Import — SVG artwork and reference images
Can I open a project file from another app?
Section titled “Can I open a project file from another app?”.hoop and Boldbobbin .vemb designs open from the Gallery, and a machine file (PES, DST, EXP) opens there too as editable stitches — see Opening files from other apps. This page is about artwork: vector files and photos you bring onto the canvas of a design you already have open.
Where is the import button?
Section titled “Where is the import button?”In the Layers panel. Tap Layers in the top bar, then the plus in the panel’s header, then Image. It only asks for the source — Photo Library or Files — and the content of the file decides the rest.
It is the way in for every kind of artwork: vector files and photos share the one button.
The file is called “Untitled.hoop 4” — does it still open?
Section titled “The file is called “Untitled.hoop 4” — does it still open?”Yes. The number after the extension comes from the app that received the file: one that does not know “.hoop” as an extension takes the whole name as the name and counts up behind it when a file of that name exists. StitchPencil itself always writes “Name.hoop”. Open such a file through the gallery’s Import, where every file can be picked; the app reads what is inside, not what it is called. The same goes for fonts, shape packs, palette files and PES or DST stitch files (“Flower.pes 2”).
How do I import an SVG?
Section titled “How do I import an SVG?”Through the button above, or quicker: drag the SVG file straight onto the canvas from another app. Either way opens the SVG import assistant with a live preview against your hoop.
What choices does the import assistant give me?
Section titled “What choices does the import assistant give me?”- Import as — Stitch objects (each element becomes an editable Run/Satin/Fill object) or a Tracing template (a locked reference image you draw over by hand)
- Scale — a percentage field, with Fit-hoop and 100% shortcuts
- Per-element mapping — each stroke maps to Auto / Run 1× / Run 2× / Bean 3× / Satin / Skip (with preset pickers alongside), and each fill maps to Tatami or Skip
- Per-color thread mapping — assign a real thread color to each color found in the file
What happens if I just drop in a photo instead of an SVG?
Section titled “What happens if I just drop in a photo instead of an SVG?”It becomes a reference/tracing image, not stitch objects — with an opacity slider, on-canvas move/scale/rotate, and a Straighten control for a photo that was shot slightly rotated. It’s meant to be drawn over with the regular Stitch tools, not converted automatically.
Is there a fully automatic “photo to stitches” feature?
Section titled “Is there a fully automatic “photo to stitches” feature?”Not for photos. StitchPencil’s path is tracing over a reference image by hand, or importing structured vector artwork (SVG) with the mapping controls above. For flat artwork — stickers, logos, line art — there is Stitch Draft, an opt-in Labs tool that makes a rough first draft you then refine by hand. See Stitch Draft.