Differentiating Digitizing Service and Vector Service

In today’s embroidery world, customers would often hear two different services from providers. One is digitizing service and the other is vector service. Both of these services involve conversion of a certain image into a new high quality file format, which is essential in setting up a better quality logo or design.

So is there any difference between digitizing service and vector service? That is main focus of this post.

Image done through digitizing service

Digitizing service and vector service are both modern methods of embroidery. In digitizing, the design or logo is scanned through the computer and with the aid of digitizing software; the operator or embroidery digitizer is able to instantly convert a typical image into a stitch file format. It is essential to convert the original image or logo into stitch file because this is the only format that the computerized embroidery machine accepts and read.

Image done through vector service

Meanwhile, in vector service, it also uses an object-based editing software is also in order to create vector graphics. Images that undergone vector service usually resolution independent and scalable. They can be output to the highest quality or scaled down without any loss in quality. Furthermore, the image created through vector service does not have any jaggedness so the overall quality of the design is certainly incomparable.

When it comes to pricing, digitizing service is much cheaper than vector service. However, in terms of turnaround, both services can be done in less than 24 hours. 

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3 Things Digitizers Should Consider to Create the Best Designs

We already featured in our previous post the different types of fabrics that embroidery digitizers can be used in their projects. On that post, we categorized fabrics according to applications and type of weave. Woven is part of the major class of fabric and do you know that most embroidery digitizers would be comfortable using such class of fabric in their embroidery digitising job? Yes, that’s true! Digitizers would love to make use of woven fabrics in embroidery digitizing because they are pretty stable compared to non-woven and knitted fabrics. Aside from that, woven fabrics do not stretch a lot at the same time typically have nice and smooth surface. With these good qualities of woven fabrics, it is much easier and faster for the digitizers to produce aesthetically pleasing designs on their embroidery digitising project.

However, there are also a couple of things that embroidery digitizers should watch out for in order to bring the best embroidery designs.

Puckering – Puckering in embroidery simply refers to gathering small wrinkles or folds on the fabric. This is a result of backing due to lack of support, using big sizes of needles on the fabric, using long and/or too many stitches, at the same time applying too much tension to the fabrics during hooping. So how can embroidery digitizers keep the woven material from puckering?

• Make use of right needles for the fabric.
• Use short stitches, especially in the underlay.
• Guide the fabrics evenly through the sewing machine.
• Watch out or the very thin or single layers of fabric.
• Fuse the stabilizer to the fabrics before embroidering.

Hooping - Hooping in embroidery is all about placing the fabric into embroidery sewing machine hoop. Since woven fabrics are thin in nature, this can allow them to move around in the hoop and result to a horrible design. And how can digitizers combat this embroidery digitising problem?

• Keep the fabric in secure hoop as the sewing machine starts to stitch out the design.
• Make sure the material is pretty tight but not stretched.
• Ensure also that the fabric is smooth and flat.

Stabilizing – Stabilizing is also very important in embroidery digitising because it adds rigidity to the fabric while stitching out the design. Keeping the fabric stable is vital during the embroidery process to ensure that the design is in proper position.  Common indication that the fabric is not stabilized properly is when the outline does not align with the rest of the design. So how do embroidery digitizers resolve this issue?

• Use the right type of stabilizer for the fabric.
• Slide an extra piece of stabilizer under the hoop if the design has a great deal of satin stitches.
• When stitching a higher density design, make sure to use a stabilizer with accurate density tolerance.

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Hottest Colors for 2012 and Their Meanings

Even before the year 2011 ends, there are already numerous write-ups circulating online to inform fashion-conscious people about what is in trend for the next year. Aside from the hottest styles of outfits, color palette is also among the important things that the public, especially the embroidery digitizers and other garment designers, look forward to.

The color palette creates a significant effect to the overall design. Though in designing, color is considered to be very subjective; the saturation or hues of the colors are still one that defines uniqueness or exclusivity of a design.

Several companies already forecast the hottest colors palette for 2012. Aside from Tangerine Tango, which the Pantone announced its 2012 Color of the Year, the Sherwin-Williams – an American Fortune 500 company engaging in general building materials industry also named red, blue, green, and neutral as among the hot color trends for this year. These colors, which are mostly inspired by Mother Earth, could be used effectively for interior designing, quilting, and even when embroidery digitizers create remarkable logos or designs for fashionable apparel.

Red is a lively and festive color. In Chinese color, it signifies good fortune and passion. The color is also the best pick especially if the embroidery digitizer or apparel designer wants to create a blend of raw emotions ranging from the deepest passion to the softest femininity.

