The Embroidery Column
Auto vs manual digitising S
oftware advancements have made auto digitising more accessible and effi cient, which makes it a good option for beginners who are venturing into the world of embroidery. This is primarily because it eliminates the need for advanced digitising skills. If you learn the capabilities and limitations of your digitising software, it could help you make better decisions during the digitising process, where each program has its own strengths and weaknesses.
While auto digitising offers numerous benefi ts, it’s important to acknowledge its restrictions. Relying solely on it may not always yield the best results.
What auto digitising suits best It is well-suited for basic, uncomplicated designs, but for more complex and intricate projects, using only auto digitising may not produce the desired quality. Intricate designs often require a level of detail and fi nesse that automated tools may struggle to achieve. Manual digitising, despite being more time consuming and requiring a higher understanding of digitising, provides greater control over the fi ner aspects of the design, ensuring a more polished and precise fi nished embroidery. As a human digitiser, you possess the ability to recognise and emphasise subtle differences within a design that automated systems might overlook. Your knowledge and experience allow you to enhance the design by making informed decisions about stitch type, density and direction, to achieve the desired texture and depth for various sections. For instance, when digitising a red car, you can use the same red thread but vary the stitch angles to defi ne features like bumpers and wheel arches. In contrast, auto-conversion might apply a fl at fi ll stitch uniformly across the entire area, losing the nuances of the design. Listed below are some detailed tips to consider, ensuring your design is constructed correctly to optimise both effi ciency and quality:
| 60 | July 2024
Before and after a basic graphic has been auto digitised
1. Order of elements
Always digitise from the background to the foreground. This strategy helps to avoid overlapping stitches, which can distort the design. For example, in a landscape design, the sky and distant elements should be stitched fi rst, followed by closer objects like trees and foreground details.
2. Grouping by colour
Grouping elements by colour minimises thread changes, reducing machine run time and increasing overall effi ciency. Although grouping colours together is not always possible due to the design, this approach will speed up the embroidery process with fewer trim and slow machine functions.
3. Pull compensation
Adjusting pull compensation is essential, especially for designs on thick or stretchy fabrics. Increasing pull compensation can help maintain the integrity of the design, ensuring that letters and typefaces with thin strokes remain clear and legible. This adjustment helps to counteract the tendency of stitches to pull the fabric in, which can distort the design.
4. Detail stitches
Small details should always be stitched last. This ensures that these fi ner elements are not distorted by the stitching of larger areas and helps maintain the clarity and precision of intricate parts of the design.
5. Baseball cap embroidery When embroidering on baseball caps, the machine should stitch from the centre outward. This technique helps to prevent
Liz Woodhouse, embroidery trainer at the Embroidery Academy, discusses how best to optimise your use of digitisation.
Before and after a basic graphic has been manually digitised
puckering and ensures that the design lies fl at on the curved surface of the cap. The natural structure of a cap requires careful planning to maintain the design’s alignment and quality.
6. Fabric considerations Different fabrics react differently to embroidery. For example, stretchy fabrics may require more underlay and pull compensation, while stable fabrics might need less.
7. Underlay stitches
Use appropriate underlay stitches to stabilise the fabric and create a good foundation for the top stitches. Underlay helps to prevent the fabric from puckering and shifting during the stitching process.
8. Testing and iteration Always test your digitised design on the fabric you plan to use. This allows you to see how the stitches interact with the material and make necessary adjustments. It also allows you to identify and correct any issues that weren’t apparent on the screen, before the fi nal run.
A final overview
By taking a hands-on approach and leveraging your expertise, you can combine the speed and effi ciency of auto digitising with the precision and artistry of manual digitising, to produce high-quality embroidery designs.
This approach allows you to create designs that are not only effi cient to produce, but also to meet high standards of detail and professionalism, resulting in products that are true to the original logo/artwork and appealing to clients and customers alike.
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