The coordinate system

The coordinate system in FreeSewing — and in SVG — follows the same rules as text on a page. You start at the top-left, and as you go to the right, the X-coordinate will increase. As you go down the Y-coordinate will increase.

X Y

The image above illustrates both the X-axis and Y-axis. On the X-axis, 20 is further to the right than 10. On the Y-axis, 50 is lower than 20.

NOTE

The Y-axis is inverted in many drawing programs, with the origin (0,0) being the lower left corner, rather than the upper left corner.

This is a common point of confusion so keep in mind that the Y-axis may not behave as you would have intuitively expected.