I ALWAYS do a test stitch before using it for real. Someone told me "there are people who test stitch and people who wished they had" - good motto. Don't know why some designers provide the color chart and some don't. I have a couple of different softwares that will show me the different color stops. However, the colors are generally "off" (in the software and my machine - both colorblind) so I always print (in .pdf) a picture of the design from the website so I can pull my own colors to match the design (or change them if I like).

I would like to add that some sites have the color charts in a different place than the design. Look around the page of the design and see if there is a pdf you also have to download or a chart you should cut and paste to your files.

It is a good idea to always test your designs, with those pieces the fabrics with all your tested designs you can do lots of little things, like potpourri bags, applique for towels, etc. it will not be wasted fabric, thread or time,***********.

When I first started this thing called embroidery in January of this year....I was told to test everything first. So I have been using a lot of those solids that I packed away, as I don't use solids for my quilts, so now they are coming in handy and so far in the many, many that I have done....I have only had two to not do as it showed. One Halloween freebie but I think because it was on denim that it wasn't stable enough. The rest have been fine....then last week I had one to not do the satin stitching on a letter correctly, but I think I can repair this to look normal with free motion quilting. I have used so many of them in projects because they have all turned out so well, but I still feel better by testing first and I agree with
pcteddyb as it is better to it than wish you had and you have no time left to do it...

If I cannot find an actual design color chart, I print to pdf and save a copy of the webpage often with thread info along with my design. Just like pcteddyb, often my colors are "off." *s