Layers & sequence — Stitch-out order and organization

How do I open the Layers panel?

Tap Layers in the top bar. It’s a full-height panel, not a sheet — it stays open alongside the canvas while you keep working.

What do the numbers next to each row mean?

The actual machine stitch order, not just the row’s position in the list. A batched group of objects that share a color can show something like “2·4” — meaning this row’s contents are stitched at positions 2 and 4 in the machine sequence, with something else in between. This matters because drawing order and stitch-out order aren’t always identical once color batching has reordered things for fewer thread changes.

When a row’s number sends the machine back to an earlier step, that number is highlighted and a short note appears under the list. You see it wherever colour batching lifts a whole colour block out of list order — the list keeps showing where an object sits in the design, the number tells you when the machine actually sews it. Drawing an object in a colour the design doesn’t use yet is the usual way to produce one: the new colour becomes its own block, and that block is sewn as a unit.

How do I reorder layers?

Long-press and drag a row — there’s no separate “edit mode” to switch into first. Swipe a row left for quick delete or duplicate.

Several rows at once: check them with the circles on the right, then drag one of the checked rows — all of them travel together and land next to each other where you drop, keeping their order among themselves. Dragging an unchecked row still moves that row alone, so the checkmarks never hijack a small fix. A machine stop travels with the object it belongs to.

Dragging rows one at a time is fine for “move this one up”. When you want several objects sewn in a particular order, use Sequence by tapping instead (below).

How do I protect a layer I’m finished with?

The padlock in the row, between the checkmark and the eye. Locked, the layer still shows on the canvas and still sews — the canvas simply can’t get hold of it any more: it won’t answer a tap, a marquee sweeps past it, it grows no move/scale/rotate handles, and its points can’t be edited. The row itself stays fully usable: drag it to a different place in the sequence, rename it, change its colour, or open it in the inspector.

Lock what is already right, then keep drawing over it without nudging it out of place. Tap the padlock again to let it go. A sashiko lattice locks together with the outline it lives in — the two are one piece, so they cannot be locked apart.

How do I set the sewing order for several objects at once?

”…” → Sequence by tapping. Then tap the objects on the canvas, in the order you want them sewn. A number appears on each one as you go. Tap a numbered object again to drop it out; the rest renumber. Apply order commits it, Cancel leaves everything as it was.

You work on the design itself rather than on a list of names — which is the point, because on the canvas you can see what you’re ordering.

Two things worth knowing:

• Objects you don’t tap don’t move. The ones you numbered are re-dealt into the positions they already occupied among themselves; everything else keeps its exact place in the sequence. So the answer to “what did that change?” is always “the objects I touched”.
• If the new order would change how the design looks, StitchPencil says so first. Stitch order is layering: two objects that overlap look different depending on which one sews second. When your order would swap such a pair, a dialog names them and asks. Reordering objects that don’t overlap changes only the machine’s route, never the picture, and applies without a prompt.

If you’re not sure what order is best, try Optimize sequence first — it works out an efficient order for you. Sequence by tapping is for when you already know.

How do I group or join objects?

Checkmark-select two or more rows to reveal a bottom bar with Group, Join and Merge (both only offered when every selected object shares the same stitch kind — see Cut, combine & convert for the difference), Paste style, and Delete.

What’s in the ”…” overflow menu?

• Optimize sequence — reorders stitching for fewer thread trims and color changes; if the reordering would be aggressive enough to visibly change how the design looks stitched (not just its efficiency), it shows a confirmation dialog first rather than silently changing your design’s appearance.
• Sequence by tapping — set the order yourself by tapping objects on the canvas (see above).
• Add machine stop — inserts a draggable command row into the sequence, e.g. to pause for a manual step.
• Reset opacities — clears any canvas-only opacity overrides back to fully solid.

Can I watch the design stitch out before sending it to the machine?

Yes — the Player button at the bottom of the Layers panel, on the same line as the colour summary, opens the Stitch player. It stays there whatever you have selected, so you never have to deselect to get to it.

It answers the questions a still picture can’t: where the needle travels for nothing, how often you have to walk to the machine, and whether anything ends up sewn over in the wrong order. Nothing you do in the player changes the design — it only reads the finished stitch plan.

The header tells you where you are: stitches sewn so far out of the total (the same number the top bar shows — jumps aren’t counted as stitches in either place), which color you’re on when there’s more than one, and the name of the object currently under the needle. That last one is the part a machine file could never tell you; StitchPencil knows it because it generated the plan itself.

How do I read the player’s scrubber?

The bar under the preview is not a progress bar. Its blocks are the color blocks of your design, sized by how many stitches each one takes. So at a glance you can see that one block eats most of the run while the sliver next to it is a whole rethread for eighty stitches — which is usually the moment you go back and think about color batching or the sequence.

Thin light marks across the bar are trims — where the machine cuts the thread. Drag anywhere on the bar to scrub; the preview redraws to that point, and the small ring shows where the needle is.

Can I zoom into the player?

Yes — pinch to zoom up to 8× and drag to pan; a chip in the corner shows the factor and puts you back to 1× when you tap it. The preview is redrawn at that zoom rather than blown up, so detail actually appears: individual penetrations, the tips of a satin corner, and the tinted dots of a carved groove.

What do the player’s controls do?

From left to right: back to the start, one stitch back, play/pause, one stitch forward, and jump to the next color change. The last one is the one you’ll actually use — nobody hunts for stitch 12,273, they look for the next stop.

The slider on the right is speed, tortoise to hare, in five steps with no number. The second step is roughly a real machine (about 800 stitches a minute) — slow enough to watch a single seam form. Above that, the exact figure stops meaning anything, which is why none is shown; you’re just getting through the design.

Does the player remember where I was?

Roughly, yes. Close it, change something, reopen it, and you land near the same place. It’s stored as a position through the design, not a stitch number, on purpose — after an edit, stitch 4,000 would point somewhere else entirely, while “about 70 % of the way in” still means what you meant.

What do reference images look like in the Layers list?

Pinned at the top of the panel. The eye icon next to a reference row is the only way to select and unlock it for on-canvas move/scale/rotate — while locked (the default), it stays out of the way so you don’t accidentally drag your traced photo instead of your stitch object.

A reference lies under the stitches, which is right for tracing an outline and wrong the moment a finished fill covers the part you want to draw details onto. Rather than dimming the fill, open the reference and switch on Show above the stitches: the image now lies on top at its own opacity, the stitches show through, and the row says so (“Reference · 50 % · above the stitches”). Switch it off to put it back underneath. Either way it is a guide — never stitched, never exported.

What is the image-with-a-plus icon in the header for?

It brings artwork in — any artwork: SVG files and photos alike. It only asks where from, Photo Library or Files. A vector file opens the import assistant, a pixel image becomes a tracing template. See Import for the rest.

How does converted text appear in Layers?

Each letter collapses into its own row after Convert to Outlines, with a small chevron to disclose the individual node-editable path underneath — easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there.

What does layer opacity actually affect?

It’s a canvas display setting only — a caption in the inspector says so directly: it never changes what’s actually sewn. The exported stitch file always sews at full, solid thread regardless of what opacity you’ve set for previewing.

What’s “Thread to next object”?

A per-object setting — Auto / Trim / Jump / Run — controlling how the machine gets from the end of this object to the start of the next: cut the thread, jump without cutting, or lay a connecting run stitch. “Auto” lets StitchPencil decide based on distance and color.