Impressions - April 2011 - (Page 52)

EMBROIDERY >> HANDS ON Design & Digitizing EMBROIDERY HANDS ON DIGITAL DECORATING HANDS ON SCREEN PRINTING HANDS ON TECH TIPS HANDS ON ITAL DECORATING >> HANDS ON CREEN PRINTING >> HANDS ON TECH TIPS HANDS ON >>the basic responsibilities of a digitizer, as well Understanding as concepts such as stitch types and push/pull compensation, can take the intimidation factor out of complex jobs. While embroidery digitizing may be technical in its execution, the theory behind it is rather simple: It involves working with a series of individual shapes that comprise a complete design. Novice digitizers often will become overwhelmed when looking at an upcoming digitizing job because the natural instinct is to look at the design as a whole. Instead, they should break the design into a series of individual sections, then break those sections into individual shapes, which often serves as the collective basis for even the most complex designs. Digitizing often can involve a series of ﬂuctuating factors; thus, the one constant is that no two designs are alike. In fact, the same design often is treated quite differently when it is sewn on different material. As such, there is no magic recipe that is the perfect solution to creating a great, digitized design. Consider the following points about the digitizing process: • Technology is only as good as the person using it. • To fully understand the digitizing process, you must go back to the basics. • About 75% of the digitizing process is preparation, which is done without the help of a computer. • Understanding stitch types, characteristics, interactions and uses is vital to creating quality designs. Simple Solutions for Novice Digitizers A DIGITIZER’S ROLE Everyone would be an accomplished digitizer if what was created on the screen actually transferred to the garment. Digi- tizers have two primary areas of responsibility. First, they must be artists, creating designs that have visual appeal and have the best stitch types selected for shapes in the design. Depth and dimension should be used for the most realistic and eyecatching designs possible. However, the best looking design in the world won’t have much value if it is a nightmare to run on the embroidery machine. Thus, the digitizer’s second area of responsibility is that of being an engineer or architect. The digitizer directly controls the travel path and efﬁciency of the embroidery machine, including each color change, trim, lock stitch setting, underlay and design. If you create and execute the proper blueprint, the machine will hum along. Make mistakes in this area and a great design quickly can become a nightmare. A design that looks STEPS FOR ARTWORK PREPARATION The digitizing process begins with artwork preparation. It is important to think through the design prior to beginning to digitizing it. Following is an example of a great way to learn how to think like a digitizer. STEP 1: Starting with your original artwork, enlarge and print it on an 81⁄2" x 11" sheet of paper. STEP 2: Place a piece of tracing paper over artwork and trace all the shapes. STEP 3: Determine sewing sequence and place angle lines on the artwork. Then you can scan the artwork with stitch lines into your digitizing software to ready it for the digitizing process. 52 Impressions >> April/May 2011 impressionsmag.com http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - April 2011

Impressions - April 2011
Contents
First Impressions
From the Show Director
FYI
Product Gallery
In the Team Spirit
Top Sellers
Decorated Apparel: The Next Generation
Adjusting Your Business to the ‘New Normal’
Design & Digitizing
Graphics & Design
For Screen Printers Only
Online Directory
How to Achieve Quality Digital Prints on Dark Shirts
How to Sublimate on Caps
Business to Business
Classifieds
Ad Index

Impressions - April 2011