| The Bead Cellar Pattern Designer
Software CD ROM with softcover user's guide
5-1/2" x 8-1/2", 72 pages.
PO Box 1283, Marchantville, NJ 08109. $89.85.
Reviewed by Theresa Guthrie
Created for the PC user, this program is easy to install and has a lot
of promise. The user's guide is clear and well illustrated, providing a color
tutorial to work the user through the program. One of the best features is the
palette selection, which offers the Miyuki and Toho brand bead colors. The other
feature I like is the Bead Map. One is able to load an image and translate it
into beads. There is even a materials list that keeps track of the bead colors
in the design.
However, despite these features, the program leaves one wishing for more. There
is no possibility to cut and paste a motif or flip it top to bottom or left to
right. Another major flaw is the bead sizing. No matter what bead size is selected,
the graph that is produced by the program shows the beads to be of equal height
and width. If one uses the graph, the actual beadwork will be distorted in length
and width when finished. Though an aspect ratio is offered for the pattern, it
would be more useful to offer this feature for the beads.
Selecting the bead size while setting up the pattern only serves to determine
the amount of beads used in the pattern (and the bead amounts are based on the
Bead Cellar's tube sizes). This is not a handy item if one buys beads in other
packaging. Finally, I found the text printout of the beads used in the pattern
hard to read and crowded. Every bead has an alphabetical/numerical prefix with
every bead number.
Ultimately, this program needs some work. The publishers do have an e-mail
address for technical support and return answers for one's inquiries in a timely
and polite manner. They seem committed to improving and updating the software.
The price is affordable and all updates are free and easily downloadable. As a
professional designer and beader, I think this program has promise but lacks many
of the basic desired features one needs to easily design and print bead patterns.
Theresa Guthrie is a bead teacher and owner of the online
bead store www.MoondanceDesigns.com
in Concord, Massachusetts. She has been beading for about 18 years. She developed
the No Warps! bead loom technique and teaches this and other bead classes
nationally for bead, quilt, and weavers’ conferences, groups, and shows.
She can be contacted by e-mail at tguthrie@MoondanceDesigns.com.
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