Need to reinstall Pattern Editor (not Designer 1.153)

[MikeO]

I think I have a corrupted Pattern Editor problem (again, I'm not referring to Designer 1.153) so I need to reinstall it. How do I go about doing that? I appear to have lost the directions from the original install. There is no direct way to download it if I remember right. Strange things happen on-screen when I try to save an image to the Pattern Library--the list of Favorites is scrambled and appears on the left side of the Save box instead of the right. Also, Export an Image to File function is also not working correctly. When the Save Image dialog box appears, it is empty until I run the mouse cursor across it; the images then begin to appear but the dialog box never fully opens correctly. Thanks.

[dbfletcher]

I think I have a corrupted Pattern Editor problem (again, I'm not referring to Designer 1.153) so I need to reinstall it. How do I go about doing that? I appear to have lost the directions from the original install. There is no direct way to download it if I remember right. Strange things happen on-screen when I try to save an image to the Pattern Library--the list of Favorites is scrambled and appears on the left side of the Save box instead of the right. Also, Export an Image to File function is also not working correctly. When the Save Image dialog box appears, it is empty until I run the mouse cursor across it; the images then begin to appear but the dialog box never fully opens correctly. Thanks.

I thougth PE was build in to designer and it was just software unlock code to enable it?
Doug Fletcher

[fwharris]

Sounds to me more of a graphics interface problem.. over load on memory

[bjbethke]

I think I have a corrupted Pattern Editor problem (again, I'm not referring to Designer 1.153) so I need to reinstall it. How do I go about doing that? I appear to have lost the directions from the original install. There is no direct way to download it if I remember right. Strange things happen on-screen when I try to save an image to the Pattern Library--the list of Favorites is scrambled and appears on the left side of the Save box instead of the right. Also, Export an Image to File function is also not working correctly. When the Save Image dialog box appears, it is empty until I run the mouse cursor across it; the images then begin to appear but the dialog box never fully opens correctly. Thanks.

Not sure what you are trying to say. Are you referring to this window? How large is your MPN file, if very large it can over drive your computer memory. The MPN file is in this folder; C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR NAME HERE\CarveWright

If you PM me your e-mail I can send you a 1.153 download file. You can then remove your CW Designer program and reinstall it.

Or you should have a disk that came with your machine, it may be an old version, but you can then update from the help file.

[MikeO]

To all who responded to my issue, thanks for your help. I've sort of responded to everyone in a general way below (probably I said too much but more information is usually better than less):

1) I have reinstalled Designer (the basic software that comes with the machine) 1.153 but that doesn't clear the problem; Pattern Editor(PE) is the $200 image editor add-on for the Carvewright and I believe it is a separate program inside the Designer program; you have to start Designer before you can start Pattern Editor and when you close Designer, it shuts down PE. You can't use PE without Designer. Kind of crazy but that's how it works. I think PE needs Designer to save edited files. Designer, by the way, seems to be working just fine.

2)I don't think I'm suffering memory overload. I have 3GB of Ram on a Vista machine; Vista (32-bit) only supports a maximum of 4GB, so I've got plenty. The files I'm trying to save are in .png format, not terribly large. The files that are saved to the Pattern Library should be in .ptn format. I'm not really working with the MPC, MPN, or MPW file formats. I've been working with the same kind of pictures for the last 18 months with no problems. What I think happened is that I installed and then uninstalled a couple of basic photo editing programs that somehow corrupted the Windows Registry. I've had this happen before--graphics programs are notorious for causing these kinds of problems. But even cleaning the Registry doesn't usually help. You have to reinstall the corrupted program, and sometimes even that doesn't work.

3) Yes, I think PE just needs to be unlocked (which it is) but how do you uninstall/reinstall it? I think when I bought PE originally I had to go to a special website to download Designer with PE attached to it. Then I had to use the licensing code to get both programs up and running. The problem is that I don't remember where that special website is to try and re-download them. That's really what I need to know. LHR/Carvewright plays it very close to the chest with both Designer and PE so that illegal copies don't get out into the world, especially PE. If you check License Management under Help, you will see that your computer has a "code name(s)" so that Designer and PE (if you have it) can only be used on that specific computer. If you get a new computer, you may have to get permission from LHR/Carvewright to install Designer/PE on it (this is probably true of In-Line Text, STL, and the probe, too). I sent an email to the software tech support people at LHR but I've had problems getting them to respond in the past. So I was hoping someone out there could direct me to the special download website.

