ARTLink 8 Basics

BERNINA

eBook Series

JUST EMBROIDER IT!

ARTLink 8 Basics

Written by:

Debbi Lashbrook, BERNINA Educator

Software Specialist

Basic Features

Open and View Designs

Modify Designs

Print a Template

§ Send Designs to a Machine

ARTlink 8 is a basic software program that al-

lows you to open an embroidery design, make

basic adjustments, and write the design directly to

your embroidery machine or to a removable de-

vice, such as a USB stick.

Here’s what ARTlink can do:

• Open embroidery designs of different file for-

mats

• Convert embroidery designs to another format

• Send embroidery designs with the proper for-

mat to your BERNINA embroidery machine

using a direct connection or USB stick

• Rotate designs

• Scale (resize) designs

• Mirror Horizontal or Vertical

• Skew

• Assign thread colors

• Print a paper template

Here’s what ARTlink can’t do:

• Create embroidery designs

• Combine embroidery designs

• Digitize artwork into an embroidery design

• Digitize fonts or lettering

• Add lettering to a design

ARTlink Installation Instructions

Download ARTlink on the BERNINA consumer

website: bernina.com.

Open ARTlink 8

Double click on the desktop icon to open

BERNINA ARTlink 8.

Calibrate the Screen

The first time you open ARTlink, it is recommended that

you calibrate the screen, especially with Windows 7.

This is found by clicking Settings> Calibrate screen

from the Menu Bar.

First, change to Metric measurements by

selecting it from the drop-down choices in

the first row of icons.

Use a metric ruler to measure the dimensions of the

dialog box, and enter your measured values. Click OK.

Open an Embroidery Design

• Click the Open icon (the file folder) or click

on File> Open from the menu.

• You may also open a recent file by clicking

on the Open Recent File icon.

• The type of file defaults to .ART. To open a different

file type, click on the drop- down arrow to select the

file format you wish to open or select All Files.

• Browse to the location of the embroidery design you

wish to open. Select the design; then click on Open.

• ARTlink 8 comes with 43 built-in designs. They are

found in this file path: C:\Users\Public\Public Em-

broidery\BERNINA 8 Embroidery.

For more soware features, check out BERNINA

Embroidery Soware DesignerPlus at bernina.com.

To download a free Trial of BERNINA

Embroidery Software, click on this link.

Viewing the Design: Artistic vs. Design View

Open the design, WP009 following the file path,

C:\Users\Public\Public Embroidery\BERNINA 8

Embroidery\Animals and Bugs.

You can view the design in two ways; either in De-

sign View or Artistic View (a rendering of the actu-

al stitches). To change from one view to the

other, click on the icon, Show Artistic View.

A yellow icon means that the icon is active. The

first time the software opens, it will open the de-

you close the software determines how the design

will open the next time you use the software.

Design View Artistic View

Zooming

Mouse scroll wheel: You can zoom in and out

using the center scroll wheel on your mouse.

You can also use selections from the Zoom

Toolbar in the first row of icons.

To Fit: The design will fill the screen.

To Hoop: The hoop will fill the screen.

100: Select 100 from the list and the design will be

shown onscreen at its actual size if the screen has

been calibrated.

Magnifying Glass:

The cursor turns into a magni-

fying glass. Click and drag a

box around the area you want

to focus on. When you release

the mouse, that area will fill the

screen.

Pan: You can move the posi-

tion of the design on the screen without

changing the position within the hoop.

Changing the View of the Screen

There are additional icons in the View Menu that affect

what is seen on screen.

Switch to Design View and then click on

the Points icon. All needle penetrations

are displayed in the design as white

dots. To turn this view off, click on the

Points icon again.

Show Hoop:

Left click on the Show Hoop icon to hide or

show the hoop. When the icon is yellow, the

hoop will be shown.

Right click on the icon to show a list of possible hoops.

Choose your machine, the hoop size, and the foot.

