Tutorial Digital Paper Embroidery Template

Tutorial Index

First. let's open a canvas about 300 x 300 pixels. The use of the grid is very helpful if you want to make sure your dots will align together. Go to file preference, click on grid and set it about 5 pixels x 5 pixels.

Choose the outline path shape and choose the heart shape from the custom shape. Once you are done, center both ways.

Let's make a small circle with the path shape and center it both ways. Here I did choose to make it red to have a contrast with my black outline.

We are going to work in zoom, zoom in about 400 or more, depend what you are comfortable to work with.

Let's bring back your view grid if you have close that view.

Click on the dot in the middle and duplicate it. Put one at the bottom of the heart, duplicate and put one at the top. Now You will have to duplicate every dot you will need as you go.

With the help of the grid, you will position each one in every two square grid, do only one side, since the opposite side is exactly the same.

Select all your red dots and merge as single object. While it is still select, duplicate and flip horizontally, and position in place, just like the example on the left.

We are going to select both side of the heart and merge it as a single object and paste it as a new image. Expend your canvas about 10 pixels all side.

On this template, with the dot in the middle, going from the middle to each dots, all the way around it, this is what we get.

If we do get rid of the dot in the middle, this will give us an other design type.

On this one, with no dot in the middle, we make our first straight line from the lowest dot at the top to the lowest dot at the bottom. Our second line is made from the left side at the top from the lowest dot we did made to the right side of the lowest dot we did made. This line will cross the first straight line we did made. You do this all the way around. On the left you could see that our whole design have change and just for taking out the dot in the middle.

Let's play a bit more, to get more of a 3d look, from the middle dot, I did add more dot in the top center part.

Here is a more complicated design, first I have work the lines with the middle centered dots, and then crossing lines on one side, then on the other side then the lower part. Again our same heart, with a couple more dots gives us a different design.

Ok, I guess we do have enough practice and now you have a pretty good idea to make your own template. Let's try to design our own card.

Open a canvas about 450 pixels x 320 pixels. With the outline path shape, choose the triangle shape. I want to make some trees, and the triangle shape are same size on all side, so we are going to use the transform tool the resize it the way we would like, more of a tree shape. Once the first one is done and still select, duplicate and resize a bit smaller, and position in the center horizontally and duplicate again, and resize again to balance your scene.

Once you are done with your triangle shape, we are going to use the line and arrow tool, we are going to make a straight line from the bottom of the triangle to make our tree trunk. While we are at it, we are going to make a few stars in the sky.

Still having the tool line and arrow, we are going to choose the second shape for making the snow line below the trees.

We are going to take an other approach here, since not sure how the design is going to work with the trees, Here is what I did, I merge down my design, with the hue and saturation, I did apply more lightness to it, it made it fade into the canvas more.

Now using the tool line and arrow, size 1, zoom in at about 200, I'm trying my design on the tree. Zoom out, check it out, if you like it, zoom in again and do your other trees.

Ok, since we are satisfied with the design we want to produce on our tree, we are going to make our dots. This time, I'm going to use the paint brush for making my dots and will paint them in mode.

Making all my dots, on the tree at every beginning and ending line I put a dot. Same goes for the stars in the sky.

Now for the snow line at the bottom of the tree, since I'm just going to use a back stitch embroidery technique for it, do them fairly close leaving a space in between about 2 or 3 dots apart. Make sure you have miss any dots.

Once your done, select all your dots and merge as single object, and copy and paste as a new image.

Here I did repaint all my dots in black for my template.

Now we are going to try our template, expend your canvas all around by 50 pixels.

Here I'm using the path tool, line and arrow, size 1, 3d shape with a gold preset.

After I was done, did select all the dots and lines and merges as single object.

Deselect my object and under edit click the fill tool and choose the fill image. At first the texture I did want wasn't the right color, but did love the texture, I click ok for the texture, then with the color balance did change the color of my texture to a nice lovely green one.

To finish it off, First I did use a dingbat font, to get my design from, then with the path tool line and arrow, straight line, I did made my lines over it. Once done I did delete the dingbat font under neat and select my line corner design and merge it as a single object. Duplicate, flip both way and position at the opposite diagonal on the card.

There you go, with simple shape from PI, you have made yourself a lovely template and a digital embroidery paper card.

Now if you don't have a nice seamless background for your card you could find lots of them at the Visual Art Academy Free Page.

Once you have your seamless image choose tile instead of fit image in the fill image window, you could preview and if you like it click ok.

I have did made a border on mine, you could decorate yours the way you like, be creative, this is your creation.

Hope you have enjoy doing some digital embroidery with me as much as I did have fun making the tutorial.

If you have any question or need some help don't hesitated to contact me. I'd like very much to see your result, I invite you to post it to the PhotoImpact International Board.