Pathing is one of the most important elements to master in the
process of digitizing. Quite simply, pathing means the order in which
the design sews; what sews first and what sews second plus the
progression of the design from first stitch to last. Efficient pathing
is a design with the fewest trims possible and minimal color breaks. An
optimal one color design would have only one trim which is at the end.
This would mean that everything was planned or pathed so that all parts
of the design were sewn without stopping. To do this, all stitches
traveling between elements of the design are covered by the later parts
of the stitching. The best way to start digitizing a logo, is to plan
out the design in your head before you begin.
Along
with pathing, color breaks go hand in hand. Generally, the design will
need to be digitized from the background to the foreground so that
elements of the design on top fall in front of parts that should be
behind. The idea is to only visit each color of the design once if you
can. (Some designs may require you to revisit colors later in the logo).
A 3 color design that has 52 trims is a very poorly pathed design. Each
trim is another possible thread break or pull out and slows the machine
down. As an old boss of mine used to say, “We aren’t making money if
the machine’s not running .”
The efficiency of an
embroidery design is most apparent at the machine. If you are an
embroiderer, it will be the first thing you notice and the first thing
that will make you crazy if it’s not right. If the machine keeps
stopping throughout an order making the job take longer, you may need to
charge more for production. A poor design can make the job take 2 to 3
times longer.
If you’re a promotional products
salesperson, the first thing that you’ll notice is how much hair your
embroiderer is losing. This is where a quality digitizer breaks out
front of the “cheap” pack. It’s great to pay only $25.00 for digitizing
until your embroiderer has to charge you for editing and longer
production times. Your embroiderer may even refuse to sew a design
that’s really bad. If your embroiderer cringes every time you walk in
the door, you may be using the wrong digitizer.
NeedleUp
Digitizing is the “right digitizer”. We have the experience and
knowledge to create consistently great designs that are beautiful and
efficient at the machine making your run times minimal!
*****NeedleUp
Digitizing is owned by Donna Lehmann. You can contact Donna by email:
donna@needleup.com or call us at 303-287-6633 M-F. Visit our website for
pictures of some of our recent work: www.needleup.com *****
All Things Embroidery by NeedleUp
A COMMERCIAL MACHINE EMBROIDERY BLOG FOR THE INDUSTRY. If you really want to know how digitizing and machine embroidery works, (and not just see an advertisement) you're in the right place! Let's talk about production, digitizing and all things embroidery!
Monday, October 28, 2019
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Embroidery Digitizing - Customers - Changing Their Minds (Like changing their underwear)
We’ve all been there: Customer calls multiple times, either changing their order, adding to it or just altering the design or placement. You can’t seem to get to “Final Answer” but they still want their job by the original deadline. Only that’s getting closer and closer….or worse, you’ve already started the job. Now what?
You must draw the line in the sand. Small hurdle or huge ordeal? Take a minute to access the situation. Is this latest change something you can reasonably do? Can you keep them happy and still meet your deadline? Will you need to charge more for this addition? Of course, you want to keep the customer and you should absolutely do anything that you can to make them happy in the name of customer service, right? Right! ...... sort of.
Resist the urge to tell them that anything can be done for a price. While true at times remember that you cannot buy more time, so it’s up to you whether you’d like to place your sleeping bag in front of the machine or pay for overtime to get the job finished. Then there’s the fees that may be required for the change including the possible editing of the design, more garments, more supplies (thread, backing toppings), rush fees, more shipping or pick up fees, etc. In the case of design changes, you need to go through the approval process again so there are no surprises or issues on what the customer expects. Failing to get the new version of the design pre-approved before production can bite you in the butt, even if it’s just for a slightly different size or color. All these things eat up time, time you don’t really have if you are to meet the deadline.
Specifically, with regard to the digitizing, as always, get as much information as possible about what the customer now wants, what’s been changed and get an idea of how much time it will take to edit the design and if there are fees involved. If the change is size related, have an idea of what size they now want. Telling the digitizer, “I don’t know, just smaller” doesn’t help either of you to be timely. Be specific and you can get back on track to the deadline faster.
Finally, be up front with your customer and let them know as soon as possible if there will be any costs because of the changes they’re making. Give them a choice so they are not surprised when the bill comes. Be honest and realistic about what you can get done in the time you have and whether you can still meet the deadline. If you say you can, then you definitely need to! Maybe your customer can take a partial order at deadline and receive the rest after; let the customer decide. That’s how you cross the finish line!
