If using Ayab on an iMac with M1 chip see suggestions for running the program at the bottom of later post arahpaint-and-gimp-in-knit-design-3/
From Chris Burdge, a video tutorial on using HOP following program prompts and default color placement. The pattern used, available for download from the author, is quite different from my tests in that it is completely surrounded by a white border, the default first color choice in the separation 
The ABC color changer markings in letters reflecting yarn positions and color-changing sequences were used in the Studio brand, as opposed to numbers, in the reverse sequence, used in Brother. 
The Ayab lettering as opposed to numbers move from right to left. The manual states that the color separation order is: white C, grey B, black A with their sequence = C (3), B (2), A(1). If the prompts for changing colors as given are followed it provides a very valuable in tracking them, but if out of habit one knits in the usual 1,2,3 sequence, the color placement occurs in an unexpected order and may result in errors. The on-screen letter prompt corresponding to the anticipated color change sometimes occurs with the knit carriage on the right, sometimes as it approaches the changer, and the size of the font was hard for me to see since the screen was not close enough for easy visibility.
It has been nearly a year since my last post, Ayab_multiple colors per row DBJ 1. I previously also shared information on using HOP for drop stitch lace.
Last week I tried a 3 color HOP pattern, which failed because my mid-tone grey was not within the proper palette range. I work on a Mac and found that with the latest Gimp update several details have changed, and formerly saved palettes were lost. Regrouping, working with colors, and intending color change selection sequences in the familiar right to left, 1, 2, 3 methods, this png includes the grey shade that worked for me 
If the png is copied from the post it is likely to appear in RGB mode and it will require conversion to 3 color bitmapped. Its grey color map entry is seen below 
The small file makes for a quick test of proper color selection for each of the three colors used 
It is not necessary to have images in greyscale to load them into Ayab for separation, but having the repeat shown that way can help with placement of the yarns in the changer.
I like to have as many factors predictable as possible prior to importing into download programs. Importing color images depends on the placement of individual colors in the palettes. An explanation found online is that Ayab needs a pattern image which is 8-bit greyscale. Each color is coded in a range of the 8-bit values. For 4 colors, it would be 0-63 color A; 64-127 color B; 128-195 color C; 196-255 color D. It seems to be OK to give the image some color, so long as the gray component of the colors divides up as given. I began to explore a pattern using 3 colors, with one of the three colors absent in some rows 
Having some idea of stitch counts for each color in the design in the first few rows can help identify proper, planned color placement errors 
To achieve this an easy count of the blue and red can happen watching preselection on for the first couple of rows ie blue knits 4 stitches, while red has counts of 7 except at the sides 
My first swatch using the heart of Pluto separation and a greyscale motif 
I like to work out color placement as well as repeat scaling adjustments if needed. This png in, indexed to 3 colors, was opened in Gimp, my primary design tool, and imported and saved as a palette 
A different color placement, using the saved pattern colors. With no white in the first couple of design rows, the lighter color is selected first. 
The actual 11 X 10 motif, 
can be opened in Ayab. Action R can repeat the image in height if desired, but a must is to repeat it in width that is equal to or greater than the number of needles in work on the needle bed, here it is repeated 3 times in both height and width
My tested color change sequence is #1, #2, #3 colors throughout, I disregarded the prompts for color changes at the bottom of the Ayab screen. Some things to ponder: in pieces that require color changes, starting with waste knitting in the same colors can help assess the best tension, whether each color will be picked up properly, and if the colors work well together. Looking at these 3 small tests, it appears that a choice should be made when casting on about using color 1 or 2 for the preselection and cast on rows. If the setting to slip is forgotten for the first move to the left, the color in the feeder will knit every stitch rather than a pattern selection. Always check settings when on the right, making certain lili buttons are set as well. This pattern does not contain 3 colors on every row. In addition to that, when working DBJ with other color separations one is likely used to seeing knit bed needle selections on every row. That is not true here, is a function of the technique, not a patterning error. On rows that have colors missing, when that color is in use, the main bed slips, the ribber works every other needle, first in one direction, then the other, adding to the row count on the purl side of the knit. 
