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The Bead Cellar Pattern Designer Created for the PC user, this program is easy to install and has a lot of promise. The user's guide is clear and well illustrated, providing a color tutorial to work the user through the program. One of the best features is the palette selection, which offers the Miyuki and Toho brand bead colors. The other feature I like is the Bead Map. One is able to load an image and translate it into beads. There is even a materials list that keeps track of the bead colors in the design. However, despite these features, the program leaves one wishing for more. There is no possibility to cut and paste a motif or flip it top to bottom or left to right. Another major flaw is the bead sizing. No matter what bead size is selected, the graph that is produced by the program shows the beads to be of equal height and width. If one uses the graph, the actual beadwork will be distorted in length and width when finished. Though an aspect ratio is offered for the pattern, it would be more useful to offer this feature for the beads. Selecting the bead size while setting up the pattern only serves to determine the amount of beads used in the pattern (and the bead amounts are based on the Bead Cellar's tube sizes). This is not a handy item if one buys beads in other packaging. Finally, I found the text printout of the beads used in the pattern hard to read and crowded. Every bead has an alphabetical/numerical prefix with every bead number. Ultimately, this program needs some work. The publishers do have an e-mail address for technical support and return answers for one's inquiries in a timely and polite manner. They seem committed to improving and updating the software. The price is affordable and all updates are free and easily downloadable. As a professional designer and beader, I think this program has promise but lacks many of the basic desired features one needs to easily design and print bead patterns. Theresa Guthrie is a bead teacher and owner of the online bead store www.MoondanceDesigns.com in Concord, Massachusetts. She has been beading for about 18 years. She developed the No Warps! bead loom technique and teaches this and other bead classes nationally for bead, quilt, and weavers’ conferences, groups, and shows. She can be contacted by e-mail at tguthrie@MoondanceDesigns.com.
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