No matter what kind of work you do, there are various terms used that sometimes mean other things, but are term-specific in your particular line of work. This is by no means a complete list, but rather one that defines the rarer embroidery digitizing terms that may be encountered.
3-D FOAM: More often than not it is used in caps, in order to give a three dimensional appearance to the lettering on the caps. The excess foam will then be pulled away from the embroidery, giving the embroidery a look of being three-dimensional.
BIRDNESTING: One of the headaches found by embroiderers, it is literally a mess of accumulated threads and usually indicates a need to create added tension to the thread.
BUCKRAM: One of the many different types of stabilizers, this one is fabric that is treated with glue
EMBIRD: One of the more popular editing software available to embroiderers.
FINISHING: This word represents one of many things, but basically it is the work that is done on the end product prior to packaging it to be sent to the purchaser. This can entail the snipping of excess threads, removing excess backing as well as perhaps any topping if any was used, the cleaning of any temporary stains, ironing or pressing any wrinkles or marks that remain in the material after being hooped or otherwise held in order to embroider it.
LOCK STITCH: This term was made more popular due to embroidery machines, as the stitch is used at the end of any run, columns, fills, and of course where colored thread needs to be changed. It is also used to finish an embroidery job of course.
LOOPING: Another term that has been used to portray a problem with machine embroidery. This is usually caused by improper thread tension. MARKING: Used specifically for machine embroidery, it denotes where the machine’s needle start point is going to be. This is also an indicator of where the frame will be placed on the goods to be embroidered.
MEMORY CARD: In essence, this is the embroidery machine’s brain. Your machines built in computer reads the card, which tells it exactly how to stitch out the desired embroidery design. Most memory cards fit only your special machine, and will not work on other machines, without using a converter box. Memory cards can be purchased in blank to be able to download embroidery designs from the Internet, others’ CDs, or other disks, keeping in mind that any and all associated software has to fit your specific machine.
SHORT STITCH: Particularly used in relation to embroidery machines. It is used in digitizing to tell the embroidery machine to place a shorter stitch when it encounters curves or corners thus avoiding an unsightly buildup of stitches in those areas.
SPI: Used in relation to embroidery machines, it means stitches per inch.
SPM: Used in relation to embroidery machines, it means stitches per minute.