In a test with marked color placement, the arrow marks the spot where 2 color threads were picked up together so that the white was carried across the row along with the green repeating the color placement test following 1/light, 2/medium, 3/dark
The mess at the bottom was due to the green yarn getting caught on the needle bed and not knitting the necessary stitches on the ribber, so dropped stitches were formed 
The assumption is that if the C, B, A rotation and prompts are to be followed, the middle color 2 can stay in place, and the placement of 1 and 3 can be exchanged.
The difference between the same design knit with a color separation where each color in each design row knits twice elongating the shapes, and its HOP version, both with birdseye backing 
a partial illustration of 
Text may be activated by choosing text in the image/ tools menu 
by clicking on the tool icon A in the toolbox 
or by using t as the keyboard shortcut, then clicking anywhere on the canvas.
At the top of the Text tool dialog, the current Text Size, 11 in above, is shown in either pixels or points. A pixel is the smallest component in a bitmap image, and all measures in pixels depend on the screen resolution. A point is a fixed value, one inch is the same as 72 points. Standard screen resolution is often 72 pixels per inch, in which case text in pixels will be the same size as text measured in points.
The choices listed at 
After the text is entered on the canvas, right-click on the inside of the text box to change text direction 
After the chosen text is placed change its mode from RGB to B/W indexed, then crop the image to your chosen size. Export.bmp, the result loaded into img2track and Ayab
The usual text alignment rules apply in text boxes as well, left to right 
Getting more control of the process: after the text tool is highlighted and clicking anywhere on your canvas two things appear automatically. The four little boxes represent the text box, which is dynamic by default and grows in size to accommodate typed text. Anytime you click on the canvas a new text box is created.
The spacing between the lines and between the letters may be adjusted as well. Clicking on the arrows to change the values here is one option, negative or positive numbers may be used 
or what appeared easier to me, the same may be done here 
Very small fonts are likely not to have any room for decreased spacing in the between letters in strings of text.
The units in many such illustrations are not square, and the goal is to end up with a PNG where each square unit represents one stitch, one row.
and alter the cell borders to a bright, contrasting color. I chose red, 3-point thickness. 
Copy and paste the completed table. Make certain there is a different color cell in any white squares at the far corners of the image, in this case, upper right and upper left (yellow), remove cell borders 
A quicker process using only Gimp version 2.10.34, 2023 
Proceed as for the first image, being mindful of an unnecessary row at the bottom. The saved image can be tweaked in size by turning off Constrain Proportions and adjusting values for width and height for proper placement under the table grid. It soon becomes evident that the card is composed of smaller repeat segments, which can be copied and pasted making for faster filling in the whole punchcard minimum row # requirement. 
Check the repeat alignment by tiling it. 
The smallest adjusted electronic repeat, 12X20 pixels. 
The converted, partial punchcard repeat 
2023: ArahPaint‘s weave from grid tool makes working with the full repeat possible. The final repeat was cropped by 2 rows at the top to 24X206 to avoid a 4-row solid color line produced when the original was tiled vertically.
if used, will change the numbering on the side of the card, but not the design content 
In the past I have found lace repeats, in particular, to be particularly cranky when scaled down in Gimp due to the paucity of black cells. After the above steps, I decided to try color invert, resize, and color invert again, which in this instance, produced what appears to be an accurate repeat. Of course, the final png is likely to need mirroring for use in some electronic models 
The process did not work for me in using Gimp alone to edit test repeats from the website directly. The white dots, in that case, disappear with scaling to the desired size.
2023: a different approach:
The working design repeat is 16X16. Create a new table that is 16 cells wide, twice its height, 32. While holding down the command key, select all the odd-numbered rows planned for the final chart repeat, any errors can be corrected by clicking again on the same spot, still holding the key down. The process may be done in steps, releasing the key in between selecting groups 
Fill in cells the chosen 2 colors 
will swap black and white cells in that row. Continue the process on every other row. It is not necessary to select the tool each time, as you advance and select the next row, the one just left remains briefly outlined in white dashes, making it easier to advance correctly in the design.
