All Things Embroidery by NeedleUp

Why graphics artists don’t necessarily make good embroidery digitizers

2012-01-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

Numerous times, I’ve either read or hear about some graphic artist who decides to hang out their “digitizing shingle” since they know Corel Draw so well. To me, that’s like deciding to open a hair salon since they’ve used scissors before.

True, the creative side of digitizing benefits from someone who can be artistic but the digitizing process serves the technical side of embroidery and without the knowledge of how the machines work, production, pathing, fabrics, hooping and the mechanics of needles, thread, bobbin and tension, being able to create or manipulate a graphic is only a very small portion of prerequisite knowledge.

More painfully obvious are the graphics I usually get from customers who paid a large sum to their graphic artist to create a logo for their company, only to find out that it is all but unusable for the medium of embroidery. That’s because the graphic people don’t take the time to learn at least a cursory amount of information on the requirements of embroidery. They are selling a graphic after all and not concerned about their customers need or use of other mediums for marketing.

Digitizing is an art that is mastered over time and has a large learning curve. You can’t buy experience and there’s no “national school of digitizing”. In order to understand embroidery and punching designs, you’d have to have had some experience running an embroidery machine, dealing with production and some kind of guidance actually learning to digitize. If they’re expecting to use an “auto-digitizing” software (or digital to embroidery converter) that creates professional grade designs, there is no such animal. (And, truthfully, if they don’t understand digitizing, they wouldn’t know what buttons to push and settings to use in the “auto-digitizer” anyway).

Graphics people are great at what they do…. Graphics. NeedleUp Digitizing is great at what we do….embroidery digitizing! Leave the digitizing to the experienced. Call us: 303-287-6633

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NeedleUp Digitizing LLC is owned and operated by Donna Lehmann, a 20yr veteran of the digitizing world. She can be reached at the above number for digitizing, consultation and classes M-F.

Puff embroidery designs, de-mystified

2011-11-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

So you think you might wanna do some puff embroidery? Do you know that logos designed for puff are digitized completely different than regular embroidery? Puff went through a popularity phase a couple of years ago but still holds a lofty (pun-intended) place in the sports related part of the industry.

For those who don't know how puff is done,a piece of embroidery foam is placed under the lettering before the area to be puffed is stitched with high density to add loft to the embroidery. Puff designs are usually at least double the stitch count of regular designs. The excess foam is torn away afterward having been perforated by the needle penetrations.

Success with puff embroidery relies heavily on the correct digitizing, pathing, and application of the technique. Without that, your efforts will turn out poor quality.

For digitizing of puff designs, contact NeedleUp Digitizing, 303-287-6633. We'll help you get your puff job done right and guide you through the process. ;)

Branching into the Embroidery Business from other parts of the Industry

2011-10-30T14:11:00.000-06:00

I was talking to friend in the promotional business the other day and we were discussing how several of the local promotional products companies in the area have sold their embroidery machines. You see, back about 3 years ago, they decided to take everything in house instead of contracting their embroidery out. Problem was, they didn’t understand or know the embroidery business, they just knew the promotional business. They mistakenly thought that all there was to it was to buy the commercial multi-head machine, plug the designs and shirts into it, hire a machine operator and Voila!

Now, 3 years later, I’m not surprised to hear that they’ve sold the machines and are going back to contracting out their embroidery….in essence, leaving the embroidery to the professionals. If they had asked me (which they did not) I could have saved them 3 years of money and irritation not to mention retaining a few customers they probably lost in the process.

You see, a successful commercial embroidery company is a full time endeavor; just ask anyone who has reached this point. It’s a skill and acquiring the expertise to make it profitable takes much, much more than the funds to buy the machine and hire an operator. Companies that work in related industries have a tendency to say to themselves, “How hard can it be?” because the professional embroiderers and digitizers make it look easy from the outside. Once they “go there”, they realize not only the work involved but the creative skill it takes and the technical knowledge needed and they suddenly get why the cost of a good embroiderer and/or digitizer is what it is.

The companies that are able to add in-house machine embroidery services to their other offerings, and make it work, understand production and are often printers, screen printers and related.

If you’re thinking about adding in-house embroidery to your list of offered services, do your homework, do the math; you might decide that the phone numbers of a good embroiderer and a good digitizer will be more profitable for you than purchasing your own machine…..and when you figure that out, call me! I’ll take very good care of you!
NeedleUp Digitizing LLC – 303-287-6633.

Moving Forward - QR codes

2011-09-25T13:09:00.000-06:00

No doubt you are noticing more and more QR codes on products and merchandise as you are out and about in the world. Not sure what a QR code is?

These codes began in Japan back in 2002 as a way to turn a cell phone into a bar code type scanner using a code with a smaller footprint that carried more infomation and was easier to use and dirt/damage resistant. They have a built in error correction capability and are scannable at 360*. What they do is take you to anyplace on the internet that is coded inside the QR, like a website page containing your information or company video, special presentation or deals you may be running.

What has this to do with embroidery? Well, if you're keeping up with your marketing you may wanna consider adding this code to your next printing of your ad materials or the back of your business card.

But more interestingly, there's an embroidery company in AZ that digitized the code and found that YES, even in thread, if digitized as precisely as possible, a QR code can be embroidered and readable. Therefore, promotionally speaking, your customers can have their website QR code embroidered on their garments. Fabulous for creating interest and spreading the word about their company in a new creative way!

As QR codes become more and more used, and more people have android phones to scan these, they can add value to your promotional marketing and another option for embroidery for your customers!

For more info regarding digitizing your QR code, contact Donna Lehmann, NeedleUp Digitizing, 303-287-6633

But what does a digitizer actually do?

