Can you use EQ8 on an iPad?

The honest answer

No. EQ8 is desktop software for Windows and Mac, and Electric Quilt says so directly in its system requirements:

Electric Quilt doesn’t currently offer an iPad app of any kind. We searched the App Store and its online shop and found none. In an older support article, it explained that its full-featured quilt design software isn’t feasible on smaller hand-held devices.

That’s a reasonable choice for a program as deep as EQ8. But it leaves a gap for anyone who’d like to plan quilts at the sewing table, on the couch, or at a retreat, with the iPad they already own.

What about other tablets?

EQ8 can run on a Windows tablet, as long as the tablet runs a version of Windows that EQ8 supports. There are two exceptions Electric Quilt lists:

• EQ8 isn’t compatible with Windows on ARM (Snapdragon) computers. Check which processor a tablet has before you buy one for EQ8.
• EQ8 won’t install on Windows computers in S mode.

If you already use EQ8 on a Microsoft Surface, Electric Quilt has a support article on setting up the pen to work well with it.

What you can do today

Take your EQ8 designs to the iPad as pictures and PDFs

You can’t edit an EQ8 project on the iPad, but you can take what you’ve designed with you. On your computer, use FILE > Export Image in EQ8 to save a quilt as a JPG or PNG, then open it in Photos or Files on your iPad.

For the sewing room, print what you need to a PDF: EQ8 can print fabric yardage estimates, foundation patterns, rotary-cutting charts and templates. On Windows, print to “Microsoft Print to PDF”. On a Mac, Electric Quilt recommends the free RWTS PDFwriter. Save the PDF somewhere your iPad can reach, like iCloud Drive, and you have your cutting chart beside your machine.

Use an iPad quilt app alongside EQ8

Several quilt design apps run on the iPad. None of these says it can open EQ8 projects (Quiltler says outright that it can’t), so you’d be starting designs afresh. Here’s what each says about itself:

• TideStitch is designed for iPad and Mac, and runs on iPhone. It’s free to try for up to four designs, then $29.99 once, with a $49.99 Complete option that adds foundation paper piecing. No subscription.
• Quiltler 3 has an iPhone and iPad app plus a browser studio. It’s a subscription ($7.99 a month or $49.99 a year on the App Store), and it states that it does not import EQ8 project files.
• QuiltPop is a free iPhone and iPad app for laying out quilts and printing foundation paper piecing blocks at home.
• NiftyFifty offers free design tools in the web browser, and says they work on iPad. Designs are yours to use commercially.
• Quiltography is an iPad app ($14.99). Its App Store listing shows it was last updated in September 2016.

For a wider look, including desktop and browser options, see EQ8 alternatives compared.

Quarter Inch’s plan

We’re building Quarter Inch for exactly this gap: quilt design for iPad, Mac and the web that opens the EQ8 projects you already have. It isn’t released yet. When it is:

• Your EQ8 projects will open on your iPad. Choose one .pj8 file or a whole folder, from a Mac or a Windows computer, and read a plain-English report of exactly what came across.
• Opening and viewing them will be free. Your quilts will never be behind a subscription.
• You’ll keep designing there. Sketch a block with Apple Pencil and it snaps to a grid you can sew. Then pick up where you left off on your Mac, or in any browser.
• It will print at true size, with a 1″ test square on every page, so you can check your printer before you cut.

You don’t have to stop using EQ8. It defined quilt design software, and it’s still a fine place to design at a desk. Use both. The Switching from EQ8 page explains how moving your projects will work.

Quarter Inch is independent and not affiliated with The Electric Quilt Company.