The general tools menu

Save (ALT+S)

Saves whatever you have in hand onto your device. The first time it asks for a name; after that, every save updates that same file instead of leaving loose copies around. The button changes icon depending on the mode you are in, and saves one thing or the other:

• In graphic mode: it saves the work, with its stitches, its palette and its fabric.
• In font mode: it saves the font you are drawing, with all its glyphs.

The cloud button

Turn it on before saving and the work also goes up to your Puntotek cloud (you need the device linked to your account). The same name always updates the same work in the cloud, with no duplicates. You will see it in My account on the website and in the My cloud folder of the file list.

My account

Opens your Puntotek account in the browser, in a separate window: the works you keep in the cloud, the message inbox, your linked devices and your public profile with your alias and your avatar. That is where you decide which works appear in the gallery and which ones can be downloaded.

Open

Takes you to the file list, which is your wardrobe: the works and fonts on this device, your saved motifs, the Puntotek Collection with patterns ready to open, and your cloud folder if you have an account. From there you can preview before opening, rename and delete.

The loom

The size of the fabric: it changes the width and height of the work in stitches, and lets you centre the design on the fabric without changing its size. Read the chapter.

Fabric colour

Choose the background colour of the fabric, the one you see between the stitches — and the one the simulation and the PDF will carry. Read the chapter.

Export file

Downloads whatever you have open as a Puntotek file, into your computer’s downloads folder. It is your real backup — the one that does not depend on us — and the way to move a work to another device by your own means, or to send it to someone.

Import file

The way back: opens a Puntotek file kept on your device, be it a work or a font, whether you exported it yourself or somebody sent it to you. Once opened it becomes the current work, so save anything unsaved first.

Print to PDF

Takes you to the printing screen, where the pattern is prepared for paper: orientation, symbols over the colours, thread counts and the colour key. The grid is split into pages so you can stitch without the screen in front of you.

The importer

Opens the image importer: it turns a photo into stitches in three steps — loading and cropping, setting the size in stitches and adjusting the image, and reducing the thousands of tones in the photo to the threads you are actually going to buy.

Remove unused colors

Removes from the palette, in one go, every color that has no stitches in the work. It is most welcome after importing a photo or erasing part of the design. Not a single stitch is lost: the design stays exactly the same and only the palette numbering changes. When it finishes, it tells you how many colors it removed. If the button is grey, there are none to remove. For colors that are barely used, see Merge colors in Color charts.

Texts

Opens the text editor: you write a name or a phrase with one of your stitched fonts, adjust the spacing between letters, and the result is pasted into the pattern like any other motif, ready to place wherever you want.

Settings

Takes you to the settings: the device type, the rulers, the fading, how many undo steps are kept, the keyboard hints, the number of butterflies and the switch to font design mode.

Close / Help

Two simple buttons: leave the menu, or open this help page when you need a reminder.

• Close the menu: Goes back to the canvas with the work exactly as it was. It also closes with the Esc (Escape) key, without touching the button.
• Open help: Opens the explanation for the current screen.