Rhonda's Electric Quilt Class - Week 4 - Scanning Fabric
 

EQ5/EQ6/EQ7 Classes - Scanning Fabric



Today we will look at scanning fabric. So make sure you have your scanner ready.

The steps are not hard.

Overview:
Iron fabric
Lay fabric on scanner screen.
Close lid (it's ok if your fabric won't let the lid close all the way)

Click on Start on your computer
Click on Control Panel
Click on Scanner


A scanner wizard will pop up.
Click next

In your manual you will find this lesson on
EQ5 on pg 158-159/ EQ6 on pge 139 / EQ7 on page 57



Here is what I have. Yours will probably look similar.

http://www.bitsnpiecesworkshop.com/images/Cropped.jpg


Click on preview and let it run a preview.


If you see any white or black around the edge make sure you crop out all but the fabric.
Anything you leave in the picture will show up in EQ when you go to use the picture

If your fabric is not laying straight now is the time to fix it.
Click on Custom Settings

You should see something like this. It doesn't matter if yours looks differant- you are looking for the resolution. You need to change it to 75 DPI. Check the manual of your scanner if you can't find the resolution. Then click on next.



http://www.bitsnpiecesworkshop.com/i...Resolution.jpg


make sure for EQ5 you change it to bitmap or bmp

EQ6 and EQ7 will take a jpg file and other files but EQ5 will only allow a bitmap file to be used.

Make sure you choose a file in your computer that you know how to find after you are done scanning the fabric in. I chose to title it EQ Fabrics. In my own files I used 6 differant files and put brown fabrics in one file/ red in one file/ black in one file etc. You can choose to organize your files any way you like. Just make sure you know where they are.


http://www.bitsnpiecesworkshop.com/i...ination222.jpg


Cropping your picture to 225 x 225 will save room in your memory for more pictures but you don't have to crop it to get the picture to show up right.

Click on next and you will go on to the window where it will scan your fabric.


When it is done scanning click on next.


You will now have the window where you can click on finish and be done.


It will take you to the file where your fabric was added.


But if you are going to scan more fabric you can click on back instead of finish and it will take you back to the window where you can preview your pic. So replace your fabric in y our scanner and now you can do the scan again on another fabric. continue to do this til you have added all the fabric you want to do.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using the Fabric Library in your EQ:


1. Click on Library in the top tool bar



http://www.patchworkbyrhonda.com/ima...ricLibrary.jpg




2. Click on Fabric Library



http://www.patchworkbyrhonda.com/images/Import.jpg





3. Click on Import



http://www.patchworkbyrhonda.com/images/Lookin.jpg




4. Find your file in your computer

5. Click on the fabric you want and then click on open

6. Click on (EQ5) copy (EQ6) add to sketchbook (EQ7) add to sketchbook




http://www.patchworkbyrhonda.com/images/Copy.jpg





7. When done close out window




Now you should be able to see your fabrics in your palette.

They are always added to the right side at the end of your palette.




If you don't see your newly added fabrics open up your sketchbook and click on Fabrics.

Scroll all the way to the right and you should see them there. After you do this then they should now show up in your palette. You will have to scroll all the way to the right of the palette to see the new fabrics.





Next week we will look at more ways to use the sketchbook

I have done a few fabrics so I can see what they look like in the quilt block I have designed. I did go to the information tapes and go until I found out how to do it right. I know there are many like me who area little illiterate when coming to new things and how they work. Thanks for your tutorial, Annya

Oops ran out of time to add the PDF. Here it is:

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Some fabric that have stripes in them need to be scanned on an angel. If not the image is distorted.

up early ,thanks for the tut, another great one,you would have made a wonderful school teacher,you are so easy to follow.

d.swindle

thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much. I tried to scan fabrics when I first got EQ6 and it didn't work so I didn't try again til now. I followed your instructions step by step and it worked yipee!!!!

Well I'll be, simple as that, Thanks Rhonda, I've been trying to do that for a long time. Love these classes. Now I'll probably scan in all my fabrics LOL

Katie

thanks again, Rhonda, for another very good tut

Thanks Rhonda for all the wonderful tuts! For some strange reason I don't see pictures here but I see them in the PDF file.

You're welcome everyone!