2011-08-28T13:41:00.000-06:00

So you have a design you need for a customers job, and you email it over to the digitizer. A few days later, the stitch file shows up in your inbox. Like magic, right? But what really happens on the digitizers desk to make that happen?

If the design isn't already in digital form, it is scanned in to bring it up in the embroidery software. From this point, companies that use an auto-digitizing software open the file and run it through, giving it some basic parameters and let the software do it's thing.... problem is, this only does a decent job on very elementary designs and there's still a need to edit and work over the resulting design as this type of software feature is not all it's touted to be and if you don't understand the process and it's limitations, you turn out junk.

What I really wanted to tell you is how digitizing is done the right way. Once the logo is in the embroidery softwear, a plan is formulated to digitize the design using a path that includes the least number of trims and color breaks so that it sews efficiently and as quickly as possible. This is called pathing.

The design is then digitized (point by point) by hand, using this path and programming codes are added telling the embroidery machine when to trim, change colors and how much density to use. A number of other commands that relate to fabric and stitching quality, are also added to basically tell the machine what to do, where and when to drop the needle, and move the needle on a mathematical grid of stitching. (There's much, MUCH more, but this is the basic the gist of it)

All these things are the reason why it's important to tell the digitizer what type of fabric the design is intended for, what colors will be used and where and the type of garment(s) it will be applied to.

Once the design is complete, a good digitizer will sew the design out to insure it sews well and registers everywhere...meaning everything lines up correctly. Designs may need to be sewn out several times to insure they sew properly.

Most companies will send you a scan or digital of the design with the stitch file so you can see the logo right away. So into your inbox comes a picture of the completed design to look at and a file in a stitching format that you won't be able to open unless you have embroidery software. This goes to the machine to produce your garments.

With a clearer idea of what you're actually paying the digitizer to do, you can have a better understanding of what it takes to create professional embroidery designs and be able to ask intelligent questions when searching for the right digitizer for you.

When you're searching for professional digitizing, NeedleUp Digitizing would love to help you be successful! Visit our website: http://www.needleup.com for more information on our services and to contact us directly.

Learning to Fly - Digitizing that Is...

2011-07-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

So your thinking of learning to digitize? Can't be that hard, eh? Already good with graphics? You're halfway there, right?

Well, not exactly...It's a nice thought but there's so much more than that. The learning curve is way bigger than you'd expect. It takes years to truly fine tune your art and digitize on a commercial level.

What? Your don't have years? Well, luckily, you have options! When you first open your business, your top priority is getting customers. Once they start coming through your door, you must keep them and the way you do that is to provide great quality. Even if you eventually plan to do the digitizing yourself, you will still need a good digitizer to get you off the ground.

You can begin learning the art without the pressure of deadlines and you will find that just running quality designs will provide a plethora of information if you pay close attention to the way they sew. Take any classes available to you through your software manufacturer, however, they will teach you how to use their software, not exactly how to digitize.

It's best to start learning to edit before you move on to digitizing from scratch. In this way you can also be more efficient in your business if you don't need a digitizer for every little edit that needs to be done.... and believe me, they come up.

The better you get at editing, the further along and more confident you'll be to graduate to full designs. One thing though, at this point, you may decide that your time will be better spent in your business if you continue to use a professional digitizer to free up your time to run the business and the machine not to mention bringing in the customers. Think about it and make a decision based on what's right for your business.

Of course, if you're looking for a professional digitizer, call NeedleUp Digitizing....303-287-6633 www.needleup.com We'll help your business take flight!

Things your Digitizer needs to know...

2011-06-17T22:46:00.002-06:00

I get it.....what you may say? ....

You're in a hurry, under a deadline. You have sourcing to do to find
some chartreuse shirts that your customer wants along with some crazy
6-panel matching hats and you have to find, order, embroider and drop
ship for an event. The design needs to be digitized and approved before you can even start so you're sending it on to the digitizer so they can get started.....sound familiar? So just slap the design onto an email and send it.

So I get it....it's easier to just shoot the design over and let the digitizer figure it out, right?

Well, it may be easier at the point of *send* but if you're guilty of this, you're causing yourself problems on the backend which delay the process and can result in less than quality designs.

I know, I've been the recipient of many emails from customers that read, in their entirety: "Here's another design". I have to literally refrain from sending a reply that reads, "That's pretty!" (tongue in cheek).

Seriously, we cannot do our job properly unless we have all the information. It's not because we're nosy; there are reasons for every question we ask. At the very least, provide the basics: what color(s) will be used to sew the garments, what are the garments, fabric, and sizes needed. If the item is something like a sports bag, we'll need an embroiderable area size, not how wide the pocket is but hoop size and how much space we have once the hoop is in place to embroider.

And lastly, the art itself. Are the white areas in the background going to be filled with thread or open to the fabric? Are the colors on the art the same colors to be used for the embroidery?

If you don't know the answer to these questions, get with your customer first. Get into the habit of asking customers specific questions because they are inexperienced and have no idea what they need to tell you. If your customer is asking for their design to sew in royal and they just ordered royal shirts, you need to deal with it before you involve your digitizer.

Providing as much information as possible makes the process much smoother and all parties can be on the same page. In the end, your stitch file will get to you much faster and be digitized optimally for the job you're doing resulting in a far superior design application.

Embroidery Digitizing - Price vs Value

2010-09-13T10:30:00.002-06:00

Why is the first question always, "What is your price?" instead of "How long have you been doing this?" or "Do you have any referring customers?"

This is a rhetorical question, of course. Businesses have to be careful, during tough economic times especially, price is important and a seemingly easy comparison. But, is it a wise way of evaluating digitizing companies?

