How does digitizing software create embroidery designs?

Despite the best attempts of great minds, digitizing software doesn’t automatically convert images to embroidery. No process can analyze an image and create a high-quality embroidery design that runs efficiently and keeps all outlines and shapes appropriately registered with the aesthetic quality and consistency of a skilled digitizer. In particular, no current automation uses the material attributes of thread and the dimensional quality of embroidery to its best advantage. This isn’t to say that automation hasn’t improved, nor that it can’t assist in the creation of embroidery, but that a one-click process does not offer the best quality embroidery.

At best, automation may help a digitizer create basic shapes or assign stitch values that are a reasonable starting place for editing and refinement when applied to simple images. At worst, it makes embroidery that runs poorly and betrays the lack of care taken in creation. Even the conversion of TrueType font shapes into embroidered lettering can lack reasonable stitch angles, lengths, attractive cornering, and consistent splitting of strokes and serifs.

Find out more about what exactly digitizing software does, here.

—ErichCampbell.com