Free illustrated guide and synthetic output. Application not included. Inspect the files before buying. Running these steps with your own charts requires the separately purchased local app. This is not a free trial.
Frigella · colourwork desk · October 2026

A motif you can edit.
A chart you can read.

Draw colourwork, see the PDF page plan beside your chart, then take away a chart and colour legend. Keep the editable project for the next revision.

Open a folder. Start drawing.

  1. Extract the complete buyer ZIP. Open app/frigella-standalone.html with desktop Google Chrome.
  2. Choose Chevron repeat in Load a sample chart. No input file or account is needed.
  3. Read the size and page plan above the chart. Click Download PDF. The default sample has one chart page and one legend page.
No server or Node installation is needed for this path. The standalone file works offline. The optional loopback server is described in INSTALL.txt; the standalone file does not install a PWA.
Actual Chrome capture: Chevron repeat is 20 stitches × 12 rows with two colours. The page plan and Download PDF action stay beside the chart.
Actual Chrome capture: Chevron repeat is 20 stitches × 12 rows with two colours. The page plan and Download PDF action stay beside the chart.

Make the motif yours

Choose a palette colour, then paint cells with Pencil. Keyboard users can Tab to Skip to chart, press Enter, choose a palette colour with 1–9 or 0, move with the arrow keys and paint with Enter. Undo restores an edit.

New starts a blank chart. Set Width and Height under Chart size, choose the retained corner and click Apply size. Both dimensions range from 1 to 200. Select an area to mirror or repeat it. Rotate 90° requires a square selection. Save an editable copy before a major change.

A blank chart gives a next step beside the work surface: paint stitches or load a sample.
A blank chart gives a next step beside the work surface: paint stitches or load a sample.

Know what will come out before you download

PDF settings opens the existing page controls. The plan updates when you change them. For the Chevron sample, choose Fixed cell size and Cell height 30 pt: the result becomes two chart pages plus one legend page. Switch back to Fit the chart on one page for the default two-page output.

The fixed-cell example needs two chart pages plus a legend; the count is visible before download.
The fixed-cell example needs two chart pages plus a legend; the count is visible before download.

For a black-and-white chart, keep Print symbols in the cells enabled. Turning it off can produce blank cells; the page-plan warning tells you before export. At very small cell sizes, symbols can also be suppressed. Read the warning and adjust your page settings.

The actual warning catches a monochrome chart with symbols switched off.
The actual warning catches a monochrome chart with symbols switched off.

Inspect the actual sample output

Default chart and legend · 2-page PDF · Fixed 30 pt example · 3-page PDF

Rendered page 1 of the actual default export: chart, stitch numbers and row directions.
Rendered page 1 of the actual default export: chart, stitch numbers and row directions.
Rendered page 2: two named colours, their symbols and the chart dimensions.
Rendered page 2: two named colours, their symbols and the chart dimensions.
PDF generation was checked. Physical print scale, yarn gauge, reading-direction suitability for your knitting method and a finished knitted sample were not physically validated. This editor does not calculate garment fit or yarn quantities. Review the chart and knit a swatch first.

Keep an editable project, not just the PDF

Use Save or Save as... for a .frigella.json file, and Open... to restore it. Chrome can show a native file dialog; browsers where that API is unavailable use a download and regular file chooser. Cancelling a dialog does not save. Browser recovery storage is not a backup.

The editable Chevron example has the same 240 cells and two colours as the default PDF. A malformed or unsupported project shows an error while preserving the current chart. A successful New, sample load or Open clears the stale error.

An unsupported project version is rejected; the current chart remains intact.
An unsupported project version is rejected; the current chart remains intact.

Scope and troubleshooting

What you seeWhat to do
Save cancelledChoose Save as... again and finish the dialog. Look for the file before closing the app.
Rotate is unavailableSelect a square region before rotating 90°.
Blank cells in a monochrome PDFEnable cell symbols and choose a cell size large enough to print them.
Licence / development issuer messageThe local features need no activation key. The existing issuer is unconfigured, and the panel says so. The purchase supplies this local package, guide and examples; no separate Pro activation or hosted account is promised.
The page feels crowded on a phoneUse desktop Chrome for editing. Narrow layouts were checked for reflow, not full phone or physical touch usability.

Verified with Chrome 152 on Linux, offline. Native OS file dialogs, other browsers and operating systems, physical printers, iPad PWA installation and knitted samples remain unverified. Save/Open automation used the existing browser download/file-input fallback; it did not validate native OS picker interaction. The app keeps the original 200 × 200 chart limit and existing licence behavior.

Read LICENSE.txt and third-party notices. Earlier copies retain their included rights.

390 px reflow check of the actual app. Desktop Chrome remains the supported editing workflow; physical phone/touch use is unverified.
390 px reflow check of the actual app. Desktop Chrome remains the supported editing workflow; physical phone/touch use is unverified.