Tracer for Quilt Block

Basic & Market Plan Feature

The Tracer feature is a great way to take an image of an idea or inspiration source and use it as a guide to trace a quilt block. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to import an image and use it to create a custom quilt block in PreQuilt.

a | Upload the Tracer Image

To prepare for the Tracer feature, have your inspiration image saved onto your computer.

1. From your quilt's digital design wall (or quilt grid), click on the BLOCKS tab.

   
2. Click on Make Custom Block to create a new block. The Block Editor window will open.

   
3. On the left side control panel, click on the Tracer button. A pop-up window will open.

   
4. In the pop-up window, click on the Upload Image button.

   
5. Select the image you want to use to trace the new block and click Open.

   
6. The image is now loaded into the background of the quilt block.

   

b | Position the Tracer Image

Now that the image is loaded into the background of the block, let's position it so the image we want to trace fills the entire quilt block space.

1. First let's scale the Tracer image so that the focal point of the image is the same size as the quilt block.

   • In this example, I want the post-it note only to be used as the tracer image.

   
2. Click on the + and/or - buttons next to the scale to increase or decrease the size of the image.

   • PRO TIP: Holding down the shift button and using the up (to increase) and down (to decrease) arrows will increase or decrease the number in increments of 10.

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3. Once you have the approximate scale, now let's move the image into the top left corner so that there's nothing else in the background except for the post-it note focal point. To do this, click on the + and/or - buttons next to the Offset Top and Offset Left to move the image left to right and top to bottom.

   • Note: You might need to change the scale once moving the focal point into position.

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4. Now we have the focal point of the image filling the entire quilt block area as well as filling the entire quilt block area.

   

c | Create a Quilt Block Using the Tracer Image

Now that we have the Tracer image imported and positioned correctly, we can now use it to create our quilt block by placing the patchwork shapes onto the quilt block area.

1. Select the appropriate patchwork piece by clicking on it to place it onto the quilt block area.

   • In this example, I've used a half-square triangle piece.

   
2. Move and resize it accordingly.

   • Note: See our tutorial on Creating Quilt Blocks for more information on how to do this.

   
3. You can change the transparency of the patchwork pieces so that you are able to still see the Tracer image while placing your patchwork pieces onto the quilt block.

   
4. Continue placing all the appropriate patchwork pieces until the quilt block is completed.

   
5. To view only the quilt block and hide the Tracer image in the background, toggle the Enable button on the Image (background) tile on the Tracer pop-up window.

   • Note: The background image will be completely hidden and the Quilt block will turn onto 100% opacity.

   

   
6. Save the block by clicking on the Floppy Disk button () in the top right corner of the screen. Then click on Save to Quilt.

   
7. You now have your custom block that you traced using the Tracer feature!