Support

Write to support@codedrealities.com and a person will read it. Telling us the iPhone model, the iOS version, and the canvas size, hole diameter and gap you were working with makes a real difference.

If something in the wording does not match how you or your supplier talk about this work, we would like to know. Terms differ between trades and between countries.

What it is for

Will it design something for me?

No. There is no design library, no font collection and no template catalogue in the app. You bring your own image. DotFlock turns the tones you select into circles and writes the file.

Will it tell me what size stones to use?

No. The hole diameter and the gap are numbers you type in. There is no table of stone sizes or materials in the app and it makes no recommendation. The starting value of 3 mm is a starting point, not advice.

Does it work with my cutter?

We cannot promise that. DotFlock writes an SVG file and does not connect to a machine. Cutting programs differ in how they read a file, which is why the app asks you to check the imported size and one hole before cutting. If your software imports SVG, that is the starting point; compatibility is something to confirm on your own setup rather than something this app can claim.

Can I use a photograph?

You can, though a photograph rarely gives a clean result. A threshold keeps tones on one side of a number, and gradients do not divide cleanly into keep and discard. Simple, high-contrast artwork works best. The preview shows the actual result before you export.

Can it clean up an SVG I already have?

No. It works from a bitmap image. It cannot repair a vector file with overlapping layers or malformed circles in it, and it does not open one.

Importing and cropping

Which file types?

PNG, JPEG and HEIC, chosen with the system Photos or Files picker. Other types are refused with a message saying so, rather than failing halfway through.

Is there a size limit?

Yes, and it is checked before the image is decoded rather than after. A file that is too large in bytes or in pixels is refused straight away with a message that says which limit it passed. Large images are worked with at a reduced size internally; that affects how fine a detail can survive, not the measurements you set.

What if I delete the photo afterwards?

The project still works. A copy of the image is kept inside the project when you import it, so moving or deleting the original does not break anything you have already made.

My photo came in rotated.

It should not. Orientation recorded by the camera is applied when the image is imported, so what you crop is what you saw. If you find a case where it is wrong, please tell us the camera or app the picture came from.

What happened to the transparent part of my PNG?

It is treated as white before any tone is measured. So a transparent area behaves like a light area, and with the usual threshold it becomes empty space rather than holes. Invert if you want the opposite.

Can I crop to any shape?

A rectangle, with a reset to the whole image. It is not a photo editor. The canvas height follows the shape you cropped, so the artwork is never stretched. Very long thin crops are refused, because the height they imply falls outside the range the canvas allows.

I cancelled the picker and lost my work.

You should not have. Cancelling the picker or the crop leaves the project as it was. Replacing the image on a project that already has work in it asks you to confirm first.

Measurements

Every field shows its unit, and you can read widths in millimetres or inches.

What is the difference between canvas size and dot bounds?

The canvas is the width and height the SVG document declares. The dot bounds are the rectangle the circles actually occupy. They are usually smaller, because the outermost circles sit at least their own radius inside the edge and any left-over grid space is shared evenly between the two margins; when the grid happens to fit the canvas exactly, the two are the same. Both numbers are shown before you export. Some cutting software sizes the visible artwork and some sizes the document, so knowing both is what lets you check the result.

How is the number of holes decided?

The spacing from one hole centre to the next is the hole diameter plus the gap. As many whole circles as fit along each edge are placed, at least their radius from every border, and the unused remainder is split evenly at both ends. Nothing is placed partly off the edge and nothing is trimmed to make a number look tidy.

Can I work in inches?

Yes. The unit control changes what you read; it does not change what you saved. Switching to inches and back leaves your value exactly where it was. Typing a new value in inches does change it, which is the point of being able to type one.

I typed a comma and it was refused.

A comma is read as a decimal point where your device's language actually uses it as one. It is not guessed at: the same string means two different numbers in two different places, and picking one would risk your material on a guess.

Why was my measurement rejected?

Every field has a stated range and the message says what it is. Blank, zero, negative, out-of-range and malformed entries are refused and explained rather than being adjusted into something you did not type. Nothing is silently rounded or clamped.

It says there are too many holes.

There is an upper limit on how many grid positions will be worked through, and the message tells you how to get under it: a larger hole, a larger gap, or a smaller canvas. The template is never quietly truncated to fit a limit.