I'm simply pointing out that the real value is in the quality and service you receive. Sure, it would be great to only ever pay $25 for every design you need, but cut rate and web-based companies can charge those prices for a reason; they won't deal with the customer over the phone and they have a "pool" of people digitizing on more than one shift, pumping it out as fast as possible with no personal contact with you, the customer....AND, you get attitude if you need them to fix something...pretty picture, right?

This means that you'll never get any consistency in quality or style and they will charge you a-la-carte for every edit, color change and resized version to the point that you end up spending just as much had you gone to a more experienced, quality priced digitizing firm. Remember, they love to advertise 15 years in the digitizing business but just because they've been in BUSINESS that long, doesn't mean the individual digitizing your design has been digitizing that long. What if you need to talk to the digitizer about the design or ask a question? Too bad.

Really think about this for a minute. Think about your commitment to your customers (and your business) for quality. Think about your customer(s) that are savvier or the ones that need a bit more attention (everyone has 1 or 2), you know, the pickier ones. Wouldn't it be a smoother process if you could pick up the phone and call your digitizer to discuss what needs to be done and get it the first time? Or a personal email speaking with the actual digitizer? Ask for a reference, ask how long the person has been digitizing, ask what their strong/weak points are. Some companies use auto-digitizing softwares and they simply do not turn out a good design. Ask if they utilize this type of software.

Look, digitizing is an art form of sorts. It's also a highly technical and creative business. Like most things in life, people that are very good at it can charge a bit more for their services. There is quite a large learning curve to it and it takes years to master.

At NeedleUp Digitizing, you get creative, professional and personalized service by someone who has 19 years of commercial digitizing experience and production background. We never use auto-digitizing software. Every
design is hand punched to your specifications. References are available, quotes are free and our turn time is 1-2 business days. We aren't a cheap, flat-rate company. We are a full service digitizing company whose
prices are favorable and comparable to the kind of quality that makes you look very good in the eyes of your customers. Don't just take my word for it, try us out.

The bottom line is that superior garment orders start with superior digitizing. So the next time you are evaluating vendors and asking only about price, think again. Be sure to ask ALL the important questions and make your decision based on the whole package. Make the money you're spending count for the exceptional reputation you want your clients to see. NeedleUp makes you professional!

For more information about NeedleUp's digitizing services, please visit our website at www.needleup.com where you can view some of our most recent work and get pricing and more information on contacting us.

In Line with Multi-Placement Embroidery

2010-07-11T16:52:00.000-06:00

Have you ever turned down embroidering a baseball jersey job because the split-front design terrified you? What about sewing your clients logo around the bottom of a tablecloth for their upcoming show? Afraid you wouldn't be able to get the designs straight and lined up, especially multiple times? With a few pointers, you don't have to fear this ever again and your customers will be impressed with your professional skills.

The most common case of multi-hoop placements are by far the split front jerseys and jackets. Since you can't sew across the placket (or zipper) you have to embroider the design in two halves.

If it helps you on the horizontal plane, you can use an "L" ruler to get your horizontal perfectly correct to your vertical placket and mark with a chalk or fabric marker on both sides of the garment. It's imperative that your digitizer can see the jersey you're embroidering so the measurements are exact. I like to make sure the design overlaps slightly where it meets to make it visually appealing.

You must also have alignment markers on your hoops. Some companies have markings molded into the hoop itself for this purpose but you can simply mark your own with a ruler and marking pen. In this way, you can align your hoop with the placket (or your chalk marks) to get the designs straight on both sides.

You will hoop the fabric sides seperately, using your marks, matching the hoop marks to the chalk marks. Then you will drop (or start) your needle at the alignment point the digitizer has set in the design.

Assuming your digitizer is talented enough to set up your multi placement design, (....and NeedleUp can help you with this of course) you will work with them to set an alignment point on your design halves. This point is the juxtaposition for the two sides in relation to each other;

If you are just doing a design repeated several times, like along a hem, the second design usually starts from a point on the last design for a seamless sew.

There's a way to line up most any design, you just need a bit of practice and nerve enough to try it....not to mention a digitizer who will work with you. If you decide to go there, gives us a call!

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NeedleUp Digitizing can be reached at 303-287-6633 M-F 8:30 - 4

Embroidery Digitizing - "Fixing" Designs

2010-05-16T12:41:00.000-06:00

With the economy still “tender” and the industry trying to regroup this year, I’ve been getting more of what I call “fixer” designs. Stitch designs that came from somewhere else that have a production problem of some sort, and the customer wants me to fix the design so it’s usable because they don’t want to have the design redone. That’s when I get the call and they say “I can’t show this to my customer!”. Of course, they don’t have the wireframe master copy of the logo; only the stitch file and usually about half of the design has to be re-digitized anyway.

Then there are the customers that only send me the “more complicated stuff” that their cheap digitizer can’t seem to get right or know how to do at all. Sometimes they’ll have a very important client or account that they cannot afford to lose due to a low quality design job. They save money on the easy stuff with the cheap digitizer but when it’s more detailed or too difficult for them, or more important to get it right and fast, they come to me.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the business, but I always wonder if the customer really feels it was worth it to go through the whole process twice, only to end up paying just as much or more; plus doubling their turn time. Had they used a reputable digitizer the first time they would have been able to meet their deadline and cross the finish line with a quality design.

I know you want to be your customer’s hero, their embroidery guru. I can’t stress enough the importance of building a rapport with a professional digitizer…personally… not ordering a design from a faceless company on a website.

Besides the inconsistency problem of never having the same person work on your designs, you can’t speak to the person directly for instructions, or changes to the design. If there’s a problem or need to call, you’ll likely get a message taker who’ll tell somebody to tell somebody. In the case of overseas companies, you can’t even do this because it is night-time there during your business day and they speak little, if any, English.

