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Electric Quilt 4 Frequently Asked Questions

 

Why don't I get seam allowance on my printouts?
Assuming that you have a check in the "Print Seam Allowance" box, then your printer is not printing the lines. This is sometimes a problem on Canon BubbleJet printers. According to the BJC 6000 readme.doc, when halftoning on the quality tab of the printer driver is set to auto, certain lines will not print in some programs. Please try this:

  1. On the Windows desktop click Start - (Settings) - Printers.
  2. Highlight the BJC printer.
  3. Right-click and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
  4. Click the Main tab.
  5. Click the Advanced button (at bottom).
  6. Move the Print Quality slider to Fast.
  7. Take the check mark out of the Auto box in half-toning, then move the slider one click to the right, choose Fine (Fast) half-toning.

I'm printing a block from the quilt. Why can't I print it "showing fabrics"?
If Showing fabrics is not enabled, uncheck Size from quilt and type the size you want for the block.

Make sure the block in the dialog box appears in the color you want. If it is showing a line drawing, click the arrows under the block until you see the colored block you want. Then choose Showing fabrics and print your block.

How do I fit a foundation pattern that printed on two pages back together again?
When a pattern is tiled (printed over more than one page), EQ4 prints a dashed line as a guide for taping the pages together.

  1. Trim the margin from one pattern piece right to the guideline.
  2. Lay this pattern on top of your other pattern piece, lining it up so the dashed lines match up, on top of each other.
  3. Tape or glue the pattern pieces together. If you use Scotch Magic! tape the tape will not gum up your sewing machine needle, and it will be easy to remove.

How can I trick EQ4 into not printing foundation patterns across two pages?
When you see, in the Print Preview, that your foundation pattern units are going to print with an overlap, do this:

  1. In Print, Foundation Patterns, Sections tab, click on Start Over. You can click on patches and regroup them for foundation units. Each time you click on patches that should be grouped into one unit, click on the Group button. Do this for all the units in the block except the one that wants to overlap onto the next page. Do not click on the patches for this unit at all.
  2. Click on Preview and you will see all the units you did group ready to print out except the one that was errant.
  3. Print.
  4. Now go back and do the grouping again, only backwards. Do only the unit that you didn't print the first time through. In Preview, only that unit will show up, and you can print that out.

When I preview the quilt I want to print, it is empty. What happened to my blocks?
In the Print Quilt dialog, make sure you have selected Showing fabrics as one of the printing options.

Why are the buttons blank on the box I print from?
EQ user Patti Anderson discovered the reason for this. The problem is caused by installing Microsoft Picture It! 2000. According to Microsoft tech support, after you install Microsoft Picture It! 2000, instead of being prompted to save a file when you quit a program, you may receive a message similar to the following:

untitled _____________?

This occurs because Microsoft Picture It! 2000 installs a system file used for Japanese formatting (Mfc42loc.dll) that may not be compatible with many programs, including CorelDraw, Adobe PhotoDeluxe, and Microsoft Paint, and others, including EQ4.

To resolve this problem, rename the Mfc42loc.dll file:

  1. Quit all running programs.
  2. Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
  3. Click Restart in MS-DOS mode, then click OK.
  4. Type the following line at the command prompt, and then press Enter:
    ren c:\windows\system\mfc42loc.dll mfc42loc.old
  5. Restart the computer.

Can I change the scale in which fabrics print?
Yes. You can scale the print down, almost as if you were using a "reducing glass" (the opposite of a magnifying glass) to view your fabric prints on the printout.

  1. On the FILE menu, choose Preferences.
  2. Click on the Print Quality tab.
  3. Change the print quality number from 1 to 2, 3 or 4. The higher the number, the smaller the print will be scaled. The size of the quilt will remain the same, only the size of fabric prints in the printout will change. Note: Not all printers can print the higher print quality numbers. Experiment to see what works for you.

My HP540 printouts look faded. Any suggestions?
Check your print cartridge to make sure you have enough ink. (Try printing a colored image from another program, to compare printouts.)

If you know your print cartridge is good, then:

  1. In EQ4, choose Preferences from the FILE menu.
  2. Click on the Print Quality tab.
  3. Choose print quality 2.

See if that helps your printing.

I have two printers. How do I change from using one printer to another in EQ4?
Here's how:

  1. On EQ4's FILE menu, choose Page Setup.
  2. Click on the Printer button.
  3. Click on the down arrow beside Name, to drop down your printer choices.
  4. Click on the printer you want
  5. Click on OK.

Only the top 3/4 of my quilt printed. What can I do?
Try this:

  1. In EQ4, choose Preferences from the FILE menu.
  2. Click on the Print Quality tab.
  3. Choose print quality 2.

I'm getting a "Spool 32" error when I try to print. What can I do?
A spool 32 error typically means that the computer has fax/answering machine software pre-installed that is interfering with the printer spooler.

Suggestion #1:

  1. In Win 95/98 choose Start - Settings - Printers.
  2. Click once on your printer name, to highlight it.
  3. Choose Properties from the FILE menu.
  4. Click on the Details tab.
  5. Click on the Spool Settings button.
  6. Click the down arrow next to Spool data format and change from EMF to RAW.
  7. Click OK, Apply, OK.

If this is not successful, try suggestion #2 to set the printer to print directly to the printer:

Suggestion #2:

  1. In Win 95/98 choose Start - Settings - Printers.
  2. Click once on your printer name, to highlight it.
  3. Choose FILE, make sure "Set As Default" is checked.
  4. Choose Properties from the FILE menu.
  5. Click on the Details tab.
  6. Click on the Spool Settings button.
  7. Click on "Print Directly to Printer."
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click on the Port Settings button.
  10. Click to remove all the checks.
  11. Click OK.

Suggestion #3:

CTRL and ALT keys on your keyboard and press the Delete key) to bring up the Close Program window. Click on any any fax / answering machine software, to highlight it, and then click on the End Task button.

How can I enlarge the size of the numbers in the yardage chart?

To enlarge the numbers on the yardage chart:

  1. Choose Patch number as the font you want to change.
  2. Adjust the style and size for that font.

Tip: Don't make the font size too large, or it will print off the page.

Is it possible to print out notes entered in the sketchbook, or to import text to Notes?
Yes. To print out notes entered on Notecards:

  1. Highlight all the text in one of the fields (Name, Reference or Notes -- you can't do them all at once, just one at a time).
  2. Use CTRL + C to copy the highlighted text.
  3. Open your word processing program, get a new page, use CTRL + V to paste the copied text onto the page.

To import text for the notes, just reverse the copying and pasting. Copy (CTRL + C) from your word processing document, and paste (CTRL + V) it onto a notecard.

How can I print the block reversed?
If you are printing a foundation pattern, you can print the block in reverse by clicking on the Options tab (you'll see if from the box you print from) and clicking to check the "mirror image" box.

To reverse a block you want to print as a whole block, or as templates, the easiest thing to do is to set the block onto a horizontal quilt, flip the block (using the flip tool), then select the block (using the Select tool) and print the block. Your block is reversed on the quilt so it will print like that in your printout.

I changed line thickness. How can I get the thin lines back?
To scroll back up to the top line choice, press the up arrow key on your keyboard.

Why does my HP932C only print solid lines for quilting stencils?
Your printer may be printing dotted lines, but the dots may be so small that the lines appear solid. Change your printer setting to from Normal to Draft and see how it prints the quilting stencils. You should now see dotted lines.

 


  
   
 

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