To import a fabric scan or picture, start by scanning it at 460 x 460 dpi (dots per inch). Open the scan in a photo editing program and crop it to 200x200 pixels.  Save it as a bitmap file with 256 colors. 

Next open EQ5,click on Libraries, then on Fabric Library and "Import". Find the scan you saved above and select it. Click on "Copy" and it will be saved into your sketchbook.  Now you can use it as any other fabric. Bitmaps are not resizeable and printable in the same way that EQ blocks are. (See Tracing Bitmaps, page 94-95, EQ5 Design Cookbook.) For example, if you have a stencil design you would like resize and print, first you need to draw the stencil, making an actual quilt block. You cannot simply import a scan of the stencil. 

To use that fabric selection in future projects, you need to save them to a user library. After you open the project with the fabrics you have imported, go to "add fabrics" from the Library pull down menu and click on User Libraries to highlight it.  Click on the plus sign in front of User Library, then click on the plus sign in front of the first Library listing.  This will open up a group of Styles.  Click on an unused Style, wait a moment, then click on it again.  The text will become highlighted, allowing you to rename the Library from Style to whatever you name it.  

Now copy these fabrics into the library you have just named.  Close and choose OK to save.  You know have your own fabrics in a user library you can access again and again for projects.  Remember that Windows alphabetizes lists, so that if you name your grouping of fabrics anything that alphabetizes after STYLE, it will appear at the bottom of the list when you reopen the User Library.

In EQ5 you can choose to have new solid colors automatically added to your color palette when you choose new print Designer fabrics, or not. If you want them added, right-click on the Solid colors palette, choose Optimize colors from the pop up palette, and click the "Optimize for fabrics in Sketchbook" box. Now, each time you get new Designer Fabrics you'll also get new coordinating solids.

Instructions for Importing EQ4 My Libraries into EQ5 can be found on page 133 of the Design Cookbook. 

1. Go to your My EQ5 folder and click FILE, point to New, and click on Folder. Rename this folder to be "My EQ4 Blocks". 

2. Go to your EQ4 folder and double-click the Lib folder. Toward the bottom you'll see a bunch of usrlib## files. Click the first one you see that is a .blk extension or says "BLK format" or "Block" to select it. (It "should" be usrlib01.blk.)

3. Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard WHILE YOU CLICK on the other usrlib##.blk files in this folder, then click EDIT on the top menu and click Copy. 

4. Go back to the folder you created in step 3. From the menu at the top, click EDIT and click Paste. Close this window. 

5. Open EQ5. At the EQ5 Opening Screen, click Cancel. 

6. On the FILE menu, click Preferences and go to the Directories tab. Click the Add button and name the new library "My EQ4 Blocks". (Make sure the dropdown menu says "Blocks".) Click OK. You just added the name "My EQ4 Blocks" to the list.

7. Click on "My EQ4 Blocks" in the list and click the Modify button. The Browse for folder box will show up. Click the plus signs until you reach the folder you made in step 3. 

8. Make sure you've got the My EQ4 Blocks highlighted. [Not the C:\My Documents folder, not the My EQ5 folder, just the folder that contains the files with the .blk extension.] Click OK. Now you are back on the Directories tab. Your "My EQ4 Blocks" name in the list should have the path C:\My Documents\My EQ5\My EQ4 Blocks next to it, as well as a green-colored ok.

9. Click OK to get out of the Preferences box. You can now work in the program or close it.

Instructions for Importing My EQ4 Fabrics into EQ5 can be found in the Design Cookbook. 

1. Go to your My EQ5 folder. Once in the My EQ5 folder, click FILE, point to New, and click on Folder to select it. Name your folder "My EQ4 Fabrics".

2. Go to your EQ4 folder and double-click the Lib folder. Look for and highlight all the usrlib##.fab files. You're looking for the ones with the .fab extension.

3. Paste these .fab files into the "My EQ4 Fabrics" folder. Close this window. 

4. Open EQ5. At the EQ5 Opening Screen, click Cancel. 

5. On the FILE menu, click Preferences and go to the Directories tab. Click the Add button and call it "My EQ4 Fabrics.  Make sure the dropdown reads "Fabrics". 

6. Click OK. You just added a name to the list. It'll say "My EQ4 Blocks", and be red-colored not found, because you have yet to specify a path. 

7. To modify "My EQ4 Fabrics", click the Modify button then browse the folder box will show up. Find the path to the My EQ4 Fabrics folder, and make sure that it's the folder you have highlighted when you click OK. 

8. Now you're back on the Directories tab. Your "My EQ4 Blocks" name in the list should have the path C:\My Documents\My EQ5\My EQ4 Blocks next to it, as well as a green-colored ok. 

9. Click OK to get out of the Preferences box. You can now work in the program or close it.

When in doubt, try the help videos. If you have trouble running them from within EQ, try running the videos directly from Windows Media Player. To do this Click Start - Programs - Accessories - Entertainment - Media Player. Then click FILE - Open -- go to C:\Program Files \Electric Quilt Company\EQ5\RES. The files that end in .avi are the videos. Try to run from there.