I feel confident in my cross-stitch pattern generator idea! (But if you wanted to see what else I had been considering, check out this post.) In short, the idea is to create a web application that turns an image into a cross-stitch chart that utilizes more than the single-color stitches seen in other current online pattern generators. I want to utilize edge detection for outlining, as well as turn “dithering” into multi-color stitches. Adding ornamentation such as beads is a reach goal.
After a few weeks of uncertainty about what to call this project idea, I have come up with what will suffice at least as a working title: Pix2Stitch.
“Pix” refers to both “pics” or images as well as the “pixels” that display them. “2” is a homophone of “to” in English, but it also represents the two lines in each X-shaped cross-stitch. “Stitch” refers to the fact that a user is generating a chart to follow for embroidery!
In order to create Pix2Stitch, I will need to:
- identify a suitable programming language
- find or develop a series of algorithms to transform an image into pixel color data
- analyze this data to find an optimal color palette from among available thread colors (DMC floss)
- utilize further algorithms to detect edges and segment pixel data into cohesive shapes
- develop a way to output the resulting chart
Already I am gathering resources and talking to experts, including the brain behind Pixel-Stitch and TCNJ’s own Dr. Salgian from the Computer Science department.
I predict that this project will be very challenging, so I will learn a lot about design and development, including User Interface and Experience (UI/UX). Already, I am learning about how computers “see” and store color data in bits. Foreseen ups include making breakthroughs in what features the program has. Foreseen downs include potentially having to come up with my own algorithms to get it working.
Continue to follow my work here on this blog, category “Robin Friedman.”