# Whats the name of embroidery software - for the stitch count of your logo?



## Duran (Jul 23, 2007)

Ok...

Ive gone to Lids.com - Lids Store and talk to a few other people they have brought up you need to make your logo "digitized" so the embroidery machine knows the stitch count?

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"Digitizing is the process of converting a logo or custom artwork into a file that can be read by an embroidery machine."
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* Pull the curtain away for me, because I dont have a clue about this stuff.... Im just starting to get into embroidery, 

- whats the name of the program? 

- Is this hard?? Is this something I can do... then give them the file - so I can save money.

I have my logo as a vector file in adobe illustrator, what do I do next? Is it just saving it as a different file... can someone tell me the real deal about it.

Thanks!


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## richt74 (Feb 11, 2011)

Hi Duran
There are several embroidery software program's out there, not just one. You have a vector file image but for that logo to be embroidered it needs to be digitised in the correct format that the embroidery machines can read. It is not just the case of saving or exporting it to a different format. If you need any more info just let me know.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

OK, time for some basics...

Vector files are essentially data points and directions. Advantage is they can be resized and no data is lost, really good for solid fills, not so good for things like gradients, photos, etc...

Raster files are pixels - every pixel is a set of colors. When you try to resize them, the software has to make a guess what the new pixels will need to be, that's why images a lot of times don't look good if you enlarge them.

Embroidery machines don't understand vectors and they don't understand pixels. They understand machine instructions that tell them to move to a certain place and put a stitch. Digitizing is the art of taking images, text, etc and converting them into instructions the embroidery machine will understand. 

There are a lot of different embroidery software packages on the market ranging from free to $20K+. A lot of them have automatic-digitizing capabilities. The only people who will tell you that the automatic digitizing results are wonderful are the people who are selling the software. For anyone who has actually used them and are not being paid by the software companies, they will tell you that auto-digitizing is a tool to create the initial shapes but you will really need to tweak/modify things to get an acceptable stitch out. 

Your best bet initially is to send your designs out and have someone who knows what they are doing create your embroidery files. When you get something that generates a good result in your opinion, use the software to learn how they did it so you can try to do the same thing yourself.


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## fubarsport (Sep 12, 2011)

I know that Lids uses Wilcom not sure which version. But in the stores Decostudios or even an earlier edition.


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## gnizitigid (Jan 23, 2007)

Can i help you with file free of cost....Send me design if you need stitch count or get it digitized.

If you are looking for only estimate and you want to estimate stitch count yourself, here is one method
Estimating Embroidery Digitizing Design Stitch Counts

On this forum, many other digitizers as well which can help you


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## jphalbrook (Feb 5, 2016)

I was going through threads and I was trying to get my logo converted to a .dst file. Is there anyway you will be willing to help me with that?


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Maybe you should send them a PM instead of posting a request in a 4 year old thread?


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## digitizewedo (Nov 2, 2010)

Hi , 

There more to it than meets the eye. If you have a vector file you can convert it to stitches if you have a program that can digitize.. I do training on digitizing and sell a few different programs, contact me and I can give you tips.


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