Spend a bit of time searching out a digitizer that’s a good fit with you and your business. Once you start a relationship with that person, I promise you, there will be many little benefits along the way you never got from the others. A little loyalty goes a long way also. Let them know where you’re coming from and work with them to create great embroidery for your clients. After all, quality is what brings your customers back to you!

Embroidery and the new tricks

2010-01-02T14:22:00.004-07:00

As we bring in the new year, we usually reflect on the past one and are not able to resist comparison to previous years. I think it's safe to say, for most, 2009 didn't compare well to it's predecessors. Looking ahead is important and learning to flex and change with the times and situation of your business is the best protocol.

Take a look at your business and adjust in places you feel necessary. The direction you took even 2 years ago may bring you to another fork with another decision to make about the future of the way you do business, who your customers are, the services you provide and the way these customers will find you. It seems everything is done by computer now; day to day business, marketing, data streaming & customer contact. If you're not texting, tweeting or video streaming you are not in the loop, right? Well.....

Being an old(-er) dog that is still learning the new tricks, I still have a few up my sleeves. It's no secret the old dinosaurs like "cold calling" are extinct, but there are some new fangled ways to provide great service and let your customers know you are ready, willing and able to fulfill all their embroidery needs. You just need to be creative and stay up with the times. You may not feel that you have something to "tweet" every minute of the day but many companies have successfully incorporated Twitter into their marketing lineup. Social networking sites are abundant and there are even sites specifically geared toward embroidery and promotional advertisers. Many times you can have a page on these sites dedicated to your business with a profile to let potential customers know who you are and what you do.

Get creative and go to work! What things do you plan to incorporate into your business this year?

NeedleUp Digitizing - Video

2009-07-08T15:00:00.003-06:00

NeedleUp has a new company video we'd like you to see!
*VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR SERVICES* * WWW.NEEDLEUP.COM *

Embroidery Digitizing - Mom was right!

2009-05-25T12:15:00.003-06:00

This might be a bit on the rant side of the fence today but there’s something I just don’t get. After doing this for years and years, I still don’t understand what people don’t get about “You get what you pay for”. Now, granted, there are people who wouldn’t know good digitizing from bad, or are just willing to compromise for price sake. These are the one’s that seem shocked when they purchase digitizing from some $4/1000 online, faceless website or overseas only to get under par or inconsistent quality designs, 3-5 business days down the line where they are pushing their deadlines and go into a panic.

Did you ever wonder how these companies can charge only $4/1000 st and still stay in business? For the overseas companies the answer is obvious (and a whole other Oprah) but what about the US companies that are $4 -$6/1000? How do they pay for multiple softwares/computers, employees, overhead, and general operating expenses on that type of income? They may use some “automatic digitizing” software feature to save time which would be fine if it worked well and didn’t compromise quality; which they ALL do. That way they can pump out more design average per hour….or is that more average designs?

They may also add their editing fees on each time you request a change. And…we know how often customers change their mind or request changes…..at least 50% of the time. How often do you get designs from the digitizer that your customer never wants to change a thing? Or, the $4 price that is advertised happens to be their price for 5 day service; if you want a more normal 2 days service, it's quite a bit more.

Believe me, I know the draw of getting something you want or need for a cheaper price. And some may still say they’ve used a $4/1000 st company and gotten a decent design and they may, in fact, have. The thing is, even using the same web company each time, they will never get consistent quality because they’ll never get the same person digitizing for them each time. Plus, it’s very difficult (if not impossible) to get to actually speak to the digitizer; the person who actually created the design, to tell them what your customer wants.

BUT ITS SO MUCH CHEAPER…….

And it’s all good, paying that cheap price, until you get it to the machine. A good embroiderer understands that the final look is only half the equation. Is it alright with you if the design looks OK at the end but you tear out your hair just trying to make it through the runs on the machine. Is it fine with you that the machine is stopping and starting multiple times more than necessary due to poor pathing, giving you false thread breaks, tearing the fabric and having multiple excessive color changes?

If you’re doing this as a business, the idea is to keep your machine running to make your money (hair intact). If your designs continually slow down or stop your production, it’s time to find a new digitizer.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to find a digitizer you could speak to all the time, is consistently providing the quality you are proud to show your customers and meets your deadlines time after time so you can count on them? People, people, people, part of what you’re paying for is experience!!! Just like everything else, the good stuff cost a little more.

In the end, you’re able to provide a higher quality product and your quantity goes up because the designs run more efficiently enabling you to turn more production in a shorter time. This also helps your bottom line in labor costs and keeps your customers happy and returning!

….and who doesn’t love happy and returning customers? I sure do!

Embroidery - Treading, Sinking or Swimming

2009-02-16T00:04:00.002-07:00

The current economic state of our world makes our industry a scary place to try and make a living right now. We, of course, don’t work in a “recession-proof” industry, not even close (that is if there are any recession-proof industries). If fact, when corporate belts are cinched tighter, the custom embroidered apparel, printed shirts, custom logoed swag, coffee cups, pens and magnets are the first to go. Company budgets are smaller or non-existent and this early in the year, they have a tendency to hold on to them longer to see what the year has in store.

Merriam Webster defines economy as: thrifty and efficient use of resources.
How do you deal with this in your business? How do you keep your head up and revenue flowing? Are you treading, sinking or swimming?

Firstly, you’re gonna have to do that marketing that you keep putting off. I know, believe me…but it can mean the difference between feast and famine (OK, maybe not feast in this economy but you know what I mean). Carve out some time every day, even if it’s half and hour to devote to getting some new customers. Right now local is better because you can save your customer shipping fees and meet people in person. They’re more likely to buy from someone they feel they know. Phone calls and emails are free.

