.co.uk Review Don't be fooled by the long, old-fashioned title. The Royal School of Needlework Definitive Guide to Cross Stitch and Tapestry (phew!), is well constructed and impressively complete.It is intended to function as the ultimate companion for cross stitchers and needleworkers of all abilities. Beginners will no doubt plunge into the multimedia tutorial, which, with its text and video explanations of stitch making and history of stitchwork, is quite fascinating as well as being educational. Beyond the tutorial, you can get into needlework design. There are 1,200 motifs on the CD for you to work with, but better still you can import any image of your own into the software for conversion to a cross-stitch pattern, from a photo of a pet to a drawing you have scanned. Not only will the software convert the image into a grid suitable for use as a template; it will do a colour conversion too, suggesting what colour threads you need to have to hand. Thread colours are matched to particular ranges available in shops, and you can even get a list of what you need to buy to make the design.There is a lot more to this CD than there is space here to write about it--if you are even vaguely interested in needlework it's definitely worth a look.--Sandra Vogel Manufacturer's Description Based on the splendour and mystique of the Royal School of Needlework located at Hampton Court Palace, the craft of cross stitch is now placed at the fingertips of a nation of cross-stitch hungry enthusiasts and professionals. This CD-ROM reveals the secrets and techniques of some of the country's finest black-work, cross stitch and tapestry.
D**O
A good investment
This DVD is well worth its money - Design your own project from scratch, or convert a photo into cross-stitch; it's just amazingly good. Easy to use, with video clips to demonstrate techniques. Once personal choice of fabric and thread options are noted, all the calculations are worked out in the form of a printable shopping list. I completed shopping for my first project recently and it couldn't have been easier.
A**T
Old program: does not work very well
This program has a very nearly identical sibling with the same problems as follows from the same supplier, Focus. This software may have been quite good for when it was originally written but it has not been updated in way that I can see from working like a Windows ME application should through to the lack of modern approach to user interface. It has setting that it warns you might make it very slow to use - on a 1990's machine perhaps but it used modern image handling hardware/software it would be a lot quicker than it is. It is to my mind user unfriendly as it does not work as you'd expect a graphics program to work - not even zoom on mouse wheel for example. Importing a picture into the program just leaves you with a mess that is difficult to resize or manipulate in a good way. If you have something with a set of lines close to each other expect them to get muddled up. When we tried a picture that a shareware application (Easy Cross - recommended although not perfect) produced a beautiful end result, this and its sister program both made a hash of them.Overall, I would suggest that both of these two apps are either withdrawn permanently or under go a major update. Until an update happens, I would suggest that people save their money and stick to the shareware that works better.
H**1
Duped!
I can't knock this product as it does what it says on the box and also works with Windows9 (which it doesn't state on the box), but what I didn't understand from the blurb is that is't a direct copy (albeit with a couple of minor detail changes) of Jane Greenoffs Cross Stitch Pattern Creater (the earlier one that's not just for cross stitch). I think this should be made clear. I was hoping for something different and hoped it would be better.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
1 month ago
