The Path Best Taken

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 *****

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

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. 

If you talk to your customer and spend a moment to describe the issues and get to final answer before the digitizing, you may avoid costly edits and restarts to get to the finished order.  Hats are one of the most challenging garments that we embroider on but spend the time to understand the issues at hand and what your hat frame is capable of doing and you’ll be on your way to more hat jobs with happy clients!

**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

Sometimes you just have to say “No” - Embroidery Digitizing

All kidding aside, nobody wants to turn a customer away or tell them “No” but there are times when being honest about what they’re asking for is better than not being able to deliver a promised product.  Those of us who have been in the industry for a while realize that customers really have no idea what is possible and what is not when it comes to embroidery. 

As a digitizer, I work with promotional sales people that I hope, have at least a running knowledge of embroidery, how it works and what is unreasonable to expect.  They are really the ones who should begin the conversation with their customers about things like lettering getting too small and logos getting too big, gradients in areas too small to do them and 3 or more borders/outlines that simply are too small and/or won’t register properly.

All too often, they say nothing to their client except “yes” and then leave it up to me to be the “bad guy” and tell them their design won’t work for embroidery.  What’s worse, they tell me, “I already told them it was fine” or “this is the way they have to have it, no changes”  which sometimes results in less than optimal designs, high stitch counts and bullet-proof embroidery with too much detail, too small lettering or bigger designs than they should be for the area they’re being sewn on.

Once the customer has brought their art in and had their initial consult with the promotional person, unless they are told at that time that there could be an issue, they have their hopes up and leave that meeting thinking that’s what they will get.  Anything after that is a frustration to them.

If you’re selling embroidery, always be aware of what can be done and what cannot.  Ask questions of the digitizer if you’re not sure and then get back to your customer. Be proactive.  If the customer is buying royal shirts and their design is royal, talk to them about what they plan to do about the colors.  Most times they haven’t even thought of that. It will make a difference in the digitizing and it will save the customer an edit fee most likely.

Lastly, help your customer be flexible and suggest other options that will work. If the customer is steadfast, suggest other decorating options for those designs that are simply too small and detailed for embroidery.  Help me out with what your customer wants instead of tying my hands and leaving me no other choice than to say “No”.

Punch Drunk - Embroidery Edition

Have you ever heard the term “punching” in regards to machine embroidery?

If you’ve been in this crazy business for a long while, you know exactly what this refers to.  If you’ve only been in it for even 10 or 15 years, you may have heard the term but aren’t sure what it means. Less than 10 years, you might not have even come across the term.

I started digitizing over 22 years ago. Back then we called it punching because designs were saved on paper tapes much like the old tele-type tapes (you may even have to look that up J).  These tapes were created on a reel to reel machine that punched holes into the tape which corresponded to stitches in the embroidery software.  Each tape held a design and some designs that were really big, like jacket backs would consist of multiple tapes. When you wanted to load a design, you had to run the tape through the reader and the software would read the holes and bring the design up on the screen, stitch by stitch. Hence, the act of programming embroidery designs was called punching and the people who did it, punchers.  It was nothing to tell customers they’d have their design in 2 or 3 weeks.

Later when technology came forward a bit, we became digitizers.  Design were plotted out on a tablet or large board resembling an architect table and stitches were input directly into the computer. You had to path the design out before you even started because input began with the first stitch and ended with the last, in the exact order it was to sew. If a mistake was made or something was left out, you had to erase everything back to the point where the error or omission was and do it over again. Editing afterwards was limited, at best, and it was confined mostly to moving stitches one at a time. Seems archaic now, right? It kinda was…

We were still a few years away from being able to bring the artwork up into the software to digitize over it. Now of course, everything is done on screen, full editing capabilities and many automated features like complex fills and keyboard lettering that the software does for you.

We’ve come a long way in this industry. I’ve seen all the changes but I’m really glad the process has gotten easier with the advances in embroidery technology.  Even after all this time, I still catch myself using the term punching.  My customer may not know what I’m talking about but it always makes me smile.

Embroidery Digitizing - Educating the Customer

A few months ago, a promotional sales customer of mine (We’ll call her Sally) sent over a design to digitize for her customer for an event they were having. If you’re in the industry, you know the minute they say the word “event”, you have a rock solid deadline.

