What’s new
ixostitch · updates

What’s new in ixo

New features and fixes in the editor, the WIP planner, the hoop and the inventory. Newest first.

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Three sample charts to choose from

In the “Where do we start?” screen, the “Sample chart” button now opens a choice of three charts with previews. Besides the Berlin wreath there are two works by designers, with links to their shops.

When a PDF isn’t recognized, you now see why

Instead of a generic “this is a scan”, the window names the real reason: the color table couldn’t be read, or the chart has no grid lines. Each reason comes with its own advice on what to try.

PDF and scans

  • New“Compare with PDF”: the original page slides over the recognized chart like a curtain.
  • NewA recognition summary above the canvas: size, color count and what was found on each layer.
  • NewYou can send an unrecognized PDF to us for review right from the error window — only with your consent, and we keep it for no more than 5 days.
  • FixedMagazine charts cut into sheets without overlap no longer drift by one cell at the seam.
  • ImprovedA book spread with several grid blocks is now read block by block instead of giving the wrong size.

Editor

  • FixedThe “Back” button in the sample picker looked like a system button.

A realistic view and a new WIP window

Fabric and floss in the realistic view now look like the real thing, and the WIP window in the planner has been rebuilt.

Editor

  • ImprovedThe realistic view uses new textures: full stitches, blends, backstitch, beads and knots look like real thread.
  • ImprovedThe PDF cover and thumbnails are realistic too.
  • ImprovedLinen now defaults to a light beige.

WIP planner

  • NewThe WIP window: Today, logging the day in stitches or percent, and the finish.
  • NewThe log shows which part of a day was entered by hand.
  • NewCrop any photo in a WIP’s feed.

Hoop: mark your stitches right on the chart

Open a chart attached to a WIP in Hoop, mark what you’ve stitched cell by cell, and the WIP planner counts the percent for you.

Read more in the blog →

Hoop

  • NewTwo modes, View and Mark. Mark a single cell, a box, or a whole color at once.
  • NewThe key shows how much is left for each floss.
  • NewHoop can open in a window that stays on top of other windows.
  • NewMarks from Cross Stitch Saga (.sp) carry over to the chart.
  • NewA recognized PDF chart can be stitched in Hoop for free.

A new interface, lasso and thread color

The biggest update of the autumn: the editor gets a new interface, lasso and magic wand selection, thread color calibration and large PDFs in the background.

Read more in the blog →

In short

  • NewLasso and magic wand. Shift adds to the selection, Alt subtracts.
  • NewChange the stitch type of a whole selection at once: full, half, petite.
  • New“Recolor backstitch” and “Outline with backstitch”.
  • New“Source beside”: the picture a chart is made from stays open at the side.
  • New“Gradients” and “Color between” in the palette.
  • NewFloss color calibration for your screen.
  • ImprovedLarge PDFs are recognized in the background, and French knots and beads are easy to tell apart in the printed PDF.
  • NewPreciosa and Toho beads in the stash.

Stash counts skeins, the editor gets an Edit menu

Your stash now counts skeins and tells you what’s running low.

Stash

  • NewA skein count for every floss and a “Running low” status.
  • NewSend a chart’s palette to your stash with one button.
  • NewMark a wishlist item as bought and it moves to your stash.
  • ImprovedFloss search understands brands, fabrics get an “All · Out · Wishlist” filter.
  • ImprovedPreciosa beads with color names.

Editor

  • NewAn Edit menu and Select all with Ctrl+A.
  • NewFile → Autosaves: open an autosave without losing the current chart.

Tablets, kit PDFs and large PDFs

The editor now works with a finger and a stylus, and PDF export got easier for kit makers.

Editor

  • NewOn a tablet the canvas responds to your finger and stylus.
  • ImprovedIf you have a single draft, the editor opens it right away.

PDF

  • NewA “for kits” PDF without catalog floss numbers: the key shows your own color name or “Color N”.
  • FixedLarge PDFs in the pattern checker no longer fail with a timeout.

A new floss color window and PDF checks without signing up

The color window now has two columns, and you can check a PDF chart before creating an account.

Palette

  • ImprovedThe floss catalog is always next to the color picker.
  • NewThe closest floss is found in the brand you picked, not only in DMC.
  • ImprovedIn “By hue”, matching floss sits higher and the hex code is shown in the header.

PDF

  • NewDrop a PDF on the page and ixo shows what it can recognize, no account needed.
  • ImprovedWhen the result is doubtful, you’re told so plainly instead of seeing a green check.
  • ImprovedRecognition knows 14 more symbol shapes taken from other designers’ keys.
  • ImprovedA raster multi-page PDF becomes an underlay laid out like its pages.

Photo charts as big as regular charts

Photo to chart now builds charts as large as regular ones.

Photo to chart

  • ImprovedUp to 500×500 stitches, up from 200.
  • ImprovedUp to 100 colors on the slider, with a default that depends on the chart size.
  • ImprovedMetallic threads are no longer picked automatically.

PDF underlay, wishlist and a new Home

Put a PDF page or a scanned chart under the editor grid and redraw the chart over it.

Underlay

  • NewA multi-page PDF is stitched into a single underlay.
  • NewThe chart size is read from a vector PDF automatically.
  • New“Straighten scan” fixes a tilted scan or photo of a chart.
  • New“Fit to grid” snaps the underlay to the editor’s cells.
  • ImprovedIf a PDF can’t be recognized, open its page as an underlay right away.

