The closer together the lines are, the more dense the stitches will be. They use their computer to draw lines on top of the original illustration. Below you can see an actual screen shot of what digitizers see during this process. All of these components work together to create a stitched design that has depth, dimension, and life. Our digitizers also experiment with how thread colors interact for optimum shading. Each tiny area of the design is plotted for just the right effect to catch and reflect light.

Another key element is making sure the designs run smoothly on the embroidery machine with minimum thread breaks.

Things like stitch direction, density, and length are determined. That’s where the drawings are interpreted into embroidery designs. Next, the illustrations (with thread charts) are sent to a team of expert digitizers. That’s because it’s a great selection, it’s the type most embroiderers use, and the colors are vibrant and true-to-life. Fun fact: when choosing thread, our designers use the Madeira Thread Treasure Chest as their palette. If you look carefully, in the background you can see her colored pencils are inserted into the tops of the Madeira thread spools to make sure she’s using the exact color she wants.ĭesigners are the ones who choose thread colors, and before sending the scanned image to the digitizer, they include a thread chart along with the image. Our skilled illustrators sketch out each design idea, infusing different elements to capture a style-be it realistic or artistic. Understanding digitizing is super important for consumers as it helps them differentiate between quality and not-so-quality designs.īelieve it or not, most of our designs start with good ol’ pencil and paper. This involves a talented group of individuals who account for color, contrast, shape, and design arrangement, plus stitch direction, density, and length. By Roxanne Nickolie and Denise Abel, Nancy’s Notions’ Guest Bloggersĭigitizing, as it relates to machine embroidery, is the process of translating illustrations into digital embroidery files.

How to digitize embroidery designs