If you’re an embroiderer, wear your logo everywhere! This is you, marketing your business and a great way to show potential customers your quality. Pass out business cards like Halloween candy. Narrow your efforts to the area that’s most likely to pay off.

Get serious about your receivables. Current customers that owe you money and go out too far wreck havoc with your cash flow. If you have a policy, stick with it and work to collect. If you have no policy, make one.

Really talk to your customers. Remind them that now is the time to spend a bit on their marketing, not stop it completely. Just make sure that you are the go-to person to help them with that and reassure them that they’re getting the best bang for their buck. Get creative and find them options they can afford on a tighter budget.

Make sure your customers always get the best quality for their money and realize that great customer service doesn’t cost you anything; that’s your advertising. Trust me, if you help them when times are tough, they will be with you when things get better.….and they will get better…. right?

Embroidery Digitizing - The Digitizing Side of the Embroidery Fence (Part II of II)

2008-11-02T17:29:00.004-07:00

For all you Embroiderers out there:

With all that being said from the last post (Part I)...a look on the embroiderers side as to whether its better to use an outside digitizing company, hire an on-staff digitizer or learn the process yourself.

The truth that no salesperson when you bought the digitizing software will tell you, but that you very quickly find, is that the learning curve to get up to digitizing at a commercial (professional)level of quality is HUGE. And, worse, there's no place to learn the art, save for a few books and online classes. And make no mistake, it is an ART and some people, if they're honest, just aren't cut out for this art.

On the positive side of this, if you have the time to dedicate, the artistic ability to apply and the where-with-all to stick to it, you can master the digitizing side of your embroidery business. But do you want to?

Maybe not, "Do you want to?" BUT "Is it a wise use of your time with regard to running your business"? As you know, you're not making money if the machines aren't running. As an embroidery business owner you will wear many hats and juggle many balls. Do you have the time to wear the digitizing hat also or would your time be more effective doing production, marketing, customer service or management and leaving the digitizing to the pros?

You could hire and/or train a staff member to digitize but be sure you have enough work to warrant and sustain this person full-time, year around. A good digitizer commands a decent salary. It's not cost efficient if you don't have enough digitizing to do. If your training, realize that it will be awhile til they're up to speed.

That leaves us back again to using a reliable digitizing company that will be there when you need them and allows you to talk directly to your digitizer. You don't have to provide health benefits or vacation pay. You pay them only for the work that is done and you get the very best digitizing from an experienced professional to provide your customers with the best quality possible.

Do your homework, figure out what's best for your company! If you need great digitizing now, call NeedleUp Digitizing, 303-287-6633

You didn't think I'd pass up that opportunity, did you?

Embroidery Digitizing - The Digitizing Side of the Promotional Fence (Part I of II)

2008-08-10T17:34:00.001-06:00

For all you Distributors out there:

I was reading some posts on a popular promotional distributor industry message board site today and I keep coming across people who are looking for insight as to whether to use their embroiderer for digitizing along with production or to have their own outside source for digitizing.

Of course, being a commercial freelance digitizer, I’m going to say that this is a better way to go, right? Not necessarily, but I will tell you why, in most cases, it is.

I’ve been doing this a long time, relatively speaking, and in all my years (16), I have repeatedly come across a few situations I'd share with you. There are arguments on both sides of this topic; It is good to use a one-stop-shop when you're new to this and you need to get your feet wet. In this case, the embroiderer would be responsible for the overall quality of the embroidery process and until you know what to look for and how it all works, this may be the best choice in the beginning. Hopefully, the embroidery company happens to have a fabulous digitizer and the price is right.

But...seasoned promotional people understand a few things. You should know the person who's actually doing the digitizing. (Not all embroidery companies are large enough to have a full time digitizer on staff. AND, if they do, ask their experience. If they don’t, they are sending the digitizing out also). Having embroidery software and machines doesn’t mean they are great digitizers. You can’t purchase artistic ability after all. Be able to build a rapport with and speak to the digitizer about your embroidery designs.

What happens if the embroiderer’s digitizing is not so great but the prices for production are good and you don't really want to stop using them for embroidery? What happens if you want to go to another embroidery company but the first one has all your designs and they don't want to give them to you? Many times when an embroiderer says the digitizing is free or "included" in the production price, it's not, it's just built into the price and then they can hold you hostage for the design saying that you never paid for it.

It's also difficult to use web-based dig companies (here or abroad); the results can be inconsistent because you never get the same person doing your work and it's hard to get someone to talk to if there's a problem or edit needed. You may sometimes get a good design, sometimes not. There’s no way to build a relationship with them. They are just pounding out a product at a low price and if they are overseas, it’s night time when you’re open so they’re not available to you when you need them. BTW, Do you speak Japanese?

Ask questions. I’ve known “punch houses” that advertise 20 yrs in the business but that’s just how long they’ve been open; upon further investigation, there’s not a person digitizing there that’s been doing it longer than 4 years and it’s not the same person doing your designs every time.

You should always protect yourself and your business by keeping a copy of your customer’s designs. I know it takes a bit more effort but it pays. If you use a separate digitizer, changing embroiderers is never an issue and you can work your margins your own way. The best of both, you can match your digitizer of choice to your embroiderer of choice.

The best situation for you would be to know and develop a relationship with a reputable digitizer, be able to speak to that person directly so they know exactly what you want/need, (especially when there are changes) and someone who knows commercial production well. No embroiderer can make a crummy design sew beautiful on your customer’s garments with a poorly digitized stitch file. And no digitizer can turn out professional embroidery designs without understanding and experience in multi-head embroidery production.

Experience, consistency and artful technical ability is what makes a digitizer worth their salt (money). A great digitizer can charge more and get it because most people understand that quality costs.