This repeat posed by a quandary. The file may be used as-is and doubled in length after download. For doubling the height in Numbers, prior to importing the final screengrab into gimp, please see post: 
and 
adapted for maze knitting, eliminating long floats, to be lengthened to double-height 
drawn double-height via a paint program 
Because there are no more than 2 white squares on top of each other, and no two side by side, I tested the pattern in tuck stitch, which produced some added texture. I had a major aargh moment with yarn where dropped stitches are seen at the top of the swatch 
Using the maze generator by 
The proof of concept swatch for the version on the right, knit in tuck stitch 
the double-length BMP ready for knitting, 14X68
The suitable dbj separation is the one where each color in each row knits for 2 rows, whether performed by hand, using the 3 colors per row separation in img2track or the default separation in Passap. The Ayab HOP separation is awesome, works for any 3 color design with as little elongation as possible, but is not suited for this purpose. How-tos for DIY separations and their automated versions by programs for knitting more than 2 colors per row have been discussed in other posts.
A similar process on the Passap allows for playing easily with both racked colors because of the possible arrow and pusher settings on the back bed, but on Brother, this would require hand selection on the ribber on every row or a specific color separation for needle selection on the top bed
Seeking automation, keeping things simple, here is a basic zigzag pattern in a repeat also executable on punchcard machines. The ribber is now set to knit throughout (N/N), the main bed to slip in both directions. End needle selection must be canceled when using the slip setting selectively or when working patterning with needles completely out of work 
The process using 3 colors: the patterning color will be knit on needles preselected on the top bed. As shaping is about to begin, in this pattern, one needle preselected out indicates the location for an “increase”, one preselected back to B position a decrease 
To perform the decrease, using a double eye tool to transfer the B position stitch down onto the ribber needle adjacent to the first needle in D position on the top bed
The repeat and the knit shown on both sides: 
Comparing the 2 color and 3 color versions: aside from the obvious increase in length, note that the slipped segments in red on the 3 color swatch are now composed of longer stitches since they are held for 2 additional rows, and the overall fabric is more puckered than the 2 color version. The curling at the sides is the nature of edge stitches, especially if the yarn used is wool. At times that may be used intentionally, as a decorative edge.
Using the same color separation as for the simple zig-zag shape, the design is expanded to include knit bed rows that will be skipped completely, resulting in the ribber alone knitting in the second color for those rows. It is now twice as long as the original, 24X64
The planned proof of concept added a 4 stitch border on the right for a 28 stitch swatch centered with 14 stitches either side of 0. Tiling the repeat X2 again in height made it easier for me to plan how to manage transfers to expose the varying stripes in the ground. Visual comparison to the movement in the inspiration knit: 
As the number of needles in work on either of the 2 beds is increased, it is likely tension or yarn changes may be required. The first preselection row is from the right, toward the color changer. The stitches on the non selected needles are transferred to the bottom bed 
with the color change, only preselected needles will knit on both the top and bottom beds moving to the right 
and will do so again on the return to the left while preselecting an all blank row 
on the next pass to the right only the ribber knits in the ground color; 
Back to the drawing board in order to reduce the number of hand manipulations involved, with a shift in the center transition, the repeat in my spreadsheet is now 24 stitches wide, plus an additional 4 stitch border, and gets marked up with colors. I prefer to program the width of my knitting as opposed to a single repeat for all over patterning 
The choice can be made based upon the preference of moving stitch groups to the right or to the left with the horizontal direction of the repeat adjusted for your KM model or software used. 
I planned the transfers in this swatch toward the color changer after picking up the proper color, white, and before knitting the next row using it. The 930 png: 
The preselection row is from right to the left, toward the color changer. End needle selection is canceled. All stitches not selected on the main bed are moved down onto ribber needles beneath them. Needle selection takes care of the increasing angle in the surface yarn (white), as less of the striped ground becomes exposed. At this point, row 34 on the 930 counter, the single elongated slipped stitch is moved down onto the ribber. 