Katie - most of this is easy it is just a matter of knowing the steps.

D. Swindle thanks for the compliment. I went to college to be an elementary teacher but I quit school and got married and had kids instead. LOL I was always lecturing my kids about this or that and my DD would say Mom quit lecturing! I just hate to see someone struggle if I can help. I love my EQ and think it is terrific and want you all to appreciate the possibilites in it.

When people say to me I could never do what you do-- I think yes you can if you know the tricks of the trade. What I do isn't magic it is just one step at a time til you get what you are trying to do.

I dont' go into my EQ with an idea of what I am going to design. I start with a simple block and then add more of them play with turning them and adding color and the program itself comes up with all these differant looks.

I hope you all can appreciate and enjoy the fun of playing with your EQ!

Thanks Rhonda for another wonderful lesson. It makes me feel good that I can now do some of the things I was hoping to do when I bought this program. You are a great teacher! Manuals are good if you know what you want to do and what it is called. I wear out lots of indexes looking for what I need. And I learn best by doing or seeing it done. Do you know if we
can scan in a pattern block or quilt and use that in EQ somehow? Another thing I'd like to learn. Thanks again!

Thanks Rhonda. I will print this out and use it. I had figured out how to do some of it but not the "proper" way. LOL. Scanning in fabric was one reason I bit the bullet and bought EQ7 in the first place. So I could see how it looks with the fabrics that I bought.

Have a question, what happens if you can't change the resolution to 75dpi, mine seems to only go to 100dpi. I have a brother all in one (fax,print,scan)

Fantastic tut...thank you ...thank you!!

Next week I will continue on with more stuff you can do with scanning and the sketchbook. Adding your own photos is one of them.

What exactly are you wanting to do with a pattern block or quilt?

When I started scanning I didn't know about DPIs so I scanned at 200 pixels. If you can only use 100 DPI then you just won't have as close up of a pic of your fabric as you would with 75. You will still see your print but it will be a little smaller print than it would be with 75.

Thanks Rhonda

Rohnda, I lost you at the beginning with scanning the fabric. I don't seem to be able to do anything but scan to my documents and don't even know what kind of file it is. Do you know if I can use photoshop elements to do the size and type after scanning? Then import the file from photoshop?

Are you asking how to do the resolution part? As to the file type you choose that in the window where you save. Under the little window where you type in the file name you will see file type. You can click on the little arrow and a menu will open. Choose BMP from that menu before you save your scan in Documents

Thank you for the reply, my printer-scanner gives me some choices such as photo file or pdf document or TIFF format. I will do some more trys at this. I understand how to import it but the scanner seems to be my problem.

Basically you just need to scan the fabric and save it on your computer. Where you save it and what size it is is not that important. Changing the resolution and the size is only so you can see the print in your fabric. Once you have your fabric saved on your computer you can use any program to change the file type. that only matters if you have EQ5. I didn't know about the resolution until just recently. I just used my fabric files as is. It didn't show the print as well as I wanted but it worked well enough that I didn't worry about it. I was scanning them at 200 DPI. But I didn't know about pixels or understand all that when I first started scanning.

So as long as you can save a scanned picture on your pc then that is the bottom line of what you need to do to be able to import that pic into your EQ. You can learn to fine tune the picture later. If you have EQ5 then yes you need to save it as a bitmap file.

Let me know if you get it figured out or if you are still having trouble.

Thanks Rhonda. Scanning makes a big difference in making my designs--look like mine!

Hi Rhonda,

TY so much! I having a problem with my fabric once I import it in. it only shows the fabric in the corner of the pic, instead of the whole pic like it is saved. Very strange.

Which EQ do you have? where are you seeing only the corner of the pic? In the file after it is saved or in the pic after it has been imported or in the preview window in the scan wizard?

Make sure you do the preview on your scanner and check to see if the preview lines are set right so all of your fabric or as much as you want is showing inside the preview lines.

Just wanted to let you know I was finally able to import the fabrics into EQ7. The image however does look as if you can see the weave in it very clearly. Do I need to change the resolution? Seems all I can do is crop the image. TY for all you help.

I used to crop the image but if you fix the resolution to 75 it won't matter the size of you pic. The EQ will adjust the pic no matter the size. I experimented with it and it works.

