Sewing Techniques

Machine Embroidery 4 - Digitising

With digitising software we have the opportunity to unleash the designer that’s in all of us – no holds barred!

Digitising software – what is it?
Digitising software is a powerful piece of software that enables graphic images to be converted into embroidery designs that can be stitched out on a computerised machine. The user can create designs from scratch and manipulate them down to individual stitch level, or use the software to ‘break’ apart purchased or imported designs for further editing. Designs can be resized, combined with other designs, converted from one format to another, reworked in different stitches, you name it - the software can do it!

Professional digitisers have many years experience using this type of software to create the high quality designs available to buy on cards, disks or downloadable from the Internet. It takes considerable practice to perfect digitising skills but we’ve put together a few hints and tips to help those new to the process, along with some samples demonstrating the flexibility of this type of software. Our screen shots are taken from Janome’s ‘Digitizer 10000’ software but the features shown are standard in most digitising software.

HANDY HINT: It’s very important to understand how an embroidery machine stitches out a design before embarking on digitising. The easiest way to learn this is to spend time sitting in front of the machine as it stitches out in-built or purchased designs. Try to take note of the sequence of stitching, the type of stitches used – both underlay and top, and how the machine moves from one area of a design to another.

Preparing graphics
The wonderful thing about digitising software is that you can use scanned images or clipart as the basis for designs, which is great news for those of us who can’t draw for toffee! However, it is important to use good quality images with sharp outlines and good definition. In many cases this means taking an image into a graphics program such as Microsoft ‘Paint’ which is supplied with Windows, to tidy it up and get rid of any spots, or join any breaks in the outline, before importing it into our digitising software. Black outline drawings or full colour images can be used by most digitising software.




There are two main types of image:
Vector images have a smooth outline and are easy to scale in size, but not all packages can use them. A file with the extension .wmf is an example of a vector image.

Bitmap images are made up of pixels (dots) and can be used by most packages. Scaling them up or down can distort outlines so wherever possible try to import them in their original size. Files with the extension .bmp are typically used. An ideal quality bitmap would be one which has been scanned in the resolution range of 70 to 300 dpi (dots per inch).
Some packages include a folder of clipart designs in suitable formats ready to experiment with.

HANDY HINT:Start with simple designs that are not too detailed, eg cartoon animals or simple shapes such as leaves or petals. Don’t forget to look for ‘copyright free’ designs if purchasing images for scanning.

 Use the graphic as a template to manually trace shapes by allocating marker points.

 Manual digitising gives the option of changing any aspect of a design

Automatic versus manual digitising
Digitising software varies from one manufacturer to another but most provide a range of manual, semi-automatic and automatic tools. Once you have an image on the screen you can:
* Use it as a template and manually trace over the areas you want to convert to embroidery. Manual digitising involves selecting marker points around the shape of the object and then attaching attributes to the object such as the underlay to be used, the thread colour, the stitch density, the preferred fill stitch etc.
* Select sections or an entire design to automatically convert to embroidery at the touch of a button, ie ‘click-to-stitch’.
* Freehand draw any shapes such as circles, rectangles, polygons etc.
‘Click-to-Stitch’ has the advantage of instant results and can be a great confidence builder, but manual digitising provides much more flexibility to perfect a design and to create something original. Even using the same graphic, it is unlikely that two digitisers would produce the same embroidery. Most packages have a tool to show how the finished embroidery will look with a realistic simulation of the stitch types; this is a great help when trying to get an idea of the overall appearance of a design.

HANDY HINT: Remember that you can always edit any part of the design later by changing the attributes of a particular object, or by using a stitch editor to make detailed changes down to stitch level.

                                                 


Stitch types
There are actually only three stitch types used in digitising, run stitch, satin stitch and fill stitch but there are many uses and variations of each type.

Run stitch can be used in single or multiple lines and is used for:
* Creating an outline.
* Adding detail.
* Travelling from one part of a design to the next.
* Creating an underlay.

