LM= left mouse click
RM= right mouse click

When you are digitizing your pattern you are drawing over your pattern with a polygon .
it will go almost the same as normal in PM with a normal mouse.
With one poly consisting of many different lines and curves you will draw the pattern until you select Done, closed.
So while you draw with the poly you change of command all the time with the RM.

When digitizing you will use the puck and your digitizer instead of the normal mouse and the screen. But instead of having the RM poly menu to change of command you will use the puck with the buttons with each different command of the RM poly menu.

To know where the points in a pattern should be placed look carefully at a pattern made with Leena's macro's for instance the fitting bodice from Free stuff. Make your points (the blue and green crosses) visible at your screen with the F5 key. Make the background black in Settings/Configure default (uncheck white background) for much better view of the drawing and points. See how she made curves and straight lines with the blue and green points (crosses)

On each point in your drawing where the direction changes you will add a point (a click of the mouse). This can be a line(begin and endpoints are blue) or a curve (begin point is blue, then curve point is green, endpoint is blue).
It is handy to use a point through curve to get the right shape of curve.
But you will to consider first how you are going to draw for instance the armhole. Of how many curves it will exist.
(I would not draw a curve into many right lines but use the curve through point command)
To get the pattern fairly exact to your original it is better to divide your curves in 2 or 3 curves. Then when you use the curve through point the shape will be pretty good. Later on in PM you can change those extra curve points into one curve when possible.

ORDER TO DIGITIZE
1. set the buttons of the mouse
my experience is that with digitizing the most handy is to have a mouse with 16 buttons ( puck) because under those buttons you set all kind of commands of the RM menu of the poly.
A puck with 4 buttons is just not enough to have all important commands ready for use.
You need to be able to click the different things like LM, Done/closed or Open/Done or curve X or Line.
In the manual of PM 7.5 you will find an example of how to set the buttons right to work with.(advanced features/digitizing/configure the buttons.
It is handy to make a list of your set buttons to look at when you digitize.
When you have a stylus you have to figure out how you set it with the commands you need to use.
You will need at least LM, line, curve through point, Done/closed, Open/done (you could start the poly with PM itself)

2. set the origin, the place which is 0,0 on your tablet
When you have set the buttons you have to set the origin on your tablet.
Go to settings/digitizer/set origin
Select with the LM the start point where you want to start on the screen.
After that it will ask for the start point of your digitizer. Most of the time you want it to be the left bottom corner on your tablet. You have to click at the LM button on your puck(digitizer mouse) at that point.

3.Start digitizing
Paste your pattern on the tablet.
Set the digitizer mode on. A cross will appear at the screen.
Select Poly with the button on your puck and click with the LM button on the first point of your drawing.
In PM also the first point will appear on your screen.
Then consider where the next point will be and what it is, a line or a curve.
When line, click at the line button on your puck. The poly will go further in a line. Then with the LM button the next point.
When curve, click at curve through point button. The poly will go further with curve through point.
Then with LM button the point to go through and with LM button the point to end the curve.
Consider what is coming next: line or curve?
If you stay in the same line or curve mode you do not need to click the line or curve button again but you can click right away at the LM button for the next point. (works the same as in PM).
If you change use the lines as explained before.

When you add the last point in your drawing and the next one is the first again, you have to click the Done/closed button for letting PM close the poly.
Now your drawing is finished and you can go to the next one or change back to mouse mode to look at the drawing in PM.
It will be always necessary to go over the pattern and move a little bit some points to make the pattern better or more fluently. Especially with strange curves it can be possible to tweak them a little. Be sure to add more curve through points to have the curve as good as possible.

You can understand that the smaller the drawing (higher scale for instance a 1/8 scale drawing) , the bigger the fault in digitizing can be.

When your pattern is bigger then your tablet you have to digitize your drawing in more then one draw, you have to set a new origin with the second draw. The place where the second part meets the first part at your screen.

Eugenie
Helpdesk PM Netherlands