4) PE is a good add-on if you do a lot of work with pictures to turn them into carving patterns. It is expensive but it is also helpful in cleaning up pictures. And if you really want to clean up pictures, you need to buy a program called Vector Magic. It removes almost all of the stray dots on JPG, BMP and other raster images so the picture is "smooth." It is more expensive than PE (about $300, if I remember, but they had an educator's discount of 50% when I bought it about a year ago). Run your images through Vector Magic, then run them through Pattern Editor. Then save them to the Pattern Library. A warning though--not all pictures can be turned into good carving patterns. Simple line/clip art seems to work best; I haven't had good luck with transforming photos into decent carving patterns.

5) I've had a lot of experience turning pics into carving patterns so if anyone needs help/info, I'm always available. Contact me at molson5491@live.com and put Carvewright in the subject box so I don't think it's junk mail.

[bjbethke]

To all who responded to my issue, thanks for your help. I've sort of responded to everyone in a general way below (probably I said too much but more information is usually better than less):

1) I have reinstalled Designer (the basic software that comes with the machine) 1.153 but that doesn't clear the problem; Pattern Editor(PE) is the $200 image editor add-on for the Carvewright and I believe it is a separate program inside the Designer program; you have to start Designer before you can start Pattern Editor and when you close Designer, it shuts down PE. You can't use PE without Designer. Kind of crazy but that's how it works. I think PE needs Designer to save edited files. Designer, by the way, seems to be working just fine.

2)I don't think I'm suffering memory overload. I have 3GB of Ram on a Vista machine; Vista (32-bit) only supports a maximum of 4GB, so I've got plenty. The files I'm trying to save are in .png format, not terribly large. The files that are saved to the Pattern Library should be in .ptn format. I'm not really working with the MPC, MPN, or MPW file formats. I've been working with the same kind of pictures for the last 18 months with no problems. What I think happened is that I installed and then uninstalled a couple of basic photo editing programs that somehow corrupted the Windows Registry. I've had this happen before--graphics programs are notorious for causing these kinds of problems. But even cleaning the Registry doesn't usually help. You have to reinstall the corrupted program, and sometimes even that doesn't work.

3) Yes, I think PE just needs to be unlocked (which it is) but how do you uninstall/reinstall it? I think when I bought PE originally I had to go to a special website to download Designer with PE attached to it. Then I had to use the licensing code to get both programs up and running. The problem is that I don't remember where that special website is to try and re-download them. That's really what I need to know. LHR/Carvewright plays it very close to the chest with both Designer and PE so that illegal copies don't get out into the world, especially PE. If you check License Management under Help, you will see that your computer has a "code name(s)" so that Designer and PE (if you have it) can only be used on that specific computer. If you get a new computer, you may have to get permission from LHR/Carvewright to install Designer/PE on it (this is probably true of In-Line Text, STL, and the probe, too). I sent an email to the software tech support people at LHR but I've had problems getting them to respond in the past. So I was hoping someone out there could direct me to the special download website.

4) PE is a good add-on if you do a lot of work with pictures to turn them into carving patterns. It is expensive but it is also helpful in cleaning up pictures. And if you really want to clean up pictures, you need to buy a program called Vector Magic. It removes almost all of the stray dots on JPG, BMP and other raster images so the picture is "smooth." It is more expensive than PE (about $300, if I remember, but they had an educator's discount of 50% when I bought it about a year ago). Run your images through Vector Magic, then run them through Pattern Editor. Then save them to the Pattern Library. A warning though--not all pictures can be turned into good carving patterns. Simple line/clip art seems to work best; I haven't had good luck with transforming photos into decent carving patterns.

5) I've had a lot of experience turning pics into carving patterns so if anyone needs help/info, I'm always available. Contact me at molson5491@live.com and put Carvewright in the subject box so I don't think it's junk mail.

You made a statement that: "I'm not really working with the MPC, MPN, or MPW file formats." What I ask you was how big the MPN file was? If you have more than one of those files in that folder and that folder gets too large it slows down the computer this can cause the CW Designer programs to lock up your computer. The Favorites library is the MPN files. Every time you open the CW designer programs it need to load the computers memory with these files, this is what slows thing down and funny things happen with the CW designer programs. The Pattern Editor and the Designer is the same program. You need the scanning probe license to open the PE part of that program. If you do not have the probe you can load your images directly into the designer.