Blue is said to be one of the coolest color. It inspires the color of sky, ocean, sleep, and twilight. For Christians, blue also symbolizes the Virgin Mary. Ancient Egyptians likewise used the “stone of Lazhward, which is blue, to represent heave. Therefore, if the embroidery digitizer or designer wants to portray feelings of inspiration, sincerity, and spirituality, no wonder blue is the most ideal shade.

Green is deemed the best color to represent nature, fertility, and life as it contains the powerful energies of nature, growth, at the same time the desire to expand. The color likewise symbolizes self-respect and well-being. For embroidery digitizers, green are also among the safest colors they could in a design.

Neutral Colors, which include the shades of black, silver, gray, and brown, are among the hues that never go out of the trend. These colors are make good backgrounds and serve to unify diverse color pastels ranging from vivid brights to faded neons to shade of sugary sweet sorbet. Many embroidery digitizers also make use of neutral colors if they want to create a primary focus on a design.

*Note: images obtained using Google Image Search

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5 Common Types of Fabrics According to Weave

In our previous post, it was stated why an embroidery digitizing operator should have enough knowledge about fabrics because it could affect the overall quality of the design of a particular embroidery digitizing job. Since we already have tackled the types of fabrics according to applications, today what we will share to you is the second classification of fabrics commonly used for embroidery digitizing project – the weave.

When we speak of weave, it refers to the pattern used for manufacturing a fabric. Fabric weaves range from plain and simple to artistic and decorative. With so many types of fabrics weave available in the market these days, finding for the most suitable weave for an embroidery digitizing job sometimes is a hassle activity. So to help you in your project, we have here five of the most commonly used fabrics weave for embroidery digitizing.

Plain Weave 

Each filling yarn goes alternately under and over the warp yarns

This is said to be the most common and the simplest of all fabric patterns. Plain weave are very affordable to produce, durable, smooth, at the same time features a tight surface that makes it conducive not just for embroidery digitizing but also for printing of draperies, tablecloths, and upholstery. Fabrics with plain weave are crepe, taffeta, organdy, cotton, calicos, cheesecloth, gingham, percale, voile, and muslin.

Twill Weave 

Three or more shafts; warp or filling floats over two or more counterpart yarns in progressive steps right or left

This is somewhat a keen to plain weave however, it is more durable, more flexible, heavier, and with better resistant against soil and wrinkle. Common applications of this fabric weave are for making upholstery, comforters, and pillows and examples of fabrics with twill weave, you have covert cloth, drill, jean, jersey, velvet, and the likes.

Satin Weave 

Floats one warp yarn over four or more weft yarns, then tied down with one thread, resulting in a smooth face

This type of fabric weave is said to be glossy, with smooth surface, and great drapability. Just like twill weave, this type of fabric weaving is more flexible than plain ones. Satin weaves are commonly used for draperies and quilts and example of fabrics with satin weave are bocade, brocatelle, crepe-satin, peau de soie, velvet satin, etc.

Basket Weave

 Two or more warps simultaneously interlaced with one or more fillings

It is a variation of plain weave. Fabrics are of loose construction and flat look. However, compared to plain weave fabrics, the basket weave is more flexible and stronger but less stable. This particular weave of fabric is commonly used in composites industry as well as in making outerwear, wall hangings, pillows, and draperies. Samples of fabrics with basket weave are oxford and monk’s cloth.

Jacquard Weave 

Warp is individually controlled with each pick passage creating intricate designs

Fabrics with jacquard patterns is a mixture of plain, twill, and satin weaves. Many decorative fabrics are manufactured using jacquard weave. This is one of the best fabrics to weave for an embroidery digitizing artwork because designs do not easily fade or wear out. Brocade and damask are samples of fabrics with jacquard weave and these are commonly used in making upholstery as well as wall hangings.

Source: Different Types of Weaves | Images obtained using Google Image Search Engine

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Types of Fabrics According to Applications

Knowledge on fabrics is another important requirement for embroidery digitizers aside from expertise in using the digitizing software. Fabrics serve as base material of a certain embroidery project and failure to choose the right textile could compromise the overall quality of an embroidered designs. So to help you determine which base material is best for your embroidery project and which is not, we decided to feature here the different types of fabrics that embroidery digitizers could use for a certain job.

Basically, fabrics are classified into four types. You can categorize them according to application, weave, composition, and finish. These four categories of fabrics have also their own subcategories and for the meantime what we will be discussing to you are fabrics under application category.

