If you are having trouble envisioning the order in which design elements should run, you should pre-plan your pathing. You can always print your art and use the age-old ‘coloring’ method wherein you take a pencil and attempt to color the art in the same way you’d stitch the design without picking up the point. You’ll get a better feel as to where elements must start and end for the most efficient run, and you’ll get insight on stitch angles as you will often find yourself shading an area in the direction that stitches should follow.
Taking some time, no matter your method, to envision and pre-plan design elements means that once you digitize, there are fewer decisions left to debate. This confidence can often make for overall time savings in digitizing, not to mention how much more efficiently your design will run once you’ve eliminated extraneous jumps, trims, and color changes.
—ErichCampbell.com