When the top of the repeat is reached, row 68, the only needles selected will be those of the 4 stitch vertical columns and the design repeat will return to its start
My proof of concept swatch is 3.75 inches wide 
The inspiration sweater was knit using a wider repeat and significantly thicker yarn, reflected here in the small number of repeats composing the sweater body front 
The off white yarn used here was the same thickness but not fiber content as in the previous swatch, 2/18 wool-silk vs Australian wool in the former. It is not as smoothly spun. The result shows an interesting similarity in length, though there are 16 additional rows in the pattern repeat. This time I programmed my repeat for stitch transfers on the knit bed to move away from the color changer. 
Eliminating the border on one side, a double repeat (30 stitches) measure 4 inches in width. To put the difference in scale to the sweater in perspective, an oversize garment with 40 inches in chest diameter would require 20 inches in width for the front piece. Ten single repeats, as opposed to the inspiration’s sweater 4, bring the total required the number of stitches to 150. With the added border of 5 stitches for matching side edges, the fabric is in the realm of possibility for producing a garment on the home knitting machine. My tension was set at 3/3 for all the swatches, with some teasing required on occasion to encourage stitches on the main bed to knit off properly. Ribber height adjustment can also have an effect on those numbers. I tend to do all my knitting with the slide lever in the center position. The double 30X84 repeat with no added border
The design is automatically flipped vertically, so it will appear as intended on the knit side of the fabric. Yarn colors may be placed in the color changer matching the order in the assigned color numbers to match the placements in the original image. The program automatically adjusts for the vertical stretch, which changes the aspect ratio of the shapes. On my 930 I received prompts on which color to change to prior to doing so, eliminating any confusion. With no such prompts generally one can tell which color was knit last because it will appear on top of the previously used one on the left of the knit. With a stretch factor of 1 selected in img2track, the image height was reduced by half. 
In the past, I have preferred to elongate the design prior to importing with plans for download rather than to rely on memory for changing settings either in the download program or in the machine itself in future uses of the same design. 
The same yarns, tension, the total number of carriage passes, and settings were used showing the difference in aspect ratio between single color per row knitting and the img2track built-in color separation. 
The width of both swatches is essentially identical.
The 930 will provide prompts for the next color to be selected by pushing the matching number button on the color changer, avoiding any confusion in terms of what should be picked up next. img2track will also flip the design horizontally automatically so the image will appear as originally drawn on the knit side. Images are loaded as single motifs, so the change in the selector needs to be made manually for an all-over pattern.
Obviously a success in terms of the single row for each color reducing elongation of the design shape. While knitting occurs using the same yarns, at the same tensions, there is a clear difference in the length of each stitch on the main bed and their appearance. The reverse. Checking the ribber carriage I noticed on the left side it was set to knit only, not to slip: OOPS! 
N is king, so the ribber set as shown is knitting every other needle when moving to the right, but even with lili buttons in use, it knits on every needle when moving back to the left. Every other needle on the ribber will then be knitting for 2 rows as a result. The more knitting on the ribber for each pair of rows, the longer the stitches on the opposite bed. The backing is an interesting variation (half) birdseye. The elongated stitches on the main bed show more of the backing in between their shapes, it is referred to as bleedthrough. In some instances, the result can make the knit surface resemble weaving and its appearance far less familiar in a surprising, pleasant way. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The images could be replicated as given in a paint program, using only one color for the squares, but “should be reduced to black and white”. Attempting to import an indexed 2 color image drawn in a color other than BW may result in strange results. 
That said, if glitched knits are the goal, the above could work just fine. Curiously, here is the same process, using a different color, and a successful import. Checking again, I had forgotten to save the image after indexing it from RGB mode to 2 colors. 
Note to self: if you are determined to use a punchcard carriage on your electronic machine remember there is no KCII to cancel end needle selection!
Getting that first row to knit twice instead of a single time if that matters in your technique or is your preference:
pick up color 1 in yarn changer
If black and white repeats are already in your library, one may easily recycle them adding a third color. Here I did so with a repeat intended for a very different topic in future posts. The image was altered and tiled in Gimp for a repeat alignment test and is also shown imported into img2track for possible knitting. 
