Normally, when two colors that are the same follow each other, the stop in-between those colors can be removed: It lets the machine continue sewing without bothering the operator.
Certain designs, such as appliques in particular, will require that the machine stop so the operator can do something, such as lay down an applique. For this purpose, there is a setting on every color called ‘Keep Color Stop’ which is accessible by right-clicking the color chip in the Color Properties.
When sorting, the program is aware of applique colors and will sort them together, but will add a ‘Keep Color Stop’ flag on the color if it seems to overlap or touch the previous applique step.
Color sorting can be useful in designs like this or designs that have poor sequencing. Color sorting in this program is intelligent, meaning it doesn’t indiscriminately combine all like colors together. It looks for layering and knows that some colors simply must be repeated.
Note: Do use caution when color sorting. Some designers have intentionally added extra color changes either for design flexibility or to optimize registration. For this reason, always save the Color Sort with a different name (or save the .BE file) just in case you want to go back to the original!