# wilcom e4 worth it?



## digidana (Jun 20, 2016)

so....i used capital automation software for the first 20 years, which was very basic compared to wilcom...but it made me learn actual digitizing. switched to wilcom a little over a year ago. love it, except for i really liked the drawing tools in my old software much better. i spend more time moving nodes now than i used to. i guess i'm kind of 'old school', and maybe a control freak. the fancy, fluffy tools don't appeal to me much. i don't use the corel draw feature in wilcom at all. i don't use 'auto' anything. i even digitize most of my lettering from scratch. not a big fan of keyboard lettering....even in wilcom. i don't care about entering due dates or customer names for each design, don't care about monogramming, or automatic banners, or doing lists of team names, or putting a pic of my design on a pic of a bib.

that said...to the users of the new e4 upgrade. is it worth it? what new features do you love and use all the time? i just watched a video of the new features and most of it seems like fluff to me? there are some very basic features of wilcom that i would change, and after watching the "what's new in wilcom e4", it doesn't look like they did anything with them.

what are your honest opinions of e4? i'm seriously considering it because apparently trims codes done in emb don't always "stick" in a pes file. they're telling me:

"That seems to be an issue in E3 that was never addressed and you are running the latest service pack for E3.
The attached PES was made in our new software E4 and seems to have trims. "

That seems pretty unacceptable to me since there are so many brother machines out there. but if there are seriously good reasons to upgrade i will.


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## madhatress (Jun 6, 2017)

If you don't use a lot of the stuff in e3, maybe you should start looking for a different software package? Seems like you're spending a lot of money just to move nodes around. 


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## digidana (Jun 20, 2016)

madhatress said:


> If you don't use a lot of the stuff in e3, maybe you should start looking for a different software package? Seems like you're spending a lot of money just to move nodes around.


thanks for the input.  it doesn't really make sense for me to invest in a third software. there's the frivolous $ issue, and a whole new learning curve...and there are things i really like about wilcom. primarily how it imports dst (and other formats), and i like being able to provide an emb file when requested. but there are general things in wilcom that i wish they would address. the video they sent me seemed to deal with all of the fancy toys. i'm wondering if there are any changes to some of the basic functions. for example, when using input B for satins (which i prefer to input A), the guidelines. its back and forth for selecting the guidelines tool for every single guideline than needs changed, and sometimes there are 4 or more that need changed for a single letter. or the issues with the .pes files not recognizing trims. or not having a simple way to digitize a perfect circle as a fill where you can adjust the stitch angle. sometimes i get phantom trims between satin stitch groups or going from a manual to a satin stitch. i'd like to be able to change the color/thickness of an object that i'm drawing as a manual stitch so that i can see them on complicated designs. a simple way to 'cut' a manual stitch to insert another manual stitch in between if i've missed an area. i'd like to be able to save my own colorway as a default. basic stuff....


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## madhatress (Jun 6, 2017)

The learning curve stuff makes sense. I really can't help cause I have never used Wilcom. Is there any way to get a more stripped down version? (I'm guessing they probably bundle stuff you need with a bunch of other crap right?)


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## digidana (Jun 20, 2016)

i've already bought the full version outright. just wondering if i should upgrade from e3 to e4. would like to know what improvements they've made other than the fluffy stuff they show in their sales video.

any e4 users out there? impressed with the new version?


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## scoobylyn (Jun 2, 2015)

digidana said:


> i've already bought the full version outright. just wondering if i should upgrade from e3 to e4. would like to know what improvements they've made other than the fluffy stuff they show in their sales video.
> 
> any e4 users out there? impressed with the new version?


E4 is absolutely brilliant. Wilcom have done a great job on this upgrade. So many new features that make my life so much easier. 

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## digidana (Jun 20, 2016)

scoobylyn said:


> E4 is absolutely brilliant. Wilcom have done a great job on this upgrade. So many new features that make my life so much easier.



thanks for the input! can you tell me what specifically you really like about the new version? thanks!


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## scoobylyn (Jun 2, 2015)

digidana said:


> thanks for the input! can you tell me what specifically you really like about the new version? thanks!


Gosh there are so many. The new high definition images for mockups, digitise open or close shape, freehand tool, offsets, ability to store info in the emb file on the customers etc, search facility to find a misplaced logo, smart digitise is very very good for quick vector images that aren't complicated. They are my personal favourites but the whole upgrade is so different the E3 it's like new software. 

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## krazyboutemb (Nov 22, 2011)

Great feed back on e4. I'm still trying to decide if it's worth the money&#55357;&#56845;


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