Choosing which tones become holes

What does the threshold actually do?

Each hole position is tested against one point in your image. If that point is darker than the threshold, a hole is placed. Invert reverses it exactly. That is the whole rule. There is no subject detection, no background removal and no edge tracing.

Thin lines in my artwork disappeared.

That is the sampling, and it is expected rather than a fault. A feature narrower than the spacing between holes can fall between two test points and leave nothing behind. Make the feature thicker, make the canvas larger, or reduce the hole and gap so the grid is finer. The preview shows this before you export.

The preview looks nothing like my image.

Try the threshold first. If your artwork is light on a dark background, invert. If it is a photograph, see the answer above about photographs.

Why can I not export?

If the current settings select no circles at all, there is nothing to put in a file, and the app says so rather than handing you an empty SVG that looks like a successful export.

The SVG

What is in the file?

Separate circle elements, one per hole, and a width and height in millimetres with a matching view box. No script, no linked resource, no copy of your photo, no text, no logo and no extra border. It is a self-contained file that declares a physical size.

Does it match the preview exactly?

Yes. The count, the diameter and the positions come from the saved version shown on the review screen. Changing a setting and then sharing does not give you the old result under a new label.

My cutter software shows a different size.

Check whether it sized the visible dots or the whole document. The two differ by the margin, and the review screen tells you both numbers so you can tell which one you are looking at. If it is neither, the import settings in that program are worth checking before the file is.

Is there a calibration file?

Not in this version. The reviewed template and the scaled proof are what the app produces.

The scaled proof

Can I cut from the PDF?

No. It is a review record, and it says so on the page: Scaled proof. Not a full-size cutting template. The page states the percentage it is drawn at, and that warning is on it at every percentage.

It says 100 percent. Is that full size?

Not something to cut from. The preview is drawn to fit the page and is never enlarged, so a small enough canvas can land at exactly 100 percent. It is still a proof and it still carries the same warning at that scale, because a printer's own scaling, page margins and paper handling all sit between the file and the sheet in your hand. If you rely on a printed sheet, measure it first. The SVG is the output the app is for.

Why is there no full-size printing?

Tiling a template across several sheets is a different job from this one, and it is not in this version. The SVG is the output.

Which page sizes?

A4 and US Letter, one page.

What is on it?

A preview of the result, and the settings, hole count, canvas size and dot bounds written out, all from the same saved version as the SVG.

Projects

Can I go back and change something?

Yes. Reopen the project, adjust the crop, the threshold or the measurements, and generate again.

Can I try a variation without losing the first one?

Duplicate it and edit the copy. The duplicate is genuinely separate, with its own copy of the image; editing one never touches the other.

How do I delete a project?

From the library, with a confirmation that names it.

The app says it cannot open a project.

It will tell you rather than showing you an empty library, and it keeps the file it could not read instead of overwriting it. If this happens, please write to us with the exact message and the settings you were using.

Is there iCloud sync?

No. Projects are on the device. There is no account and no sync in this version.

Accessibility

Does it work with larger text?

Yes, including the accessibility sizes. Screens scroll rather than cutting content off, and no measurement or result is hidden to make room.

Does it work with VoiceOver?

Yes. Controls have spoken labels, and values such as the hole count, the canvas size and the dot bounds are announced.

Can I use it in landscape?

Yes.

Data and purchase

Does it need a connection?

Converting an image, editing a project and creating the SVG and the PDF all work with the connection off. There is no account and no server of ours. Two things do involve the wider system: choosing an image with the Photos or Files picker can reach a photo or a file that lives in a cloud service, and sharing a finished file sends it wherever you send it. Both are your choice and neither comes to us.

Where is my data?

Your projects and the image copies inside them are stored on your device. There is no analytics in the app. See the privacy page.

What does it cost?

5.99 US dollars, one purchase. Prices in other regions come from Apple's regional price tiers and vary. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no advertising, and nothing held back for a paid upgrade.

I want a refund.

Purchases go through Apple, so refunds do too: Apple's refund request page.

What do I need to run it?

An iPhone running iOS 17 or later. There is no iPad, Mac or Apple Watch version in this release.

Can I use any image I like?

Use artwork you own or have permission to use. The app has no way to know what you imported, so that part is yours.