Artwork was sent over and discussed and digitizing began since we had limited time.  The design involved a main event logo and two sponsor logos and pricing had been quoted for such.

We had less than a week to complete the digitizing, get approval, send the stitch file to the embroiderer and complete the production. The problem was, Sally’s customer kept changing the design; major graphic changes. Every time the design was completed, it was sent for approval and came back with new art and changes. Sometimes there would be two or three in a day. On the third day there was another issue with one of the sponsors and they had been replaced so we had to add another design into the fray. Each time a change was made, the stitch count would go up (of course) and consequently the price of not only the digitizing but the production estimate the embroiderer had given them….and the clock was ticking!

Now, we were happy to make the changes but the customer was unhappy that editing fees were incurred and the embroiderer no longer wanted to stick with the quote they had given them for production…..understandable.  Sally just said, “Hey, that’s what they said they wanted.” But she never took the time in the beginning to explain the process and that changing the original art causes delays and editing fees. She didn’t even ask if this was the final art before starting the digitizing. Sally’s customer just figured they’d pay for whatever final design they ended up with and they expected the embroiderer to stick with the quote they were given regardless of the changes and final stitch count.

Had Sally explained the process to her customer better, we could have avoided the confusion, had no surprises and actually been more efficient getting her customer what they wanted. Things worked out in the end, we comped some edits and Sally paid for some also. We also worked to get the stitch count down on the design as much as possible so the production wasn’t too high and working with the embroiderer, we hit their event date. The customer was thrilled with their shirts.  All was successful.

It’s our job as professionals to make the customer happy and we do it every day.  But communication is essential to making things go smoothly.  Spend some time educating your customer about the process so they’re not surprised by the costs of their embroidery. If they’re still in the planning stages, explain to them that making major graphic changes to the design after digitizing only makes their costs go up. Changes they are making to the art need to happen at the graphic stage before digitizing.

After all, if you educate your customer, their order goes smoother, they understand what to expect and they’ll likely return because you made it work!

Of course, sometimes these things happen and can’t be helped. This is why a relationship with a good digitizing firm makes all the difference. Someone who is readily available to you and can roll with the changes so you can still meet your deadline.  NeedleUp Digitizing is that company.

It should also be noted that like most good digitizers, NeedleUp includes small edits and changes in the design process. Things like trims, color breaks, small text & coding changes and adjustments for sew-ability are all part of getting the customer a design they will love.

Embroidery Digitizing - Let’s Talk Lettering – Part II

In Part I of Let’s Talk Lettering, we talked about keyboard lettering, when we use it and some of its limitations. In part II we’re discussing how we charge and talking about text with your customers.

Charging for Lettering Jobs:

Many shops charge per name when doing a list of personalizations such as right chest names or even name drops into stock designs or under company logos.  Some may even charge per letter. The major softwares have a “team name” function built in to make the long lists of names and the application of doing these one at a time, go smoother and faster. This is when you’ll use your keyboard text most.

However you decide to charge for your services, take into consideration the time it takes to hoop each shirt individually for the names in addition to the application of any design on the opposite side, since this is a separate hooping.  Even if you’re using the “team name” function under a logo, you will have to stop the machine once the design is finished to load the individual names. If you have a long list of names, it can be time consuming so make sure you’re charging for your time.

If I am adding lettering or a tagline to a customer’s existing logo, usually I will just charge an edit fee, even if I’m digitizing the letters manually. If I can use keyboard lettering and it matches what the customer is asking for, I will use that and “clean” up the letters, adjusting them for fabric pull and usually tweaking the corners and joints.  Once you get into more than just a tagline or the whole logo is basically lettering or a design or icon is included, then I’m charging for a full logo by stitch count and almost always digitizing the lettering by hand.

As you get better at digitizing your lettering, you’ll find you use the keyboard text less because it’s easier and more time efficient to digitize the letters correctly from the start rather than edit keyboard text more.

For the customer’s benefit:

Convenience and organization dictates that you have a printed list of sample text in the fonts you offer customers in your shop.  Be familiar with your regular fonts and insure that they are the ones that sew well in every day practice.  There will be many fonts in your software and not all of them will be winners. Also be aware that the more fonts you offer, the longer it will take the customer to make a decision, so handing them a 3” thick binder of fonts, may not be what you want to do.  Displaying a list including 4-5 scripts, 4-5 blocks and 4-5 serifed font styles should be your basics. When a customer asks about other styles, you have a chance to talk to them and provide a more custom experience and more fonts to look at.

