Pattern Keeper Review: First Impressions & Deep Dive Tutorial 2021
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- čas přidán 12. 07. 2024
- That’s right I finally got my hands on this Pattern Keeper thing that everyone keeps talking about, and I want to know what makes it so special. In this video we’ll be reviewing the basics as well as testing out patterns at every level of compatibility, plus looking at the experimental paper pattern import feature.
There’s also a certain amount of perpendicular hair.
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If you found this video helpful, consider supporting the channel by buying me a cuppa over at ko-fi.com/thegiddystitcher
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0:00 Intro
01:11 What is Pattern Keeper?
02:21 Pattern Keeper basics
06:20 Settings & shortcuts
07:26 PDF export
07:52 Are indie patterns compatible?
12:49 Manually adding floss colours
14:25 Why are only some files compatible?
15:24 Importing a paper pattern
16:59 Progress import / export
17:54 Tech support
18:25 Conclusion
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Find out more about Pattern Keeper here: patternkeeper.app
Or download from: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Pattern Keeper Support Group on FB: / 862424234221306
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You can also find me at linksta.cc/@thegiddystitcher
And join our Discord community full of socially awkward crafters at / discord - Věda a technologie
No Makeup, Bad Hair, Don't Care....Love it!! You concentrate on usable information and that's why I'm here. Thank you.
This was a great review. I appreciate the time and organization you put into it. It's hard to find "straightforward and to the point" on CZcams, but you nailed it!! Thanks.
Oh thank you that's so kind to say! Glad you found it useful 😊
Great video! I've been using Pattern Keeper for a few months now and I'm a big fan! I haven't really been using the search function until now because the first big pattern I used didn't have any confetti really - so I hadn't really thought about using the search function to see the visual progress! Great in depth review, will be subscribing and checking out your other content.
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment, it makes my day. It was interesting taking a proper detailed look at Pattern Keeper after hearing so much about it so I'm glad it can be valuable to other people too! I do hope to do more review type content in future but you know how it is, so many video ideas so little time 😅
Fantastic video! Thank you for diving in while making it interesting! Just downloaded the free trial and will probably purchase it as it helps me stay on tract of where I left off. Love love the highlighting feature so much! Hugs from NJ! ❤- Christine
Thanks! There have been a few updates since this video was made but the general gist is still the same. Absolute gamechanger for me, I use it every day. Hope you love it as much as I do!
Thanks for the very informative video. I hear many flosstubers talking about Patternkeeper but this is the first demonstration I have seen. Now, I have more questions about it. I an not tech savvy; your examples were clear and understandable. Thanks so much.
Glad it was helpful! If there's anything else I didn't cover please feel free to ask and we'll learn about it together. Thanks so much for watching ♥️
Bravo!!! I just bought Pattern Keeper today, have been using it through the 'trial' version, and love it! Your review was fabulous!! Thank YOU!
I saved your video and created a playlist to be able to easily come back to it! I am also a new subscriber now!! I'm so lucky I somehow stumbled onto your channel!
Now to see fun patterns by watching some of your other videos!
Again, thank you very much for this!
Oh, just an FYI, as of today's date, May 6, 2023, the cost in the US is $8.49 for forever! Wow! Impressive! SO worth every cent!!
Really glad you found it useful! Honestly I can't believe I was ever considering trying to do a full coverage piece without Pattern Keeper, it's one of those things when you have it you just cannot go back! And absolutely a great deal at that price, it's not often I'm tempted to pay for an app but there's honestly just no reason not to with PK.
@@TheGiddyStitcher I so agree!!!
This was very helpful. I have been playing with the app - and learned quite a bit from you. Thanks for sharing.
You're very welcome! Thanks for watching 🥰
Thank you for creating such a nice tutorial/review for my app! I was really impressed with you picking up on the differences between the PDF files by looking at them in Adobe. It's the same quick test I do to judge if a PDF will work or not 😃 And thank you for the idea about saving the colors in the progress file. If you use the "Export PDF" option then your colors will transfer but that will obviously not work for sharing. Maybe I'll add an "Export legend" options so that you can have separate legend files that you can share without sharing the chart!