...Just a little insight from the digitizing side of the fence.

Embroidery Digitizing - Charge! - Part II

2008-06-04T15:07:00.010-06:00

Why does digitizing cost as much as it does?

Many people out there think that digitizing for commercial embroidery is a scanned process where art is loaded, a few buttons are pushed and out pops (magically) a fully usable and perfectly running design.

The honest truth is, the process is far more complicated than that. This is the reason that any commercial digitizer worth their weight in gold, charges more than the advertisements you see all the time for designs for $15. Yes, the industry is closing in on some auto-digitizing software options but they don't work for designs more complicated than very basic line art and not at all for text; and let's face it, how many custom company logos do you see that fit that mold.

In the embroidery market as a whole today, you can buy "digitizing" software for anything from $500 to $10,000. Quite a few home embroidery softwares call themselves digitizing software because the waters have gotten muddy and the term "digitizing" has become a broad term, meaning that they are able to upload a picture and punch some stitches over it. The differences between the $500 stuff and the commercial top of the line softwares costing $8,000 - $10,000 is definitely night and day! You're not just paying for more option or buttons with the high end; you're paying for the programming and stitch processing capabilities of the software....and you're paying for the ability to alter and/or edit every possible aspect of the stitches, in any manner, to create a stitch file that is controllable in every way and capable of sewing commercially, professional quality. Therefore, someone with $1,000 software isn't capable of turning out stitch files with commercial results.

Now that's just the technical side of embroidery digitizing; let's talk about the digitizer themselves. You should be concerned with experience above all because if you want your designs to reflect "professional" to your customers, your going to need someone who knows what they're doing, has been doing it for quite awhile and understands not only production of embroidery but the very technical side of the art of digitizing. ...And make no mistake, it IS an ART. Those that digitize professionally and are very successful, have years upon years of experience and have an inherent creativity that brings something special to their work. These people charge more for their expertise, NeedleUp is included in this group. Now, you've heard me say this before but it bears repeating. When purchasing software or just the service of digitizing; YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! If you still don't get this, you've either been miss-informed or are very lucky. (And don't even start me on the topic of over-seas digitizing companies...another time perhaps)

Anyone with money can buy expensive digitizing software....in the same way that anyone can buy scissors; That doesn't necessarily make them a hairdresser now does it?

Embroidery Digitizing - Charge! - Part I

2008-02-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a "debate" now for a couple of years; Charging for digitizing by the stitch or charging by time and complexity. AND, more recently you'll see the influx of folks charging a flat rate for any given design up to a certain stitch count.

It is my opinion that I have no idea what the flat rate people are thinking since every design is different and takes a different amount of time and skill to complete properly. Digitizing a left chest logo, from start to finish, can take anywhere from 10 minutes to hours depending on the design and experience of the digitizer. Charging this way is not efficient for either the customer or the business, which would lead me to think that they are either "eating" most of the cost of creating a complex, high stitch count design, or they let the customers with simpler lower st count designs pick up the tab on the rest of the stitches for the other customers. By charging every customer the same, are they expecting it to come out in the wash? Charging this way can tend to rush the digitizer through the process in order to finish the job so they can move on to the next design. Nuff said.

That leaves the other two, more popular ways to charge for digitizing: Stitch count and time/complexity. I hear arguments that charging by the stitch count is unfair and "old school" because you could have a simple design with a large stitch count. The nay sayers will tell you that its more precise to charge by the time it takes to complete a logo and stitch chargers can also pad the design with un-needed stitches.

I've been doing this a long time (17 yrs to be exact) and I have seen many things. I can tell you that an unscrupulous digitizer can pad time OR stitches. How would you know if the digitizer was honest about the time it took to digitize? What if the digitizer was less experienced and it took them longer than a seasoned professional? At least with a design charged by the stitch count, you could see if the design had unnecessary underlay or density.

What you need to understand, whether you pay by the stitches or by the time it takes, you're not just paying for the design. Part of what you're paying for is the digitizer's experience and creative talent to be able to turn out a production friendly design that looks fabulous, get it to you in a timely manner and be available to you if a problem arises so your production isn't down for any period of time.

That's where the most important aspect of choosing a digitizer comes in: Can you build a relationship with this person? Will this person work with you? Believe me, it will greatly benefit you in your dealings. I charge by the stitch count but take into consideration the complexity of the designs too...my customers know that I'm fair. That all comes from the relationship I spoke of...they get a few extra benefits and considerations. Search it out. Build a rapport with your digitizer. If they aren't listening to you, move on.

embroidery - NeedleUp Video

2008-01-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Check out NeedleUp's new "About Us" Video!

Embroidery - New Year, New Plan

2007-12-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Don't you hate the New Year's Resolutions? Do they really help or is it just another sign post to later pinpoint exactly where your good intentions went astray?

This year, don't make yourself a resolution, make a plan. Put it down on paper. Hang it up by your desk if you have to. Decide what you need to do to grow your business and how you are going to get there. You don't want to go tripping and stumbling into the new year. Baby steps though; making an unattainable and unrealistic goal is sure failure. Sure, the lofty idea of what your business should be is a mighty inspiration. But take smaller steps in that direction and adjust when need be to reach each incremental goal along the way.

If it's marketing you wish to accomplish, adding more customers to your base, decide the best possible route to add new clients while keeping the ones you have already. Maybe an incentive program for referrals and a new ad placed where your target customers are abundant.

Maybe you feel the need for additional training for you or your staff in some area of the embroidery business. Nowadays, on-line training is offered by many software manufacturers and independent companies in the industry. Maybe you feel pulled to add a service to your current offerings. Great! Find out all you can about the new service, how the costs will affect your business and weight all your options before jumping.