Be sure to also know approximately how many characters per inch you can sew in each font. The customer will appreciate your expertise and you’ll be able to quickly help them find a lettering style that will work for their job. An easy way to display your basic fonts is to sew them and frame them for the wall or counter. This way the customer can actually see the letters in thread.

For full logos, the lettering is usually a part of a customer’s company design and the lettering should look exactly like their logo. They’re paying for a custom job so if the keyboard font doesn’t look exactly like their art, and many times it won’t, don’t use it.

I get jobs sometimes that have very tiny lettering under them for a tagline (way under minimum standard) and the customer wants me to recreate the design at the same size. They’ll tell me they want the same lettering but make it look better. This is when educating the customer comes into play. You have to discuss the design with the customer and tell them why the lettering looks bad on their original. If the text is too small to sew well on their fabric, give them options like enlarging and stacking or moving the text to a better location.

Lettering is probably one of the biggest challenges to master that embroiderers’ face. There’s no match for practice and experience. Keep notes of what works, sizes and settings. It’s never a waste of time. Almost all company logos have lettering, unless you’re the owner of the “swish” or “the little man playing polo on a horse”. J

 

NeedleUp Digitizing LLC is owned and operated by Donna Lehmann, a 20yr veteran of the embroidery/digitizing industry. She can be reached at NeedleUp, donna@needleup.com or  303-287-6633 for digitizing, consultation and classes M-F

Embroidery Digitizing: Right Way VS Customers Way

We all know there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things, however relative that may be, but what happens when a customer brings in a previously embroidered garment which frankly, was clearly digitized incorrectly?


This is fairly common and frequently the customer doesn’t realize and is unaware of how much better their logo could be. I’m speaking about aesthetics here since the customer is only seeing the final design, however, if the design is poor, the production quality will undoubtedly be bad also.

But, what if the customer loves the logo on the garment and wants it duplicated? What if they think it’s the “cat’s pajamas” and they just don’t have access to the stitch file?

Now is the time to discuss with the customer what they want, what you see and their expectations for the job. Find out what they like and don’t like about the original design so you can determine whether you’ll be able to make improvements they will love. Communicate with them about how you would do the design, pointing out things you might change if they seem open to them. Never criticize the original design out-right or the person who did the digitizing; it just makes you seem petty and unprofessional. I don’t comment to the quality unless they ask, point blank…then I’m honest but tactful, speaking more to how I can make it better and cleaner.

I try to avoid duplicating cruddy embroidery at all costs, but, if after all this, the customer is adamant that the design look exactly like the original, then you’re obligated to recreate the design exactly. Believe me, it’s a shot to the heart but it’s what the customer wants. Visually, you should strive to make the logo look the same, using the same stitch types and angles, but there are always improvements you can make to the way it paths and sews at the machine that will help in production.

The bottom line is, you’ve made your customer happy and next time, you won’t be duplicating someone else’s design, you’ll be digitizing their latest original!

************** Donna Lehmann ownes NeedleUp Digitizing LLC and has been commercially digitizing for 21 years. Donna also writes, teaches and consults about the industry and can be reached at NeedleUp 303-287-6633.

Copyrights: What’s the real deal? – Part I of II

Every digitizer and embroiderer faces this from time to time. Let’s talk about copyright. Do we or don’t we digitize or produce a design we know doesn’t belong to the person asking for it? The correct answer is “no”.

Webster’s defines copyright as: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a literary, musical, or artistic work).

Simply put, if your customer isn’t either the owner or a rep for the company or a promotional products rep slated to procure swag for them, the design they’re bringing you falls under copyright law and you shouldn’t be doing it. There are a few exceptions, but the bottom line is; if they don’t own the design, they have no right to use it and it is illegal for you to recreate it or produce it.

This comes up frequently with regard to sports teams, car and motorcycle manufacturers and cartoon characters, but is just as illegal with smaller logos of more unrecognizable designs. You can’t know every design out there but with access to the internet, you can sometimes search a logo graphically and find it. Know who you’re doing business with. Even if you unknowingly infringe and sew a design without authorization, you are every bit as liable as the person who asked you to reproduce it, should the copyright holder decide to make an issue of it legally.

