Embroidery digitizing isn’t a daunting process and it can be a great deal of fun if you know what to do and the terms of the items that you will be using. A great resource is Eagle Digitizing because it not only shows you free samples of embroidery digitizing products that you can use and design, but they also have a page with definitions so you can understand the terminology and how to use the equipment. Unsure about how to get started, try calling customer service and let one of their agents walk you through. Now let’s get started with the process of embroidery digitizing.
Starting with your digitizing idea, one of the first things you have to do is measure the space you want to apply the design. For this example, we will use a shirt. Next you will assemble your digitizing tape which has the instructions on your machine to show you how to stitch your shirt when you are ready to add your design. You can also purchase software to walk you through this or check out a YouTube video for a walk-through tutorial so you understand the steps involved. Once you have your design and loaded it onto the website, customer service can help you with this, you will receive converted artwork in the form of commands that your embroidery digitizer will use to know where to start stitching on the fabric, the colors involved, the starting and stopping points, etc.
As your digitizer punches out the design using a plastic or wooden device called a hoop, your image will come out on the fabric. So in essence, the design artwork tells the computer how to sew the image onto the fabric you have provided and this is the embroidery process. Once your digitizer finishes adding your embroidery design to your fabric, you can trim any extra or loose threads, iron or steam out any wrinkles, clean any stains or work on your next image if you have a large order that has to be sent out. Because there are various types of stitches and needles, remember, you can always call customer service for any help and to ensure you’re doing everything the right way. The main point is to have fun, find different fabrics you like and enjoy your embroidery digitizer.
Remember when you start using your embroidery digitizer, start with a small project with a few basic colors until you understand how to use your digitizer. You want to become familiar with it, and with using different fabrics and submitting designs before you start taking on big orders. It can be very overwhelming to take on an order that may require 20-30 of one item if you are just learning how to use the embroidery digitizer for the first time. Start small and you can be guaranteed with each successful design project your confidence will build and you will be shipping large orders in no time!