1 · Photo
The project file (.knitmotif) keeps the photo, eraser and all settings — nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Your last session was restored.
2 · Gauge (10 × 10 cm swatch)
Don't know your gauge yet? Tick this to work on a 1:1 grid, like most graphics software. Enter the real swatch numbers later and the pattern recomputes from the saved photo.
3 · Size
The pattern is exactly this size, not a maximum. The other dimension follows the photo's aspect ratio and your gauge, so it usually isn't equal to this one.
4 · Adjustments
Shading rendered by finely mixing stitches of both colours — closest to the photo.
Turn on for SuperbaKnit — its screen shows the wrong side of the fabric.
Advanced settings
5 · Colours
Colour 1 is the background yarn. The numbers give the order of the yarns in the colour changer and of the rows in the DBJ file.
How multi-colour files work
Multi-colour works with the Photo, Silhouette and Chart styles. For the machine, download the per-colour BMP separations or the DBJ PNG.
The DBJ file turns every pattern row into one row per colour, always in the same palette order (background yarn first, every colour in every row). With the blank rows the carriage returns knitting on the ribber only, so each pattern row stays single height; without them the machine knits double height. The display shows rows, not colours: change yarns in the same order every time and reset the row counter after each finished pattern row (2 × number of colours passes with blank rows).
Photo & eraser
✋ Pan is on by default, so dragging only moves the photo. To remove what you don't want (e.g. the background around a person), pick Eraser and drag over it. Ctrl + mouse wheel (or pinch) zooms, middle button or Space + drag pans, ⌖ re-centers the view. ✋ Pan: drag to move the photo around (handy on a trackpad).
Pattern preview
Stitch shapes appear from 6 px per stitch — zoom in.
Load a photo and the pattern will appear here.
The machine files are always black and white — preview colours are only a simulation.
Tips: which settings for which technique
- Gauge is a variable, not a constant: measure it on a swatch knitted in the technique you'll actually use (fair isle, double-bed jacquard, three colours…) and enter those numbers. The tool never assumes a fixed stitch-to-row ratio.
- Fair isle (single bed, 2 colours): the floats pull the fabric in, so measure a fair-isle swatch. The Photo and Halftone styles keep floats short; Silhouette and Comic make long floats, which suit double-bed jacquard or hand knitting better.
- Double-bed jacquard (DBJ) with birdseye backing: stitches come out close to square on many machines. Enter the numbers from a DBJ swatch, or tick 1:1 if that's what the swatch shows.
- 3 or more colours: every extra colour pass adds rows, so the fabric lengthens by itself. Never stretch the file to compensate; measure a swatch in that technique. For double-bed jacquard use the DBJ PNG: one row per colour, colours always in the same order, and the blank row after each colour keeps the rows single height.
- No swatch yet? Tick “Square stitches (1:1)”, design now and enter the real numbers later. The pattern recomputes from the saved photo, nothing is lost.
- Files: the PNG (1 px = 1 stitch) goes into img2track, AYAB and DesignaKnit; keep the width within your needle count (a standard Brother has 200). The BMP is for SuperbaKnit — turn on Mirror, its screen shows the wrong side.
- Hand knitting: download the Chart PNG (grid + numbers) — one square is one stitch, cells follow your gauge, stitches are numbered from the right and rows from the bottom. For that, untick “needle numbers from the centre” first.