The image of the separation on the above right has not been proofed for accuracy. If it were, the next step would be to elongate it X 2 for color changes every 2 rows. One method is to elongate the original in a paint or photo processing program. The width is fixed (40), the height is scaled X 2. The resulting BW indexed image may be imported, using a 1.0 stretch factor, it remains unchanged. When I tried to elongate the unstretched image in img2track by 2.0 my first try failed. It turned out the reason was I had saved the import without first indexing it to 2 colors. With that corrected, the result matched the one from scaling X 2 in height in the paint program
Here the image is scaled properly for each color represented for a single row in height, and also scaled again for double-height for possible knitting in Gimp. The Gimp scaling failed to be accurate for me (second image from left) until I indexed the original to 4 colors as well instead of 3. The no color rows as we view them actually serve as a fourth color in the separations. Importing the proper size png into img2track for separation of 4 colors per row now gives results that make sense: note the daunting estimate for the total number of carriage passes for a single repeat height
If the ribber has knit on every needle by its return to the color changer and the machine is set to slip both ways with no needle selection on the main bed, the “no color” can be executed as an empty yarn holder in the color changer combined with no yarn in the feeder. The rows involved should simply not knit on the top bed, with no dropping of any of its stitches since no needles will have been selected thus coming forward with the yarn in the hooks and traveling behind the latches and in turn, slipping off the needles as a carriage with no yarn pushes the needles with now empty hooks back to B position.
Punchcard knitters may have the easiest knitting variable color sequences since cards may be visually marked up with colored pencils matching needed change locations and taking into account your eyes are a number of rows above the row being read by the card reader. This number depends on the machine’s brand and model.
The symmetry tool is greatly improved and more user-friendly, allowing the distribution of patterns in varied repeats across canvases ie garment pieces.
Right-click on the tool icon to reveal other choices 
An option for selecting specific tools that include keyboard shortcuts to do so 
or right-click on the chosen tool 
The jury is out as to whether changing the snapping preference value solves the problem long term
A FB friend with a lot of experience with the program offered this as a possible cause “sometimes I accidentally activate commands with key combinations. It happens if you use the keyboard a lot (I have not used the mouse, for years). I work on a large Mac desktop and prefer the mouse to any keyboard commands.
and here with a portrait size image 
A new 
Previously clicking on the red X dot would ask if the image was to be discarded, and on the acknowledgment of the fact, the program would continue to stay open, 
now that same action will quit the program completely. Clicking on the X beside the image will bring up the discard option, quitting the image and working on it as opposed to quitting the program. It is possible to work on multiple images at the same time. Drag and drop superimpose the new image fixed onto the center of first. 
Working on 2 images again, copy the smaller image on its own screen, 
return to the screen with the larger image intended to be in the background, paste the smaller image for a floating selection that can be anchored anywhere on the ground, edit/ undo may be used repeatedly if need be, and done
click on the gimp icon again to restore the view.
A word of caution: after choosing the 8-bit option and not liking the quality of my imported images, I tried restoring the original 32-bit floating one without success even after saving, quitting the program, and restarting it several times. I then chose to reinstall the program and continue working in the default settings for now. The download turned out to be for version 2.10.14, this is the new default appearance after launch on my computer
What about saving the color information as easy access palettes? Doing so in this release is fairly intuitive. 
Selecting any one of the colors will automatically change the foreground color for working on the image ie choosing color 3 of the 6
Using this feature with palettes containing multiple colors makes far quicker work when designing in RGB. Set pencil to desired pixel size, click on the desired color in any sequence to choose it, and then click again to place it on the working canvas 
Right-click on any of the palette icons, for this dialogue menu 
A sample in Mac, with the rotate dialogue which now appears as a separate window copied and pasted on the upper right of the image below 
and another view from the image menu selection in the top dialogue
Some quick doodles using a single-pixel brush note the lags in some of the mirroring
Other than drawing freehand I have had no luck working predictably with larger designs, even if saved as brushes or patterns. One problem is that the pivot point is 2 pixels in each direction, not one, so repeats with single stitches/rows along their center axis would still need editing. In a previous attempt to explain mirroring in a forum post, I used Passap 1273 as my sample pattern. Copying and pasting the image on a larger canvas leaves one unable to change the direction of the newly pasted image alone, the whole potential repeat is affected by the command. The image in question here was 16 pixels wide by 16 high, the goal to mirror it to a 32 by 32 repeat.
