each project thread can record a brand, catalog number, name, preview color, weight, finish, and substitution notes. Use the catalog identity when production depends on a particular spool; use the preview color to make the design readable on screen.

Imported machine files often contain palette indexes or approximate colors. Match those blocks to real spools before handoff.

Read thread order from the timeline

The palette tells you which threads exist. The sew timeline tells you when they run.

The same spool may appear in more than one block because another color, construction stop, appliqué step, or layering requirement sits between its uses. Inspect those boundaries before merging repeated colors.

Map artwork colors deliberately

Artwork colors are source labels, not thread assignments. During import, the source-color map shows how each artwork swatch reaches the project rack.

Satin Studio highlights three useful cases:

Catalog suggestions narrow the search, but the physical spool and fabric decide the final match. Save an intentional split or near-color decision so the same question does not return at every export.

Save colorways without copying the project

A colorway is a named variation of the spool rack. The objects and stitch geometry keep stable thread roles while the selected spools change.

Use colorways for customer choices, team colors, seasonal editions, or the same design on light and dark garments. Selecting one updates the proof, thread list, worksheet, export colors, and downloaded filename together.

A colorway may override one spool and inherit the rest from Base colors. It can also carry a proof background and production notes for substitutions, bobbin choices, or approval. The proof background helps judge contrast; the project fabric still controls material guidance.

Duplicate a colorway to explore a nearby palette. Reset an override to inherit the base spool again. Deleting the active colorway returns the project to Base colors.

Design Health reports excessive changes, weak fabric contrast, confusing repeated blocks, metallic-thread risk, and visible same-color travel. Follow a warning to its object and timeline block before changing the spool rack; the apparent color problem may actually be a sequence or coverage problem.