Whatever it is you need to work on in 2008, be thorough and organized. Thinking through your plan and how you're going to get there will help you foresee the obstacles in your path and hurdle them easily. Set it in motion and do a little every day. Have a prosperous 2008!

Digitizing - Free Holiday design from NeedleUp!

2007-12-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just dropping in to post a free seasonal design for your download!

Please leave a comment about what you think and return often for more free downloadable designs brought to you by NeedleUp Digitizing!

Click below to download (dst format)

Seasons Greetings

Embroidery - Digitizing for Specialty Items

2007-10-03T13:48:00.000-06:00

Late in the year is always the time for working on specialty items what with the holidays coming and fall in the air. For football season we have stadium blankets and heavier coats, school items such as backpacks and special uniforms and everything Christmas including stockings, home items and gifts.

When digitizing or embroidering these items, remember to take the time to review what you'd need to do the job, in your head. High pile items such as fleece and fur need more underlay and special toppings to get the job done and look polished. Have plenty of the correct backings on hand. You may need to digitize several versions of the same logo for optimal sewing on different fabrics.

When embroidering school team items, make sure the school has approved the design and thread colors beforehand so there's no issue later. Kids love having their names on items but be sure to mention to your customer that maybe their initials are a better choice for safety reasons.

Home design items are a big player in the holiday season. Gifts of embroidered towels or kitchen items are a one of a kind gift that show your thoughtfulness. Unique designs and placements are all the rage and you are only limited by your imagination! Monograms can add a touch of elegance to linens and bath items and make perfect gifts.

What specialty item services do you offer in your shop?

Embroidery - Marketing your Talents

2007-07-29T16:55:00.000-06:00

You know you need to market your embroidery business but you're just not sure what to do....exactly. Sure, you wear clothing with your logo out into the world and you carry your business cards with you at all times. You may have even sent out fliers in the hope of securing a few new customers but it's a slow-go and nothing is guaranteed, right?

Well, it is said that the best advertising is word of mouth so why not inspire your current customers to speak...about you and your business! Offer them a benefit to talking about your talents and reward them when you acquire a new customer through an established one. Word of mouth works better because it appears to be an unsolicited, let-me-give-you-a-hot-tip sort of thing. Everyone wants to know the inside scoop and feel like they are "in the loop". Talk to 5 of your best customers and ask them for what you want. Ask them to tell every business contact they know about you and give them some of your cards to pass out.

Of course, you still want to pass out your cards like Halloween candy yourself. If there is a retail business board where you can leave your cards, do it. Always post them in places where you have the highest content of people interested in your services and they will do the most good! Search out new niches to go after. You never know, the next customer you may be embroidering for just might be the person next to you on the bus, in line after you at the store, or the owner of that cute little fashion clothing store around the corner that you like.

SO, tell us what you do to market your embroidery business and what works the best for you!

Embroidery Stock Designs - What are you looking for?

2007-05-25T13:00:00.000-06:00

Since NeedleUp has added a stock design website to the world wide web, I've been curious to know.....What are your criteria for purchasing stock designs?

I guess it would be different things to different people. Depending on whether you're running a business or just embroidering as a hobby or crafter, but just generally, do you go first for price and then appeal or do you pick what you like and worry about the price second? And what about quality? Do you only purchase from vendors you are familiar with?

Would you rather purchase sets of designs or one design at a time?

What insires you to purchase one stock design or set over another? Tell us what you think, and visit our new stock design website at: www.creativendeavors.com

Embroidery - The moralities of stitching

2007-03-25T09:26:00.000-06:00

Let's talk about the moralities and political correctness some embroiderers face from time to time. What may be a non-issue for some, really bothers others.

Let me just ask: We all know that recreating copyrighted logos and designs is not only wrong but illegal (without permission), but how do you feel about embroidering words or images that are offensive? What about offensive politically slanted views? How about a job with pagan symbols if you're Christian (or anything religious that you don't believe and view as negative)? Or what if a job for some warmup jackets came through your front door, with some strange symbols or words that you learned were gang related?

Do you turn away jobs for moral or PC reasons or is it "Just Business" and you set aside personal feelings to do the work? Is it not that black and white? Where do you draw the line?

Tell us what you think........

EMBROIDERY - 60 wt Thread

2007-03-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

What's the deal with 60 wt thread? Well, here's the skinny....anyone who's ever been frustrated with small lettering (and really, who hasn't?) has one more avenue to try with lower weight thread. The problem is, for those in the commercial production side, it's more trouble than it's worth as far as some are concerned. Not only do the embroiderers not want to carry a full complement of 60 wt thread inventory because it's costly, you must also use a smaller needle with 60 wt which is also adds to the cost. For the production conscious embroidery company, the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to this option. Text has to be digitized specifically for this wt thread which causes another problem; you have to have designs edited (or be able to do it yourself) to enlarge the same designs for other applications. All stock designs are created with the industry standard 40 wt thread because that is by far, what everyone uses. What's more, digitizers will create logos for 40 wt unless told otherwise. We can certainly customize the design for 60 wt when we work with the embroiderer directly but many times, we digitize logos for customers that purchase the stitch file without knowing who will be doing the production. This requires us to stay with the industry standard 40 wt.

So what's an embroiderer to do? You have to make the best decision for your business; what's cost effective for you. If you're a small, one or two head shop, is it worth stopping the machine to change out thread and needles for short runs? What about if you run multiheads, can you afford the time it takes to change out needles and thread across the board? Is it worth the expense considering you have to carry at least a few colors available for your customers in quantities to match the number of heads you run? And, if you're spending the extra time to put up special thread and needles, you'll have to charge more, right?

