KnitYourPhoto — User Manual

A photo becomes a knitting or crochet pattern, stitch by stitch. The app reduces the image to the number of yarn colors you want, converts it to your gauge and guides you row by row to the finished piece. Everything happens on your iPhone or iPad, without an internet connection.

1 — Getting started

When the app starts, you see the welcome screen. At the top there are these symbols:

Help is available on every screen. It explains exactly the buttons you see at that moment.

After an update, the app shows the What's New window once. You can open it again at any time under Settings › About › Show What's New.

2 — Selecting a photo

Tap Select Photo or the photo with plus symbol. Your photo library opens, you pick an image, and the app goes straight to cropping.

You can choose a new photo at any time — the symbol sits at the top left of every screen.

3 — Cropping the photo

The frame determines which part of the photo becomes the pattern.

The aspect ratio of the frame is always kept. It follows from the size you chose in the settings.

The button for the next step is at the bottom. It reads To Project when the project preview is switched on, otherwise Pattern — which takes you straight to the finished pattern.

4 — Project preview

Before the pattern is created, you can see how your subject might look on a finished piece. There are nine project types: sweater, scarf, hat, blanket, pillow, round cushion, potholder, bag and socks.

Tap a project to see the preview. If you don't need it, tap Skip to go straight to the pattern.

In the preview you can still adjust:

Below the preview you see the typical project size and the size of your pattern in centimeters. Other Project takes you back to the selection, Continue to pattern moves on.

The preview can be switched off entirely under Settings › Display › Project Preview.

5 — The pattern

After a few seconds the pattern is ready. Each square is one stitch, the row numbers are on the left. They stay in place when you scroll sideways.

Buttons on the iPhone

At the top:

At the bottom:

Buttons on the iPad

On the iPad the buttons are arranged in two rows above the pattern, with the mini preview to their right. This applies in portrait and landscape. There are three differences from the iPhone:

• Save and Load have their own symbols instead of the “…” menu.
• Change Colors is a separate button showing the current number of colors.
• Undo Last Row — once rows are checked off, an arrow appears that releases the most recently marked row.

6 — The four views

The View button chooses how the pattern is displayed. The names depend on whether you knit or crochet.

Instructions

The instructions group stitches of the same color. Help explains the abbreviations while the instructions are shown.

F1, F2 and so on are the colors as numbered in the color palette.

Above the instructions there is a banner. Tapping it chooses whether the instructions are for rounds or for flat rows. The default is the direction you last chose among the views.

The row column stays in place when you scroll sideways, completed rows are dimmed.

7 — Zoom and overview

Zoom

Pinch with two fingers to enlarge or shrink the pattern. The Magnifier − and Magnifier + buttons do the same in steps. The number between them is the size of one stitch, from 6 to 30.

Scrolling

Swipe in any direction through the pattern. The row numbers remain visible on the left.

The mini preview

The small image shows the whole pattern. A frame inside it marks the area you are looking at. Tap it to see the pattern full size; tap beside it to close.

The Eye symbol shows and hides the mini preview.

8 — Checking off rows

Tap a row number to mark the row as completed. It gets a green background and a check mark. Tapping again removes the mark.

On the iPad there is also the Undo Last Row arrow, see The pattern.

Your progress is saved with the project — see Saving and loading projects.

9 — The color palette

The palette shows all yarn colors of the pattern, numbered F1, F2 and so on. The Palette symbol shows and hides it.

Highlighting a color

Tap a color. All other stitches are dimmed, so you only see where this color appears. That helps when working with one color and when checking how colors are distributed. All or a second tap on the same color removes the highlight.

Removing a color

1. Long press the color that should disappear.
2. Choose the color that takes its place. The pattern shows immediately what it will look like.
3. Tap Remove color permanently.

Changing the number of colors

On the iPhone via … › Change Colors, on the iPad via the button with the palette and the current number. Choose 2 to 16 colors. The pattern is then recalculated; edits to individual stitches are lost.

10 — Editing stitches

Sometimes a stitch ends up in the wrong color — a dot in a face, noise in the background. You can recolor them one by one.