Fabrics According to Applications

• Furnishing Fabric – These are the fabrics used in making upholstery such as beds, sofa beds, and mattresses.  The bed covers and cushion covers are also part of the furnishing fabric.

• Interlining fabric – Interlining fabric, as the name suggests, is the material sewn at the middle of two separate fabrics for warmth. You can commonly see it between the curtain face fabric and the lining.

• Lingerie fabric – Lingerie fabric is of course the material used for making undergarments such as brassieres, panties, nightgowns, and the likes. The fabric usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials that are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarment.

• Lining fabric – The fabric is assembled separately and seems to appear as a second garment but its main purpose is to provide the garment with a perfectly smooth inside finish. Jackets, coats, capes are just samples of that often come with lining fabric.

• Polar fleece fabric – It is usually made from PET plastic or other synthetic fibers. Polar fleece fabric is typically used when making outerwear because it actively keeps the moisture away from the body.

• Shirting fabric – This is the most ideal fabric for making shirts, blouses, and pajamas. And similar to other fabrics under applications, shirtings come in several types like poplin, oxford, etc.

• Suiting fabric – This is the best material used for tailoring suit. Though most suiting fabric comes from natural fibers, synthetic fibers are also used.

• Stretch fabric – Synthetic fabrics that stretch are called stretch fabric. The fabric evolved using from the scientific effort to make fibers using neoprene and it is commonly used nowadays in making swimwear, delicate laces, slacks, sportswear, and support hose.

With these samples of fabrics, hopefully, you will now how have an idea which base material is ideal for your custom digitizing project.

Source: Fibre2Fashion | Images obtained using Google Image Search Engine

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A Glimpse on the New Logo of Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins for 2011-12 Season

Photo Courtesy of ESPN

One common application of embroidery digitizing is designing sports apparel.  Looking at the uniforms of various teams in basketball, baseball, soccer, and other sports; all of them are personalized with their team’s logo, name, and player’s preferred number. And these important details of the team are usually designed through a process called embroidery digitizing wherein the designs are stitched on the fabric reveling a crispier, cleaner, and more professional look. And if you want to know the secrets how embroidery digitizers are able to produce quality embroidered logos, you can find it here.

Meanwhile, as the 2011-2012 Major League Baseball season approaches, two baseball teams were not able to escape from controversies as they did some makeover on the their official team logo. Actually, every time a new season for MLB begins, sports critics as well as avid fans are always excited to know what is new in a team; from the coaching staff, to the players, to the uniforms, and to the logos.

The first team that receive lots of comments regarding their logo and uniform improvements is Miami Marlins. As early as September this year, photos of the  soon-to-be new logo of Marlins for the upcoming 2011-12 MLB season has already surfaced on the World Wide Web and this receives lots of commentaries (some are positive, but most are negative) from feeling-to-be-perfect people in the world of sports and designs.

Color meanings of Marlins new logo: the blue color represents the blue Miami sky and ocean, the orange for the Miami sunset and the south Florida citrus industry, and the yellow for  the Florida sunshine

Marlins players unveil their new team uniform and logo for the upcoming MLB season. Photos taken from the official site of Miami Marlins

The new official logo, which was only unveiled last November 11, 2011 along with the new uniform and team name Florida Marlins, is a colorful letter “M” (bearing the shades of orange, blue, and yellow) with a Marlin leaping over it. The color schemes of Marlin’s new logo, which will be adorned in various Marlins merchandize mostly through embroidery digitizing, are carefully selected to reflect the culture and how trendy the city is.

The other MLB team that did some changes on its logo is the Baltimore Orioles. The team brings back its cartoon bird logo for their caps as part of a uniform change for the upcoming season. The new cartoon bird logo of Baltimore Orioles that will be festooned also through embroidery digitizing in all team supplies like caps, towels, t-shirts, jackets and other collectibles.

the head of Orioles' new cartoon bird logo, which replaces the ornithologically-correct bird, utilizes elements from both the 1970 and 1983 versions

Orioles players introduces their uniform and new logo for 2011-12 MBL season. Photos taken from the official site of Baltimore Orioles

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DigitPlace Offers Free Estimates for Its Digitizing Service

Georgia-based embroidery digitizing company DigitPlace offers customers free estimates or quotations as well as the lowest prices, free editing service, volume discount and the fastest turnaround time on its on its digitizing service. Know more of this digitizing service here.

