~Basic features

~Print a template

~Frequently asked questions

What is ARTlink? Open ARTlink 9
Double click on the desktop icon to open
ARTlink 9 is a basic software program that lets BERNINA ARTlink 9.
you to open an embroidery design, make basic
adjustments to the design, and write the design
directly to your embroidery machine or to a remov- Home Screen
able device, such as a USB stick. You can down-
ARTlink opens to a Home Screen. In the Home Screen,
load the program on BERNINA’s website, using
you can view BERNINA tutorials by clicking on the Tu-
this link:
torials tab. To view software tutorials, click on Featured
BERNINA ARTlink 9: free embroidery software - BERNINA Tutorials. After reselecting the Home tab, you can click
on links to webinars, Embroidery Online, or the BERNI-
NA website or blog.
What ARTlink can do:
The My Profile tab lets you edit your personal profile.
 Open embroidery designs of different file for- The Help tab will open BERNINA Software 9 Help if you
mats are online. Click on Embroidery Canvas to open a de-
 Convert embroidery designs to another format sign.
 Send embroidery designs with the proper for-
mat to your BERNINA embroidery machine
using a direct connection or USB stick Changing the Measurement System

 Export machine files in formats used by non- You can change the Measurement System of
BERNINA machines the software by clicking on the drop-down
 Rotate designs arrow by the displayed system to select the
other system. This is found in the first row of
 Scale (resize) designs
icons.
 Mirror designs, either horizontally or vertically
Open an Embroidery Design
 Skew designs
 Click the Open icon (the file folder) or click on
 Assign thread colors
File> Open from the menu.
 Print a paper template
 You may also open a recent file by clicking on
the Open Recent File icon.
For the more advanced editing features listed be-
low, BERNINA Embroidery Software 9 is available  The Open Design dialog box opens.
in Creator level and DesignerPlus level. For infor-  The type of file defaults to .ART. To open a dif-
mation about these software programs, click on
this link: ferent file type, click on the drop-down arrow to
select the file format you wish to open, or se-
BERNINA Embroidery Software 9 - Software - BERNINA
lect All Files.
 Create embroidery designs
 Browse to the location of the embroidery de-
 Combine embroidery designs sign you wish to open. Select the design; then
 Digitize artwork into an embroidery design click on Open.
 Digitize fonts or lettering
 Add lettering to a design Download the Design
 Send designs to the BERNINA WiFi Device  Use the design included in the workbook download
to work through the steps.
This workbook is designed to teach you how to  The download will need to be unzipped first.
edit designs in ARTlink. When the software is in-
stalled, a short-cut icon is added to your desktop.
Viewing the Design: Artistic vs. Design View View Toolbar
 Open the design, WP099.ART.

 You can view the design in two ways; ei- There are additional icons in the View Toolbar that af-
ther in Design View or Artistic View (a ren- fect what is seen on screen.
dering of the actual stitches). To change Switch to Design View by clicking on the
from one view to the other, click on the first icon and then click on the Show
icon, Show Artistic View. Needle Points icon (the second icon). All
 A blue-background icon means that the needle penetrations are displayed in the
icon is active. The first time the software design as white dots. To turn this view
opens, it will open the design in Artistic off, click on the Needle Points icon again.
View. Whatever view is active when you
close the software determines how the de-
sign will open the next time you use the Show Hoop:
software. Left click on the Show Hoop icon to hide or show
the hoop. When the icon is blue, the hoop will be
shown.