Hope this helps.

[lynnfrwd]

I noticed below you said you were using a Vista Operating System. Make sure when you install it on a Vista machine, you follow the Installation Instructions for the Vista Operating System. Those instructions are located in the Getting Started Section of the LearningLab under the Support Menu at www.carvewright.com.

[MikeO]

You made a statement that: "I'm not really working with the MPC, MPN, or MPW file formats." What I ask you was how big the MPN file was? If you have more than one of those files in that folder and that folder gets too large it slows down the computer this can cause the CW Designer programs to lock up your computer. The Favorites library is the MPN files. Every time you open the CW designer programs it need to load the computers memory with these files, this is what slows thing down and funny things happen with the CW designer programs. The Pattern Editor and the Designer is the same program. You need the scanning probe license to open the PE part of that program. If you do not have the probe you can load your images directly into the designer.

Hope this helps.

OK, I misunderstood (which is pretty common for me). My .mpn file is big--about 280MB. So, you're right, it may be causing the problem because of its size. I just keep dumping new carving patterns into it. I can go into Designer and export out a lot of the pictures one-by-one to a .ptn folder but then I lose the ability to see what the pattern looks like since Windows can't read and display .ptn files. What we need is a Viewer that reads and displays thumbnails of .ptn, mpc, and mpw files so we see what we've got. Or we need a way to open the mpn file to see what's in it and move things into and out of it. Do you have any ideas about how to deal with this problem--an EASY way to make the mpn file smaller? Thanks for setting me straight about the size of the mpn file.

[bjbethke]

OK, I misunderstood (which is pretty common for me). My .mpn file is big--about 280MB. So, you're right, it may be causing the problem because of its size. I just keep dumping new carving patterns into it. I can go into Designer and export out a lot of the pictures one-by-one to a .ptn folder but then I lose the ability to see what the pattern looks like since Windows can't read and display .ptn files. What we need is a Viewer that reads and displays thumbnails of .ptn, mpc, and mpw files so we see what we've got. Or we need a way to open the mpn file to see what's in it and move things into and out of it. Do you have any ideas about how to deal with this problem--an EASY way to make the mpn file smaller? Thanks for setting me straight about the size of the mpn file.

I think that is your problem. I start to see my CW designer program slow down when it gets to a little over 100MB; do not just delete it - Save it first on a CD. Then delete all those files, your CW designer will auto start a new favorites file again. Then when you need any of those files again just click on it and it will auto load that file again. I have about 15 MPN files stored on a CD and also on a SD flash memory chip (USB). You can then add and delete them as you need them. Your new patterns that you make will always store only on the main MPN folder unless you choose a different file... When that file gets to 100MB I save them and the designer will make a new one.

Hope this helps.

[bjbethke]

OK, I misunderstood (which is pretty common for me). My .mpn file is big--about 280MB. So, you're right, it may be causing the problem because of its size. I just keep dumping new carving patterns into it. I can go into Designer and export out a lot of the pictures one-by-one to a .ptn folder but then I lose the ability to see what the pattern looks like since Windows can't read and display .ptn files. What we need is a Viewer that reads and displays thumbnails of .ptn, mpc, and mpw files so we see what we've got. Or we need a way to open the mpn file to see what's in it and move things into and out of it. Do you have any ideas about how to deal with this problem--an EASY way to make the mpn file smaller? Thanks for setting me straight about the size of the mpn file.

Pattern Viewer - I find it very easy to store my patterns with a thumbnail. I run Windows XP/3; it has a thumbnail function built into the program. When I make my patterns I store them in a file with the PTN, MPC, MPW, and all the images I used to make the pattern. I store that all on CD/DVD's and when I want to find a pattern I just load the CD and highlight the thumbnails and all the files show a thumbnail of the images.

You can also do that with your MPN (Favorites); just take a Screen Print of your Favorites image and save that in a file with the MPN file. It works great.

I started doing that since I got my CW unit and it is second nature now.

I am also selling some of my CD’s now. I am working on a Wild Animals CD for a friend. I kind of like, working with a price called a donation. I have a DVD of the Department of Defense with over 500 patterns on it. I am looking for a donation of at least $60.00 now.