Electric Quilt 6
Are you a fan of EQ5? You are going to LOVE
EQ6! (Click here for
installation and usage tips.) It has over 100 new features,
including:
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Easier to use libraries featuring one-click
options.
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Click and drag your blocks on the layout tab
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Improved search options for both blocks and
fabric - over 4300 blocks are included with this program as
well as 5000 current fabrics
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Ability to import more types of photos
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More libraries
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Improved options within the sketchbook
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More printing options for paper piecing
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Additional quilt worktables
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Random recolor tool for scrap quilt including
several types of brushes
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Addition of special grids including the 8
pointed star, circles, arc, kaleidoscope, octagon (etc)
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More drawing tools
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Improved fabric options
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Better yardage calculations
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304 page user manual, extensive help within
the program and
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62 help videos!
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EQ5 projects opened in EQ6 will automatically
convert to PJ6 projects
There are just too many to list here. For more details,
visit Electric Quilts updated page at http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/EQ6/EQ6F.asp Be
sure to Update
EQ6 here, too.
Here's how to order:
 Electric
Quilt Full version for those that don't own Electric Quilt 4 or 5.
Requires Windows XP or higher and internet connection (for installation
only. After that, an internet connection is not required.) See
System Requirements below. Retail $149.95. Click
here to order. This item will be shipped for free by priority mail.
 Upgrade
version for those that have Electric Quilt 5 installed. (Please
note: if you have not upgraded to EQ5 from EQ4, you will need to contact
customerservice@electricquilt.com, or call 1-800-356-4219 for additional
instructions.) Requires Windows XP or higher and internet connection
(for installation only. After that, an internet connection is not
required.) See System Requirements below. Retail $74.95, Click
here to order. This item will be shipped for free by priority mail.
System Requirements:
-
Windows® XP or Vista
-
Internet access for activation (4 activations
included)
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CD-ROM drive
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monitor with screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or
greater
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sound card recommended for demo videos
The videos and the help files in EQ6 are incredibly
instructive. Even though this is a program that will do
everything except make your bed, the learning curve is smooth and
easy. To make things easier, we suggest:
-
taking the manual to your local copy shop to have it
spiral bound so you can leave it open while working on the lessons
and
-
downloading a free copy of YesUCan
to help you organize your tips
-
EQ Manual corrections and clarifications are here.
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EQ6 is a stand-alone program. You can delete EQ5
if necessary. You will not automatically be deleting all the
projects you created in EQ5 as those are in a separate folder.
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EQ6 only runs on Windows XP or Vista. It does
not run on Windows 2000 or Linux even with Windows emulators.
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You must have a 1024x768 resolution or higher during
installation. If you
aren't sure, Click Start/Control Panel. If the blue bar on the
left says "Switch to Classic View", click that link. Find
Display in the list and double-click on it. Click the Settings tab on
the far right. Does your screen resolution (lower left) say 1024 x 768
pixels or larger? If not, slide the bar until it does. Click
Apply, then OK. If you find this resolution difficult to use
later on, you can change it back.
-
Although the box says this program requires 950 MB
available hard-disk space, it actually only requires 700MB. This was
an early estimate. This program should fit on an external hard
drive.
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You need to be connected to the Internet only long
enough to install the program. It will be automatically
registered for you (if you are upgrading, you may need your EQ5 CD
and serial number.)
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When you install EQ6, Windows XP will install the
program and the projects into two different folders if you accept
their defaults. If you want your projects and your program in the same
folder you will need to specify that during installation.
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If you get the error message "Licence not found
on the server", you entered either the License ID or Password
incorrectly. Both are CaSe-sENsiTIVE. Please be sure you enter both
numbers exactly as they are written on the label. Watch out for l
(lower case L) and 1 (one) and O (upper case o) and 0 (zero.)
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If you have problems with installation, you *may* need
to turn off Norton.
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The EQ Show draws from PJ5 projects only. It
will not work with EQ6 because EQ Show because those projects are
labeled PJ6.
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Blockbase, Dear Jane and Sew Precise *will* continue
to work with EQ6. Information on automatically linking them is detailed on page 136
in the EQ6 User Manual. Please note Karen Stones CD contains projects
which must be imported into EQ6 individually.
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EQ6 will open any EQ5 project and automatically
convert it. If you get an "unreadable notecard" error,
it means there is a problem with a particular block in the EQ5
project. Figure out which block that is (it will be the first one not
converted from EQ5 to EQ6) and delete it. Don't forget to look on ALL
the tabs when looking for the misbehaving block. It could be a
stencil, for example. Then try opening the project in EQ6
again. It should convert properly.
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Libraries can be automatically added. Go to
libraries/fabric libraries, click on link libraries (in lower left corner) and then
click on auto add. If you are linking libraries, note that there is a
limit of 254 fabrics for any one library subcategory, which are called
styles. Libraries will sort themselves into alphabetical order;
styles will not.
To transfer fabric palettes downloaded from the
Electric Quilt website to EQ5 into the Styles of EQ6, open any
project and click on libraries/fabric libraries. Using the
import button choose From Project and in the dropdown Files of Type
box choose EQ5 Palettes. Find the palette you want to import (it
is probably in the same folder as your PJ5 projects) and click on it
and click Copy. Click the My Library Section. Click the
Add Library button on the bottom left of the display box and name your
library.
You don't have to place all your palettes into the style of one
library. Consider giving your libraries descriptive names such
as "nature fabrics" and then placing all the palettes with
nature fabrics into the styles of that library. Before placing your palettes into a style, remember
that styles do not alphabetize themselves and there is a limit of 254
fabrics in each style. You can have up to 59 styles in every library,
and there is no limit to the number of libraries you can have.
Note that the larger the library, the longer the style will take to
save.
Click twice on
Style 1 and type in a new name, then click Paste. You should see
the fabrics. Click Save Library and close. If you have not downloaded any libraries or
palettes, use the directions at http://www.electricquilt.com/Users/Downloads/palette.asp
. This will streamline the process for both EQ5 Palettes and EQ6
libraries.
Update
EQ6 here
Sharing your quilts with Photo Story
Photo Story is a free download from Microsoft that allows you
to share your pictures as a slide show, complete with titles,
captions, sound effects and more. To use it with EQ6,
export
individual quilt designs and save them in a folder as jpegs.
Import the designs in this folder to Photo Story use the software
to create your display. You can even save the Photo Story to
a CD which will play on
Windows media player.
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