Satin Stitch has a variety of uses including:
* Creating an outline or border.
* Filling small or narrow areas of a design.
* Creating appliqué or cutwork designs.
* Lettering or text.

Fill Stitch has lots of variations including patterned and embossed styles and is used for:
* Filling large areas of a design.
* Creating texture.
* Creating movement with curves or swirls.
* Creating an underlay for large areas of dense designs.

HANDY HINTS: Do not use satin stitch for an area wider than 13 mm (1/2”), as it will make the machine run slowly and jerkily. Instead use a fill stitch or, if your software permits, use a ‘split satin’ stitch option that automatically converts larger areas to rows of blended satin stitch.

Try out some of the amazing textured patterns, and get a realistic view of how they will look

Feathering/shading
In addition to the many textured stitches most digitising software can replicate traditional hand embroidery styles using features such as feathering to create soft outlines which are ideal for realistic looking animal designs or natural items such as flowers or feathers. Blending and shading can also be used, again to create a more realistic appearance and add more depth to a design. This can be achieved by colour shading or layering where similar colours are used together within an object to add subtle depth, or by changing the stitch angle for parts of a design, e.g. petals within a flower. As the light reflects on the various angles of the stitches a shaded effect is achieved.

Lettering
Lettering art comes into its own with digitising software. Most packages include a large selection of fonts or allow scanning in of true type fonts from the computer. Letters can be placed horizontally, vertically, slanted, converted to italics, arched, reshaped etc. Text can be scaled up or down, each letter stitched in different colours, or you could even use your outline tool to create large appliqué initials. There are endless possibilities for personalising items, creating logos, team crests etc.

Underlay
With very few exceptions, machine embroidery requires underlay to give it some ‘loft’ and raise it above the surface of the fabric. It makes the finished embroidery appear plusher and gives it a smooth outline, plus helping the sheen of the embroidery thread to reflect the light. Part of the skill in digitising is the ability to select the correct underlay for each object or part of the design. A narrow satin stitch stem may only require a single line of run stitch placed centrally along its length, a larger area such as a leaf or petal may have a layer of zigzag underneath and a run stitch outline. Some software can allocate this automatically but you may need to adjust this depending on the base fabric used.

HANDY HINT: A good way to test this is to stitch out sample shapes onto spare fabric with a selvedge. This way you can compare straight grain to cross grain etc before stitching out on a project.

Digitising plan
Digitising articles often refer to a ‘plan’ and what this means is a prepared list of the sequence of steps to be followed when manually digitising a design from the first stitch to the completion of the design. A good plan will ensure that the design stitches out as efficiently as possible and will need to include:

* A list of each object in the design.
* The stitch type and underlay for each object.
* The stitching order, eg grouping colours together.
* Entry and exit points, ie where the needle starts to embroider each object and where it finishes, and also how the objects will be connected, ie run stitch or ‘jump’ between objects.
* Overlap details, eg satin stitch border to be stitched last.

Some packages allow the user to ‘walk’ through the design and this is a useful way to check the sequence is correct. Usually there is a re-sequence option so corrections can be made, but it is much easier so start with a good plan.

Where to go from here…
Digitising is a vast subject and, as with anything new, it is easiest to start with a simple design and build up skills gradually. However, for those who enjoy creating something original the results are immensely rewarding, and the computerised embroidery machine can become amazingly versatile. So don’t be afraid to experiment, analyse results, and above all else - have fun!

Further information
Janome tel: 0161 666 6011
Brother tel: 0161 330 6531
Bernina, Singer, Elna tel: 0207 253 1198
Husqvarna Viking/Pfaff, tel: 01527 519480
Hobby & Gift Collection box (rrp £30), for stockist information, contact Groves + Banks, tel: 0118 973 5196

Ruth Cox is a freelance Computerised Machine Embroidery expert who writes for Sewing World magazine and runs courses on computerised machine embroidery for Janome Sewing machines. For further details or to contact Ruth email: ruthcoxtraining@yahoo.co.uk.

NB: This article first appeared in Sewing World, April 2004. For further details of Sewing World magazine, tel: 01684 588500.

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