The last step turns the image into a palette of real threads you can buy and stitch. Puntotek does not give you one conversion: it gives you four at once, so you can compare and choose.
The four proposals
The screen does not give you one conversion: it gives you four at once, with the same image and the same number of colours, so you choose with your eyes instead of blindly. They all use the same engine, but each one reads colour in its own way, and that is the point: on a tricky photo the differences are plain to see.
- The first one is the clean one: the conversion with no tweaks, looking for the thread closest to each colour. It is your reference; if it convinces you, you need nothing else.
- The second is guided by LAB, the way of measuring colour that is closest to how the human eye sees it: it separates lightness from hue. It usually behaves well with skin tones and soft gradients.
- The third and the fourth are guided by RGB, the mix of red, green and blue light. They respond better when a pure, saturated colour is in charge. There are two because the calculation is the same: they are there so you can have two comparisons at once — the interesting part is crossing them with the resolution and seeing the same conversion in, say, detail and ultra, side by side.
On top of that, each proposal keeps the settings it had when it was generated: its thread chart, its resolution level and the position of the triangles. That is what lets you move one control, regenerate a single proposal and compare it with the other three exactly as they were — the side-by-side comparison Puntotek 2 already had, but with four paths at a time.
There is no better one as a rule: it depends on the photo. Look at all four, zoom in if you need to, and keep the one that best solves your image — especially on faces, which is where a badly chosen colour shows first.
The controls, one by one
How many colours
The slider that decides how many threads the pattern will be made with. It goes from 2 to 124 colours and starts at 40. It works like the others: drag the strip along the bottom edge to move fast, or use the arrows one at a time to fine-tune. Fewer colours means a simpler, cheaper pattern that is quicker to stitch; more colours is more faithful to the photo, but also more skeins and more thread changes.
- Fewer colours: Simplifies. For most photos, between 15 and 30 already gives a very decent result.
- More colours: Refines the shades. It makes sense in portraits and gradients, where you notice it.
The RGB and LAB triangles
The fine-tuning for experts: drag the dot inside each triangle to change the weight of the channels when colours are compared. The LAB triangle works in perceptual space (how we see colours) and gives priority to lightness by default; the RGB one works on the pure channels. If you do not touch them, the defaults work very well.
- RGB triangle: Weighs the red, green and blue light channels. It rules when the colour is pure and saturated.
- LAB triangle: Weighs lightness against hue, the way the eye sees. Usually the winner on skin tones and gradients.
The thread chart
Choose the brand the colours are looked up in: DMC or Finca. The conversion only uses threads that exist in that chart, so what you see on screen is what you will be able to buy. Each of the four proposals can carry its own chart, so you can compare the same photo in DMC and in Finca, side by side.
Resolution
This is the adjustment that changes the result the most, and the hardest one to discover. Instead of dropping a flat colour into each cell, it spreads the transition across the neighbouring stitches: the blend is done by your eye when you look at the finished piece, just like in a pointillist painting. The effect is that gradients stop looking like steps and faces, shadows and skies gain enormously — and all that with the same colours or even fewer. If you are going to stitch a photograph, this is where it is won or lost. Each proposal keeps its own level, so you can compare all four at a glance.
- Original: No masking: each cell, its own colour. The starting point for comparing.
- Base: A first level of blending. It softens the harshest jumps with barely any change to the drawing.
- Detail: Spreads more. The sweet spot for portraits and photos with soft gradients.
- Ultra: The maximum. Most transition and most apparent sharpness; on flat drawings it can be too much.
Skeins
Shows the skein list for the proposal: which threads you will need and how many.
Convert
Picks the winning proposal: it is converted again with your current settings and the other three fade on screen. You can change your mind and carry on adjusting as many times as you like.
Back
Returns to Step 2 to touch up the image.
Help
Opens this manual page without leaving the importer, in case you need a reminder of what a control does while you compare the proposals.
Finish
Moves on to the final view: the complete pattern with its final colours, where you give it the nod before opening it on the canvas.
Tips
- If the result is noisy (stray stitches), try fewer colours or touch it up afterwards with the fill tool and the eyedropper.
- Soft gradients (skies, skin) are the hardest: consider whether the pattern gains by simplifying them — and remember the skin protector in Step 2 for portraits.
- Compare the four proposals with the same image and different colour counts: sometimes 18 well-chosen colours beat 40.
← Step 2: size and adjustments On finishing, the work opens in Puntotek: the main screen →
The final view
Once you finish, Puntotek shows you the completed pattern full screen. Tap any area and a magnifier shows you the real stitches enlarged — the embroidery as it will look close up. Read the verification notice (remember: only use images you have the rights to) and, when it has finished writing itself, press ACCEPT and the pattern opens on the canvas as a normal work: touch it up stitch by stitch, change colours, add backstitch… The importer is a starting point, not a closed result. Save as soon as you import.
The last step: the verification notice
When you press Finish, before the work opens, Puntotek shows you a final view with a magnifier and a verification notice. Read it calmly, because it matters:
- The image has been processed automatically to generate the pattern.
- The colours and their references (brand, code and thread name) are estimates based on algorithms: they may not match the real result exactly.
- The screen, the lighting, the colour conversion and the differences between thread batches all affect how each colour looks.
- Before buying materials or starting to stitch, check the colours and the references assigned.
By accepting, you confirm that the result must be verified by you before its final use, and the design is left open in Puntotek ready to work on or edit: change colours from the chart, touch up stitches, or whatever you need.