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Give Unique Thanksgiving Gifts without Spending Much

Giving gifts on Thanksgiving Day has been a tradition to most Americans. For them, Thanksgiving is the most ideal time to remember all the blessings they received throughout the year at the same time express sincere gratitude not just to the Lord but also to the people who made significant contributions to their lives.

As Thanksgiving Day gets nearer, shopping malls around US are for sure crowded already as people are all busy finding for the best present they could give to love ones. There are a range of gift ideas easily available in the market but picking up the most unique and suitable gifts for love ones seems to be a time consuming task, especially if you have a limited budget.

Thinking of inexpensive ways to produce a very special and memorable Thanksgiving gift that will pleasantly surprise the recipient? Then we suggest you to personalize it through our cheap digitizing service. Whether it is a shirt, a bag, baseball cap or hat, a blanket, towel, or a home décor; we can always personalize it for you by stitching out the name and/or a special message for the recipient. And with our state of the art technologies for digitizing service, we can also embroider one of the cherished photos on the gift if you want. A simple or small gift that comes with custom embroidered name, message or photo as design will surely turn into a much more fantastic present for the recipient.  

With regards to our digitizing service, it would never let you spend much as pricing usually varies on the number of stitch counts. Normally, we provide a fixed and very competitive price for a thousand stitches for those who avail custom digitizing service with no minimum number of logos. But we do also have service packages such as fixed price per logo or hire an embroidery digitizer for a month.

Hopefully, we are able to provide you a nice and unique thanksgiving gift idea that won’t require you to spend much.

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Create a More Inviting Home Interior this Fall Season

Image Source: jdesigngroup

Home interior decorations and styles are constantly changing. What is trendy during summer won’t be in this fall season. Hence, it is no longer surprising if many of us used to seasonally redecorate our home for a fresh new look. Among the common things we do whenever we want to create a more inviting and relaxing interior of our house is to change the carpet, painting, and tiling; update the lighting fixture and furniture; and replace the wall decors with designs that blend with the trendy colors and patterns for the season.

It is just a week ago when the 2011 fall season started. And if you are planning to upgrade your interior designs so as to make them in trend, here are some useful guides.

The hot color trends for this season are hues that are rich and intense yet a bit deeper or darker in tones. So if you want to change the painting of your house, start experimenting 2 or more paint colors that will allow you to produce shades of purple, crimson, teal green, and rust. These are just some samples of trendy colors for 2011 fall season. But aside from these shades, neutral colors are still hot. In fact, these hues are considered as fashionable colors for all seasons because they are very versatile, restful, and can be mix with any color.

When it comes to designs, the season is giving more emphasis on trendy prints like animal prints, nouveau swirls, floral, polka dots and even plaids. If you cannot afford to repaint your entire house, you can improve your interior by merely adding some wall decors with trendy designs. You can hang on the wall some nice framed paintings of art nouveau or an abstract of cool animal prints like that of the leopard, zebra, and snakeskin. You can also use beautiful custom embroidered photos whose designs went through custom embroidery digitising service. Another option to upgrade the look of your house is to replace its draperies, curtains, seat and bed covers with polka dots, plaids, or floral designs.

The good news about redecorating a house these days is the materials, which will be needed for interior designing, are now accessible in the market – both in local and online stores. And if ever you haven’t found the designs you want, there are also some shops that provide cheap embroidery digitising to personalize your home décor. 

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Step by Step Procedures when Requesting for Custom Digitizing

Whenever you have to request for a service, there’s always a certain procedure being followed. In this post, we will share to you the common process when requesting for custom digitizing service.

a sample of digitized logo from DigitPlace

The very first procedure is to send the original artwork, which will serve as design for embroidery, to the embroidery digitizing company. Many companies normally require the client to send it via email. But for some digitizing companies that have their own website, they usually provide an online form wherein the customer will simply fill the details asked and upload that image that need to be digitized. The artwork will be processed in system of an embroidery digitizing company and its production team will thoroughly check the details and exact specifications of the design.  Once the image is approved for custom digitizing, a representative from the digitizing company will contact the customer through a phone call, chat, or e-mail for the estimates, which often include the total number of stitches and the service charge.

If the client confirmed to the company’s offer, the customer representative will ask for his or her credit card’s number. Online digitizing companies normally make use of the customer’s credit card to charge for the products or services they availed. But there are also some digitizing providers that accept payment via PayPal.

The production team then starts converting the analog image into a digital file format. After the embroidery digitizer is done with the digitization, the digitized artwork will be sewed on swatches to test whether the design quality meets the company’s standard. If it passed the quality control, the digitized artwork will be sent to the customer through email. 

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