Configuring the amount of memory Stitchmastery uses

All 64 bit versions of Stitchmastery 3 have a default setting of 2GB of memory (RAM - Random-access memory). 32 bit versions have 0.5 GB of memory. Sometimes, especially with larger charts, Stitchmastery runs into problems with memory. Symptoms for this are error messages about ‘lack of JVM heap size’, running really slowly or crashing when handling a large file. Increasing the memory setting can help with this. To change the memory setting;-

1. First find the file called Stitchmastery.ini which is the configuration file used by Stitchmastery.

   On Windows and Linux machines look inside the Stitchmastery installation folder to find a folder called Stitchmastery. Inside the Stitchmastery folder will be the Stitchmastery.ini file.

   On macOS machines find the Stitchmastery application in the Applications folder. Select the application and then press ctrl-click to see the context menu. Select Show Package Contents. This will display all of the folders and files inside the Stitchmastery application. Look in Contents/Eclipse to find the Stitchmastery.ini file.

2. The Stitchmastery.ini is a text file that contains all of the parameter settings that Stitchmastery uses when it starts. Before editing it, make a backup copy of it somewhere so that you have a safe copy in case the edit does not work.

3. Open the file with a text editor. On Windows WordPad is best. On macOS TextEdit is best.

4. Find the line that says either (64 bit machines);-

   -Xmx2g

   or (32 bit machines);-

   -Xmx512m

   This parameter setting means that Stitchmastery allocates either 2Gigabytes or 512Megabytes (this is 0.5 Gigabyte) as ‘heap’ space. You can increase this amount but only to a level that is possible on your system. If you make the figure too large and there is not very much memory on your system or lots of other programs are running and also using memory, then Stitchmastery will not be able to start as it cannot get the memory. The syntax of the parameter is -Xmx???m or -Xmx?g where ? is a number, m means Megabyte and g means Gigabyte. There should not be a space. It is also important that the parameter is on a line by itself. Do not add new lines or take any away.

5. Save the file and then restart Stitchmastery.