Embroidery Digitizing And You- What You Need to Know

If you ever saw a baseball cap with a team logo on it, or an iron badge with a special embroidery on it, I'm sure you'd like to know how it was made. It is possible that they will use a embroidery digitizing

You may ask: Do they have workers specializing in embroidery logo? You may wonder, or is it all done by machines?

Facts have proved that the answer is "both". The embroidery digitizer designs the logo and puts it into the computer. Then, the computer inputs the pattern into a commercial embroidery machine. Then, the machine embroiders the patterns on hats, shirts or anything you can think of.

Commercial embroidery machines are very useful because they allow you to produce large quantities of shirt and hat embroidery in a short time. However, they need embroidery digitization software to convert images into embroidery files.

Now, you may have a question, which is

Do I need embroidery digital software and professional embroidery machine and my business?

The answer to this question is a resounding "maybe".

When it comes to large-scale embroidery, you have about three choices.

Outsource your work locally – this is a reasonable choice for digitizing and finishing the actual embroidery. It depends on where you live.

Outsourcing it to another country - In the world of clothing decoration and small enterprises, outsourcing the actual commercial embroidery work overseas is not a reasonable choice. Tariffs, transportation, quality control have many considerations - it doesn't make much sense. Embroidery digitization However, it is often employed internationally.

Internally – compared with previous years, the latest professional embroidery equipment is very cheap, so it is almost always meaningful to do the actual embroidery work yourself. For example, the SWF 1501C single head commercial embroidery machine sold for more than 15000 dollars last year. At present, you can buy the same configuration from the equally reliable and well supported Avanc é 1501C for less than 12000 dollars. Internal digitalization will take you more time to learn, but software like StichEra Liberty is less than 1000 dollars, and it will pay back soon!

Any of these options is suitable for you, but the question is which one is most suitable for you and your enterprise, whether you are considering internal embroidery for large organizations or just opening your own shop.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is whether you want to do a lot of brand promotion for your organization. For example, if you are a small league sports team, your logo is very important to your company image, and you will do a lot of brand promotion; If you are a charity, you may do much less, or not at all.

An organization with a large number of brand needs will certainly consider paying for an embroidery machine, possibly a multi head unit and software (such as Sierra Stitch ERA Liberty) and employing a digitizer. However, if you are considering a short-term project, you may need to consider other variables.

Outsourcing your professional embroidery work has some advantages and disadvantages. Doing it yourself has both advantages and disadvantages.

The biggest advantage of outsourcing is that it is cheaper from the beginning. A professional embroidery machine may be a very good investment - but it is an investment. If you do not do enough for your professional embroidery machine, it is definitely not cost-effective to buy one.

The biggest disadvantage of outsourcing commercial embroidery digital design is that it is often frustrating to skip the barriers of cooperation with outsourcing designers. It's often not easy to communicate what you want to people who don't agree with your company's goals. In addition, you must carry out a certain amount of research to ensure that you will not meet a designer who makes a design that looks good but has poor digital results

Errors or poor digitization can cause threads in the machine to break and slow down production.

The last thing - which can be considered a merit or a demerit - is cost. Outsourcing to other countries may be cheaper than outsourcing in the United States, but the work you receive may not meet your standards, and communication is difficult. Therefore, I personally do not recommend that you outsource from other countries, but if you need a lot of embroidery, it may be a good idea to outsource the digitization of embroidery from abroad

However, there is a new technology that can create beautiful images outside the field of embroidery digitization. Digital HeatFX has released their new Okidata 8432wt machine, which can be printed and transmitted.

In the United States, commercial embroiderers usually charge $1 to $10 per thousand stitches; The design of 10000 stitches will cost less than that of 50000 stitches. You also need to carry out vector design or convert your design into vector form; If you do not do this, converting bitmaps to vector graphics will cost more money.

All these make it more attractive to use software such as Sierra Stitch ERA Liberty for internal digitization.

A commercial embroidery machine may cost between $11000 and $30000, while its software - such as Sierra Stitch ERA Liberty - may cost another $1000. This does not include hiring someone to digitize or learning to digitize yourself

It seems to be a scam - in both senses of the word - but it is actually an advantage. It is always painful to spend the hard earned money, but the reason why commercial embroidery machines and digital embroidery software can make such good investments is that they can make money for their own enterprises, or if you work for others, you can save money. Look at this inspiring story to learn how Lori Consoli created her T-shirt and embroidery business.

Another advantage is that you have more control over your design. If you have an in-house designer, you don't have to deal with freelance designers - you get faster feedback on how you want to handle your design, and you can make changes faster. You can change the design without paying a lot of extra fees.

Finally, if you want to produce a large number of things in a short time, commercial embroidery machines will be what you need.