Match every confirmed symbol to its thread colour, using the key pages from your PDF. Tap a symbol to highlight where it appears on the key, then assign the matching colour and thread number with a single popup.

On this page

 

 

What this step is for

 

The previous steps got every cell on every chart page assigned to a confirmed symbol. Set Colors is where those symbols stop being abstract marks and become actual stitchable threads - DMC 310 black, Anchor 403, and so on.

The key pages you chose at the start of the wizard are displayed in the main canvas. Tap any confirmed symbol on the right and the app finds its match on the key, highlights it and pans the key to centre it. Open the colour popup and pick the thread, brand and display colour, and the symbol is fully set.

 

Markup R-XP will have a good go at assigning colours automatically the first time you arrive here - the auto-search picks up any text near the symbol on the key and seeds the thread number. Your job is to check those guesses, fill in the symbols that did not auto-match, and tweak anything that came out wrong.

The screen at a glance

 

The Set Colors screen showing the key pages tiled in the main canvas, the confirmed-symbols panel on the right with a mix of named and unnamed symbols, and the view chip and navigation buttons.
Figure 1. The Set Colors screen. (1) The key pages from your PDF are displayed in the canvas. (2) The confirmed-symbols panel on the right lists every symbol that needs a colour assignment. (3) A floating chip carries the view-mode and refresh helpers. (4) The Refresh key-scale and Fit-to-view buttons. (5) Back returns to Set Symbols. (6) Next moves on to the Complete step.

Assigning a colour to a symbol

 

The workflow for each symbol is the same: pick it, find it on the key, give it its details.

  1. Tap a symbol in the confirmed-symbols panel. The app searches the key pages for the same icon, draws a highlight around its match, and pans the key view to centre the match.
  2. Read the thread number printed next to the highlighted icon. That is the number the publisher has assigned to that symbol.
  3. Tap the symbol's colour swatch or the Edit button to open the colour popup. The popup is described below.
  4. Type the thread number and pick the colour, then tap OK. The symbol updates in the panel and the canvas refreshes to show its new colour.
The key pages with one symbol's match highlighted in a coloured outline, centred in the view, and the corresponding symbol selected in the right-hand panel.
Figure 2. Tapping a symbol. (1) The selected symbol in the panel. (2) Its match is highlighted on the key. (3) The key view auto-centres on the match so you do not need to pan.

Tip. You can turn off auto-centre via the chip if the constant view-jumping bothers you. The highlight still appears - you just have to pan to find it yourself.

 

The colour popup is the same one used on the Set Symbols Existing detail panel - any change here is reflected there and everywhere else the symbol appears.

The symbol-colour popup with icon preview, name field, colour swatch, thread brand picker, thread number field, and OK / Cancel buttons.
Figure 3. The colour popup. (1) Icon preview at the top. (2) Tap the colour swatch to open a colour picker. (3) Pick the thread brand (DMC, Anchor, etc.). (4) Enter the thread number. (5) Confirm with OK or back out with Cancel.

Most of the time, only the thread brand and number need entering - the display colour is then looked up from the chosen brand's colour list. If you want a custom colour (e.g. a fabric-conditioner pink), tap the swatch and pick freely.

Quick mode for bulk entry

 

The Quick toggle near the top of the panel switches to a faster entry mode. Instead of opening the full popup for every symbol, the dock strip at the bottom of the canvas lets you type just the thread number and skip to the next symbol with a single tap.

The Set Colors screen in Quick mode: the inline dock at the bottom of the canvas shows the current symbol and an entry field with Enter, Skip and Edit details buttons.
Figure 6. Quick mode. (1) The Quick toggle is on. (2) The dock shows the symbol you are entering for. (3) Enter commits the value and advances to the next symbol. (4) Skip moves on without saving. (5) Edit details escapes to the full popup if you need more than just a thread number. (6) Close exits Quick mode.
  1. Toggle Quick on. The dock appears and the first unfinished symbol is shown.
  2. Type the thread number on the dock keyboard.
  3. Tap Enter to save and advance. The next unfinished symbol pops up.
  4. Tap Skip if you do not know one yet. Skipped symbols stay in the list and can be revisited later.
  5. Toggle Quick off when you are done.

Refreshing the key view

 

The key-scale button (refresh icon) on the panel header rescans the key pages and resets the zoom. Use it after you have zoomed in on a particular area and want to see the whole key again, or if the key view feels stale after several centring actions.

Editing the key pages mid-flow

 

If the key on screen is wrong (you chose the wrong page back at the start, or you missed a page that holds part of the key), each symbol row has a small key-icon button that takes you back to the Select Key Pages step with a return ticket - finish the edit and tap Done, and you land back here.

Tip. You can also reach Set Key Pages by going Back through the wizard, but the key-icon shortcut on each symbol is the fastest path when you spot the issue mid-flow.

Moving on

 

When every confirmed symbol has a thread number and a colour, tap Next in the bottom-right to move on to the Final Review.

You can move on with some symbols still unassigned - Markup R-XP will warn you about each one on the Complete step. Some users prefer to leave colour-assignment as they meet new symbols later in the project rather than upfront.

Tips and common questions

Here are answers to the most common questions about Set Colors.

Q: Why is the key view jumping around when I tap symbols?

Answer: Auto-centre is on by default.

Each tap centres the key view on the match so you do not have to hunt for it. Turn auto-centre off via the chip if you would rather pan manually.

Q: A symbol I tap is not highlighted on the key. What is happening?

Answer: The app could not find a confident match for it on the key pages.

The most common reason is that the key page on screen is the wrong one. Use the key-icon button on the symbol row to jump to Select Key Pages and confirm or add the right page.

Q: I do not know the thread brand my pattern uses.

Answer: Pick whatever brand is most common on your pattern's key.

If the key just lists numbers with no brand prefix, DMC is the most common default for cross-stitch patterns. You can change brand later if a thread number does not match what you expect.

Q: Quick mode skipped a symbol on its own. Why?

Answer: The app may have auto-assigned that symbol from text it found near the highlight.

Auto-assigned symbols are skipped because they already have a thread number. Toggle Quick mode off, scan the list to confirm the auto choices, and re-enable Quick to continue.

Q: I changed the colour but the chart in the previous step still shows the old colour.

Answer: It will refresh as soon as you return to that step.

Symbol colours flow throughout the project. Going back will show the up-to-date colours; you do not need to do anything special.

What's next?

 

When every symbol has a thread colour, the final step in the setup wizard is Final Review.

That step previews the finished chart in full colour, lets you save a cover image for your project list, and finishes the wizard so you can start marking stitches.