That would be a great feature! Thanks so much for watching, I'm a little starstruck 😆
The best thing for patterns ever
I love pattern keeper! Great video!
And now I can totally see why! Thanks for watching 😀
I love Pattern Keeper. I've gotten used to putting in the colors if needed and working around any of the issues. It's been worth it to me since I much prefer it over paper patterns.
I just can't get over how long it would take to put in all the colours! I'm soooooo lazy 😳
Thank you for the review. I just don’t see myself using this program. I use paper patterns and always make a working copy to keep track of my stitching. This was valuable. 🙂
I think plenty of people are probably in the same boat, it's just good that we all have options that work for us 😊 Thank you so much for the comment!
you nailed it!! Thanks.
I love pattern keeper and use it with many varieties of charts. It actually astounds me that people are dissing the program for not being able to recognise every pattern when you have shown at least three different methods used by designers to produce the patterns. Perhaps if it were being developed and marketed by a vast company with endless resources such expectations may be justified. Unfortunately it's not and, at the small price being charged for it, if it makes your life easier with a couple of crossstitch then it's paid for itself. These days people expect everything for nothing .......except if they have made it. Did enjoy your review.
Thanks! I really love it too and the developer is always working hard. I think a lot of it comes from not really understanding what a technical challenge building something like this is, one cross stitch PDF just looks the same as the next to the naked eye. It seems to almost make no sense why one pattern would work and another wouldn't, unless you're at least a bit techy.
Thanks for this review. Thanks to the developer for obviously a lot of hard work. I am 74. I have just returned to cross stitch after 25 years +/- away from it. I think I will stick with my old ways for this. I am only doing tiny patterns for ornaments. I don't even want to touch my huge ufo that stressed me to the point of stopping. I do appreciate how helpful this would be to those who use it. I have succeeded in using knitting software to track patterns. But that is a different process than tracking a picture. Again, thank you for a very good review.
You're very welcome! And I definitely agree, something like this is honestly overkill for smaller projects. Perhaps you could find someone else to take the UFO off your hands, so you never have to think about it again but it gets a loving home. I know there are Facebook groups that do that sort of thing. Just a thought! 🙂
A few years ago I made something similar in excel to highlight the color I was working on and track my progress. It works wonderful but I have to be in front of my laptop. I will have to check this out for mobility. Thank you
Oh that sounds like a LOT of work! And I say that as someone who will knock a spreadsheet together for basically any problem I'm faced with 😆 Good luck, I hope PK is a gamechanger for you like it was for me! 😄
It's really a shame that it doesn't love using indie patterns, most if not all of my projects consist of them so I can see that Pattern Keeper isn't meant for me. I appreciate you going through and saving me the headache, since I'm looking for something to make stitching easier not more time consuming 😅
Haha, definitely fair! It is a shame about indies although I think the main problem is that as a small time designer it's hard to find affordable design software that has full PK support. As it becomes compatible with more software we'll definitely see the indie pattern situation change, imo.
I haven’t used it yet so thanks!!
I hope it's changed your life like it changed mine!
Adding my thanks 😊 Someone tagged you in the FB group
Oh thanks for letting me know, I didn't see that! Hope the video was helpful, if there's anything else you think should be covered please do ask ☺️
Great video! Very detailed! I have a question :does the app tolerate blended colors? Do we have to enter every combination of colors manually?
Hi! So this is accurate as of last time I checked but basically how it handles this is it imports the blend as a single colour, and then you'd need to manually edit it in the legend to add a second colour. Not ideal but at least you only have to add the secondary colours. Hope that helps! :)
I'm using Pattern Keeper for quite a large project with a paper chart. I started with taking a photo of the page, but was not too impressed with what I had to work with. I then tried scanning the page, converting the JPG to PDF, then importing that. It could not recognise the symbols of course, but was much better to work with. One warning though, you can only 'grid' the chart to a grid that is perfectly level with the screen - if you for example move the top left corner of the grid up, the top right corner goes up as well. Therefore you need to make sure your scan is perfectly level or you'll never get the grid right.