Right click on the icon to

show a list of possible
hoops. Choose your ma-
chine, the hoop size, and
the foot. Press OK to acti-
Design View Artistic View
vate the changes.
Zoom Toolbar

Mouse scroll wheel: You can zoom in and out

using the center scroll wheel on your mouse. You
Show Template
can also use the icons from the Zoom Toolbar in
the first row of icons or select an option from the When Show Template is activated, the plastic
drop-down menu by the Zoom %. template that comes with your machine will be
shown.
Zoom 1:1: Select the first icon or select 100%
from the drop-down arrow selections. The design Show Grid
will be shown onscreen at its actual size.
When Show Grid is activated, a grid will be
Zoom To Fit: The design will fill the screen. shown on the design. Alter the size of the grid by
right clicking on the icon and entering new val-
Zoom Tool: Magnifying Glass:
ues. Press OK in the dialog box to activate the
Select the icon and the cursor turns into a magni- changes.
fying glass. Click and drag a box around the area
Show Ruler
you want to focus on. When you release the
mouse, that area will fill the screen. Click on Show Ruler to hide or show the horizon-
tal and vertical rulers.
Pan: You can move the position of the design
on the screen without changing the position within
the hoop or the zoom level.
Selecting the Design Modify the Design (continued)
Select, Artistic View: To make adjustments to Rotate 45 Degrees CCW / CW:
the design, first select it by clicking anywhere on
With the design selected, click either of the
the design. Black control handles appear around
rotate 45 degree icons. Each time you click
the design when the design is selected.
the icon, the design will rotate another 45
Black handles indicate the design is selected. degrees.

Rotate by Percent:
With the design selected, enter a value in
degrees into the rotate box and press Enter.
The design will rotate and the value will be
reset to 0.

Rotate by Dragging:
Click on the design twice and the control handles will
appear hollow instead of black. To rotate the design
Select, Design View: When the view is visually, click on one of the corner handles and drag in
switched to Design View and the design is select- the direction you wish to rotate the design.
ed, the design turns pink.

Deselect: Deselect the design by pressing the

Esc key or by clicking anywhere on the screen
away from the design. An outline of the rotated design appears as you rotate
and the degree of rotation appears in a flag. When the
mouse is released, the design will be rotated.
Modify the Design
Once the design is selected, the icons will be acti-
vated and will appear in color. If the design is not Scale Down / Up:
selected, the icons will appear grayed out. Each time the Scale Down icon is clicked,
Design is selected; icons appear in color: the design is reduced in size by 10%. After
the design is scaled, the new size is 100%.
The same is true for Scale Up, but the de-
sign is increased in size.
Design is not selected; icons are grayed out. Stiches are added when the design is increased in
size; stitches are taken away when the design is de-
creased in size.
Changing the Scale Visually Mirror Horizontal:
Click and drag on one of the corner control han- Select the design and click the Mirror Horizontal
dles to scale the design up or down. The white box icon to reverse the image horizontally.
near the design shows the new width and height of
the design and the percent the design has been
scaled. Once the mouse is released, the new
measurement of the design becomes 100%.

Mirror Vertical:
Select the design and click the Mirror Vertical
icon to reverse the image vertically.

An outline of the resized design appears until the

mouse is released.

Changing the Design Size by a Specific Skewing a Design:

Amount:
Skew a design by entering a value in the
Change the design by a specific percentage or by Skew box and pressing Enter.
a specific measurement through the measurement
box in the second row of icons.
To visually skew a design, change the black selection
control handles to hollow control handles by clicking
on the design.
To change the dimensions proportionally, keep Click on any of the middle diamond-shaped handles
Proportional Scaling in the locked position. The to skew the design. These diamond-shape handles
ratio between the length and width will be main- appear in the horizontal and vertical middle of the
tained. control handles. A flag appears showing the degree of
To change the length or width independent- the skew. Release the mouse to create the skewed
ly of the other dimension, click on Propor- design.
tional Scaling to open the lock.

Enter the desired dimensions in actual amounts or

in a percentage and press Enter to activate the
change.
The percentage will revert back to 100% after the
change and the new dimensions will be shown.
Print a Template
A printed template is helpful for previewing the de-
sign on the item to be embroidered and as an aid
to proper placement on that item.

 Select the Print Preview icon or select File

> Print Preview.
 Click Options.