1. Switch to the Preview view.
2. Tap the Pencil symbol.
3. Pick a color: either tap a color field in the palette, or switch on the pipette and tap a stitch in the pattern.
4. Tap the stitches that should get this color.

The bar at the top shows what to do next: orange means pick a color, purple means color stitches, green means the pipette is active. A small number counts your changes.

11 — Saving and loading projects

Saving

On the iPhone via … › Save Project, on the iPad via the Save symbol. Enter a name and tap Save.

Below the name field you see your existing projects. Tapping one takes over its name — that is how you overwrite a project with the new state. The app asks before overwriting.

What is saved:

• the photo and the chosen crop,
• size, gauge and colors,
• your edits to individual stitches,
• the completed rows.

Projects are stored on the device only, not in the cloud. Saving is part of the full version.

Loading

On the welcome screen and on the iPad via the Folder symbol, on the iPhone in the pattern via … › Load Project. The list shows the stitch count, the colors and the progress of each project.

Swipe left to Rename or Delete.

If Restore project on restart is switched on under Settings › Display, the app opens the most recently used project at startup.

12 — Export for knitting machines

For knitting machines such as Kniterate, the pattern can be saved as a PNG image — one pixel per stitch, using only the yarn colors.

1. Switch on Machine Export (PNG) under Settings › Knitting Machine.
2. A new symbol appears at the top left of the pattern. Tap it.
3. Check image size and colors, change the file name if you like and tap Export PNG.
4. Choose where to save it.

The symbol is not available in the Instructions view. The export is part of the full version.

13 — Settings

The Gear opens the settings. On the iPad the sections are listed on the left, on the iPhone as a list.

Full Version

Trial status, purchase and restore — see Trial and full version.

Language

KnitYourPhoto speaks Chinese (Simplified), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

Size

The presets:

A pattern has at most 50,000 stitches. If it would be larger, the app scales it down proportionally and tells you so.

Craft & Gauge

Knit or crochet a swatch and count stitches and rows over 10 cm. Stitches are usually wider than tall, so there are often more rows than stitches. The app takes this into account so the subject is not distorted.

Colors

The number of yarn colors, 2 to 16. Fewer colors are easier to work, more colors show more detail.

Image Optimization

For fine-tuning the subject. A preview shows the current and the changed pattern side by side.

Reset to defaults resets all sliders. Changes recreate the pattern.

Display

Knitting Machine

Switches on the export for knitting machines.

About

Version, feature overview, link to the product page and What's New.

14 — Trial and full version

You can try KnitYourPhoto for 14 days, counted from the first start. During that time you can select as many photos as you like.

The full version is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It unlocks:

• photo selection beyond the trial period,
• saving projects,
• the export for knitting machines.

You buy it under Settings › Full Version, which also shows how many trial days remain. If you have bought the full version before, for example on another device, get it back with Restore Purchases. You need to be signed in with the same Apple ID.

15 — Tips for good patterns

The right photo

• Simple subjects: portraits, pets, logos.
• Strong contrast: the subject should stand out clearly from the background.
• Crop tightly: anything that isn't part of the subject only costs stitches.

For beginners

• A small piece such as a 20 × 20 cm potholder.
• Four to six colors.
• The Flat Knitting view or the Instructions.

For experienced makers

• Twelve to sixteen colors for fine color gradients.
• Editing individual stitches and image optimization for the finishing touch.
• Larger pieces such as blankets.

Planning yarn

Highlight a color in the color palette to see how much area it covers. Allow about 10 % extra.

16 — Frequently asked questions

The pattern looks too busy.

Choose fewer colors or increase smoothing under Settings › Image Optimization.

The subject is hard to recognize.

Choose more colors, increase the contrast or crop the photo more tightly.

The subject looks squashed or stretched.

Check your gauge under Settings › Craft & Gauge. Stitches and rows per 10 cm must match your yarn and needles.

The size is wrong.

Set it under Settings › Size and then select the photo again.

The pencil for editing is missing.

It only appears in the Preview view.

My edits are gone.

Was the number of colors changed afterwards? Then the pattern is recalculated. Otherwise: was the project saved after editing?

Saving opens the purchase window.

Saving is part of the full version.

How do I get the What's New window back?

Under Settings › About › Show What's New.