There was no problem with transforming the original and pasting each in place, here it is also scaled twice as high and wide
tiling is compared for both the original repeat and the same scaled X2, with both the final tiled images 128 pixels in width and height 
The mandala option reminds me of spirograph drawings, the number of points can easily be changed 
Tiling may be useful in brick or offset repeats, but my limited experiments did not produce anything worth saving or sharing.
and the 8-bit precision option 
I have previously written on using Numbers (similarly done in Excel) to create charts, then importing them into Gimp to create .bmps for download. This is a review of a method that seems to work well with smaller repeats: the working chart. Make certain the table is formatted so that all cells are the same size, with equal height and width 
Use the border option to eliminate the interior cell borders, selecting no border, 
Use the bucket fill tool to make each color segment black, change the mode to indexed, 
magnify to at least 800X, show grid, check that no clean up is needed, 
the image needs to be color reversed in order to be used for slip-stitch knitting, 
If dragging and dropping or copying .bmps from FB or other sources, check that the download is still in indexed format and has not been altered to RGB mode during the process.
The image is used with the kind permission of Rocco’s owner. I have used this image before, when I posted previously on some ways to reduce colored images to B/W for possible knitting using a Mac computer, please see post on 013/03/14/ color-reduction- conversions-mac-os/. Gimp offers some alternatives to the familiar dithers and is available, free, for both PC and Mac platforms. Tutorial links on Gimp edge detection available online as of May 2019 are listed at bottom of the post.
Difference of Gaussians
adjusting B/W with Threshold
after a bit of “tweaking” 
Image_Mode_Indexed, rendering it “knittable in 2 colors” 
default Stucki
Check dithered results, downloaded images may be in RGB Mode. Prior to any knitting, they will need to be converted to B/W indexed.
imported the result into Gimp and saved it in indexed 2 color BW and in turn, 3 color indexed mode, no color adjustments, finding the result pleasantly simple 
beginning with the greyscale generated image followed by Mode changes in Gimp, indexed 2 color BW, then indexed 3 color, there appear to be very subtle differences with a bit more detail: 
It is possible to reduce images to 4 or 3 colors using the program as well: a slider for color count is used to choose the final number of colors in the reduction. Again, these instances have no added manipulation 
To retain the quality and size of the dithered image, download it, rather than using a screen grab. The software used to separate the chosen dither may alter the result somewhat. I am writing my posts using an iMac M1 with OS 12.0.1. At this point Ayab is not operable, img2track does open images, but in this case, with interesting distortions, and it does not download any files at all. 
Yet another dithering 
On odd-numbered rows beginning with row 1, mark all empty squares in the even-numbered light-colored row immediately above it with purl symbols. 
All unmarked stitches throughout the design are knit, whether, on the “wrong/right” sides, all dashes are purled, patterning occurs on the second row of each color. To visualize the full pattern one may use the add row below feature to expand the graph (the chart below is missing the very first row). 
Now add the second row of each color and grounding stripe (s) at bottom of the repeat. Most patterns will start the illusion immediately after casting on with dark color, row 1 above. I was interested in my sample having a border of sorts on its top and bottom. 
The resulting knit swatch 
the actual repeat 
color inversion begins on row 1 and follows every other row (if numbered these would be odd rows) 
testing the repeat through filter/ map/ tile 
a working chart that can be printed to suit with dark/light row markings and blank squares for tracking knitting rows in the execution of the pattern 
A larger version with stitch and row counts marked. The chart represents half the rows in the actual knit. The cast on row counts as knit row 1, color 1, and following the chart beginning with row 2 knit the black squares and purl the white squares. *Change color, knit one row (odd#), on the next row follow the chart, knitting the black squares and purling the white (even#).** Repeat from * to **. 
the knit swatch: “shadow side” 
Follow up: 
a 24X24 repeat 
its half crop companion, 48X24 
