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© 1999 by Ruth Huking. All Rights Reserved.
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This tutorial will show you how to convert your CorelDRAW drawing to a graph that you can use for needlepoint or counted cross stitch. The first example is a very simple idea using some plain shapes and some Symbols.
This design was drawn in a six inch square. You can make your design any size as long as it can be divided into one inch squares. I added a some texture fills and gradient fills to my picture to indicate "texture" as shown at right. The texture in needlepoint or cross stitch usually comes from the type of stitch and yarn or thread that is used. Keep a separate file of your picture and print it out to use as a reference.
Copy and Paste your picture into a new file. Using the Graph Tool divide your picture into even one inch squares. Enable Snap to Guidelines and Snap to Objects. My design is 6 squares each way as shown below right. I put a red outline of .020 on it. I decided that my needlepoint canvas or cross stitch fabric would be 18 x 18 stitches per inch. You can use any size canvas or cross stitch number. The larger the number, the more detail you can get.
At this point, select the Pick tool and right click on it. Go to Properties and put a check in the box that says "Treat all objects as filled." Starting at the lower left corner cover the first square with another graph that is 18 squares each way. Ungroup that square and fill each square to correspond to the color of your picture. Just use a plain color as close to your design as possible. Remember that the stitch, yarn or thread will add the texture. Using your Shift key you can select many of the squares at one time. Just be careful not to accidentally hit the outline of what you are filling. When you have the first one inch square finished, continue across the bottom to the next one.
You can add half stitches to your design. I added half stitches to the tail of the rabbit. Fill the stitch, in this case, white and duplicate it. Convert it to curves and delete the appropriate corner. Fill the underneath square with the color behind it. Half stitches are used in counted cross stitch.
If by accident you fill an area outside of the square you are working on and you are out of Edit Undos, don't panic. Delete that object. Go to your original design and copy and paste that object back into your picture.
Continue on in this manor until you have all the squares filled. It's your choice whether or not you leave the red lines and bring them to the front. I think it helps if you section off your needlepoint or cross stitch fabric in inches. The red lines will help you keep your place. The finished diagram is shown at right.
The Butterfly is done the same way only I used a .020 yellow outline on my first graph. I changed my Pen Line default color to 40 percent black so it would show up on the black in the picture. When I filled in the black squares on the image at upper right, I used 80 percent black so I could keep track of the ones that I filled.
In the image at right I used Find and Replace to change the 80 percent black to 100 percent black and added some half stitches to the white area. I then brought the yellow outline of .020 to the front.
If you don't have a pen and graphics tablet, this tutorial will convince you that you need one! To learn more about tablets, visit our Hardware Store.
Hemera Photo Objects Christmas Card · Still Life with Hemera Photo Objects · Draw to Paint in the Style of Seurat · Flowers in a Pitcher · Flowers for Foster · Symbols from CorelDRAW to Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Camping in the Woods · Quick Christmas Ornaments with CorelDRAW · In The Blink of an Eye · Creating Needlepoint and Cross Stitch Patterns with CorelDRAW · Old MacHughking Had a Farm · Dancing in the Dark in the Park: A Fantasy with Symbols · Creating Stacking Boxes in CorelDRAW · Creating a Basket Weave Fill in CorelDRAW
Copyright © 1995–2013 Unleashed Productions, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