Stash and Home

  • NewWishlist: floss and fabric you’d like to buy.
  • ImprovedHome has been rebuilt.

Pattern library, floss converter and fabric calculator

ixo now has a pattern library: cards for over 3,500 kits with their size, fabric and color count. It lists the patterns, it doesn’t host them.

Pattern library

  • NewKits from Dimensions, Bothy Threads, Vervaco, Lanarte, Riolis and more, searchable by name or kit number.
  • NewBought a kit? Start a WIP from its card: size, fabric, colors and cover fill in on their own.

Tools

  • NewFloss converter from DMC to Anchor and Madeira, one number at a time or a whole key at once.
  • NewFabric calculator for Aida and evenweave with the cut size. Works without an account.

More for free

  • ImprovedCharts up to 500×500 stitches, up from 200×200.
  • ImprovedThe Pattern Keeper PDF is free and has no watermark.
  • ImprovedThe WIP planner: progress can be tracked in percent.

Finish cards and a public profile

Share a finished piece as its own card, and gather all your stitching on a page of your own.

Finishes

  • NewFinish a WIP in the planner and ixo offers a 4:5 card: your photo plus how many stitches, days and meters of floss it took.
  • NewA link to your finish for Pinterest, Reddit, X or Telegram. Nobody sees it until you press Publish.

Profile

  • NewA page at ixostitch.com/u/… with your finishes and what you’re stitching now.
  • NewThe card of your current WIP updates along with your progress.
  • NewA weekly stitching streak and a yearly goal ring in your profile header.
  • NewControl the visibility of each piece right from your own page.
  • ImprovedThe page of a single piece works well on a phone.

ixo 2.0: WIP planner, floss stash and Pro

The biggest update of the summer: ixo is now more than a chart editor. It’s also where you track your WIPs and your stash.

Read more in the blog →

WIP planner

  • New“Stitching today”: the next WIP in your queue, its progress, what’s left and an estimated finish date.
  • NewLog that you stitched today in one click, with a stitch count or without.
  • NewPaused WIPs, a pace goal and a gallery of finishes.
  • NewHome shows your day: stitches today, your streak and an activity map.
  • NewWorks offline and installs on your phone like an app.

Stash and Pro

  • NewFloss and fabric stash: what you have, what a chart still needs, and a wishlist.
  • NewPro by the month, the year or for life, with advanced photo-to-chart settings and export of recognized PDF charts.

A tour for newcomers and clearer PDF print settings

The first time you open the editor, it shows you around in a few steps, and PDF print settings are easier to follow.

Editor

  • NewA seven-step tour: tools, properties, palette, layers, canvas, zoom, export.
  • NewThe first time you pick a tool, a card explains what it does.
  • ImprovedSaving a chart to the cloud no longer hangs on a weak connection: it retries, and if that fails it offers to download the file.

PDF export

  • ImprovedSettings are now two sections: “Cell size on the page” (30, 40 or 50 columns, or your own numbers) and “Page margins”.
  • NewSave settings that work for you under your own name and pick them in one click.
  • NewSee which values differ from the preset and reset them in one click.

PDF for Pattern Keeper, photo stylize and contour cleanup

Export gets a PDF that Pattern Keeper opens as is, and photo charts become cleaner and closer to a drawing.

Export

  • NewA Pattern Keeper PDF preset: a black-and-white chart where symbols are real text, not an image.
  • NewPages join without overlap, with hints in the corners showing which page comes next.

Photo to chart

  • NewStylize flattens the photo into a drawn look: noise and lone confetti stitches go away, outlines stay crisp.
  • NewContour cleanup smooths jagged edges and melts tiny specks into the neighboring color.
  • ImprovedFine-tuning moved up, and the color list can be collapsed.

New export, chart sharing and a floss converter

Export was rebuilt from scratch: settings on the left, a live preview of the result on the right. There’s also a new free floss converter.

Export

  • NewPDF with pages you can flip through right in the export window.
  • NewThree PNG styles: realistic, black-and-white with symbols, and color.
  • ImprovedA PDF like a printed chart: a clean key, floss usage in meters and yards, page-join marks.
  • ImprovedZweigart fabrics with their real names and colors.

Sharing

  • NewThe Share button creates a page with a preview of your piece, its size and color count. Anyone can view it, nobody can download the chart.

Tools

  • NewFloss converter: DMC to Anchor, Madeira and more, with a score that shows how close each substitute is.
  • NewSearch by number or name and take the floss straight into the editor.
  • ImprovedA huge photo no longer crashes the tab: oversized files are caught before they open.

Photo to chart and searchable help

You can now turn any photo into a cross stitch chart right in the editor. The editor also gets a complete help center.

Read more in the blog →

Photo to chart

  • NewOpen a photo and ixo builds a chart with matched DMC floss.
  • NewBrightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness and noise reduction can be tuned before the chart is built.
  • NewTwo-strand blends give soft transitions on skin and in gradients.
  • NewFine-tune the palette by hand: merge two colors or drop one without recalculating.

Help

  • NewA Help page with answers to common questions.
  • NewInstant search across Help.
  • NewFrom a help article you can jump into the editor with the right button highlighted.