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I have been wanting the Electric Quilt design program for a while, and I'm so glad I finally made the purchase! This order comes in a box with a user manual and download code to download the program directly from the Electric Quilt website. (This is all very professional looking and I would feel confident giving this as a gift.) The process was very simple and I had no trouble setting everything up. They also allow you to have the program on two computers at a time and you can transfer to a new computer as often as needed. You will need internet access past the download because the system will periodically check that you are running a legitimate copy of the program. The software is pretty user friendly but does take a minute to figure out. The manual that comes with the program is pretty good and there are links to video lessons on the home page. I picked up the "EQ8 Lessons for Beginners" book and it has really sped up the process of figuring everything out. Don't forget to check out the Electric Quilt website, they offer add on packages for fabric palettes (some of them free and some paid). Overall, couldn't be happier with the purchase.

I am computer literate, as in, I'm a computer engineer.This software will not install - and I really don't feel like mucking around in the Windows registry to figure out why. So I can't tell if the actual quilting program is any good, which is a bummer as a) it was expensive and b) my Christmas present and c) something that I really really would like to play with.UPDATE: If the install fails, the program does not gracefully clean up after itself, meaning a session with regedit was required. Turns out that for some reason, the "EBR" file format used by EQ8 was associated with Adobe Photoshop (which I do not own/have installed) on my computer, which looks to be the cause of the ungraceful install failure. Resetting ALL file extensions to default, cleaning up ALL EQ8 HKEYs and two restarts (second for luck) did the trick, and it installed. Now to go and reset all of the file extensions to my preferences. This may be a lesson in "Use a Mac"PRODUCT USAGE: Finally have had a couple of days to play and am holding with 3 stars. First, this is amazing software. It is accompanied by extensive blogs, tutorials and tips & tricks from the ElectricQulit website. It is really easy to import fabrics, including copying files/images from manufacturer's websites and photos of material taken while auditioning at your quilt shop. If you want to audition fabrics for a quilt, this is amazing, especially if you can't get to a quilt store and are limited to online ordering. If you want to create quilts from the library of blocks, it is amazing. I like to create more modern quilts not based on traditional blocks and am not sure how to do that with EQ8. I gravitate to strips & blocks that don't always neatly line up and because of the way that EQ8 does its print/export function, I will still have to layout my blocks ahead of time for measurements and construction so that they can be replicated as blocks in EQ8. I was hoping to skip the spreadsheet step and go straight from pen&paper sketches to EQ8 but I don't see that happening. I'll still use spreadsheets for the layout of the quilt including measurements, block layout and assembly and piecing. Instructions themselves are also something done outside of EQ8 (regardless of quilt type/block layout) meaning my flow will be inspiration->pen&paper->spreadsheets->EQ8 for colour auditioning->spreadsheets & word documents.If you work within the EQ8 parameters and expected usage then this is almost certainly 4-5 stars (depending on your installation experience and your comfort with creating instructions on your own).

Love EQ8. I've been working through one of the workbooks to design quilts from very detail lessons. Since Christmas I've design 20+ quilts. I love that I can photograph my fabric and import it into EQ8, so I can see it in the block or quilt design. Some of the commands are not intuitive, but working through the workbook acquaints one to those oddities. I haven't tested the fabric requirements (calculations) of any of my quilt designs, but just roughly guessing even this seems to be spot on. I found it quite easy, but I've worked on computers for years, if you have PowerPoint or other drawing software application knowledge - I think you will find it easy. If you don't, you might be a tad lost.

I adore this software and I wish I'd purchased it years ago. Compared to other graphic design software, like my Bernina machine embroidery software ($2,500 MSRP), Adobe PhotoShop & DreamWeaver web design software (currently sold on a subscription basis for $600 PER YEAR), or the interior design software I use for my work ($497), EQ8 is an unbelievable value for the gold standard quilt design software on the market at under $200. I've uploaded pictures of the first quilt I designed in EQ, the image from the software program as well as the finished quilt. No more guessing whether I should go with a darker or a lighter shade, or wondering if I have enough value contrast in my fabrics for the piecing pattern to stand out in the finished quilt. I find EQ8 very easy to use, and the new interface with v8 is actually a lot MORE intuitive for new users than EQ7 was. The icons and fonts are bigger and easier to find and the cool design tools that you might forget about are right there on your worktable now where you can see them. Obviously users who are upgrading from a previous version will need to take the time to get acquainted with the new interface, but I can get to what I want now with FEWER clicks, without having to hunt around in drop-down menus, and I find that I'm going to the manual LESS frequently now.I do have some prior experience with other graphic design software programs (which is why I am so SHOCKED by how little EQ8 costs when it can do so much). And I would classify myself as an Early Technology Adopter -- I love leveraging the power of the digital age to push the limits of what I can design and create with needle and thread. If you are someone who is easily flustered or frustrated by changing technology and not so tech-savvy, I still think you can benefit from this software, but I would recommend taking a class to learn the basics. I took an EQ8 Advanced Piecing class with Barb Vlack at one of the the Sewing and Quilting Expos a few years back and even though it was supposed to be an advanced class, she was VERY patient with a couple of beginners who had signed up for that class by mistake. Beginner level EQ8 classes are always offered at major quilt festivals and I think that would be the perfect way to get comfortable using EQ8 for anyone who is worried that they won't be able to figure out how to use it. However, there are step-by-step lessons included with EQ8 that you can access right from the drop-down menu. They walk you through what you need to know to get started right away. When I bought this program, I taught myself how to use it just from those lessons and from playing around in the software, trying out different tools to see what they do. The Electric Quilt web site offers books for advanced techniques, add on packages (additional block designs or virtual fabrics to design with) and just a WEALTH of educational resources. They are doing step-by-step tutorials on a regular basis now on their blog, too. I've only had to contact EQ Tech Support a couple of times when I wanted to design something really weird and outside the norm, but both times I got a response with a detailed solution within 24 hours. So I am a huge, HUGE fan of EQ8, giving me Niemann Marcus quality products and service at Walmart prices!By the way, you do not even need to learn everything the software can do in order to get your money's worth out of it. When you buy EQ8, it comes with 6,779 copyright-free blocks included in the Block Library, organized by type for browsing but you can also search by keyword. So if you type in "Ohio Star," up pops every version of Ohio Star you can imagine. All you have to do is pick one, type in what size block you want, and then you can choose whether you want to print a rotary cutting chart, foundation paper piecing pattern, or old school templates. This software will pay for itself even if the only thing you ever use it for is printing out block patterns, because you will never have to buy a quilt pattern -- or buy a book or a magazine to get the pattern -- ever again.