Embroidery Digitizing

Introduction

Embroidery digitizing is the process of creating a stitch file for an embroidery machine to sew. The stitch file can be in one of several formats. The embroidery machines at TinkerMill use PES and DST formats (less common).

The stitch file contains a list of commands telling the embroidery machine where to sew, when to trim the threads, when to switch colors, etc.

The process of creating a stitch file is done in digitizing software. We have SewART and PE-Design NEXT. This Wiki will address PE-Design NEXT.

Whatever digitizing software you use will likely store its intermediate data in a proprietary format so that you can save and edit a design as needed. PE-Design files are stored in XXX. When you're ready to create a stitch file, you do XXX.

You can run SewART and/or PE-Design NEXT from the Textiles PC.

Basic Concepts

You could create an embroidery design by choosing the location of each stitch by hand. I believe this is called manual punching. But usually it is easier to start with lines and closed polygons, converting those shapes into lines of stitching or areas to be filled with stitching.

For example a line could be sewn with a running stitch, a zig-zag stitch, or stitched with a motif.

EXAMPLE

A closed polygon can be filled with a dense satin stitch or a fancy fill pattern.

EXAMPLE

There is one more shape that is commonly used: a variable width column, which is much like a zig-zag on a line, but has variable width.

EXAMPLE

These are the basic building blocks of digitizing. Aside from manual punching, every design you create will start with lines, polygons, and sometimes variable width columns. Even text can be broken down into lines, polygons, or variable width columns. But usually your digitizing software will make adding text seamless.

How do we get our Lines and Polygons?

There are usually several ways to create lines and polygons:

1. draw by hand in the software
2. use built-in shapes in the software (such as circles or stars)
3. import vector files (from, say, Inkscape)
4. use built-in tools to auto-digitize a very clean image

Not all digitizing software will have an auto-digitizing option. If it does not, you can use Inkscape to create vectors from clean images using the XXX option. It is suggested that you clean up the vectors first before importing them into your digitizing software.