 In the Print Options dialog box, make sure

the view is set to 100% of actual size.
 To omit the design information to save
paper, uncheck Design information.
 Select OK.

 Select Print Now to print your template.

Stitching the Design
 Click on the Write to Card/Machine icon or
select File> Write to Card/Machine.
 The Device Selection Box will appear.
 Select the appropriate type of transfer for your
machine.
 Click OK.

Write/Read de- Load design di- Write/Read design

signs in EXP for- rectly to machine to/from machine’s
mat to/from USB for stitching memory or USB
stick stick plugged into
the machine

Write/Read de- Write/Read de- Write/Read design

signs in EXP for- signs in EXP for- in Art V4 format to
mat to/from Deco mat to artista 165- USB stick for
330/340 Memory 185 or serial artista 200/730
Card or Deco 340 Reader/Writer box
USB stick
For More Information Frequently Asked Questions
This guide is intended to get you up and running
quickly and easily using ARTlink 9.
Question: How do I save a design in ARTlink?
For in-depth instruction, open the ARTlink 9 soft-
Answer: .ART designs that are opened and
ware and select Help> Reference Manual from the
changed in ARTlink 9, may be saved in .ART format
menu. Below is the Table of Contents from the
by selecting File> Save As. You may save the de-
manual.
signs as Version 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 designs and a few
other all-in-one formats.

Question: How do I convert another design for-

mat to .ART format?
Answer: Embroidery designs that were original-
ly created as another format cannot be converted
to .ART. If you attempt to Save As the .ART format,
you will see the error message below. However,
when a design of another format is opened in the
software and written to the BERNINA machine or
USB stick using the Write to Machine icon, the soft-
ware automatically converts the design to the format
needed by the model chosen in the Device Selection
box.

Note:
 A list of ARTlink Shortcut keys can be found on
page 146 of the manual.
 Read about the Stitch Player in Chapter 4,
page 60. Stitch Player lets you simulate the
actual embroidery stitch-out on screen.
 For more information about controlling start
and end positions, see Chapter 5, page 85. Question: How do I convert a design to a format
 To learn more about thread colors and charts, other than .ART?
see Chapter 6 of the manual. Answer: With the design open onscreen, select
 To get more detailed information about how File> Export Machine File, and select the desired
designs are exported to embroidery machines, format from the drop-down choices of Save As Type.
please see Chapter 8. This will detail how de- Click Save, being sure to note the folder location
signs are exported to BERNINA machines and where you are saving the file. ARTlink 9 can open
USB sticks. and convert many of the most popular embroidery
formats.
Question: I can’t get ARTlink 9 installed on my
computer.
Answer: Open a help ticket with BERNINA
Software Technical support by visiting:
www.bernina.com/help.
Question: Will ARTlink 9 work with my aurora
model?
Answer: Yes, ARTlink 9 includes EC on PC
which is necessary for embroidery with aurora
model machines.

Question: Will ARTlink 9 work on a Mac?

Answer: ARTlink 9 may be installed and oper-
ated on a Macintosh computer, and is supported
by BERNINA under the following configuration:
 The Mac is running OSx Lion or newer
 Bootcamp 4.0 is correctly configured
 Windows 10 or 11 is installed on the Bootcamp
partition

Question: What format design does my BER-

NINA machine accept?
Answer: Most current machines accept the
BERNINA .EXP format. This format consists of
three files for each design:
 .EXP is the embroidery design
 .BMP is the thumbnail image of the design
 INF is the thread color information

The older artista machine models, 200 and 730,

also accept the .ART Version 4 format.
To send a design to your BERNINA ma-
chine in the proper format, simply open the
design in ARTlink, then click on the Write
to Card/Machine icon and choose the ap-
propriate selection. The software will con-
vert the design and write the appropriate
files for use in your model. With the 200
and 730, you can choose either EXP or
ART Version 4.