One final thing: some embroidery companies with multiheads find that it is worth carrying 60 wt thread in a few basic colors, in order to be able to provide small lettering to their customers by dedicating one needle color to the 60wt thread and leaving the smaller needles on the machine so they're not changing them out constantly.

SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Have you made this decision for your business? How do you feel about this topic? Post your comments & questions.........

Question: Help for new embroiderers

2007-02-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

What would you say would be the single most helpful piece of information that you wish someone would have told you as you were entering the embroidery industry that would have saved you time and/or frustration?

Tell us your answer and share your insights!

Auto-digitizing....Not what it's cracked up to be

2007-02-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

You've heard the hype. There are lots of auto-digitizing programs out there....some are integrated as part of the higher end embroidery softwares on the market. Some are connected and work through graphics programs like Corel. None are everything they claim to be.

I guess they have their place in some niches of the embroidery market but let me tell you, in the competitive world of commercial corporate digitizing, they simply don't do the job if you want to play in the "big ball park".

First, in order to even understand and run the software you have to have a decent and basic knowledge of digitizing so that you can make selections to tell the software what to do. If you don't know what the software is asking you, you cannot even set the parameters for it to complete a design. Beyond that the software can only create design files from very crisp vector art with definition and specific areas of color. In today's market, most designs have complicated gradient blends, fades and multiple areas that come together in a way that only a human can digitize using a creative mix of artistic ability and technical knowledge. The software can't think or reason and certainly isn't artistic. They cannot determine a 3D effect of one element passing behind another but over the next, such as a Celtic knot for one example.

Auto-digitizing softwares are only good for very simple designs of basic elements that are 2 dimensional, with no color blends or crossovers, with few outlining capabilities and no text. That leaves out most, if not all, corporate logos.

That leaves us with the text question. If you're expecting to have it digitize the text, forget it. You could use keyboard fonts but half the time, corporate logos have their own text style that needs to be digitized by hand. Most of the time, even if the text is a basic style, a digitizer can make the text sew better digitizing by hand than using keyboard fonts. And true type font converters are pretty bad also....they cannot do the professional job of a good digitizer.

So, if you're thinking of venturing into the digitizing aspect of our industry, understand there are no shortcuts to professional digitizing. There is a large learning curve and the only way to get there is one step at a time, really learn the business, time under your belt and realize it's a full time job all by itself. If you own an embroidery business, and you run the business hands on every day then the digitizing is best left to a commercial digitizer you trust that works well with you and understands production. Build a business relationship with this person, get to know them and they, you. Your time is best utilized running your embroidery business and bringing in the profits.

Customer service in the embroidery industry, PT 2

2007-02-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

So...have you noticed? The lack of customer service at the "front counter" in today's business is appalling. A recent conversation with a friend talking about the same topic made me think about the problem and how things used to be. Now I'm probably dating myself but picture this: pull into a gas station and not 1 but 2 guys run out to help you, pumping your gas and washing your windows. An usher at the movie theatre actually seats you. You pick up the phone and an operator places your call for you...no extra charge. Or, you are shopping for clothes and you have a sales person helping you pick out colors and bringing you sizes. No, this isn't an alien civilization.....this is the way it used to be.

We're not too far from a place where the grocery registers will all be self scan. (Of course, they say it keeps the prices down but everything's more expensive than its ever been.) And there's my personal favorite, the banks....less personal attention, less service, less live people behind the counter, and more charges for everything you can imagine, to use YOUR OWN money.

Have you ever called a business and no matter when you call or how many times, a live person never answers the phone....ever? It's irritating, especially when their push button choices don't include the reason you're calling or an option to talk to a representative of the company. Or worse, there's nothing but a voice mail system for you to leave a message that goes, apparently, into oblivion never to be returned.

The GOOD news: With nothing more than a little effort, you can stand out in your crowd by focusing on the face forward your customers don't see anymore. And the best part is it doesn't cost anything but the benefits will be immense!! The customer may not usually say anything, but believe me, they notice and every once in a while, you'll get a comment that lets you know your effort isn't wasted. Go out of your way a little, jot a thank you note and include it inside the box of your customers next order. Give them a call a week later just to see how they liked the service or how the order went.

Look, we both know that we have these crazy days when everything is behind the eight ball and nothings going smooth. I promise, if you take an extra breath when the phone rings and put on a smile before you pick up the receiver, your company image will be the better for it.

Customer service in the embroidery industry, PT 1

2007-02-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

So, what do you think? Is the customer always right?

Anyone who's ever had to "eat" an order of shirts may disagree with this old maxim. It depends on the situation, of course, but the best way to avoid problems and miscommunications is to write everything out as an order that the customer has to sign, approving the elements of the order; color, size, application, etc. It may take a few more minutes or you may say, "I know these people very well, it'll be fine." but there will come a time you will thank yourself for it. It's not only a more professional way to conduct your business but it's a great way to cover yourself to avoid any disagreements.

What type of procedures have you implemented in your business that helps keep everyone on the same page? (either at the front counter or back in the shop)

Inaugural Post

2007-02-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

The inaugural post:

The beginning, the start of something fresh, the commencement of something I hope will serve as a place to exchange ideas, share tips and experiences and discuss topics that we, as members of the embroidery industry, feel are important to us and our respective businesses.

NeedleUp Digitizing had been in existence as a company for 5 years, however, I have been commercially digitizing for 15 years. I've worked for embroiderers, manufacturers of machines and software, and now own NeedleUp. I know the business side, I know production, and I certainly know the digitizing aspect of our industry.

What information will help you the most? What experiences do you want to share with us? We'd like to hear from you.

So please, ask questions, participate with your ideas and comment on our current topics! Enjoy!