Threads, Colors, and Palettes
Manage design colors, production labels, custom palettes, and thread colors in DST workflows.
Color is not the same as a thread label
A design color controls the screen and stitch-section color. A thread label records production metadata such as a manufacturer name, code, display color, and notes. Threads shows color stops in sewing order; Palette manages Generic RGB and reusable custom palette entries.
Built-in and custom palettes
The Palette dropdown includes Generic RGB; the built-in Janome JEF machine palette, Brother Embroidery, Isacord Polyester, Madeira Classic Rayon, Robison-Anton Super Brite Polyester, Robison-Anton Super Strength Rayon, and Sulky Rayon; and your custom palettes. Built-in palettes are read-only; inspect or export them, or choose Duplicate as custom to make an independent browser-stored copy before editing. Custom palettes continue to support New, import, editing, matching, and defaults normally.
Label from a palette
- Select Generic RGB for manual labeling, a built-in palette, or create/select a custom palette.
- Use Pick from palette on an object to choose its design RGB. Choose Label threads from palette to use nearest-color matching and explicitly assign the nearest available production thread name, string code, and display color.
- Leave Replace design colors with matched thread colors clear to preserve artwork colors; enable it only when intentional recoloring is wanted.
- Use Set as default to remember the selected palette by its stable identifier for later sessions.
Screen RGB values are approximations for preview and matching. Real thread appearance can differ because of thread material, lighting, and display reproduction.
Missing labels produce production-metadata warnings, not a block on machine export. DST saves color-change stops but not exact RGB thread colors. Send a Production Sheet or Thread Chart with DST so the operator knows the intended spools.
Related: Production Documents and Machine Export.