Here’s how
digitizing works with regard to formats.
Embroidery software manufacturers are very proprietary so every software
has a native format that can only be opened by someone with that same
software. These native format files
carry the program codes that define densities, trims, color breaks and a
multitude of other functions that tell the machine how and where to sew. This is the master digitizing file or coded
file that is created when a new design is digitized.
Embroidery
machines run stitch files, created from the coded files, but with different
formats. The difference is, stitch files
are really just a list of mathematical points on a grid that tell the machine
where to put the stitches. Commercial stitch files carry no color information
or codes of any kind. (Home stitch file
formats usually carry thread color information.)
For this
reason, the master coded copy of a design is always saved. Whether you digitize
yourself or have an outside digitizer, editing should always be done from that
original to keep the integrity of the coding and to be able to edit the
original wireframe of the design.
These days,
most high end embroidery softwares have stitch processing. What this means is that you can open a stitch
file in the program and it will analyze and detect densities, stitch lengths
and other properties. It re-assigns codes and tries to rebuild wireframe pieces
so you can edit and resave the design in your native format. This process is
automatic. So basically you’re able to open a non-coded file and edit, enlarge
or shrink and the software will (for the most part) retain the densities
intended in the design. It does an OK job. In the past, if you enlarged or
shrunk a stitch file, the stitch count didn’t change, so larger files didn’t
have enough density while smaller files got too dense.
Stitch
processing is handy but not perfect.
Since the software is essentially choosing a density that is close to
the original, it can be off slightly. It tries to detect where the trims are
and does rebuild wireframes however, they are in pieces. It also cannot
recreate complex fills and will break them into straight flat areas of fill
losing any patterns and sometimes travel stitches.
You wouldn’t
notice it the first or maybe the second time, but if you keep opening and
processing the same uncoded stitch files for editing, each time the file will
deteriorate further. Your design will
have missing stitches or broken and crooked letters and the quality goes down
due to re-processing the file multiple times. This is why you always return to
the master coded file to edit designs or create new versions from them.
Another
benefit to editing only the coded files is that you can save multiple elements
of different versions of a design such as taglines or phone numbers, and the
art the design was created from, all in the master file. Instead of deleting the previous tagline, for
instance, you are able to simply turn it off within the file before you save
your stitch file. If you need it at a later date, it’s still there and you can
simply turn it back on.
Once you
understand the difference between coded files and stitch files, you can see the
reason for keeping both formats of your designs, what the formatting does in each
file and why you need to go back to the original to do the editing.
**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