In the industry, there’s a running joke about the “Disney Police”, but it’s no laughing matter. They exists in the form of whole divisions of corporations that do nothing other than to uphold the company’s copyrights and prosecute people, Disney and Harley Davidson being the ones that first come to mind.

As I said, there are some exceptions. Companies, franchisers and organizations like Girl/Boy Scout troops and car dealerships who sell particular makes have the right to use those logos however the company/organization stipulates that they must get their logoed items from them (the company) directly or through channels set up by them in order to insure the quality and integrity of their logos. The exception comes in if you get written permission from them to recreate/use the logo or get set up as a preferred vendor.

With professional sports teams, permission/licensing is applied and paid for and is very expensive and rigorous. The other thing you’ll run up against is car enthusiasts and collector clubs. Just because they are a Coca-Cola Collector Club or the Corvette Club (or own a corvette) doesn’t give them the right to use the logo.

Along with trademarked designs comes a thing called trade dress. Trade dress creates a visual impression which functions like a word trademark. Basically, a design doesn’t have to even have the name of the company on it to be covered by their copyright. That means, a picture of a Volkswagen Beetle is essentially the same as the Volkswagen logo for our purposes. This is why stock design companies have removed car designs from their offerings for the most part unless the car is so generic as not to be relatable to a specific make or model.

And one other thing, there’s a common misconception that if you change a logo or design by 10%, it is a new design and as such is no longer covered by the copyright. Not true. Don’t fall for it.

In Part II, we’ll discuss the copyrights of designs created legally.
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Information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional legal advice. Companies mentioned in this article are used only as examples. Contact a copyright lawyer in your area for specific legal determinations and issues.

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. Donna Lehmann is owner of NeedleUp Digitizing and she can be reached at 303-287-6633

The Design Part of Embroidery Designs

Often, I get company logos that very clearly weren’t originally intended for embroidery, to digitize. When a company designs their logo, they rarely think the design through for all the mediums it will be used with and focus completely on what the design looks like in print. This is detrimental later, once all their letterhead and signage is finished and they begin to think about doing shirts for employees and promotional give-aways. Then, they have an issue with consistency between all their different marketing efforts and their chosen logo.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when designing your company logo with regard to embroidery:

If you choose a design with too small or too much lettering, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to sew in thread. You may have to resort to screenprinting since the size of the text can be printed smaller rather than sewn. Of course, screenprinting doesn’t look nearly as nice ;)

Don’t use cool gradient color effects or multiple borders around anything unless you plan to make the embroidery very large. Gradients only work in larger areas of fill and with colors that will blend smoothly like several shades of the same color. For instance, there is no natural color blend from purple to green so this isn’t a good idea. Two and three (or more) borders/shadows around letters look great in print but cause embroidery problems; everything from too thin to sew and distorted letters to registration problems and most likely you’ll have to drop all but one. If the letters are minimum size, the border won’t work at all.

Remember, when designing your logo, simple is better. Choose cleaner text that is readable at a distance of about 3 feet. A normal sized embroidery logo for left chest is about 2.5” to 4” wide. Leave the phone numbers for your business card; no one is going to rush up with a notepad to scribble down the number from your shirts. Have the graphic artist set up your design on light and dark backgrounds so you can see what it looks like against different colors and be sure to tell him/her that your design will be used for embroidery also. If you stick to design elements that translate well to embroidery, you’ll be proud to wear your logo on all your garments.

NeedleUp has the experience to consult with you on the embroidery side and digitize your design, translating it to embroidery while keeping the integrity of your logo within your marketing vision. Visit our website: http://www.needleup.com  or call us at 303-287-6633 for impressive results!

Machine Issues VS Design Problems

Embroidery problems are a pain in the…. BUT, learning to diagnose whether the problem is with the machine or the design will take you a long way past the frustration.

We’ve all been there; you just want to get the job finished and out the door and move on to the next one waiting, deadlines and all. That, of course, is when the gremlins visit and slow down the whole bit. Being able to discern where the problem is gets you quickly back into production.

Let’s start with registration problems. We can determine whether the problem is machine or design as long as we’ve taken care of a few pre-production things:

Hooping: On flats, always check that the design is hooped properly, meaning using the correct stabilizer and insuring that it is completely captured in the hoop all the way around and the fabric is taut but not stretched. Some cases may require an extra piece of backing and that can be tested quickly by adding it on the next run to see if it makes a difference.

