Doh! When I goof up!

Tricky Treats
Tricky Treats

Have you ever made a mistake and wondered, how did that happen? We released Tricky Treats in August, and shortly after began hearing that I had made some mistakes. I left off the size canvas needed on the back of the chart, and one of the threads. Really? What a rookie mistake! Oh well, easily corrected, and I did have the design size on the front cover, and all of the threads listed inside. And most of the retailers could figure out the size of the canvas from the design size. I immediately corrected the back cover for future printings.

But even worse, I began hearing from stitchers that they were having trouble with one of the diagrams. I do not take that lightly. My goal, which I state on the back of every chart, is to create projects and instructions that are free of frustrations. And problems with a diagram are one of the worst frustrations possible.

By the time I’d heard it 3 times, it was time to take action. So I started checking. And I think I’ve figured out what went wrong. The diagram, on page 10, is correct. I intended for it to print in color. That’s the way I drew it – it’s in color in my diagramming program, and in my word processing software that I use to create my instructions. And here’s where the glitch occurred, and probably a little too much information about my process.

When I create my charts, I use four different programs. I create the graph with Easy Cross Enterprise. I draw the stitch diagram with Stitch Wiz. I write the instructions, and import the stitch diagrams, into Microsoft Publisher. Then I use Adobe Acrobat to create pdfs of the whole shebang for printing. I create the cover as a color pdf, and usually everything else as black and white pdfs. If there are color pages, I create them separately, then assemble everything as one pdf for printing. Our printer then selects the appropriate weight of paper for the covers, duplexes (prints on both sides) and collates, while keeping track of how many pages it prints in color and how many pages in black and white, which we pay for at the end of the month.

When I assembled the pdf for Tricky Treats, I thought I had created page 10 in color, then assembled everything per my usual process. But I didn’t – I created it ALL in black and white. No wonder there has been confusion! So, I have corrected my mistake, and all future printings of Tricky Treats will have the appropriate color pages. For those who have already purchased Tricky Treats, I’ll put the correct color pages on the website. Under the “About” tab, there’s a drop down menu with “Oops” – you’ll find the Tricky Treats corrected pages there.

Thanks for bearing with me, and don’t hesitate to let me know when I goof up. I really do want your stitching experience to be free of frustration!

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