However when I first started scanning I just used the size of the pic that came out of the scanner. My pics were in the 1000 range. By the time I understood the need to resize to a smaller size I had scanned in more than a hundred fabrics. My pc kept telling me there was no more memory. The lady at EQ told me to resize my pics. Well with that many fabrics I never did but I am more aware of the need for smaller pics now. It doesn't make them look any differant in the EQ but it makes more room in your files. The resolution or how many dots per inch is what makes the differance in the look of your picture.

I often buy a pattern that I like but it doesn't offer a king size option and all my kids have king sized beds. I'd like to be able to take that pattern or block into EQ, make it king size, scan my sample fabrics in, rearrange colors to suit me and then find out how many blocks I need to make and HOW MUCH FABRIC I need to buy. It takes me 4-5 trips to a fabric store to finish a quilt...initial fabric, sashing, borders, backing.

Thanks Rhonda. Your lessons are great. I'm probably just ahead of you with my questions.

My EQ7 software arrived yesterday, Santa does not know that I saw it on the front porch when I got home from work before him. I ask if he got the mail and he said NO...I'LL GET IT!!!. Now it is wrapped and under the tree and you have no idea how hard it is to not rip open that box and get started. Hope I can catch up with you guys. I have read the posts but its hard to follow when I haven't used the software yet. Rhonda, sounds like you'll make it easy to learn. Can't wait......I wonder if Santa would notice if I loaded the software then rewrapped the box..... Never mind! I wouldn't really do that.

when my 33 yr old son was in 4th grade I bought the new fad the very first Nintendo deck for him for Christmas. I had it wrapped up and under the tree. I am a big puzzle fanatic and gamer and while the kids were in school I would open one end of the box and wiggle the game out of there. Hook it up and play it while I was the only one home and then put it back before everyone got home again! LOL I was addicted before the kids ever saw it!

Donkey Kong, PacMan or Mario? My son is about that same age. Can't wait to get started on the EQ Classes with you. I've read your posts and I'm sure to get alot from it. Thanks Rhonda!

LOL This was when it first came out so it was Mario Brothers. It was the only one on the market then. Then they came out with more. I remember our local theater offered a handful of games for rent. The owner told me he thought it was a fad that wouldn't last long. Boy was he wrong!!

My all time favorite games are Zelda and Metroid. I enjoy treasure hunting and puzzle solving more than fighting the bad guys. My two boys and I used to sit and play together for hours. What I wasn't good at they were. I had no patience for fighting and they had no patience for solving riddles. So we would hand off to the one who could solve that part of the game. I so enjoyed spending time with them that way.
My youngest son Glen rented Donkey Kong when it first came out and I was hooked! He bought me a super nintendo for Christmas that year with Donkey Kong Country. Myself and my sons and then later grandsons have all enjoyed playing this together. Jake and I played every time he came and stayed. We played it over almost a year til we finally got to the end. I had already beaten it but it was fun to play with him. He comes one weekend every other month and on holidays.

Awesome....thanks!

Great lesson can hardly wait for more

One question I have... after scanning the fabric & importing it into EQ5.... when I design a quilt & use that imported fabric the scale is way out of whack. Let's see if I can put a picture of it here.[ATTACH=CONFIG]307026[/ATTACH] okay and now how do I get my EQ5 picture on....[ATTACH=CONFIG]307030[/ATTACH]

Did you use the 75 dpi or did you just scan and import your picture? Go back and look at the Class directions. I don't know that I remember it right off but I believe if you change the DPI from 200 to 75 it should fix your problem. I do know it has a lot to do with the size of your picture.

Yes, it is scanned at the 75, oh well will keep playing with it. Found some instructions: open my scan in MS Paint

Optional Step
If you think the fabric pattern looks too large on the screen, select Image > Stretch/Skew Type 50% for both the horizontal and vertical stretch. This will make the fabric scan appear smaller. All of the fabrics in the Designer Fabrics library were resized 50%, so the fabrics would look better proportioned on your monitor. *** I had to reduce mine to 45% to get the maximum pixels down below 200.

Step 4
Select Image > Attributes...
Your image height and width must be a MAXIMUM of 200 each. It can be smaller than 200 by 200.
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