Satin Studio Manual

Hoop canvas and sew timeline

The Hoop canvas shows where the design sits on the fabric. The sew timeline shows what the machine does first, next, and last.

Use them together. A beautiful preview can still hide an awkward jump, a missing stop, or a border that sews too early.

Meet the workbench

The Studio layout keeps the important parts close together:

The layout adapts to desktop, tablet, and phone screens. Desktop gives you the full editing surface. Tablet keeps a large touch-friendly Hoop canvas. Phone focuses on review and handoff rather than squeezing tiny editing handles into the screen.

Start with the Hoop canvas

The canvas shows the hoop boundary, safe area, source objects, and the active selection. Use it for the work that feels spatial:

Choose Select to pick an object. Choose a drawing or text tool to add something new. When a path point is selected, its handles and exact coordinates appear with the controls that belong to it.

Tip: Zoom for the question you are asking

Stay zoomed out to check hoop fit and the overall balance. Move closer to inspect object edges and stitch direction. Zoom all the way in only when you need individual points, joins, or travel.

Let the right-hand panel follow you

The details panel changes with your current job. Select text and you see text controls. Select a path point and you see point and handle controls. Open a proof and you see stitch facts and warnings.

This is faster than hunting through one giant settings window. The useful controls come to the object you are already working on.

The Object tree is the better choice when the design becomes crowded. It shows groups, text outlines, hidden objects, locked objects, and the active selection in a readable hierarchy.

Open a menu where you are working

On a desktop, right-click the thing you want to act on. A path point opens point actions. A selected object opens object actions. A proof row offers proof work, while an empty part of the Hoop offers creation actions. Toolbar gaps, tabs, floating windows, Object tree rows, and the Script Pad each have menus suited to that exact place.

These menus use the same commands and availability checks as M-x. A disabled row explains what is missing instead of silently doing something to another object. If you rearrange a menu later, Satin Studio keeps only that local arrangement; it does not put private menu choices into the embroidery project.

Choose Customize This Menu in the browser, or Customize menu in the native toolbar, to edit a menu without dragging. The native editor also provides labeled controls for each key action. Use Tab and Shift-Tab to move between sections, then use Up and Down to move between rows. Hold Command on macOS, or Ctrl on Windows and Linux, while pressing Up or Down to reorder the focused row. Space hides or restores a built-in contribution. Delete removes a local label, separator, or submenu. Press Escape when you are finished.

The same menu offers Export Workbench Customization and Import Workbench Customization. In the native Apple app, use Export setup and Import setup in the workbench toolbar. An export contains local panel placement, toolbar choices, menu arrangement, and custom shortcuts—not embroidery source. Import checks the complete file first and asks again before applying it. A malformed file leaves the current workbench untouched. If you change pasted text after checking it, you must validate that exact text again before it can be applied.

Compile a proof

A proof turns editable source objects into deterministic stitch facts. It can show:

Proof work runs in the background. You can keep using the interface while Satin Studio prepares it.

If you edit the source afterward, the proof is marked out of date. Compile again before you trust it for handoff.

graph TD
  Source[Editable source] --> Proof[Compile proof]
  Proof --> Review[Review stitches and warnings]
  Review --> Edit[Make a useful edit]
  Edit --> Source

Read the sew timeline

The timeline shows machine order rather than visual stacking. Use it to answer questions such as:

Selecting an object on the canvas locates its machine work in the timeline. Selecting a timeline segment locates it on the canvas. That back-and-forth is one of the quickest ways to understand an imported design.

Inspect warnings in context

Warnings are most useful when they point to the object and machine step that caused them. Open Diagnostics when you need to see information that a normal material preview hides:

A warning is an invitation to inspect, not an automatic verdict. Fabric, stabilizer, needle, thread, tension, hooping, and machine behavior still matter.

Use realistic preview carefully

The material preview helps you read thread direction, crossing order, fabric tone, and the overall stitched character of the design. It is still a simulation.

A renderer image is not a sewout photograph. A clean simulation does not prove that a fabric and stabilizer combination will behave perfectly. For an important job, make a test stitch on the real material stack.

Undo ordinary edits normally

Project-changing actions share one undo history. Moving an object, changing a setting, editing a path, or running a grouped Dither recipe records a clear undo step.

Use Command-Z on macOS or Ctrl-Z on Windows and Linux. Add Shift to redo. A grouped action returns to its starting point with one Undo rather than making you reverse each small part yourself.

Find an action instead of hunting for it

Press M-x and type the result you want when you cannot remember where its button lives. Press Ctrl-H for command Help and key discovery. The completion window and Help pages use the same descriptions as the visible controls.

Dither is available when you want to turn a repeated sequence into a small recipe. Most users can ignore it until repetition becomes annoying. When that day arrives, Getting started with Dither begins with a tiny example.

Make the layout yours

You can arrange panels for different kinds of work: digitizing, text, stitch inspection, diagnostics, or machine handoff. A layout changes where tools live; it does not change the project or what a command means.

Design, Stitch, and X-Ray modes change the editing behavior and available tools without rearranging your panels. Choose a saved layout separately when you want a different arrangement. This lets you keep a familiar workspace while changing the kind of work you are doing.

Keep one simple Studio layout as home base. If an experiment becomes confusing, reset the layout and continue with the same project.

Prepare machine handoff

Before sending a design to the machine, check:

Satin Studio prepares the machine file from the same deterministic project and compile facts shown in the handoff view. It does not export the deformed pixels from the material preview.

The final check happens on fabric

Software can catch a great deal. It cannot feel your shirt, inspect your hooping, or watch your exact machine tension.

Before committing to the final garment, sew a representative test with the intended fabric, stabilizer, needle, thread, and machine settings. The workbench helps you arrive at that test with fewer surprises.