Send from the browser — files from any computer

What is the browser sender?

A page on stitchpencil.app that does what StitchPencil Stick for Mac does, without installing anything: files you already have — purchased designs, files from other software, designs you exported earlier — go to the stick over Bluetooth, straight from the browser. Nothing leaves the page: no server, no account. Designs are still made in StitchPencil on the iPad, and they leave the iPad through the Export Unlock as before.

Open it from the Send from the browser section on stitchpencil.app/esp32, or directly: stitchpencil.app/esp32/send.

What do I need?

• Chrome or Edge on a computer (Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS), or Chrome on Android. Safari and Firefox cannot do Bluetooth in the browser; on a Mac, take the Mac app instead.
• Bluetooth 4.2 or newer. The stick only pairs over a secure connection, which Bluetooth 4.0 dongles cannot make.
• Firmware 1.0.9 or newer on the stick. The page shows the stick’s firmware and says when a newer one is available.

How do I pair the stick?

Once per computer:

1. Plug the stick into the machine or a USB power source, and keep the computer close. A stick connected to an iPad or a Mac is invisible here — close it there first.
2. Click Connect stick. The browser lists the sticks it finds; pick yours.
3. The stick’s display shows a six-digit code, and the browser or the computer asks for it: type exactly that code.
4. The stick shows its name on its display. Look at the stick in your machine: only if that display shows the name, click Yes, that one.

A stick with no pairing takes the first device straight away. A stick that already knows an iPad or a Mac takes a new computer only while it is ready to pair: hold its button for 3 seconds until the display says so, then you have two minutes.

How do I send files?

Drop one or more files anywhere on the page, or click Choose files…. The stick takes stitch files (DST, EXP, PES, PEC, JEF, SEW, VP3, VIP, HUS, XXX, TAP) and their companion files (INF, COL, EDR, RGB, PNG, BMP); anything else is left out, and the page names what it left out. Drop a Bernina pair (Herz.exp and Herz.inf) together: the colour file goes first.

Files dropped before the stick is connected wait and go out as soon as it is. A bar shows the progress; Verified: the stick read it back unchanged means the stick saved the file and read it back from its memory. If a file of the same name is already on the stick, the page asks before it replaces it. Keep the browser tab in front while a send runs.

The name on the stick is the file’s name, folded to what the machine can display: Grüße aus Köln.pes becomes Gruesse aus Koeln.pes.

The list, deleting, and letting go

The list On the stick shows every design with its file types, size and date, with the count next to the heading and a search field from twenty designs on. The bin at the right of a row deletes a design; the page asks once and names every file that goes. Deleting a stitch file also deletes its colour file.

A stick takes one connection at a time: while the page is connected, your iPad cannot reach the stick. Release the stick at the bottom of the page lets it go, as does closing the tab; after five minutes without you doing anything the page lets go by itself and offers Connect again.

Something does not work

• This browser can’t talk to the stick: use Chrome or Edge on a computer, or Chrome on Android.
• Pairing did not work: if the stick showed no code, it was not ready to pair. Hold its button for 3 seconds, then try again. If it showed a code, type exactly that one.
• The stick no longer knows this computer: after its pairings were erased or its firmware was installed fresh. Remove the stick in the system’s Bluetooth settings, then pair again.
• The stick does not answer: an iPad or a Mac may hold it. Close the stick there, then try again.
• Every Bluetooth step is written to a log on the page: Show log, then Copy log, and paste it into your report.