Project files
Projects are .pcad files. They hold the shapes, layers, tracing images, print areas and the memo. Your palette, irons, threads, leathers, templates and options are kept in your browser, not in projects.
| Command | Key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New project | – (File menu) | Asks before discarding unsaved changes. |
| Open… | Ctrl+O | Opens a .pcad file. You can also drop a file on the window. |
| Save | Ctrl+S | Saves to the file the project came from; the first time, asks where. |
| Save as… | Ctrl+Shift+S | Saves to a new file. |
When a file is opened, damaged or unknown parts are skipped and reported, and a broken stitching order is repaired (see Stitching order); files from a newer version are refused.
How saving works
PatinaCAD saves like draw.io:
- Always in the browser. About a second after every change, your work is kept in the browser. If you close the tab or reload, it reopens by itself next time, without asking.
- To your file. In Chrome and Edge, once a project has a file, it is saved to that file automatically about 2 seconds after the last change. After a reload, the browser needs one click to allow it again: click Allow saving in the top bar.
- Other browsers can't write to a file: Save downloads a copy. Your work stays safe in the browser in the meantime.
- Changed elsewhere: if the file was changed by another tab or program, automatic saving stops rather than overwrite it. Save (Ctrl+S) replaces it with your version; Save as keeps both.
- The dot after the file name means there are changes not yet saved to a file. Leaving the page then asks you to confirm.
Turn automatic saving to the file off in File ▸ Options… ▸ Saving.
Importing SVG
File ▸ Import SVG… brings in drawings from other programs (Inkscape, Illustrator, Affinity…).
- Enter the width the drawing should have, in the current unit.
- Tick Split into separate lines and curves to get lines, curves and arcs you can edit one by one; leave it off to get one template object.
- Paths, circles, ellipses, lines, polylines, polygons and rectangles are imported, with their transforms and units, and so are copies of them (
<use>, symbols). - Text becomes editable text shapes (each separately placed line its own shape), at the SVG's position, size and angle, and grouped with the rest. Fonts the app doesn't have are replaced by the default font, and the status bar says so. Text along a path isn't imported; the status bar counts it.