Machine safety checks before you export

StitchConsole continuously checks your design for stitches that could cause problems on a real embroidery machine. This protects your fabric, your thread, and your machine from issues like overly long stitches or invalid coordinates.

The Status Indicator

At the bottom of the right sidebar, there's a status badge that shows the current state of your design:

  • Green check: All stitches look good
  • Orange warning: Minor issues detected (zero-length stitches, duplicate points, long jumps)
  • Red error: Serious issues detected (stitches too long, invalid coordinates)

Click the badge to see a detailed breakdown of the issues found. Each issue type is listed with a count.

Canvas Highlights

Problematic stitches are highlighted directly on the canvas with colored dots, so you can see exactly where the issues are:

  • Red dots mark errors (e.g. stitches that are too long for the machine)
  • Orange dots mark warnings (e.g. tiny near-zero stitches)

Pre-Export Warning

When you click Export to download a machine file, the dialog shows a warning panel listing any issues. The warning explains exactly which problems were found and reassures you that they will be auto-fixed before the file is generated. You can review the issues, then click Export to proceed safely.

Auto-Fix on Export

Every machine file you export goes through an automatic safety pass. This guarantees that the file sent to your machine is safe regardless of any issues in the design:

  • Long stitches are subdivided into smaller stitches that respect the machine's maximum stitch length (default 12mm). This prevents thread breakage.
  • Zero-length and duplicate stitches are removed. These can cause machine errors.
  • Excessively long jumps are converted to trims. This tells the machine to cut the thread instead of dragging it across the design.
  • Invalid coordinates are filtered out. NaN or infinite values are dropped to prevent crashes.

What If I See Issues?

Most issues are minor and the auto-fix handles them safely. However, if you see a red error badge with many issues, it's worth investigating before exporting. Possible causes:

  • A fill region with very large rows (try increasing density or splitting the shape)
  • A satin column that's too wide (reduce the width)
  • A run stitch with a very long stitch length setting
  • Imported designs that have machine-unsafe stitches in the source file

The validator only checks finished stitches, so it updates automatically as you change settings or add objects.