Press OK to activate the changes.

Show Template

When Show Template is activated, the plastic

template that comes with your machine will be

shown.

Show Grid

When Show Grid is activated, a grid will be

shown on the design. Alter the size of the grid by

right clicking on the icon and entering new values.

Press OK in the dialog box to activate the changes.

Show Ruler

Click on Show Ruler to hide or show the horizon-

tal and vertical rulers.

Selecting the Design

Select, Artistic View: To make adjustments to

the design, first select it by clicking anywhere on

the design. Black control handles appear around

the design when the design is selected.

Black handles indicate the design is selected.

Select, Design View: When the view is

switched to Design View and the design is select-

ed, the design turns pink.

Deselect: Deselect the design by pressing the

Esc key or by clicking anywhere on the screen

away from the design.

Modify the Design

Once the design is selected, the icons will be acti-

vated and will appear in color. If the design is not

selected, the icons will appear grayed out.

Design is selected; icons appear in color:

Design is not selected; icons are grayed out.

Modify the Design (continued)

Rotate 45 Degrees CCW / CW:

With the design selected, click either of the rotate 45

degree icons. Each time you click the icon, the de-

sign will rotate another 45 degrees.

Rotate by Percent:

With the design selected, enter a value in degrees

into the rotate box and press Enter. The design will

rotate and the value will be reset to 0.

Rotate by Dragging:

Click on the design twice and the control handles will

appear hollow instead of black. To rotate the design

visually, click on one of the corner handles and drag

in the direction you wish to rotate the design.

An outline of the rotated design appears as you ro-

tate and the degree of rotation appears in a flag.

When the mouse is released, the design will be ro-

tated.

Scale Down / Up:

Each time the Scale Down icon is clicked, the design

is reduced in size by 20%. After the design is scaled,

the new size is 100%. The same is true for Scale

Up, but the design is increased in size.

Stiches are added when the design is increased in

size; stitches are taken away when the design is de-

creased in size.

Changing the Scale Visually

Click and drag on one of the corner control han-

dles to scale the design up or down. The white box

near the design shows the X and Y position of the

design and the percent the design has been

scaled. Once the mouse is released, the new

measurement of the design becomes 100%.

An outline of the resized design appears until the

mouse is released.

Changing the Design Size by a Specific

Amount:

Change the design by a specific percentage or by

a specific measurement through the measurement

box in the second row of icons.

To change the dimensions proportionally, keep

Proportional Scaling in the locked position. The

ratio between the length and width will be main-

tained.

To change the length or width independent-

ly of the other dimension, click on Propor-

tional Scaling to open the lock.

Enter the desired dimensions in actual amounts or

in a percentage and press Enter to activate the

change.

The percentage will revert back to 100% after the

change and the new dimensions will be shown.

Mirror Horizontal:

Select the design and click the Mirror Hori-

zontal icon to reverse the image horizontally.

Mirror Vertical:

Select the design and click the Mirror Vertical

icon to reverse the image vertically.

Skewing a Design:

Skew a design by entering a value in the

Skew box and pressing Enter.

To visually skew a design, change the black selec-

tion control handles to hollow rotate control handles

by clicking on the design.

Click on the middle diamond-shaped handles to

skew the design. These diamond-shape handles

appear in the horizontal and vertical middle of the

control handles. A flag appears showing the degree

of the skew. Release the mouse to create the

skewed design.

Print a Template

A printed template is helpful for previewing the de-

sign on the item to be embroidered and as an aid

to proper placement on that item.

• Select the Print Preview icon or File >

Print Preview.

• Click Options.

• Select 100% for Zoom.

• Select OK.

• Select Print Now to print your template.

Stitching the Design

• Click on the Write to Card/Machine icon

or select File> Write to Card/Machine.

• The Device Selection Box will appear.

• Select the appropriate type.

• Click OK.

