I think when you are using the rotary cutting that EQ doesn't print out the background square. Think of your snowballing as applique. You might find if you want to cut the corners off of your square, try using the template option or the PP. I am snowballing two sides of a 4.5" cut square. I figure out with the help of a friend that I needed to cut 2.5" square to make a snowball triangle that was 2" finished. I too am trying to muddle thru EQ7 since my last version was EQ5.