Procedure of adapting artwork into digital data that tells an automated embroidery machine how to budge during the embroidery process is called embroidery digitizing or embroidery punching.
Nowadays, not all embroidery designs are high-end, handmade ornate patterns employed by fashion designers to decorate garments. Some embroidery like monograms and motif designs are very popular. Embroidery can create different effects like some appear flat, some resemble reliefs, some produce simple lines, while some have fancy stitches. Custom embroidery is made to individual order or as per the customer's requirements. It can be either handmade or machine made.
Non-decorative or functional styles have made way for a wide range of objects that are imaginatively sown onto different apparels. You can choose any design and customize it as per your preference of colors, fonts and even stitches. Custom design art or logo embroidery uses tackle twill. This embroidery work is a mixture of letters, numbers or designs taken from a portion of fabric sewn with a zigzag, double running or satin stitch. Embroidery fonts are used to embroider text. Logo embroidery is generally done on left side or on front of apparels.
Many apparel manufacturers offer services, right from logo design to logo embroidery on a wide range of garments like caps, hats, polo shirts, t-shirts, shirts, etc. Personalized gifts like custom embroidered golf and sports towels, pet dog accessories, aprons, bandanas, tablecloth, gift ribbons, and what have you, are also on the catalogs of most commercial embroidery services.
Even the most intricate and exquisite embroidery designs can be mass produced with the help of digital machines and embroidery digitizing software. Computers, especially the Internet, have widened the growth prospects in both the local and the overseas markets. Rise in the demand for embroidery products as well as quality workmanship has transformed the apparel industry into a dynamic hub.
With the new home embroidery machines and digitizing software, you can even create custom machine embroidery designs. You need to follow the instructions from the embroidery machine or digitizing dealer and after some practice, you can pick a drawing or clip art to digitize into a format that your machine can understand and convert into stitches. In order for your machine to be able to do that, it is essential that you use high quality prints e.g. a vector file or a .jpeg (high resolution design). You can even buy a program that can either read more than one formats or convert a design from one format to another.
Many web sites offer free downloads, so getting hold of good embroidery designs is not a difficult task. The editing software will convert the design into a series of embroidery stitches. With the help of a data cable, you can transfer the image from a computer to the embroidery machine. Stabilize the fabric with iron-on tear away or cutaway (for heavy designs) backing. Thread the embroidery machine and start the machine.
You will be able to thread all the colors at one time or you will need to thread each color one by one, depending on the type of machine you're using. With a little understanding of computers and machine embroidery, and a bit of creativity, you can customize any embroidery pattern and design.