***For more information on NeedleUp’s digitizing services, visit our website at http://www.needleup.com or contact Donna Lehmann by email: donna@needleup.com
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Embroidery Digitizing - Hats - New Placements, Old Problems
Hats are a very popular item to embroider but a stinker on
the production: Not all designs are created equal when the customer decides
they want hats. For a little while now, I’ve seen more of a trend towards
different placements that I want to address.
Most hat jobs are the usual front design with maybe a back
design arced over the keyhole or straight for flex flit type styles. Customers
are trying to come up with new spots to embroider that stray from this by
embroidering a design on the side of the hat or placing a design on the front
panel to one side within the two seams. I’ve even seen a “bug” style
logo squished down into the bottom right side of the left side panel.
Limitations include the kind of hat frame used for the job but for the most
part, you have approx. 3” of sewing space between seams (on a six-panel baseball
type cap) and around 2” tall for height on the front two panels and 1.5” height
on side panels. These are very small
areas and not every design will be able to shrink to those dimensions.
You’ll need a simpler design with minimal or no text to fit
those spots effectively. Font style and
size are very important, not too fancy and not too small. Even ¼” text, which is normally considered
minimum for flats, is too small for hats without a fill of some kind for
support underneath it. Of course, there’s a gray area depending on the brand
and fabric of the hats as usual.
While I understand the appeal of doing an alternate
placement to make the hat different than the mainstream, you must understand
the limitations of embroidery and your customer’s logo and be able to explain
it to them and come up with an option that works for both of you.
Know your hat frame and sewing fields/available area so that
you have that information for the digitizer.
That way, the design can be created at the correct size and without
secondary editing and resizing to get it to fit. Educate your customer to be flexible and
realistic about what will fit the area to be embroidered. Know that the same issues with registration
on hats still exist and be mindful that you are sewing up and away from the
center seam whether you will be crossing the seam or not. This means that the design is not interchangeable
should the customer change their mind and decide to sew it center front after
all.
**For more
information on NeedleUp’s digitizing services, visit our website at http://www.needleup.com or contact Donna Lehmann by
email: donna@needleup.com
Sunday, January 10, 2016
New Year’s Business Resolution
Warning: Somewhat of a
rant coming down the pike)
Sometimes, in the course of doing business, you have those days
(or customers) that make you want to grab you keys, lock the door, get in the car
and drive til the gas runs out without looking back. Of course you don’t but it
isn’t because the fantasy doesn’t occur to you.
Our business is creative and technical and wonderful and
hectic. In this new year, I’ve made a
few business resolutions that are intended to preserve my sanity while dealing
with customers, deadlines and being pulled in different directions.
I have a tendency to skip over my own rules and procedures
that I have in place sometimes causing issues that are the reason I created
them in the first place. You know…. When you trust a customer (or employee) and they disappoint. This makes me my own worst enemy.
I also sometimes allow people to talk me into (or out of)
things I know better than to do… either a heavily discounted price for a sob
story or including multiple versions of a design without charging an editing
fee for my time. I can be a bit “lax”
about invoice collections, late fees or allowing customers to go past their
terms. All this does is teach customers that your time is not valuable and,
believe me, they rarely appreciate it and expect it from then on.
Lastly, I sometimes
let customers dictate things I KNOW won’t work in the name of service to
appease them and prove it. Customer asking for lettering that’s too small for
the application or fabric type or trying to cram WAY too much text into a tiny
area of the design will demand that I try it any way and then say, “Oh yea,
that’s too small” or ‘That doesn’t work”.
*eye roll* Of course they expect
me to redo it at no charge that way it should have been from the beginning.
You know, I’ve been digitizing commercially for over 22
years and I can tell by looking at a design what will work and what will
not. I know better than to let customers
run me, but we all want to please our customers so we deal with it and call it
service.
This year, my resolution is to follow my own rules and stand
firm on the procedures I’ve set in place.
Work smarter, stick with my pricing schedule and stop being a pushover
with my time. If I have to “fire” a few customers, then so be it. After
all, It’s not personal, It’s business.
Rant over! Off the
soapbox now! Onward and Upward!
Any of these issues sound familiar? Do you need to organize better? Stick to your prices? Stand by your procedures or create some?
What are your business resolutions for 2016? Do share!
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