Yes that does seem to be the main limitation, it makes sense from a coding standpoint but it is quite finicky to get an image with everything lined up properly. Scanning does sound like it'd be a much better shout than my hastily snapped photo, though, thanks for the tip! I'm definitely glad we have the option, even if it's not quite perfect yet 😊
Great review of pattern keeper. Perhaps a little too techy for me an old person of 71 buttttt I learned a lot and know what some glitches might be.. I will come back again and rewatch to see if things are clearer to me.. again I know this is my old brain and not your very clear observations! Thanks❤
Oh no, I'm sorry it wasn't more helpful! Honestly I do have a tendency to deep dive into the details which probably makes things sound more complicated than they are, but as long as you're using one of the officially supported patterns PK is fairly intuitive to use. That said, if you have any particular questions or bits that didn't make sense, please let me know I will absolutely try to explain them better! 🥰
I love pattern keeper! My biggest issue is no backstitch support
Can't disagree with you there!
I have been using pattern keeper for my full coverage pieces. You explored it more than I have. I love using it for full coverage patterns, but wouldn't use it on patterns that required those extra steps. I don't mind paper patterns.
Yeah that's fair. I don't have anything against paper patterns but as a person who almost literally lives on the internet they're just not something I've really come across!
I do have a tendency to deep dive and learn everything about a new thing, haha, eases my anxiety to know everything I can up front so if it can help someone else too then great.
@@TheGiddyStitcher I don't remember if you said in the video or not. Sorry I was stitching while I watched. On Pattern keeper if you have to frog a bunch of stitches and mark them as frogged, does it adjust the stats? Stitches completed and percent?
@@maryannjohnson5410 You know, I wasn't sure so just went back and checked and yes! It adjusts the total number stitched, and the percentage. If you're frogging the same day as you stitched it'll take it off the "X stitched today" stat too, but it's smart enough not to affect that number if you're frogging stitches from a previous day. Hope that helps!
@@TheGiddyStitcher Yes it does thanks. I had to frog quite a bit the other day, but didn't really notice if it changed the stats. It was a previous days work.
I really want to try this as I'm just starting a new large project, however all my devices are Apple.
Hello! I'm new to cross stitch & heard about Pattern Keeper, so I thought I'd give it a shot to see if it'll help me. So far I've only tried to put in one pattern &, unfortunately, it's an indie. So I can't get it working properly. I like to buy indie to support smaller creators/businesses, so I don't know if this is gonna end up being worthwhile for me. Disappointing. I only have a few patterns right now, so I'll try those well... Thanks for all the info!
Ah that's a shame! I don't know if you've tried the support group on Facebook yet, but they do a lot of "how can I get this pattern to work in PK?" type discussion. I'm not sure if they ever get them working fully though, but might be worth a look.
Oh and welcome to the hobby! 🥰
@@TheGiddyStitcher Okay, thanks for the tip! I tried another one I have & it appears to have worked, I just haven't tried actually using it yet. I just like the idea of not having to print everything on paper, you know? Appreciate you taking the time to reply!
Good Morning. I do have a question. which pattern maker is best for photos. I want to do a photo and been searching and I haven't had any luck.
Hi Cathie, thanks for the comment. I actually did a whole video trying out all the free pattern conversion tools I could find, so that might be useful for you czcams.com/video/iz9BQzGtX50/video.html
Sadly I'm not rich enough to compare all the paid ones just yet, but some people in the comments there have recommendations. Hope that helps!😄
I am trying Pattern Keeper out to see how I feel about it. I am a bit bummed that it doesn't work for blackwork patterns.
Me too! I understand why, on a technical level, but I'm still hoping the dev figures out how to work some literal magic and get it working anyway 😄
I love pattern keeper, but I can only use it on my phone, which is tiny, my kindle 8, series 7, will allow me to download it, but won't let me import my haed patterns onto the pattern keeper! Do I need to buy another?