On hats: registration is even a touchier point and some hat frames will fight you to be able to get the hat tight in the frame and it may take a few clips on the frame to help hold the hat. Always use your needle plate designed specially for hats to limit the amount of flagging under the needle.

Once you’ve assured these initial steps, the problem is either the design itself or the machine.

Design:  Digitizing issues will be fairly consistent. If the design doesn’t line up, say a border around a fill, by just a bit, it’s probably the design and it just needs to be adjusted. If it is way, WAY off, check your hooping. Designs are created with compensation for the fabric push and pull in mind. If the fabric is moving way more than the digitizer expected, the result will be poor. (This is why we ask what type of fabric the design will be used for) For hats, the design needs to be digitized specifically for hat application and should sew center out and bottom up. Without the proper pathing, a design may bubble or ripple against the center seam and cause puckering.

Machine:  Check the frame arms to be sure they’re tight and that the hoop arms are seated tightly in the frame. Cap frame bands should be tight across the hat with no movement possible once the frame is clasped shut. Assure that the pantograph is moving freely and not catching or bumping anything while sewing. Distortion such as a line of text that “smiles” or “frowns” means the hat is moving and pulling in when sewn.

Thread breakage is the other usual obvious problem. These are a bit easier to diagnose. If the thread breaks in the same spot of the design every time, it’s a digitizing problem. There may be stitches that are too close together. If it seems to happen virtually anywhere in the design, you have a machine problem, could be tension issues or needle burs (snapping or fraying). One exception is a “false thread break” where the machine will unthread after a trim. Even though this may happen in the same spot, it’s not the design. It could be the machine’s trimmers are acting up or the tension is way too tight.

Use your deductive reasoning. One thing to think about is if you’ve used this design before successfully, what has changed? If the design sewed well previous, is it a different fabric/application? Different brand of hat? Different weight or brand of thread? If it’s a new design, was it digitized for the fabric/application you are trying to sew? Are you hooping it properly? Checked needles?

Talk to the digitizer and get some input. If it’s a design issue, the best way is to show the digitizer exactly what the design is doing is by scanning the resulting embroidery and let the digitizer see exactly what needs to be edited and by how much. A good digitizer will recheck their design and adjust the stitch file to fix the issues. (There’s that customer service thing again!)

Once you get good at diagnosing problems, you’ll be able to get sewing again much faster with less hair loss!
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NeedleUp Digitizing LLC is owned and operated by Donna Lehmann, a 20yr veteran of the embroidery/digitizing industry. She can be reached at NeedleUp, 303-287-6633 for digitizing, consultation and classes M-F.

Editing your Embroidery Machine Designs Properly

With regard to digitizing, ever wonder how stitch files work? The original file holding the digital information for the design is actually a master coded file with all sorts of info about everything from how close the stitches are (density) to color breaks, stitch angles, trim commands, pull compensation and many other codes that tell the embroidery machine what to do. This file is a condensed (wire-frame) master file in a format native to the software and can only be read by someone else with the same software. This file is not the file that is read by the embroidery machine.

The stitch file that sews the design on the machine is saved from that master file and is in an expanded format the machine can read. It carries no coded information and is merely a list of stitch points telling the needle where to sew.

For this reason, changes to the design should be made to the original master so the integrity of the design stays intact. Once the changes are made, the stitch file version of the design is rewritten.

All this explanation is to tell you that each time you make changes to a stitch file without going back to the master, the design deteriorates a bit when the embroidery software tries to recreate the codes upon opening the design up in the software. Some coding is invariably lost, even if you open the stitch file up in the same software it was created in. Over time, this results in poor embroidery. It’s always better to return to the original master file format to make changes or go back to the person who created the master for changes.

This is not to say that editing expanded stitch files is not possible, however, there will most likely be more editing and recoding needed to get quality results. As always, turn to a trusted digitizer with the skills to help you properly.

Do you have customers that would like to change/edit their embroidery files and you don't have the original? We do that! When you’re looking for a digitizer, call NeedleUp. We have over 20 years in the commercial embroidery business! 303-287-6633 NeedleUp Digitizing ©2002 A USA company

Why graphics artists don’t necessarily make good embroidery digitizers

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.

Embroidery Digitizing - "Fixing" Designs

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 Digitizing - Charge! - Part II

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?