Write/Read de-

signs in EXP for-

mat to/from USB

stick

Load design di-

rectly to machine

for stitching

Write/Read design

to/from machine’s

memory or USB

stick plugged into

the machine

Write/Read de-

signs in EXP for-

mat to/from Deco

330/340 Memory

Card or Deco 340

USB stick

Write/Read de-

signs in EXP for-

mat to artista 165-

185 or serial

Reader/Writer box

Write/Read design

in Art V4 format to

USB stick for

artista 200/730

For More Information

This guide is intended to get you up and running

quickly and easily using ARTlink 8.

For in-depth instruction, open the ARTlink 8 soft-

ware and select Help> Reference Manual from the

menu. Below is the Table of Contents from the

manual.

Note:

• A list of ARTlink Shortcut keys can be found on

page 52 of the manual.

• Read about the Stitch Player in Chapter 3.

Stitch Player lets you simulate the actual em-

broidery stitchout on screen.

• For more information about controlling start

and end positions, see Chapter 4.

• To learn more about thread colors and charts,

see Chapter 5 of the manual.

• To get more detailed information about how

designs are exported to embroidery machines,

please see Chapter 8. This will detail how de-

signs are exported to BERNINA machines and

USB sticks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: How do I save a design in ARTlink?

Answer: .ART designs that are opened and

changed in ARTlink 8, may be saved in .ART format

by selecting File> Save As. You may save the de-

signs as Version 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 designs and a few

other all-in-one formats.

Question: How do I convert another design for-

mat to .ART format?

Answer: Embroidery designs that were original-

ly created as another format cannot be converted

to .ART. If you attempt to Save As the .ART format,

you will see the error message below. However,

when a design of another format is opened in the

software and written to the BERNINA machine or

USB stick using the Write to Machine icon, the soft-

ware automatically converts the design to the format

needed by the model chosen in the Device Selection

box.

Question: How do I convert a design to another

format (other than .ART)?

Answer: With the design open onscreen, select

File> Export Machine File, and select the desired

format from the drop-down choices of Save As Type.

Click Save, being sure to note the folder location

where you are saving the file. ARTlink 8 can open

and convert many of the most popular embroidery

formats.

Question: I can’t get ARTlink 8 installed on my

computer.

Answer: Open a help ticket with BERNINA

Software Technical support by visiting: berni-

na.com/help.

Question: Will ARTlink 8 work with my aurora

model?

Answer: Yes, ARTlink 8 includes EC on PC

which is necessary for embroidery with aurora

model machines.

Question: Will ARTlink 8 work on a Mac?

Answer: ARTlink 8 may be installed and oper-

ated on a Macintosh computer, and is supported

by BERNINA under the following configuration:

• The Mac is running OSx Lion or newer

• Bootcamp 4.0 is correctly configured

• Windows 7, 8, or 10 is installed on the

Bootcamp partition

•

Question: What format design does my BER-

NINA machine accept?

Answer: Most current machines accept the

BERNINA .exp format. This format consists of

three files for each design:

• .exp is the embroidery design

• .bmp is the thumbnail image of the design

• .inf is the thread color information

The only exceptions are the older artista machine

models, 200 and 730. These machines accept

the .ART Version 4 format.

To send a design to your BERNINA ma-

chine in the proper format, simply open

the design in ARTlink, then click on the

Write to Card/Machine icon and choose the appro-

priate selection. The software will convert the de-

sign and write the appropriate files for use in your

model.

Question: What has changed from ARTlink 7?

Answer: ARTlink 8 is Windows 10 and 4K compat-

ible and can be updated through the automated update

function. This allows ARTlink to be updated to new op-

erating systems.

New features and functions have been added, includ-

ing:

• Feedback Reporter

• Exporting & Saving Designs

• Hoop Templates

• Print Options

• Auto Start & End Options

Please consult the ARTlink Reference Manual for

more detailed information about these new functions in

ARTlink.