Hi, thanks for the question but sadly I'm not sure how it really works on Kindle. You might have better luck asking in one of the Facebook groups, or the /r/cross-stitch subreddit is always nice and friendly. Sorry I can't be any help! It's just not something I've tried. Best of luck though, hope you get it sorted 🙂
How do I get a pdf file from Etsy into Google drive then into pattern keeper please?
I imported a Dimensions pdf into PK. The floss ID number in Dimensions doesn't match up to the floss number in PK. What can I do?
I haven’t used it either
Hi there, i am not so sure about pattern keeper. I tried to download my own pattern (not a haed). It took me ages to sort of getting the squares in shape (and they still aren't). Then I realized that it cannot read the symbols. That means i cannot click on one symbol and it shows me where to stitch.
I guess I messed it all up. WHAT DID I DO WRONG? Can anyone help?
Hi Gabriela. Was the pattern from any of the officially supported designers? If not, the symbol searching unfortunately seems to rarely work due to the way most pattern files are made.
You could try asking in the Facebook support group (linked in the video description) as I know some people there are experts at getting patterns to work as best they can.
Good luck, I hope you can get it working!
@@TheGiddyStitcher no, I guess it wasn't an official supporter. I didn't know it has to be. It is a counted Joy Sunday kit. I have another one (a big one - 16 pages) from Dahlia. So I suppose the app is not of mich use to me, as I do not Stitch a HAED....... But thanks for your andere anyway.
@@gabrielazimmermann3562 Sometimes the non-official patterns still work, but sometimes not. Looks like you got unlucky with yours. Still, I know the Pattern Keeper developer is always expanding the list of supported designers, it's not just HAED. So maybe it'll become more useful for you in future :)
@@TheGiddyStitcher May I ask where I can find out which ones the official supporter are?
@@gabrielazimmermann3562 Of course! The official list is at patternkeeper.app/supported-designers
I'm still trying to figure out PK and that moved along too fast for me to follow.
Sorry about that! If there's something in particular you're not sure about feel free to ask here :)
I will start calling myself "enthusiastic multicrafter"
Hi. Thx for the video. very helpful. Just getting ready to begin my first multiple page pattern designed by Jan Hicks. I’ve asked several folks as well as Jan this question. Pattern Keeper didn’t pull in the correct “vertical” center of her pattern. I printed off her pattern and did the calculations as I always start in the center. PK did pull in the correct horizontal center. Has this happened to you or have you heard of it? I even emailed the developer and she still hasn’t answered. Any help would be welcomed. Thx much.
I'm sorry but I've never seen this happen at all! Just checked through all the big patterns I have loaded in there and they all seem to be correctly marking the centre, although none of them are by Jan Hicks so I wonder if it could be a specific formatting issue.
Are the red triangle markers at the side wrong too or just the centre dot? If those are right perhaps you can work it out from there, and mark the correct starting stitch yourself (maybe use the parking feature to mark it until you're ready to start stitching?
Sorry I can't be more help, that sounds frustrating. Fingers crossed you get a reply from the developer soon.
@@TheGiddyStitcher thx. I just marked it as a stitch. No. Everything about the vertical mark was wrong. Horizontal was correct. But thx for at least responding!
@@janniestanley Of course, no worries. Glad you found a workaround! If you ever do find out what caused it I'd love an update, I'm an ex-developer so these things are fascinating to me 🤓
I won't do a pattern not usable on PK.
You're definitely not alone in that, and to be honest now I've been using it for a while I'm not sure I could do a big pattern without it myself! Thanks for the comment :)
I can't cause I only have iOS apple
That definitely seems to be a big missed opportunity for Pattern Keeper, I know the dev has said she's working on an iOS version but as far as I know there's still no ETA on it. Not everyone can or wants to just go out and buy a whole Android tablet to run one app.
I did find this blog post by someone who uses an app called "Knit Companion" to get similar functionality on iOS, maybe this will be helpful to you? www.notoriousneedle.com/pattern-keeper-alternative-ios-devices/
Thanks for the comment!
I think I will stay old school for now, lol
Informative, but the speed was Waaay too fast to grasp.