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.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Learning to Fly - Digitizing that Is...
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!
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!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Things your Digitizer needs to know...
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.
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.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Embroidery Digitizing - Price vs Value
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.
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.
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