Background image

You can place an image behind your pattern to use as a drawing reference. This is most useful for converting an existing pattern into the Cromo format: load the original chart as a background and redraw it cell by cell on top.

Setting a background image

Open View > Background image. You can supply the image in one of two ways:

• Upload from your PC — choose an image file from your computer.
• Reference a URL — point to an image hosted online.

Adjusting visibility

Use the Background visibility slider to set the image's opacity. Lower it so the background sits faintly behind your stitches, making it easy to trace without losing track of what you've already drawn.

Drawing over a pattern

The main purpose of this feature is converting a pattern to the Cromo format by drawing over it. For this to line up correctly, the background image must have exactly the same stitch count as your pattern, and it must include the border stitches. If the counts don't match, the image won't align with the grid and you won't be able to trace it accurately. Because CromoDesigner snaps your pen to the nearest cell, a stroke may land somewhere you didn't intend. When that happens, Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z (undo) is your friend.

Remove it when you're done

Once you no longer need the reference, remove the background image rather than just hiding it with the slider. Drawing the background is resource-intensive, so leaving it loaded — even at zero visibility — can slow the editor down.

See it in action

Your first pattern walks through this end-to-end, using an online sample pattern image as the background.