Digitizing: The computerized method of converting artwork into a series of commands to be read by an embroidery machine’s computer. Digitizing is extremely important and will determine the quality of the finished embroidery. Every action of the embroidery machine is controlled by the digitized program including the movement of the pantograph to form various stitches, thread changes, thread trims, and many other functions.

Communicating with Your Digitizer
Communication is essential for a quality design to be produced. Quite often a customer will send artwork with no instructions, or they will often fax a design without a cover page. This forces the digitizer to speculate on how the design should look and who sent the design. To make this process more efficient and to save valuable time in the design process be sure to provide your digitizer with all of the following information:

Know your design

What size does it need to be?
Is it going to be left chest design, a jacket back or maybe both? The digitizer needs to know this information because there is a difference in the amount of detail that can be applied to different sizes.

How many colors will the design have?
Include all the colors needed the first time you send the design to the digitizer. If color changes are needed at a later date the design may need to be re-digitized. You can save yourself time, money and headaches if you supply your digitizer with this information the first time.

What type of garment will the design he sewn on?
The design is digitized according to the selected fabric. A design that is going to be sewn on fleece will need to have much more underlay and larger lettering because the fabric absorbs the embroidery. This is not necessary when working with denim or canvas, It is imperative that the digitizer knows the type of material that is going to be used. Most customers assume that a design will work on a variety of fabrics, unfortunately this isn’t always the case knowing the fabric helps the digitizer punch the design to fit your needs.