Importing artwork

bisect accepts three kinds of input.

SVG

The cleanest path. Drop an SVG onto the canvas and each path becomes an editable shape. Strokes become running stitches; fills become tatami. Adjust per-shape afterwards.

What works well: vector logos, icons, hand-drawn lettering exported from Procreate / Illustrator / Affinity Designer.

Limits: very dense SVGs (1000+ paths) will warn before importing — embroidery files don't sew at that resolution. Simplify in your vector tool first.

PNG / JPG / photo (auto-trace)

Drop a raster image onto the canvas or click Trace an image on the project picker. The Artwork Import dialog opens.

How auto-trace works

1. Load Image (or drop one onto the dialog).
2. Pick a preset that matches your artwork:
   • Color — multi-color trace. Best for photos and full-color logos.
   • Cartoon — flat, hard-edged regions. Best for line-art, stickers, screen-printed designs.
   • Black & White — single-color extraction. Best for ink-sketch logos, single-color lettering.
3. Pick a Path cleanup level:
   • Standard — preserves more detail in the traced paths.
   • Cleanest — pulls noisy paths toward straight lines and clean arcs. Easier to edit; loses fine detail.
4. Expand Advanced for fine control over color count, edge threshold, and smoothing if a preset isn't quite right.
5. Click Vectorize. The preview area shows the trace before you commit.
6. Vectorize again to update after parameter tweaks, Cancel to back out, or accept to drop the traced shapes onto the canvas.

The dialog previews the trace before committing — if it looks wrong, tweak the preset or the Advanced controls and re-vectorize. No re-shoot needed.

Place as reference

If the artwork won't trace cleanly (photos, complex artwork), use a reference backdrop instead.

Drop the image and pick Place as reference in the choice dialog. The image becomes a backdrop you trace by hand with the Pen tool. Reference image controls live in the Reference panel:

• Opacity — fade the backdrop so your stitches are visible against it.
• Lock — keep the reference from being moved when you click near it.
• Vectorize this — convert the reference to stitch shapes after you've sized and cropped it.

Tips

• Resize artwork to the final stitched size before importing. Re-scaling stitches after generation loses density information.
• Crop tight to the design. Whitespace around the design becomes wasted hoop area.
• For lettering, typing the text in bisect beats tracing a rasterized version of it. Use the T tool with a Design font.
• Black on white traces best — re-color afterwards in the editor.